Frequently Asked Questions

Your enrollment appointment is emailed to your SFU email account two weeks before the start of enrollment. Courses fill up quickly. We recommend enrolling / adding yourself to the waitlist on your enrollment date to avoid disappointment.  

Please review before you enroll:

• Current academic calendar
• Dates and deadlines

(Note: you can drop classes after enrolling in them, but you should be aware of the potential academic and/or financial penalties, depending on when you drop a course)

Step 1

Review your Academic Progress Report (APR)* and your advising transcript, which are helpful course planning tools.

*If you are unsure or the APR does not work for you, check in with a SIAT advisor or review the academic calendar.

Step 2

Check goSFU and / or mySchedule to see what courses will be offered in the upcoming semester.

HELPFUL TIPS:

Read the class notes, which have important information on reserved seats.

You can review courses (prerequisites, course descriptions,  and course outlines) and program requirements in the academic calendar.

Step 3

Put together a course plan for the semester. It is also helpful to put together a backup plan just in case some of your first-choice classes are full.

Step 4

If you still have questions about course planning, contact a SIAT advisor – bring your course plan to review!

We advise students to choose WQB courses that they would be interested in taking—but which courses specifically? That’s up to you! To make the search a bit easier, here’s a helpful tip:

You can filter for WQB courses in goSFU: Class Search > Additional Search Criteria > WQB Designation

• Remember to select the upcoming Term under “Term”

• We recommend searching specifically for "All Breadth Social Science," “All Quantitative,” etc., so you see the most course options 
• In Additional Search Criteria, you can also filter for "Mode of Instruction" (e.g., Distance Education) and "Campus" (e.g., Vancouver)

Course Reserves:

Many departments reserve enrollment in some courses for their major/minor students, including SIAT. Some courses do not move to open enrollment and so are inaccessible to students not enrolled in that particular major/minor.  

If you don’t meet the seat reserves for a course:

• Check the course notes—some seats are only reserved until open enrollment
• If the reserves will lift at open enrollment, join the course waitlist and keep an eye on your waitlist position

Prerequisites:

If you don’t have the prerequisites for a course:

• Fill out the SIAT appeal form outlining how you have met the prerequisite requirements through other courses.
• Send the form and your advising transcript to our SIAT advisor.

Your request will be reviewed by SIAT’s Undergraduate Committee Chair.

KEEP IN MIND

Sometimes the answer will be “no.” Make sure to enroll in a back-up course. Some classes will remain reserved and / or prerequisites will remain required.

IF IT’S NOT AN IAT COURSE

SIAT advisors cannot enroll students in courses offered by other departments or waive pre-requisites for their courses. Check the website of the department offering the course for more information on their registration policies (and see the next FAQ).

SIAT advisors can only help with IAT classes. If you can’t get into a class from another department, please contact the advisor for that department. A list of advisors can be found here.

Here are some common reasons why students are blocked from enrolling or waitlisting in courses. This includes being blocked from moving from the waitlist into a class. You can check all of these in your goSFU account:

• you have or will be enrolled in more than 18 units (maximum enrollment limit per term is 18 units)
• you have or will be wait listed for more than 8 units (maximum wait list limit per term is 8 units)
• you do not have the prerequisites or meet the seat reserves (see Prerequisites and Seat Reserves FAQ)
• there is a time conflict with your enrolled course (see Time Conflicts FAQ)
• you have an outstanding tuition balance or financial hold  (see instructions on paying tuition, and if you have any questions about the charges contact SFU Student Accounts)

If a class is full, you can still put yourself on a wait-list if one exists. You can monitor your enrollment and waitlist positions via goSFU. Wait lists run until the first week of class, after that the wait list is visible but not running. Wait lists are removed at the beginning of week three.  

To monitor your waitlist position in goSFU: Student Centre > Enrollment Activity (under “Other Academic” dropdown menu)

NOTE

SIAT wait lists are first-come-first-served and individuals on the wait list will be added to courses in the order that they joined the wait list as spaces become available in the course.

• SFU Help Videos – if you need a refresher on how to search, browse, or enroll in classes.
• MySchedule and goSFU – use to prepare enrollment plans and add / drop / swap classes.
• SFU Student Services Enrollment support – help with how to add / drop / swap classes, terminology, enrollment appointment, etc.