The ranking categories – Favorite, Great, Good, and Acceptable – are meant to reflect how well each course fits the student’s academic needs and preferences, not to rate their feelings about the quality of the course itself.

• Favorite: The student’s absolute top choice (Only one allowed).  This is the class that they need/want the most above all others.  This category is optional, so if they don’t have a single favorite, just leave it blank and place their top 2 or 3 courses at the top of the Great category instead.  

• Great: These courses closely align with the student’s top academic needs and preferences (Select as many as they like).  

• Good: These courses somewhat align with the student’s top academic needs and preferences (Select as many as they like).  

• Acceptable: Courses that the student is willing to take and could fit into their schedule, even if those courses are not their top choices (Select as many as they like). 

Ranking is more powerful than class year priority, but class year priority is still in place. Students with more seniority are not guaranteed placement, but they have a better chance of getting a schedule with one or more of their top ranked courses. 

This is because each student receives a "budget" that helps get them into courses depending on their class year. Freshmen receive a base-budget; sophomores receive approximately 10% greater budget; juniors receive approximately 25% greater budget; Seniors receive the highest budget, approximately 50% greater (these budget percentages are subject to change). 

However, rankings still matter most. If a senior ranks a course low, that signals to Course Match that the course is not a high priority for them. If a first-year student ranks a course very highly, Course Match will prioritize trying to place them in that course — even though they have a smaller budget. 

A few weeks before preregistration begins, watch for an email about the Prerequisite Review process. After prerequisites are verified, it will be entered into Banner and pulled into Course Match.

A student who has met the prerequisite for a course can immediately select and rank it without needing any further approvals.

A student who has not met a prerequisite can see the course in Course Match, but it will be grayed out. If they want to take the course, they must submit a Special Permission Prerequisite Override Jotform.

• The instructor will either approve or deny this request.

• An approved form allows the student to view and rank the course in Course Match

• Note: Approval does not guarantee enrollment.

For cross-listed courses, seats are divided between departments, and will hold true to those limits. Students are advised to add all cross-listed sections and rank them closely in their selections to increase the likelihood of registration. Course Match has conflicts embedded to not allow students to be registered for more than 1 of the cross-listed courses. 

No. Adding more options never hurts. It simply gives the algorithm more valid schedules to choose from, which increases the likelihood of building a complete schedule with the top-ranked courses included. 

They recently requested and received special permission for a course. At the time their request was approved, they had not yet made their course selections. To ensure the permission-only course appeared in Course Match, a placeholder course (ZZZ-999-99) may have been added for them. Once they’ve entered their actual course selections, they should ensure they have deleted the placeholder course. 

In Course Match, all courses must be assigned a greater than “0” credit value, so courses that are normally “0” units at Vassar temporarily appear as “0.1” during the preregistration process. This is only for system compatibility. Once registration is finalized, the enrolled courses will reflect the correct number of units. 

Not during preregistration. Neither students nor faculty can see how many students ranked a course. This is intentional. Course Match works best when students rank honestly based on their own preferences, not perceived demand. 

Major and Correlate Preference Form - Due March 24

• This Google Form will allow departments and programs to indicate enrollment preference for declared majors and correlates. 

• In addition to the regular course detail collection process (CPI), this supplemental form identifies how to apply preferences for your courses. Course Match will then give those students a stronger chance of placement compared to others.

Special Permission Prerequisite Override Jotform - Due April 24

• A student may submit this form if they are interested in taking a course that is Special Permission or a course with prerequisites that they do not fulfill. 

• This Jotform will indicate if a course requires Special Permission or a Prerequisite Override.

• Please note that we have returned to using 1 Special Permission approval option.

• For more information on this form, check out the FAQs below. 

Special Permission - Departmental Lists Google Sheet - Due April 22nd at 5:00 p.m.

This Google sheet is an alternative to the Special Permission Jotform. Although it’s preferable for students to use the Jotform, you may submit student names for enrollment in courses that require special permission. Use the sheet on your department's tab to submit the following information:

• Students’ first and last names

• Students’ 999###

• Course information 

You may add any notes you want to convey to the Registrar's Office regarding the course (e.g., "Please raise cap of course to accommodate list").

You have the option to layer restrictions on a course, which could eliminate a Special Permission requirement. For example, you may limit seats to seniors in the CPI and give preference to majors via the Major and Correlate Preference Form to ensure seniors are enrolled in a senior seminar. 

In Course Match, Special Permission courses and courses with Prerequisites are now visible, but grayed-out until they receive approval, either through their name being on a department/program list or through the Special Permission JotForm.  

To help students quickly determine if they need to submit a Special Permission Prerequisite Override Jotform, the course will have a tag at the end of the course code in Course Match. If the course requires Special Permission, it will have the tag “SP” at the end of the course code. If the course requires a Prerequisite Override, it will have the tag “PQ” at the end of the course code. 

Students may also refer to the Schedule of Classes that also includes the list of available courses. 

Students will be able to find the Special Permission and Prerequisite Override Jotform in Course Match where they preregister, on Vassar’s Course Match information website, as well as the Registrar Forms webpage. 

Yes. However, students should use the jotform whenever possible. Faculty and Administrative Assistants may submit lists for Special Permission courses via the Special Permission - Departmental Lists Google Form.

Lists must include the student’s name and 999#, be submitted by April 22 at 5:00 p.m. so they can be processed before Course Match computation. Students will still be able to remove this course on Course Match. 

It is a supplemental form used in addition to the CPI that lets departments and programs indicate enrollment preference for declared majors and correlates in a specific course. 

Submitting major/correlate preferences increases the likelihood that students with a declared major or correlate are placed into courses most critical to their program of study. It can also reduce or even eliminate the need for Special Permission, meaning fewer Jotform requests for instructors. 

Example: Your department offers a Senior Seminar, so you might set a class-year limit (in CPI) for seniors only and also submit the preference form to indicate that certain majors receive preference. Non-seniors would not be able to enroll, and majors would have the strongest likelihood of placement. This will not prevent a non-major from enrolling; it just gives an advantage to majors. 

This form does not guarantee majors/correlates a seat. Rather, major and correlate preferences give students a boost, but placement still heavily depends on how a student has ranked that course. Non-majors may still be placed in the course, but they will have a lower likelihood of getting enrolled assuming they rank similarly. 

A separate form must be submitted for each course code, and you should include the same majors and correlate sequences on each form. 

Example: INTL-238-01 cross-listed with ASIA/ENST/GEOG requires forms for INTL-238-01, ASIA-238-01, ENST-238-01, and GEOG-238-01. Departments should coordinate to ensure the same preferences are submitted across listings. 

1. Rank by priority, not probability. If a course is required for their major, it should be ranked higher. If a course strongly interests them, it should also be ranked higher. They should not lower a ranking because they believe they have a better chance of getting in.

·   Example: Even if your advisee receives Special Permission for a course, they still must select and rank that course in Course Match according to their true preference. They should not assume that receiving approval increases the likelihood that they are enrolled. When Course Match runs its final computation, the student’s rankings inform how much they want to be placed in that course. 

2.  Know that approvals don’t guarantee enrollment. Receiving Special Permission or a Prerequisite Override does not guarantee enrollment. Your advisee should rank that course based on how much they want it, in relation to other courses. 

3. Ranking is more powerful than class year priority, but class year priority is still in place. For this reason, no matter one's class-year, students must rank all courses based on their genuine preferences. If a senior ranks a course low, that tells Course Match they don’t care as much about getting placed than another course they ranked high. Similarly, a first-year who ranks a course high, Course Match works a lot harder to place them in that course, despite class year priority. 

4.  Select enough courses for Course Match to create a full schedule. Students should be encouraged to choose and rank more courses than the minimum Course Match requires, up to 25 courses. This gives Course Match the flexibility to build a full, conflict-free schedule. Students who select the bare minimum, or choose nearly all courses with time-conflicts, are much less likely to end up with a complete schedule. 

5.  Add all cross-listed sections and rank them closely together. The seats for cross-listed courses are divided between departments and programs, and will hold true to those limits. Therefore, students are advised to add all cross-listed sections and rank them closely together in their selections to increase the likelihood of registration. Course Match has conflicts embedded to not allow students to be registered for more than 1 of the cross-listed courses. 

Advisers will be able to release an advising hold within Ask Banner. Students cannot begin adding courses in Course Match until the hold is released. 

In Ask Banner the advisor clicks "Release_Holds.” Then they locate the student by their first and last name + 999###, and click “Release Hold” next to the student they wish to give access to Course Match preregistration. 

Once released, the student can immediately enter Course Match and begin the preregistration process. 

Once a student has met with you and their advising hold has been released, they may update their course selections and rankings in Course Match as often as they wish until the preregistration window closes.

If a student submits their rankings and later decides to add or reorder courses, they can simply return to Course Match, make changes, and resubmit. No additional advisor approval or advising meeting is required after the initial hold is released.  

This flexibility is meant to encourage students to revisit their rankings for the best possible initial schedule before Phase II.

If your advisee is currently in their Junior Year Abroad (JYA) but anticipate returning to campus in the following semester, they must have their holds released. If your advisee is currently on-campus, but is going to study abroad the following semester, you do not need to release their hold because they will not take courses at Vassar that semester.

Yes, the Department Chair/Program Director or a  designee can release holds on Ask Banner if the advisor cannot.

Encourage students to use tools such as:

Schedule Brewer to filter courses taking place that semester and visualize various class schedules, even if they conflict with each other.

Degree Works to plan their schedule around major requirements and decide how to rank courses in Course Match. For example, a student may need to rank a class as “Favorite” to meet their major requirements instead of another class that deeply interests them. 

Vassar Course Catalogue provides detailed information about each course, and may help students make informed decisions when planning their schedule. Remind them to confirm they are viewing the 2025/2026 academic year, since Googling “Vassar course catalogue” may bring up older versions, and that not all courses shown in the current catalogue are going to be taught every semester.