Registration FAQs
Registration Worksheet: Yale College students officially enroll in courses by using a registration worksheet within Yale Course Search. While the registration system is open, students may add and remove courses one-by-one in real time. When a student has enrolled in a course using the registration worksheet, they will appear on the Canvas roster with a “Student” status.
Canvas Worksheet: All current students at the university who are eligible to enroll in courses may use the Canvas worksheet within Yale Course Search to gain access to a canvas course site. When a student has added a course to their Canvas worksheet, they will appear on the Canvas roster with a “Visitor” status.
OCS Worksheet: Graduate School students and some Professional School students use Yale’s internal Online Course Selection (OCS) system to enroll in courses. Students who have not finalized their OCS worksheet and received adviser approval will appear on the Canvas roster with a “Visitor” status. Students who have finalized their OCS worksheet and received adviser approval will appear on the Canvas rosters with a “Student” status.
Adding courses to the registration worksheet will officially enroll Yale College students in courses, in real time. Yale College students may add and remove courses from the registration worksheet during the Yale College Early Registration period and Add/Drop period.
Graduate and Professional School students may see a Registration Worksheet if they are enrolled in courses. The Registration Worksheet cannot be edited. Graduate and Professional School students will need to use their normal registration method to add and drop courses.
The Canvas worksheet provides temporary visitor access to Canvas course sites.
The Registration period takes place prior to the term of enrollment and is intended to be a gauge of student interest in course enrollment and to provide advance notification of permission to enroll in courses that have limited enrollments. It allows departments to manage demand for enrollment, the number of discussion/lab sections and teaching fellows needed, and the size of the room needed.
The Add/Drop period takes place during the week before and the first week of classes. The Add/Drop period is for refinement of the student course schedule and culminates with a final schedule.
The Preference Selection process and other course application processes takes place prior to the open of the Early Registration period. Refer to the Important Dates section of this website for specific dates.
Visitors will be removed from Canvas sites after registration closes for all schools, shortly after the close of the Add/Drop period for Yale College.
Start with the Yale College Advising Resources website.
Questions related exclusively to the use of Canvas should be directed to the Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning at askpoorvucenter@yale.edu
The term “Shopper” has been replaced with “Visitor.” Students who have not officially enrolled in the course will appear on the Canvas rosters as “Visitors.” When the Add/Drop period ends, all Visitors will be removed from Canvas rosters.
The registration worksheet will not open until the Early Registration period begins. If you participated in Preference Selection, a registration worksheet will become viewable with results of the Preference Selection process.
Canvas is not the official record of enrollment. Course demand statistics and Canvas rosters update at different times of the day, and when registration is open to students, they may add and remove courses from both their registration worksheet (official enrollment) and their Canvas worksheet as often as they would like. When registration is closed, fluctuations in rosters and course demand statistics should mostly cease with the exception of administrative changes.