Supporting faculty and students in course registration, enrollment, and more.
Part of Student Services, the Bowers Registrar team assists the Bowers community in academic planning and policy guidance, course registration, enrollment services, grade processing, petitions, and room scheduling. We are here to help.
Submit a Course Support ticket
Course Enrollment Policies + Restrictions
Due to high demand, many Bowers courses have enrollment restrictions. During pre-enrollment, most courses are reserved for students majoring in that department. Non-majors, including minors, typically must wait until the add/drop period to request enrollment through course waitlists.
Course Restrictions
- Review course restrictions with the Course Roster and within our department-specific information below before you try to enroll.
- In courses with co-meet sections, graduate and professional students must always enroll in the graduate section.
Course Waitlists
- Can’t get the course you want? Always enroll in a backup course.
- When add/drop opens, add yourself to the course waitlist via Student Center
- We will send you a permission number (PIN) if you get a spot in the course.
- We begin sending PINs at the end of the first week of the add/drop period.
- Please do not submit a ticket to inquire about your waitlist or PIN status.
- Review department-specific policies and our frequently asked questions.
Discussion Section Swaps
- Any swaps must be done in Student Center.
- Discussion sections require available seats to swap. Watch out—if the section you want is full, you’ll be automatically dropped from the course.
- Learn more about swaps.
1000 - 3000 Level Courses
- Open enrollment (first-come, first-served), except for CS 3700 and CS 3780.
- CS 3700 and CS 3780 pre-enrollment is open to CS majors only; other students can add themselves to the course waitlist during add/drop.
4000 - 5000 Level Courses
- 4000-level course pre-enrollment is open to CS majors only.
- 5000-level course pre-enrollment is open to CS MEng students only.
- All other students may add themselves to course waitlists.
- Waitlists open in Student Center during add/drop.
- “Early admit” CS MEng students will not be able to pre-enroll in 5000-level CS courses.
- Please join the 5000-level section waitlists during add/drop—do not enroll in the undergraduate section.
6000-Level Courses
- Most are restricted to CS MS and PhD student enrollment.
- Instructor permission is required.
- Check the Course Roster for specific restrictions.
1000-2000 Level Courses
- Pre-enrollment is limited to IS and ISST majors and unaffiliated students in Arts and Sciences and Engineering.
- Waitlists open in Student Center during add/drop.
3000-4000 Level Courses
- Pre-enrollment is limited to IS and ISST majors.
- Waitlists open in Student Center during add/drop.
5000-6000 Level Courses
- 5000-level pre-enrollment limited to IS MPS students
- “Early credit action” IS MPS students need to wait for add/drop to add themselves to 5000-level INFO courses. Please do not enroll in the undergraduate sections.
- 6000-level courses are primarily for PhD students.
- Check the Course Roster for specific restrictions.
- Select high-demand courses restricted to department undergraduate majors (BTRY and STSCI) or MPS Applied Statistics students.
- All other courses are first-come, first-served during the pre-enroll period.
- Waitlists will be available for restricted courses and those that reach capacity.
- Waitlists open in Student Center during add/drop.
- Check the Course Roster for specific restrictions.
The Bowers Registrar Office manages Bowers Ithaca campus courses. Questions about Bowers courses at Cornell Tech should be directed to studentaffairs [at] tech.cornell.edu (studentaffairs[at]tech[dot]cornell[dot]edu).
Enrollment + Waitlist FAQs
Before submitting a help desk ticket, please review these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If your question isn't answered here, submit a ticket through our Courses Help page.
Most courses are initially restricted to majors or graduates in that department. Non-majors can join waitlists during add/drop.
Course waitlists open once add/drop begins. To add yourself to the waitlist:
- Go to Student Center
- On the “Select a Class to Add - Enrollment Preferences” page
- Check the “waitlist if class is full” box BEFORE completing enrollment
- Finish checking out your “shopping cart”.
Our team checks course waitlists on a daily basis. You will receive an email with a registration PIN if space is available.
Due to high demand for our courses, we can’t offer pre-enrollment to our minors. Please add yourself to course waitlists in Student Center during add/drop.
Non-majors and graduate students from outside of Bowers can join waitlists in Student Center once add/drop opens. See Key Academic Dates for add/drop schedules.
For courses with combined undergraduate and graduate student sections:
- Graduate and professional students must enroll in the 5000-level course.
- Undergraduates must take the 4000-level course unless they are an approved early admit student to a Bowers professional master’s degree program.
A: Yes, but only if the section you want has open seats. Attempting to switch to a full section will automatically drop you from the course. Learn more about swaps.
Student Center waitlist numbers don't reflect actual priority. We send PINs in this order, pending availability:
- Department majors
- Other Bowers majors
- All other students
Within each group, we start with seniors and work down by class year and term. Graduate courses similarly prioritize their department’s students.
We begin distributing PINs via email at the end of the first week of add/drop. PINs are issued on an every-other-day basis, as space allows, until the end of the add period.
You'll receive and email with enrollment instructions and a non-transferable PIN number. PINs are typically good for only 24 hours. Please keep an eye on your email and follow the directions carefully
Check the Course Roster for application instructions and deadlines. Courses with application requirements typically don't use Student Center waitlists. The professor will email you an enrollment PIN if you are accepted into the course.
Forms + Petitions
Forms and petitions (e.g., over-credit) must be requested through your enrolling college’s Registrar Office. Relevant offices for Bowers students are:
Access the College Registrar Directory for other college information.
Meet the team.
Location: Computing and Information Science Building
