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Senior Seminar Registration

 

Spring 2024


Majors in economics, financial economics and the joint major with mathematics
who wish to take any senior seminar in the upcoming semester must register for ECON GU4911 Section 000 Economics Seminar Registration.

Registration for GU4911 Section 0 is limited to declared majors in economics, financial economics and economics-math who will have senior status and who will have completed UN3211, UN3213 and UN3412 with a letter grade of C- or higher by the start of the upcoming semester.

Assignments to the individual senior seminars will be made according to the rules outlined below. The process requires input from students, so you must read through the procedure to make sure that you maximize the chance that you get into one of your preferred seminars. Seminar descriptions will be posted online:
https://econ.columbia.edu/undergraduate/course-information/senior-seminar-description/

Students who have completed or are currently taking a seminar may not participate in the seminar lottery.

Joint majors with Philosophy, Political Science and Statistics will be contacted by Laura Yan directly about registration in the designated senior seminars (GU4950, GU4921 and GU4918) for your joint major when those seminars are offered. Only students who have completed UN3211, UN3213 and UN3412 (or POLS GU4712 in the case of joint majors with political science) with a letter grade of C- or higher will be registered for a senior seminar.

Students who are graduating early must contact Laura Yan (ly38@columbia.edu) by November 17 to let her know that they are graduating early.

 

TIMELINE

Note that “eligible students” in the timeline below refers only to declared majors in economics, financial economics or econ-math who will have senior status and will have completed UN3211, UN3213 and UN3412 with a letter grade of C- or higher by the start of the upcoming semester.

  • Registration: All eligible students interested in taking a senior seminar must register for ECON GU4911 Section 0 by November 17, 2023. Regardless of which seminar you would like to take, you must register for GU4911 Section 0. If you are unable to register for classes by November 17 due to a hold on your registration, then you must contact Laura Yan immediately to let her know that you intend to take your seminar in the upcoming semester. Students not registered by November 17, 2023 will not be included in the lottery.
  • Requirements Survey, November 20 – December 8: On November 20, students registered for GU4911 Section 0 will be notified that a short questionnaire is available on the Courseworks site in the Quizzes section. Students are required to complete this questionnaire. The questionnaire will help the Economics Department identify most of the students who are currently out of compliance with department rules, and at risk of not graduating as an economics major. If you do not fill out the questionnaire, then you will not be entered in the lottery. This questionnaire will now close on December 8.
  • Preference Survey, December 11 – December 29: On December 11 students registered for GU4911 Section 0 will be notified that a survey of their preferences over the seminars is available on the Courseworks site in the Quizzes section. You will be asked to rank 4 seminars. Financial Economics majors should NOT select any seminars that do not count for the Financial Economics major (all such seminars are marked on the seminar description page and on the survey). The survey will close on December 29.
  • Initial Assignments: On January 2, an initial assignment of students to seminars will be posted in the Files section of the Courseworks site. The assignments to seminars will be made according to the allocation process outlined below.
  • Petitions: Waitlisted students who wish to petition to get into a seminar must submit their petition by January 6. All petitions must be submitted in Courseworks. The petition process is described below.
  • Final Assignments: On January 10, final assignments will be posted in the Files section of the Courseworks site.
  • Major Credit: Seminars taken prior to the successful completion of the prerequisites will not count towards the fulfillment of major requirements. If you did not complete all of the prerequisites, or did not receive a grade of C- or higher in one or more of the pre-requisite courses, then you should notify Laura Yan immediately. She will remove you from the seminar this semester, and thus allow you to sign up for the seminar lottery in a future semester.
  • Open Seminars: All remaining seminar seats will be available for enrollment beginning on the first day of classes. Students must check the ECON GU4911 sec 0 Courseworks site for seminar availability, and then email Laura Yan at ly38 to request enrollment. Students may only enroll in open seminars. Senior economics majors will have priority during the 1st week of classes; other students may enroll at the beginning of the 2nd week of classes.

POST LOTTERY ENROLLMENT

All seminar seats remaining after the assignment of lottery students will be available for enrollment beginning on the first day of classes. Students must check the ECON GU4911 sec 000 Courseworks site for seminar availability. To access this Courseworks page:

  • log in to Vergil
  • search for the course ECON GU4911 section 0 (make sure that you select the correct semester).
  • click on More Information
  • click on View in Courseworks.

This should take you to the homepage of the Courseworks site. We will post information regarding open seminars and wait lists on this site. After viewing this information, email Laura Yan (ly38@columbia.edu) to request enrollment. Students may only enroll in open seminars. Senior economics majors will have priority during the 1st week of classes; juniors may enroll during the 2nd week of classes. 

 

ALLOCATION PROCESS

The following procedure will determine how the seats in the senior seminars will be allocated to students.

  • A lottery will determine the order that students are placed into seminars. ONLY students who have registered for GU4911 Section 0 and have completed the Requirements Survey will be included in the lottery. 
  • In the order determined by the lottery and given the information from the Preferences Survey, students will be placed in their highest ranking seminar that is open.
  • A student not placed in his/her first choice will be placed on the waiting list(s) for his/her higher ranked seminars.
  • Twelve of the sixteen seats in a seminar will be filled using the process above. The remaining four seats will be filled by students on the waiting list.
  • If the waiting list has four or fewer students, then all students will be placed in the seminar.
  • If the waiting list has five or more students, then students may petition to get into the seminar from the waiting list.
  • To petition to get into a seminar from the waiting list, students must provide a brief argument as to why they should be admitted. A faculty panel will review the petitions and select the four students who will get into the seminar from the waiting list. The decisions of the faculty panel are final and not subject to appeal. Students may only submit one Students may not petition to get into seminars if they are not on the waiting list for that seminar. More information about petitioning to get into a seminar will be posted in the Files section of the Courseworks site.
  • Students who petition but do not get into a seminar from the waiting list, will remain on the waiting list for that seminar. If a seat opens up in the seminar, unsuccessful petitioners will be admitted first in the order of their lottery numbers. If further seats open, then students who did not submit petitions will be admitted to the seminar from the waiting list in the order of their lottery numbers.
  • All remaining seats in seminars (i.e. seats not filled by students in the lottery) will be available for walk in registration beginning on the first day of classes. Only senior majors (excluding those mentioned in the below section) who have completed UN3211, UN3213 and UN3412 with a C- or higher will be allowed to sign up for these seats during the first week of classes. They may also sign up for the waiting lists for a closed seminar, but they will be behind any lottery students on the waiting list.
  • Beginning in the second week of classes, juniors, seniors who have completed a senior seminar, and other qualified students (students who have completed UN3211, UN3213 and UN3412 with a C- or higher) may sign up for any remaining seats in a seminar via the walk in process.

 

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT LAST DAYS TO TAKE ACTION:


November 17
LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR GU4911 SECTION 0

December 8  LAST DAY TO SUBMIT THE REQUIREMENTS SURVEY

December 29  LAST DAY TO SUBMIT A PREFERENCE SURVEY

January 6  LAST DAY TO SUBMIT A PETITION

1022 International Affairs Building (IAB)
Mail Code 3308  
420 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
Ph: (212) 854-3680
Fax: (212) 854-0749
Business Hours:
Mon–Fri, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

1022 International Affairs Building (IAB)

Mail Code 3308

420 West 118th Street

New York, NY 10027

Ph: (212) 854-3680
Fax: (212) 854-0749
Business Hours:
Mon–Fri, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
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