ENGRC Waitlist Information

For all ENGRC WAITLIST APPLICANTS, PLEASE READ this entire page.

This page explains how pre-enroll, enrollment, early inquiries, and waitlists work for ENGRC courses, administered by the Engineering Communications Program. If you see a seat available in a course you want, sign up via Student Center.

Note: ECP cannot enroll or waitlist students who do not have their status updated via the Registrar’s Office; it’s important that students–especially seniors– monitor that their class status is accurate. As well, students are responsible for their own progress to graduation. Be pro-active about enrolling in an opportunity to fulfill your Engineering Communications Requirement as soon as possible in your undergraduate career.

During Pre-Enroll

Seniors (level 42, per your class standing in Student Center):

During pre-enroll, if you see a seat available in a course you want, sign up via Student Center immediately. You are responsible for enrolling during your allotted time.

If the class you want is full, use the Waitlist. To find the waitlist, in the Roster page, open the course sample syllabus. There, you will find a link to a Google doc that holds all waitlisting for all sections.  Adding yourself to the waitlist does not guarantee a seat in the course. There are more details in the FAQ below.  As well, you can send an email to  engrcomm_info@cornell.edu   to get more information. 

Juniors: During pre-enroll, you may join the waitlist. 

If the class you want is full, use the Waitlist. To find the waitlist, in the Roster page, open the course sample syllabus. There, you will find a link to a Google doc that holds all waitlisting for all sections.  Adding yourself to the waitlist does not guarantee a seat in the course. There are more details in the FAQ below.  As well, you can send an email to  engrcomm_info@cornell.edu   to get more information. 

During Drop/Add

During the drop/add period, any open seats will be reserved for seniors (levels 42 and 41, per your class standing in Student Center).  After the first week, ECP will begin to offer open seats to juniors who joined the waitlist during pre-enroll or drop/add.

All students on the waitlist will have their status confirmed by the Engineering Communications Program before being admitted to the course.  If you are admitted to an ENGRC course where you have been waitlisted, we will email you with a PIN for enrollment. The PIN must be used within 24 hours of being issued, or your spot will be given to the next student.

Enrollment decisions are at the sole discretion of the Engineering Communications Program (ECP); ECP courses have strict enrollment capacities due to their Communication-Intensive designation.

FAQ

1. How do I add myself to a waitlist?

Answer: A limited number of classes have online waitlists. If the class you want is full, use the Waitlist. To find the waitlist, in the Roster page, open the course sample syllabus. There, you will find a link to a Google doc that holds all waitlisting for all sections.  Adding yourself to the waitlist does not guarantee a seat in the course. There are more details in the FAQ below.  As well, you can send an email to  engrcomm_info@cornell.edu  to get more information. 

Using that waitlist, the Engineering Communications Program will assign places on the waitlist as follows, during drop/add periods:

  1. Second-semester seniors (confirmed status 42), alphabetized by last name in reverse order (Z-A).
  2. First-semester seniors (confirmed status 41), by last name in reverse order (Z-A).
  3. Second-semester Juniors (confirmed status 32), by last name in reverse order (Z-A).

The waitlist starts afresh each semester. Therefore, you will need to fill this out each time you want to be waitlisted.

2. Can you (the instructor or ECP) reserve a spot in a specific class for me?

Answer: No. Students sometimes argue that their case deserves special consideration because they need to graduate on time, graduate early, study abroad, fulfill both the Engineering Communications Requirement and the liberal studies requirement, do a co-op/internship, do early MEng, fulfill both the Engineering Communications Requirement and the organizational behavior requirement, complete a minor, complete a second major, their computer/wifi didn’t work, the registration system malfunctioned while they were registering, or because they could not register on time, or any other of a host of reasons.  

Most students waitlisted for these courses have compelling reasons to add the course; the instructor cannot choose among them.

3. I need this class. Why are “seats” or enrollments limited?

Answer: The idea of “seats” for a class is a kind of shorthand that the university uses to mean “workload for the instructor.” Therefore, some classes have limited capacity because of workload for the instructors.

If you would like a fuller explanation of programmatic enrollment policy, budgetary constraints for classes in the College of Engineering, or other issues, please use this email: engrcomm_info@cornell.edu. You are also welcome to contact the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Program (Dr. Alan Zehnder) or COE Dean (Dr. Lynden Archer).

4. Will you make an exception to the rules for me?

Answer: No. These procedural rules were created in response to registration issues from the past semesters, and they will be applied fairly to all.

5. Would you reconsider your answer to #4, given that my case deserves special consideration?

Answer: No. Students sometimes argue that their case deserves special consideration because they need to graduate on time, graduate early, study abroad, fulfill both the Engineering Communications Requirement and the liberal studies requirement, do a co-op/internship, do early M.Eng., fulfill both the Engineering Communications Requirement and the organizational behavior requirement, complete a minor, complete a second major, their computer/wifi didn’t work, the registration system malfunctioned while they were registering, or because they could not register on time, or any other of a host of reasons.  Most students waitlisted for these courses have compelling reasons to add the course; the instructor cannot choose among them.

6. If I can’t add my desired course, how should I fulfill the Engineering Communications Requirement?

Answer: For questions about how to complete your Engineering Communication Requirement, please consult your departmental engineering advisor first, along with the Undergraduate Handbook. Then, use this email: engrcomm_info@cornell.edu for further questions.

More information about the Engineering Communication Requirement

Email engrcomm_info@cornell.edu for further questions.

Updated Oct 2022