FAQ

Can I bid on courses that meet at the same time?

You may bid on, and be accepted in, courses that have overlapping times; you will not have to remove those conflicts until the close of the add/drop period in the first week of classes. 

Does submitting my bids earlier in the bidding period influence my results?

There is no advantage to bidding early and no disadvantage to submitting your preferences at the end of the early course selection period. 

How many units can I add to my cart?

You may bid on more than 20 units, but you will be accepted into a maximum of 20 units. By the end of add/drop you should have no more than 16 units on your schedule.

How many courses can I add to my cart?

You can add up to a total of 16 courses to your cart but you are not required to submit course selections for every enrollment category, or for the maximum number of courses.

For Limited Enrollment course selections, you may select up to five course bids: one first choice, one second choice, and up to three-third choice bids.

For Faculty Permission course selections, you may select up to three choice bids.

For Experiential course selections, you may select up to four choice bids.

For Open Enrollment course selections, you may select up to four choice bids.

If a course has variable units how will the lottery allocate those units?

Courses with variable units will be enrolled for the minimum number of units.

How do I know if a course requires an application?

If a course requires an application material/s, it will be posted in the Course Bidding portion of the course description in YLS:Courses.

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How do I know how many students a professor will accept?

A faculty member may set a limit on or special qualifications for enrollment in a course.

• If the faculty member specifies the number of students, the enrollment maximum will display on the course details page.

• If the faculty member limits the course but does not specify the exact number of students, the course description will state Enrollment limited or Permission of the instructor required.

• If no such limitations have been set, enrollment in a course will be limited only by the availability of classroom space.

What is the difference between Experiential courses and courses that Meet the Experiential Unit Requirement?

Experiential (in bold in the center of the course card) refers to the bidding category. Not all courses in the experiential bidding category count towards the experiential requirement. Courses meeting the experiential unit requirement will display Meets the experiential unit requirement on the right side of the course card. To find courses that meet the experiential unit requirement, use the Requirements filter. Note that experiential credit for fieldwork sections is only available when enrolled in the corresponding seminar course and seminar + fieldwork may be only be counted towards one requirement per semester.

Why do I have to bid on open enrollment courses?

The order in which you list open enrollment courses indicates your weighted preference for which courses are added to your schedule, up to a maximum of 20 units. You may also add open enrollment courses during add/drop at the beginning of the the term, provided there is no waiting list.

No more than 150 students can be accepted for any course, even if no cap has been announced. Some courses may have lower caps due to classroom availability. If any such unrestricted course is oversubscribed, acceptances will be determined by the combination of weighted preference and year in Law School, and the waiting list will be randomly assigned within the weighted preferences. 

What is the maximum number of units I can bid on?

There is no limit in the number of units that you can bid on however, you can be accepted up to a maximum of 20 units.

Why can’t I add the seminar/fieldwork section of a clinic to my cart?

If you are unable to add a seminar or fieldwork section to your cart, the fieldwork is required for all students enrolled in the seminar. If you are accepted into the seminar, the Registrar’s Office will enroll you in the corresponding fieldwork. There is no need to bid on the same clinic offering twice.

How do I know if a course is cross-listed?

If a course is cross-listed, it will appear on both YLS:Courses and the Yale Course Search.
It will appear in the YLS course description if a course has a cross-listing.

How do I enroll in courses in Yale College, the School of Management, or other professional schools?

Information on taking non-law courses can be found on the YLS Registrar’s Office web site under Registration > Courses Outside the Law School. Non-law courses are not included in early course registration.