Wait List Instructions

For Gov378 or Gov380, please see instructions at the bottom of the page.  For all non-POI courses (Gov108, Gov151, Gov214, Gov232, Gov366 or Gov372):

Please complete the following two tasks to put yourself on the wait list for the course

1)      Submit an enrollment request for the course through your academic portfolio

2)      Send me the following information in the text of an email:

a.        Your Name
b.        Year and major (if applicable)
c.         Reasons for considering the course
d.         Confirmation that you have submitted an enrollment request
e.         Please be sure to specify the course number as listed above in the subject line (Gov108, Gov151, Gov214, Gov232, Gov366 or Gov372)
f.         For Gov372, please confirm also you have read my email to those with pending enrollment requests, have reviewed the course material and agree to complete and/or catch-up on the reading material for the first class meeting (if you are requesting access after the first day of Wesleyan classes, please email me directly to be sure you have the reading material for the first class meeting).

The email is due by noon the day after the first day the course meets. If you do not submit an email, your request will not be considered.

I will inform you via email after the first class meeting if you will be admitted to the course. I keep an active wait list in the event students drop the course in the early part of the drop/add period (up until the 3rd class meeting for classes that meet twice a week and after the first course meeting for classes that meet once a week).  However, I will not admit any additional students from the wait list once the class meets for the third time (or second time for once a week courses) regardless of whether any additional spaces open up.

Please note: In compliance with University regulations, class attendance will not be considered as part of the “add” admission decision. The only item I use to determine admission is the completed wait list information specified above.  In general, Wesleyan government professors have been able to get 1 or 2 students into upper division courses off the wait list.

For GOV378: Please read this course description first: This course uses the lab model of psychology, and utilizes regular team meetings, group work on research topics and projects, and training in the broader body of research to which the Wesleyan Media Project is contributing in academia. Specifically, we plan to immerse students in the literature, invite them to help contribute to design ideas, give them hands-on experience in cleaning and analyzing data along with writing both the results of the research and the grant proposals that help fund what we do.

If you are still interested:  Registration will not formally happen until the drop/add period as we will be interviewing and trying to ensure a mix of students in the course.  However, you should indicate your interest as early as possible (and definitely during preregistration to guarantee full consideration). To have your POI request considered, please read the instructions carefully!  Send the following information in the text of an email with the subject line “Gov378 POI request” to me cc’ing Laura Baum (lbaum[at]wesleyan.edu):

1.       Name
2.       Year and major
3.       What Gov classes have you taken?
4.       Prior research experience if applicable
5.       Reasons for wanting to take this course
6.       Names of two references (preferably professors)

For GOV380: You should first submit an enrollment request through your electronic portfolio.  To have your POI request considered, you will need to submit the following information through our web form available via this link.

1.       Name
2.       Year and major
3.       What Govt classes have you taken?
4.       Have you had exposure to survey methods in a course? If so, please list the course(s).
5.       Reasons for wanting to take this course
6.       Have you had any data analysis or statistics courses?*
7.       Have you had any statistical software training?*  And if so, what software have you used?
8.       Please provide two academic references.
9.       Please attach an unofficial transcript from your student portfolio

*These are not prerequisites for the course.  If you have not taken a previous course on data analysis (e.g., QAC201, GOV366, ECON300 or similar) and/or do not have prior experience with statistical software, however, you may need to attend supplemental workshops designed to bring you up to speed on basic information (e.g., how to read in a dataset, create a log file, etc).  The course will teach you most everything else you need to know.