Enrolment problems and course overrides

Why won’t Quest let me enrol in a course? 

Try the following steps to troubleshoot:

1) Search the Schedule of Classes to ensure that the course is offered this term. Note that TBA refers to a course is offered asynchronously without any designated meet time. Courses with a meet time (i.e. 1-2:20 M) inlcude both synchronous and asynchronous components. 

2) Review the enrolment error messages webpage for further steps if you are receiving an error message. IMPORTANT NOTE: for the 'seats are reserved and you do not meet the reserve capacity requirements' or 'class is full' error messages, it is often not the instructor who can grant course overrides. Instead, find the override contact in the subject-list below.

3) Spring 2024 course delivery: Consult the Course Selection Offering List for delivery details (in person, blended and online). The majority of Arts courses will be offered in person.

4) Course meet details, including room and instructor name: follow the Quest instructions for how to search for a class.

How do I know if a course is online, in-person, or a blend of both?

Campus codes indicate which campus is offering the course and the course delivery mode.

Course delivery modes

Who do I contact for a course override?

There is no guarantee that you will be granted a course override. You must start by enrolling in an alternative course and if you still want to request a course override, locate the override contact in the subject-list below.

Accounting and Financial Management (AFM)

To all AFM, SFM and CFM students, for course override requests, please email safadvisor@uwaterloo.ca  and include your name, student ID number, and requested course and section number. Email is the fastest method to request an override.

Notes

  1. Most AFM courses are strictly reserved for students in accounting & financial management programs. Exceptions include AFM 101, AFM 102, AFM 123, AFM 131, AFM 231, AFM 333. 
    • Reserves for these courses are typically lifted by mid- January (Winter), May (Spring) and September (Fall). There are no waiting lists for these courses. The SAF advisors will not be granting overrides.  
  2. AFM 123 - students submitting Plan Modification forms for the HRM minor can add the course when they have been admitted to the minor. Space will be available until early January.

American Sign Language (ASL)

If you cannot enroll in an ASL course because it is full, monitor enrollment closely. If a spot becomes available, enroll directly on Quest. If you have trouble enrolling, follow the troubleshooting steps above.  For more information, please contact  cls@uwaterloo.ca. 

Anthropology (ANTH)

Applied Language Studies (APPLS)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list. For more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca.

Arabic (ARABIC)

Enrolment in an Arabic language course for the first time requires the completion of the Online Arabic Assessment Form. Your Arabic Assessment Form must be completed before the first day of class for the term you are enrolled.

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting listFor more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca.

Arts (ARTS)

ARTS 130/140: These courses are only open to Arts students (excluding AFM students) beginning their studies Fall 2018 or later, in order to complete the Undergraduate Communication Requirement:

ARTS 280: Please contact arbus@uwaterloo.ca

Arts and Business (ARBUS)

Level 200- and above Arts and Business courses are only available for Arts and Business students or Management Studies minor students.  Please do not add yourself to the wait list if you do not fall under one of those categories.

For all ARBUS course override requests, please put your name on the Arts and Business course waiting list

Advising appointments will not be booked for override requests.

Black Studies (BLKST)

  • Some BLKST courses are cross-listed. If you cannot enrol in the BLKST side because it is full, you may be able to enrol in the corresponding cross-listed course if there is space. E.g., BLKST 304 is cross-listed with PSCI 304. Cross-listed courses are considered to be the same course for the purpose of fulfilling plan requirements (e.g., Diploma in Black Studies, Diploma in Fundamentals of Anti-Racist Communication).
  • Some upper-year courses may have prerequisites waived for the first offering. If a course you are trying to add is full, consider adding an alternate BLKST course as it may still be possible to enrol.
  • Refer to the Quest trouble-shooting suggestions at the top of this page.
    • Check the Schedule of Classes to confirm that the course is offered in that term.
    • Check the Schedule of Classes to confirm whether the course is full, or whether there are available seats.
    • Verify that class times don't conflict with another course you're already enrolled in.
    • Check whether there are any holds on your Quest account that prevent you from adding courses.
    • If your course load is already full, you can either swap a course or request approval from your academic advisor to enrol in a sixth course. 
    • If you are still unable to add a BLKST course after completing these steps, email Kelli MacCulloch. Remember to include your 8-digit student ID number and full name, along with the course number and title for the BLKST course you are trying to add. 

Canadian Studies (CDNST)

Please email Rick Myers to inquire about course capacities and overrides. 

Chinese (CHINA)

Enrolment in a CHINA language course for the first time requires the completion of a Chinese Placement Form. Your Chinese Placement Form must be completed before the first day of class for the term you are enrolled.

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list. For more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca.

Church Music and Worship (CMW)

Classical Studies (CLAS)

Cognitive Science (COGSCI)

Communication Arts and Design Practice

Communication Studies (COMMST)

Croatian (CROAT)

Please email gssugrad@uwaterloo.ca.

Your email needs to contain your student ID, your full name as on Quest, and the information of the course you would like to enrol into.

Cultural Identities (CI)

Please email gssugrad@uwaterloo.ca.

Your email needs to contain your student ID, your full name as on Quest, and the information of the course you would like to enrol into.

Digital Arts Communication (DAC)

Dutch (DUTCH)

Please email gssugrad@uwaterloo.ca.

Your email needs to contain your student ID, your full name as on Quest, and the information of the course you would like to enrol into.

East Asian Studies (EASIA)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list. For more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca.

Economics (ECON)

English (ENGL)

  • During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) of REN or ending in “R” (“ONLNR”) according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list.
  • If the Campus Location (Camp Loc) is "STJ" or “ONLNJ” (ending with a J) on the Schedule of Classes, this course is held by St. Jerome’s, please email the departmental Advisor at  St. Jerome’s.

  • For all other ENGL courses, please place your name on the course waiting list.

English for Multilingual Speakers (EMLS)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list. For more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca.

Fine Arts (FINE)

French (FR)

Gender and Social Justice (GSJ)

German (GER)

Please email gssugrad@uwaterloo.ca

Your email needs to contain your student ID, your full name as on Quest, and the information of the course you would like to enrol into.

Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA)

For all GBDA course override requests, please email gbda.advising@uwaterloo.ca   and include your name, student ID number, and requested course and section number.

In most cases, we will not provide an override for class limits unless a student is requiring academic accommodations from AccessAbility Services or a student is facing extenuating circumstances - such as needing to retake a previously failed core course.

Email is the fastest method to request an override, and advising appointments will not be booked for override requests.

Notes:

  1. All GBDA courses are strictly reserved for students in the GBDA program.
  2. GBDA does not currently provide a waiting list for any course. Students are encouraged to utilize the add/drop period to swap into preferred sections when available.
  3. Only GBDA advisors (gbda.advising@uwaterloo.ca) can provide course overrides at this time. Please do not contact GBDA instructors with override requests.

Greek (GRK)

Health Humanities (HHUM)

History (HIST)

Human Resources Management (HRM)

Human Rights (HRTS)

Please email Anna Purkey to inquire about course capacities and overrides.

Human Sciences (HUMSC)

Indigenous Entrepreneurship (INDENT)

Indigenous Studies (INDG)

Please email John Abraham to inquire about course capacities and overrides. 

International Studies (INTST)

Italian (ITAL) and Italian Studies (ITALST)

Japanese (JAPAN)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list

All students who enroll in JAPAN 101R will be required to complete an online assessment through LEARN at the start of classes to ensure proper placement. Students who have prior experience with Japanese are encouraged to request a language assessment through the CLS department to determine the appropriate course level in which to enroll.  For more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca

Jewish Studies (JS)

Korean (KOREA)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list. For more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca.

Latin (LAT)

Legal Studies (LS)

  • If the Campus Location (Camp Loc) on the Schedule of Classes...
    • Ends with a "J" (“ONLNJ” or "STJ J"): contact thedepartmental Advisor at  St. Jerome’s.. For LS 101 online or if no instructor is listed, please email the St. Jerome's advisor.
    • Ends with a "R" (“ONLNR” or "REN R"): place your name on Renison's online waiting list.
    • Ends with a "G" (“ONLNG” or "CGC G"): contact the instructor directly.
  • For LS courses cross-listed with other subjects at UW (except for GSJ), follow the instructions in the sections for those subjects.
  • No reserves will be overridden for students in level 3B or below requesting 400 level courses.
  • For all other LS courses at UW with Campus Location (Camp Loc) “ONLN” (ending with “N”) or "UW U", please see the instructions on the "enrolment issues" section of the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies Sociology and Legal Studies FAQ webpage.

Management Studies (MGMT)

Medieval Studies (MEDVL)

Mennonite Studies (MENN)

Mohawk Language (MOHAWK)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list. For more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca

Music (MUSIC)

Waitlists are not kept for any music classes.  

Overrides for class limit are not granted for Music 100, 140 and 246. 
Any remaining reserves in all courses will be lifted on or after 9am on the day of open enrollment add period.   

The date for Spring is Wednesday, March 27th. 

For other music course overrides, email music@uwaterloo.ca

Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS)

Email the PACS Academic Advisor, Ndagire, at this email: Ndagire Brendah

Ndagire will grant you the instructor's email to seek permission to enroll in the course. 

Once permission is granted, then email Ndagire back for an override request.  

Philosophy (PHIL)

  • For all PHIL courses not located at STJ or ONLNJ on the Schedule of Classes, contact philug@uwaterloo.ca.
  • If the Campus Location (Camp Loc) is "STJ" or “ONLNJ” (ending with a J) on the Schedule of Classes, this course is held by St. Jerome’s, please email the departmental Advisor at  St. Jerome’s.

Political Science (PSCI)

Portugese (PORT)

Psychology (PSYCH)

Religious Studies (RS)

Russian (RUSS) and Russian and East European Studies (REES)

Please email gssugrad@uwaterloo.ca.

Your email needs to contain your student ID, your full name as on Quest, and the information of the course you would like to enrol into.

Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies (SMF)

Social Development Studies (SDS)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list.

Social Work (SOCWK)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting list.

Sociology (SOC)

  • If the Campus Location (Camp Loc) on the Schedule of Classes...
    • Ends with a "J" (“ONLNJ” or "STJ J"): contact the instructor directly. For LS 101 online or if no instructor is listed, please email the St. Jerome's advisor.
    • Ends with a "R" (“ONLNR” or "REN R"): place your name on Renison's online waiting list.
    • Ends with a "G" (“ONLNG” or "CGC G"): contact the instructor directly.
  • For SOC courses cross-listed with other disciplines at UWaterloo (except for GSJ) follow the instructions in the sections for those subjects.
  • No reserves will be overridden for students in level 3B or below requesting 400 level courses.
  • For all other Sociology courses at UW with Campus Location (Camp Loc) “ONLN” (ending with “N”) or "UW U", please see the instructions on the "enrolment issues" section of the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies Sociology and Legal Studies FAQ webpage.

Spanish (SPAN)

Studies in Islamic and Arab Cultures (SI)

During the Drop/ Add Period for all Renison courses including those with a Course Code (Catalog #) ending with “R” and/ or with the Campus Location (Camp LOC) “ONLNR” according to the Schedule of Classes, please place your name on Renison’s online waiting listFor more information, please contact cls@uwaterloo.ca.

Theatre and Perfomance (THPERF)

Visual Culture (VCULT)

Non-Arts Courses

Faculty of Applied Health Science (AHS): Complete the course override form, have it signed by the course instructor, then submit it to the appropriate department coordinator:

  • Recreation & Leisure: Sara Houston in BMH 2201, ext. 33530
  • Health Studies: Submit completed form with instructor signature directly to the Registrar's Office.

Faculty of Environment: Email appropriate Environment advisor.

Faculty of Science: Please see the Science course enrolment problems webpage.