Fall-term courses always begin on a Wednesday. You must file your schedule for the fall term roughly two weeks later (the exact date is listed in the Yale College Calendar with Pertinent Deadlines). You may thus defer your final decisions concerning courses until you have had a chance to meet with your academic adviser, visit classes (during course selection period), and consult instructors and other advisers.
You are eligible to take all of the courses that other Yale undergraduates may take, with the exception of two programs limited to traditional first-years (Directed Studies, and First-Year Seminars).
In some departments, fall-term seminars restricted to majors may have been filled during spring or summer pre-registration periods. However, by contacting the course instructor or director of undergraduate studies (DUS) of the relevant department, you may gain entry to such a seminar (see the Directory of DUSs, Assistants, and Registrars).
If you see a limited-enrollment course (designated by a star) in the Yale College Programs of Study you would like to take, please contact the relevant DUS directly to ask to be enrolled in the course or that your name be placed on the waiting list, if there is one. You might also consider attending the first meeting of a limited-enrollment course to make yourself available to fill the spot of any preregistered student who has decided not to take that particular class.
Another resource for tips on course selection is the team of Transfer Peer Advisers (“TPAs”). While each transfer student is assigned to a particular transfer counselor, you are encouraged to talk to any counselor, especially if you note by their brief biography that you have academic or other interests in common.
