Spring 2026 Registration

Students submit course requests during Advance Registration. These results will be released on November 17th, after the Optimizer runs its reports. Students then finalize their course registration during Add/Drop/Swap.

Add/Drop/Swap Checklist

• ADD courses with all linked sections (LEC, LAB, REC) to your cart in Path@Penn. 
• SUBMIT Permission Requests (PR) for courses in which you have not completed the listed prerequisite(s), are restricted by level, or want to join the waitlist.
• COMPLETE any corresponding Waitlisty forms. If you skip this step, you will not successfully join the waitlist and also not have the potential for prerequisite overrides to be processed for registration. 
• WAIT for your permission requests to be reviewed and potential overrides to be processed.

• CONTACT relevant Departments (CIS, MEAM, etc), if you require permission for non-ESE courses.   

Intro to Waitlisty

The Waitlisty system builds on the Permission Request (PR) functionality built into Path@Penn. Sometimes a waitlist course may have open slots, but you are unable to register for that open slot until your PR is approved.

Being on the waitlist means that there is no guarantee that you will be able to register for that course. Because of this, you must have a fallback plan in the event that you cannot take the waitlisted course. For instance, you could tentatively enroll in a different class that will satisfy another degree requirement, and plan to take the waitlisted class in a future semester.

Permission Request

The first step is submitting a PR via Path for a waitlist course (see instructions below or official ones from SRFS). 

A PR is always created for a specific course and section. If you created a PR for a recitation but actually need to get into the lecture (or the undergrad version of a cross-listed course but you want the grad version instead), you will have to create a new PR. PRs cannot be edited after the fact.

Find the course in Path and click Add to Primary Cart. Then, click Request permission for this course:

Type why you want to take the course in the Permission Request field; we’ll follow-up with course-specific questions later. For now, just hit Ok…

…and finally, Save Changes. 

At the start of Add/Drop, Waitlisty will be available for you to provide course-specific information like explaining how you satisfy the pre-reqs, why you want to take the course, etc. You must submit a PR via Path@Penn to gain access to the Waitlisty site.

Successful PR in Path@Penn

A successfully submitted permit request will be noted as Pending with an hourglass icon:

Path@Penn Cart Icons

While course shopping, you may notice some icons in your Path@Penn cart:

• A blue cart indicates that the course is in one of your carts.
• A black check mark shows you are registered.
• A green check mark indicates you passed the course previously.
• A red line shows you are going to drop the section.
• A black pencil shows you are changing the registration options.
• A yellow triangle with an exclamation point shows a warning:
  • Section is full
  • Existing Hold on account
  • Existing Time Conflict with excluded times
  • Missing a required Pre- or Co-requisite
  • Existing Reserve seats (you do not meet the criteria if you see this message)

* For all triangle warnings except Holds, you must submit a PR via Path@Penn to be considered for registration.

Editing Waitlisty Forms

Unfortunately, students are unable to edit Waitlisty forms once they are submitted. If you withdraw your request, in hopes to edit your response and resubmit it, you will be removed permanently from the waitlist.

Timeline for Decisions

PRs are processed periodically during Advance Registration through the end of the Add/Drop/Swap period. We appreciate your patience as ESE course enrollments fluctuate throughout this time.  

Due to the volume of requests and individual course registration policies, we are unable to notify you of your spot on ESE waitlists and whether or not you will receive permission.

Please do not email the instructor of your requested course unless instructed by ESE staff.

Approved Permission Requests

If your PR is approved, you’ll receive a notice from Path. You then have a chance to register for the course in Path.

If your PR is approved but the class is full, you cannot register.

Due to an inability to revoke approved PRs and, as a result, students sitting on approved-but-unused PRs, waitlist courses are often mildly oversubscribed. Thus, an approved PR is no guarantee that you’ll be able to register for a course. So always use an approved PR right away!

Once you’ve registered for a waitlist class, please be careful not to accidentally drop it. If you do this, we cannot guarantee that you will be able to register again!

Leaving the Waitlist

If you are no longer interested in registering for a waitlist course, you should withdraw your request. You can do so via Waitlisty during Add/Drop.