Advising & Registration

All undergraduate Computer Science classes starting at the level of CSCI 2400 and above are restricted to computer science majors only for the first 3 weeks of registration. After that, major restrictions are lifted unless otherwise noted in the course catalog. Check the notes section of a class in your Buff Portal for specific dates when these restrictions will be lifted. Given the rapid growth our department has experienced recently, these restrictions are necessary to give our majors first priority for the available seats. Computer science majors should register as soon as possible when their assigned enrollment window opens to be sure they have a seat in classes they need to stay on track for graduation. 

Note: Classes at the CSCI 13XX level and CSCI 2270 do not have these temporary restrictions.

Please see the CU Boulder course catalog for detailed information about course requisites (prerequisites and co-requisites). Requisites for CSCI classes are strictly enforced.

Students wanting to use transfer credit to satisfy prerequisites are responsible for having their transcripts sent to the campus admissions office as early as possible to initiate the transfer credit evaluation. 

Students must have a compelling reason for a requisite override request. Requests can be submitted using the Requisite Override Request form. Filling out the form is the first step. Please do not contact the instructor for permission to waive prerequisites unless we contact you during petition review requesting the instructor's input. (Instructor permission does not guarantee an override will be approved.)  Requests will be considered on a space-available basis the week before classes begin. Note that you must be logged into G Suite (formerly Google Apps) with your CU credentials to complete this form; see the OIT G Suite page for help. 

Note: MATH 1081 does not satisfy the Calculus 1 requirement for the Computer Science BA, BS, minor, or Computer Science class prerequisites. 

Classes that include a recitation or lab component require enrollment in both the lecture and recitation/lab components. If there are open seats in the lecture but you waitlist for a full recitation you will be waitlisted for the class as a whole. It is not possible to be enrolled in one component without the other. Please keep this in mind during registration so you do not end up on a waitlist when there are open seats in another section. 

Students on the waitlist for a class might have access to that class in Canvas; however, that does not equate to being enrolled in the class. Always refer to your course schedule in your Buff Portal for official enrollment status, and remember that being on a waitlist is not the same as being enrolled (nor does it guarantee you will get into the class).

All Computer Science courses at the 5000-level (CSCI 5XXX) are restricted to graduate students only. This is a permanent restriction (unlike the temporary major restrictions for our undergraduate courses) and includes main campus distance sections (sections ending with a "B"). There is also a temporary reserve on the CSCI graduate sections that allows Computer Science graduate students to have first priority during enrollment. That reserve lifts in the second week of August (for fall) and in the second week of December (for spring). Once that lifts, undergraduate students still cannot enroll on their own because of the permanent restriction on these sections (mentioned in the second sentence of this paragraph). 

If you are an undergraduate Computer Science major who would like to take a graduate CSCI or CYBR course, please complete the CSCI/CYBR Graduate Course Request. Review of these requests will begin in early August (for fall), in early December (for spring), and in late April (for summer) on a space-available basis only. Important: Computer Science majors requesting a CSCI graduate course must have a 3.5 GPA or higher in their computer science coursework. (Non-Computer Science majors, please use the petition form at this link: https://www.colorado.edu/cs/students/graduate-students/forms-policies#pe... .)

If you are waitlisted for a class, we strongly encourage you have a backup plan in case you do not get a seat in the class. Your academic advisor can help discuss your options. While we do our best to accommodate waitlisted students, it is safer to assume that you will not get into a waitlisted class and plan accordingly. Especially in cases where it would affect your full-time student status if you do not get into a waitlisted class, you are encouraged to enroll in your backup classes ahead of the add deadline, and then drop the backup if you are able to get into the first choice. 

Most Computer Science classes have resequenced waitlists which gives Computer Science majors first priority (seniors, then juniors, etc.), then Computer Science minors (seniors, then juniors, etc.), and then the waitlist is ordered chronologically. If you see your waitlist position change in an unexpected way, this is most likely the reason. This is another reason students should not assume that they will get into waitlisted classes. 

At 11:59 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each semester (the same time that students can no longer add themselves to classes), the waitlists for all CU Boulder full-semester classes are frozen. When waitlists freeze, empty seats are no longer filled automatically from the waitlist. Any enrollment from the waitlist after this point is considered a "Late Add."

Late Adds require instructor approval. (The instructor's approval can depend on whether or not the student has been attending and keeping up with the coursework.) Late-adds are also subject to available seats and course prerequisites.

If you see an opening in a section that fits with your schedule (no time conflicts with another course) and would like to request a late-add from the waitlist, please send the following to the instructor. This must originate from your “@colorado.edu” email address: 

• Your 9-digit student ID number
• The open section(s) that would work for you, including recitation or lab if applicable..(Note: the system doesn’t allow enrollment in linked lectures and recitations to be mixed: 1xx recitations go with lecture 100, 2xx recitations go with lecture 200, etc.)
• A note about your involvement in the class so far.

Please forward that approval to Beth Webb 

Requests will be processed in the order in which they are received, even if different from waitlist order. (If more than one approval is received at the same time for the same opening, priority goes to the student nearest to the top of the waitlist.) Students should clear any holds on their student account before sending their request.

Department staff do not have access to add anyone to a waitlist after the deadline. 

Waitlists across campus are purged after close of business on the third Friday of the semester (also known as census date).This date varies for summer terms; please refer to the Summer Session calendar. Students are not notified when this happens because being on the waitlist is not the same as being enrolled. Purging waitlists does not constitute dropping students from a class (which would require notification). Please see the Registrar’s website regarding waitlists.

Note: Late-adds will not be approved after waitlists are purged. Students who are not enrolled by this date should stop attending the waitlisted class and consider the Course Reservation program (see below). Students who do not get into a waitlisted class should have a backup plan and contact their academic advisor immediately to discuss other options.

Course reservation allows eligible students to enroll in classes for which they were waitlisted (and did not get in) during the previous semester. Please see the Registrar's Course Reservation page for more information. 

Students can drop a class via Buff Portal during the first 10 weeks of each semester (drops after the third Wednesday receive a W grade and no refunds). Students are urged to use caution when dropping a class and to contact their advisor before doing so. Dropping a class can affect full-time student status, financial aid, eligibility for athletics and other extracurriculars, and progress toward degree requirements. If you do decide to drop a class, please click carefully. There is no "undo" button, and if you drop the wrong class by mistake there is no guarantee you will be able to get your seat back. 

Students can drop a class without penalty until 11:59 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each semester. After that date, students who drop a class will receive a "W" grade on their transcript and will not receive any tuition/fee refund for that class. 

W grades do not factor into your GPA; however, a transcript showing many W grades might raise concerns for future employers and/or on graduate school applications. Contact your advisor if you have questions or concerns. 

Students can drop a class via Buff Portal through the tenth week of each semester (remember all classes dropped after the third Wednesday receive a "W" grade and no tuition/fee refund). After 11:59 p.m. Friday of the tenth week, students must petition the dean of their primary major's college to drop a class (this may be different than the dean of the college that offers the course). The dean's office of each college may have unique requirements, and petitions are not automatically approved.

• College of Arts and Sciences late-drop petition
• College of Engineering late-drop petition
• If your primary major is in another college, you should contact their dean's office directly 

Switching or swapping sections of the same class can only be done if there is an open seat in the section you are moving into. If you are already enrolled in a class but want to switch to another recitation, for example, there must be an open seat in that new recitation. If not, you will be dropped from the class and put on the waitlist for the new section. Please check seat availability carefully; once you drop a class there is no guarantee that department staff will be able to help you get that seat again. 

Students can switch or swap sections of a class via your Buff Portal through the initial add deadline, the second Wednesday of each semester. 

After the add deadline, but before the drop deadline (between the second and third Wednesdays of each semester), students hoping to switch sections of a class can contact Student Services & Curriculum Coordinator Beth Webb for assistance. There must be an open seat in the new section you want. Requests must originate from your "@colorado.edu" email, include your 9-digit student ID number and the relevant class information including the "from" and "to" sections. Students should clear any holds on their student account before sending their request.

Special Action Forms are required to switch sections of a class after the W-drop deadline (third Wednesday of each semester). There must be an open seat in the section you want to move into, and instructor approval is required. Once the instructor (or designated department member) has signed the Special Action Form, students may deliver the form to the Registrar's office in Regent Hall for processing. If the student cannot deliver the form by hand, department staff can mail it but this delays processing of the form. Instructors can work with the Student Services & Curriculum Coordinator to complete Special Action Forms. 

The Department of Computer Science strictly enforces registration deadlines. Late-adds will not be approved after waitlists are purged. Students who are not enrolled by this date should stop attending the waitlisted class and consider the Course Reservation program (see above). Students who do not get into a waitlisted class by the add deadline should contact their academic advisor before the end of the third week to discuss other options.

The deadline to add or waitlist for a class is 11:59 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each semester. After this date, students can no longer enroll or add themselves to a waitlist and existing waitlists are "frozen" (meaning that open seats are no longer automatically filled from the waitlist). Any add after this date is considered a late add and requires instructor approval. The instructor's approval can depend on whether or not the student has been attending and keeping up with the coursework. Late-adds are also subject to available seats and course prerequisites.

If you see an opening in a section that fits with your schedule (no time conflicts with another course) and would like to request a late-add, please send the following to the instructor. This must originate from your “@colorado.edu” email address: 

• Your 9-digit student ID number
• The open section(s) that would work for you, including recitation or lab if applicable. (Note: the system doesn’t allow enrollment in linked lectures and recitations to be mixed: 1xx recitations go with lecture 100, 2xx recitations go with lecture 200, etc.)
• A note about your interest in the course and/or your involvement in the class so far.

Please forward that approval to Beth Webb 

Requests will be processed in the order in which they are received (on a space available basis). Students should clear any holds on their student account before sending their request.

The drop deadline is 11:59 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each semester. After that date, students can still drop a class via Buff Portal but will receive a W grade for that class on their transcript and will not receive any tuition/fee refund for that class. 

Students can late-drop a class via myCUinfo until the tenth Friday of each semester (with a W grade and no refund). After the tenth week of the semester students must petition the dean of their college to drop a class. Submitting a petition does not guarantee it will be approved, and each college may have different policies. Contact your academic advisor if you have questions about this process. 

Registration is suspended for all continuing students during the summer in order to allow incoming students to register during New Student Welcome. Continuing students can access registration (add/drop) again in mid-August.