Course Restrictions and Errors
We often recommend that Manage Classes be used for course registration if any problems come up while using My Schedule Builder. Students have reported that enroling through Manage Classes can result in fewer technical glitches vs. enroling directly from My Schedule Builder. The Registrar’s Office has created a guide to using Manage Classes for enrolment. Additional important information about enrolment can be found in their Student Registration Experience Guide.
If your registration failed
Some things you may want to check when you're having trouble enroling in a course:
- Do you have the listed prerequisites completed? Are you enroled in or have you completed the listed co-requisite?
- If you are missing the listed pre and/or corequisite in the course description, Bear Tracks will not let you enrol. If you are missing the corequisite, enrol in the specified corequisite then try enroling again.
- If you are a newly transferred student, are your transfer credits posted? This process can take up until the end of August to complete. If you are missing potential transfer credit that would qualify as a prerequisite, reach out to the teaching department of the course with your transcript to request manual enrolment.
- Are there any enrolment restrictions by the department applicable to the course?
- Check the clipboard icon next to the course title in Bear Tracks under the “Manage Classes” tile for details.
- Check for emails or other communication from the department regarding enrolment restrictions by year of study/units taken or other parameters.
- Are there reserved seats?
- Some courses will specify that a portion of seats are reserved for students in a particular Faculty or subject until a later date, which will make it seem like there are open seats when they are already reserved.
Note: Year of program, as referred to throughout the University Calendar, is defined below.
Students who are applying to or continuing in the Faculty of Science are considered to be in:
- Year 1 if they have successfully completed up to 29 units of course weight of their degree program;
- Year 2 if they have successfully completed between 30 and 59 units of course weight of their degree program;
- Year 3 if they have successfully completed between 60 and 89 units of course weight of their degree program;
- Year 4 if they have successfully completed at least 90 units of course weight of their degree program.
If a course you want is full
Courses are managed through the teaching departments. The Faculty of Science is not able to enrol students in courses. You will want to add every course section that you are interested in enroling to your Watch List, so you will receive a notification once a space becomes available
TIP: Be sure to uncheck "Open Classes" in the filters so you can also see the closed/full sections.
Course availability will continue to change throughout the Summer and into the beginning of September as students change their schedules. In some cases, departments may open additional sections to meet demand. Seats may also become available in many courses around mid-August after the confirmation deposit deadline, as all students who did not pay this deposit will be dropped from their courses.
Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that all students will get every course they want at the time they were hoping for, as demand is very high. A seat cannot be physically added if a class is full, so in some cases, you may be required to choose another course/section.
During the last few days before the add/drop deadline, we suggest checking Bear Tracks periodically throughout the day/evening as a course can be dropped at any time.
Enrolment Restrictions
Some courses that are in high demand and/or required by certain programs will implement restrictions to registration that can either delay or limit enrolment of certain categories of students. This helps ensure that the students who need the course to graduate can enrol first
Delayed Access (by year of study or by program)
Examples of restriction notes found in course descriptions:
- Restricted to students in Year 4 and 5 until XXX date. Restricted to students in Year 3 until XXX date. All other undergraduate students may begin registering on XXX date.
- Restricted to [FACULTY] students until July 1.
- Restricted to [PROGRAM] students until July 1.
By Program
Examples of restriction notes found in course descriptions:
- Restricted to students in [PROGRAM]
Department Consent is Required
If a course you want to enrol in indicates that “Department Consent is Required” through Bear Tracks or in the course description, please contact the appropriate Department that runs the course to request access. Departments are noted in BearTracks course listings under Manage Classes > Browse Course Catalog. Registration is not guaranteed, and could be subject to departmental restrictions.
Contact information is available on each department website. Here are some frequently contacted departments:
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
For departments within the Faculty of Science, you can always find the links listed here on our website.
For other departments outside the Faculty of Science, please see the University’s list of Faculties.
Registration Errors
Types of Error Messages
- Closed Class - A class may be closed to web registration due to department restrictions. Study-abroad, field studies, and practicum courses require students to complete a separate application prior to being enroled.
- Full Class - If a class is full you will be unable to enrol. You can add the class to your Watch List to receive a text notification when a spot becomes available. Once you receive this text, you can log in to Bear Tracks to attempt to register for that class again. (Watch list registration is first-come, first-served. All students are notified so don’t delay!)
- Pre/Co-Requisites - If you are missing the listed pre and/or corequisite in the course description, Bear Tracks will not let you enrol. If you are missing the corequisite, enrol in the specified corequisite then try enroling again. If you have taken a prerequisite from another faculty or institution, Bear Tracks may not recognize it. Get in touch with the teaching Department to request a manual enrolment.
- Registration Limit - Enrolment limits are set to 15 units per Fall and Winter terms, and 6 units per Spring and Summer. Faculty of Science students may request the ability to enrol in one extra class per term (Non-Standard Course Load) from SCIforms. If granted, this will extend your enrolment to a maximum of *18 units in a Fall or Winter term or *9 units in a Spring or Summer term. To qualify, you must have achieved a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a course load of *30 units in the most recent Fall/Winter year.
- Repeat Class - If you are enroling in a class that you have already been granted credit for, Bear Tracks will allow you to enrol but will receive a message stating “you have registered in a class that you have previously taken.” Students at the U of A are not permitted to receive credit for the same course twice with the exception of some Special Topics courses.
- Financial Hold - You will be unable to add any classes to your schedule if you have any outstanding fees. In Bear Tracks, click on the “Financial Account”" tile to see if you have a hold on your record, the amount owing, and which department you need to contact to clear the hold. Once your fees have been paid the financial hold will be lifted and you will be able to enrol in classes. Students should contact the Student Service Centre if they require assistance or have questions about their fees.