DeKALB | At the start of every semester, students scramble to get into classes that are closed. Monday is the last day for undergraduates to add or drop a class.

Some students use the TRACS course server and its Web component, WebCONNECT, to shuffle their schedule during the first week or to pick up classes that were previously full. During the first week of classes, some students drop courses – and those lucky enough to find an open spot can often fill the vacancy by adding the class during the first week.

If that doesn’t work, some advisers recommend students ask the dean of their college if they would add a student in the class.

Likewise, the department advisers can also add a couple of additional students to an already full class.

Once a class has already been overloaded, a student might get into the closed class by asking the professor who teaches the class or an adviser. Some professors and advisers keep waiting lists.

Shannon Gates, academic adviser in the finance department, said she keeps first-come, first-serve waiting lists and can assure those students at the top a spot if someone drops the class.

“If the class’ capacity is 30, I have the ability to lower it to 25 to make sure no one sneaks in on TRACS so someone on the waiting list gets in,” Gates said.

Gates said she doesn’t believe difficulty getting in classes is a big problem, at least within her department.

“We do whatever we can to keep students on track for graduation, so I wouldn’t say it’s a huge problem overall.”

Other departments have too many students to fit into class sizes.

“We are limited by the number of computers,” said Brian Thornton, an associate professor in the communication department. “In the journalism department, we have three professors and nearly 300 students. We are allowing 25 students into a writing class when it is best to limit the number of students to 18 in this type of class so that we can give the students individual attention – lecture classes are easier to get into.”

Students can also receive special consideration by getting into the honors program. Many classes have a reserved section for honors students. Honors students also can register earlier than other students.