Records & Registration | Lottery

Registration is done through a weighted lottery system. There may be some highly sought-after courses in which demand outweighs seat availability. The weighted lottery system will give all students in one cohort (e.g., with the same graduation date) an equal chance of getting into the classes they’ve chosen.

Please refer to our Albert lottery how-to guide for step-by-step instructions.

Please verify your current expected graduation date. Students who have an expected graduation date for the current semester will not be able to participate in the upcoming lottery. If you need to update your graduation date, you may do so following the instructions listed here.
 
Another common reason why a student may not have the option to lottery is because they did not maintain matriculation for the previous semester. For details on maintaining matriculation, please contact Academic Affairs and Advising.
 
If neither of the above scenarios apply to you, please provide us with your N# and we will further research the issue and provide you with an update as soon as possible.

We advise students to prioritize their sections in order of preference. However, for information on maximum enrollments, our elective enrollment history dashboard may be helpful.

We advise students to prioritize their sections in order of preference.

Hint: The enrollment history dashboard was created to assist our MBA students with their lottery and schedule planning. 

Absolutely not. The lottery will evaluate your primary choices before reviewing alternate selections. Including an alternate will reduce the likelihood of not getting a course at all.

Number your two 1.5 alternate selections the same number as your primary selection. For example, alternate selections "Alternate 1a" and "Alternate 1b" correspond to your primary selection "1".

The system will not allow you to submit your 3.0 credit alternate selection. Instead, submit all your lottery selections including your two 1.5 credit primary selections with no alternate selection and send an e-mail to registrn@stern.nyu.edu. Include your University ID (N#), course and section number of your 3.0 credit alternate selection and the corresponding two 1.5 credit primary selections.

You can use the reverse course lookup tool in Albert.

You can find the list of specializations and the corresponding classes here. You can also contact the Office of Academic Affairs & Advising if you have any further questions.

You can place yourself on the waitlist during Add/Drop. Be sure to include and special considerations surrounding your request. Do not ask instructors for permission to enroll as they do not control enrollment or manage waitlists.

There are two reasons a course may appear unstaffed. Either the course will be taught by a new instructor who is not yet on the system or the course is truly unstaffed.

You should not put that class as one of your selections. You should come to the Office of Records and Registration in person during the add/drop period and we will manually register you for that class. Please make sure to obtain a credit overload from the Academic Affairs and Advising office if necessary.

No. Specific instructions will be e-mailed to you if you are accepted into the by-application course. However, please be aware that if the addition of the by-application course exceeds the term max credits then you will need to request a Credit Overload (full-time students) or an Acceleration of Program (Langone students) with Academic Affairs.