Introductory Seminars

Priority Enrollment Process & After

Overview & Steps

Priority enrollment in IntroSems is restricted to results of a quarterly student application and selection process, explicit permission of the instructor, and the programmatic opening of seminars with space available after applications each quarter. This special application, selection, and enrollment process is managed by IntroSems Program staff before Navigate Enrollment opens for course enrollment each quarter. 

  1. Students peruse seminar offerings in the dedicated IntroSems catalog at ExploreIntroSems.stanford.edu starting in August and apply for priority enrollment in their top three IntroSems per quarter in the IntroSems' VCA at VCAIS.stanford.edu by published quarterly deadlines.
    • In August, incoming frosh and first-year students receive a field guide to IntroSems inviting them to apply for seminars throughout the year (includes annual course listing with catalog numbers, course titles, and instructor names).
  2. IntroSems Program staff facilitate a faculty review of student applications in the IntroSems' VCA and enroll admitted students before course registration opens to students. See instructor review dates on the Teaching Resources page of this website.
    • As admitted students are uploaded from the IntroSems' VCA to Axess, the official class roster becomes available to instructors from their Teaching Tab in Axess.
  3. IntroSems with more applications than space may have waitlists created during an instructor's review in the IntroSems' VCA and these classes remain closed to general enrollment. A permission number from the instructor is required to enroll when there's space.
    • IntroSems' waitlists are managed with Axess permission numbers sent by the program to each instructor during priority enrollment. The permission numbers are set up to respect the enrollment cap.
    • Enrollment in IntroSems that fulfill the Writing 2 requirement remains restricted. All drops and adds from WR2 IntroSems are managed by the IntroSems Office in consultation with the instructor and PWR Office.

  4. Seminars that still have space after applications are opened for general self-enrollment in Coursedog by program staff (no Add Consent) and are advertised on the Space Available page in the IntroSems catalog. The cap manages the class size. Once a class becomes full, it automatically disappears from Space Available through an overnight system sync.

    Once Navigate Enrollment opens to students, department course administrators can feel comfortable modifying the enrollment cap of an IntroSem at an instructor's request (not to exceed 20) and/or issuing additional Axess permission numbers for waitlist management if an instructor runs out. For any questions, email introsems@stanford.edu.