Asking Professors for a spot in their class

[Student2390]

I need to take general chemistry 2 in the fall because of my course sequence and I know that this professor's class will fill up quickly. One of my tutors who's a senior told me to email him beforehand and ask him about a spot in his class. The thing is, I don't know him, and he'd have no reason to do anything for me. I don't even know if this is something that people normally do. Should I email him before registration and ask the professor if there's something I could do for a spot in his class or not? And if I should, what should I say so I don't sound too presumptuous? Also, any tips for getting waitlisted? That looks pretty likely so far.

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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I need to take general chemistry 2 in the fall because of my course sequence and I know that this professor's class will fill up quickly. One of my tutors who's a senior told me to email him beforehand and ask him about a spot in his class. The thing is, I don't know him, and he'd have no reason to do anything for me. I don't even know if this is something that people normally do. Should I email him before registration and ask the professor if there's something I could do for a spot in his class or not? And if I should, what should I say so I don't sound too presumptuous? Also, any tips for getting waitlisted? That looks pretty likely so far.

Couldn’t you just be ready when registration opens and make sure you register immediately?

 

[STLouisVuittonDon]

Couldn’t you just be ready when registration opens and make sure you register immediately?

Maybe they have been given the last registration time. My school had different slots for sign-ups and some people just randomly got unlucky. OP, it doesn't matter if the teacher knows you. If you sound like an enthusiastic student who really wants to take his class, he has the power to make it happen. I'd suggest mentioning that you need the class, but not making the email solely about that, also talk about how excited you are about the subject and would be really dissappointed if you didn't have the chance to study it

 

[Student2390]

Couldn’t you just be ready when registration opens and make sure you register immediately?

Yeah, forgot to mention that I'm a freshman, so my time ticket is pretty bad. That's what I'm concerned about.

 

[Alejandro]

depends on how busy the school is. if its huge, there's a fair chance the prof won't allow for overbookings and such. at least in my UG they didn't allow it. If its an upper div seminar course, you might be able to get away with it. But esp the weed-out ones, good luck. If your tutor recommended it, and he/she is a student there and has taken the course or whatever, I'd ask your tutor to see on what basis is he/she giving you this advice. I feel like someone to recommend that has already done it before with said professor, and he/she might actually be the better person to ask in terms of how to ask appropriately and get what you want./ Otherwise, as others have mentioned, you probably just need to register first thing and pray for the best.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah, forgot to mention that I'm a freshman, so my time ticket is pretty bad. That's what I'm concerned about.

Gotcha. Just email him and ask. Worst that happens is he says no. You’re going to have to message people you don’t know and ask them to do things for you on this path, so you might as well get used to it now.

 

[WIMNFamilyMed]

Yeah, forgot to mention that I'm a freshman, so my time ticket is pretty bad. That's what I'm concerned about.

Strategy at my undergrad: Have an upperclassmen (or friend who's in honors maybe, has more credits, or registers early for being military family) register for the class, and then drop it right when it becomes your registration time-slot. With our software (which I believe is super common), the course waitlist doesn't automatically pull anyone in, so there will be a seat open just for you!

 

[DameJulie]

At my school, professors are not in charge of registration and therefore cannot give you a spot in the class. But it is useful to tell him that you're interested in the class so he/she knows how many people are out there wanting the class but couldn't get it. Maybe they can petition for a larger classroom to fit more people

 

[ciestar]

At my UG, you could ask your professor if you can get a seat and if they say yes, you had to get a form signed by them to give to the registrar to manually add you. It doesn’t hurt to ask. As stated, worst he can do is tell you no.

However, odds are people will drop before the course starts and if not, many drop first week. Leave the spot open in your schedule and if you can, attend the first few classes if you cannot officially register before that.

 

[ciestar]

Oh, and OP, I did this my senior year and I did get permission from the professor to do this but only if i couldn’t get a seat and one opened up before I had to worry about it

 

[FlowRate]

In a worst-case scenario, schedule yourself such that you're able to make the time slot work--show up on the first day of class and ask the professor if you can be added after class is over.