Office of the University Registrar

Registration Errors

It is possible to encounter a registration error when you attempt, but are unsuccessful, to complete a change to your registration.

Registration begins at 6:00 a.m. on your assigned priority registration date. If you attempt to register prior to 6:00 a.m. on that date, you will be unsuccessful.

The following are common registration errors along with an explanation and instructions to resolve the error. It is vital that you carefully read & understand the error message, and act on the resolution, before reaching out to your registration team for assistance.

Error Messages while Adding a Course

You may not register for this course using the web.

This message indicates that the course is offered through UW Continuum College/Professional and Continuing Education. Please contact their registration office for assistance by phone 206-543-2310 or email c2reg@uw.edu.

It is too late to register using this service. More information…

  • Course adds are only permitted via MyUW through the end of week 3 of the quarter.
  • If it is determined that an additional course is needed, or a student must register for the quarter for the first time, the student will need to complete and submit a Late Add Petition [PDF] to the Office of the University Registrar either in person, 2nd floor Schmitz Hall, or via email to regoff@uw.edu.

You may not add this section because you are already registered for this course.

  • This message means that you have added two course SLNs of the same linkage type, such as two Lecture or two quiz/lab section SLNs. Only in some rare instances, such as some Special Topics courses, is this allowed.
  • In order to register for a course that has a lecture and a quiz/lab section, you must add one SLN of each course type in order for the course to be added.

To add this section, you must also register for the related `secondary´ section(s).

Secondary sections are typically lab [LB] and or quiz [QZ] sections.

Courses with Lab and/or Quiz sections require these SLNs to be added at the same time the Lecture section course SLN is registered

To add this section, you must also register for the related `primary´ section.

In most cases, the primary section is a lecture [LC] section.

You are attempting to register an SLN for a Quiz/Lab section of a course. Courses with Lab and/or Quiz sections require a Lecture section course SLN to be added with them at the same time in order to register.

Over Credit Limit: You cannot add this course using the web registration system because it would take you over the maximum credits allowed during this registration period.

Undergraduate students are limited to 19 credits during Registration Periods I and II to allow all students a chance to develop a basic schedule. Additional credits may be added during Registration Period III and the Late Add Period. The limit is 30 credits per quarter.

Over Credit Limit: You cannot add this course using the web registration system because it would take you over the maximum credits allowed for this course. Contact the offering department for more information.

Please reach out to the department offering this course, as they will need to register you or grant approval for you to enroll in the course via an entry code to override this credit restriction that has been placed on the course.

Time Conflict: This section meets at the same time as SLN XXXXX on your schedule.

Students may not register online for two courses that meet at the same time or for courses with overlapping meeting times. Students who would like to replace a course already on their schedule must use the Registration option under the Personal Services section of MyUW and submit both the drop and add in a single transaction.

Conflicting Course Registration

  • The student must register for at least one of the courses with the time conflict first. To have the second, conflicting course added to their schedule, students must complete the Time Conflict section of the Registration Transaction Form [PDF] and email the completed form to the Office of the University Registrar at regoff@uw.edu.
  • Conflicts Less than an Hour/Week: Students must obtain verbal approval from both instructors to add a course that conflicts one hour a week or less.
  • Conflicts More than an Hour/Week: Students must obtain both instructor signatures on a Registration Transactions form, or provide emails from the instructors approving the conflict, for courses that conflict more than one hour a week.

Your request cannot be processed. More information... (Registration Capacity Reached).

  • Students are limited by number of course SLNs that can be added, dropped, and changed via registration during each quarter. If during the registration process, the “Registration Capacity Reached” message is received by a student, this indicates the database record of quarterly registration activity has reached its capacity. In order for a student to be able to add more courses to their schedule, they must contact the Registrar Student Services team at regoff@uw.edu to request removal of the inactive entries.
  • Students who receive the same message again in the same quarter after the Registrar Student Services team has given them back additional registration transactions will need to see an academic adviser. That adviser will need to email regoff@uw.edu to have any more transactions approved.

Due to excessive use of system resources your access to the Registration service has been disabled. Please see the Registration Policies page for further details.

Tampering and Abuse
A student who tampers or attempts to tamper with the registration records of another student, including but not limited to dropping courses and adding courses, may be subject to disciplinary sanctions as defined in the Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121).

Registration Abuse

  • The registration system is provided for the sole express purpose for students to register themselves into sections. Any use of the registration system other than for this purpose is considered abuse of the system. Such abuse includes, but is not limited to, buying or selling one’s seat in a class, or otherwise registering for a section that one has no intention of taking.
  • To help conserve University resources and ensure the registration system is available to all, students are locked out of Web Registration after a specific number of excessive submission attempts and/or transactions are made per day. This threshold is sufficient for students’ regular use and should not interfere with typical use. The use of robots and other automated tools to submit registration requests is expressly forbidden.
    • If you are having trouble adding a particular course on your registration page, please make sure you are reviewing any error messages you are receiving for the course and address those errors first prior to repeatedly clicking the “Update Schedule” button, as excessive clicking behavior will also result in being locked out of the registration system.
  • A student whose account is locked out for excessive use must wait until the registration system removes the lockout – within 24 hours.
  • The Office of the University Registrar is unable to override a locked account.

System Abuse
Because use of scripts, robots, or other automated queries can adversely impact University network and computing resources and interfere with equal access to registration, such automated querying of registration-related resources is expressly forbidden. Violators may have their access to University network and computing resources terminated and may be subject to action by the University under applicable law, regulation, or policy, including but not limited to, discipline under any applicable University conduct code.

Error Messages when SLNs are Closed for Registration

This section is closed. Check for alternates.

  • While the University makes every attempt to provide the most up-to-date information to students, certain systems experience latency during peak registration times, which may result in a Web page showing a section as open, but by the time you actually attempt to register, the section may already have closed. This is not due to system error, but due to the large number of transactions that occur every minute.
  • You may check the University time schedule for other open sections of this course.

This section is closed and no alternate sections are open.

  • While the University makes every attempt to provide the most up-to-date information to students, certain systems experience latency during peak registration times, which may result in a webpage showing a section as open, but by the time you actually attempt to register, the section may already have closed. This is not due to system error, but due to the large number of transactions that occur every minute.
  • If you are using Notify, please be aware that the system is incredibly popular. Most likely many students are receiving the same notification you are. Even if you respond immediately upon receiving the notification of an opening, someone else may already have beaten you to the open seat.

Error Messages for Departmental Requirements and Course Restrictions

Restricted section. You do not meet the course entry requirements for this section. Check the restrictions...

Certain courses may be restricted by class standing and/or major for one or multiple registration periods. Please refer to the notes for a particular course SLN on the University’s time schedule to review the course entry requirements.

Restricted section. You have not satisfied the prerequisites for this course.

  • Certain courses require prerequisites in order to add that course to a schedule. These courses are identified by the word “Prerequisite” in the title bar in the Time Schedule. Prerequisites may be one or more courses, a minimum placement test score, or a minimum grade in a prerequisite course.
  • A course section may be added without having completed the course prerequisite provided the student is currently registered for the prerequisite course. However, departments may elect to have the course that required the prerequisite dropped from a student’s schedule if the student does not satisfactorily complete the prerequisite course. Courses subject to cancellation are identified by “Prerequisites (cancellation in effect)” in the title bar in the Time Schedule. In this case, the course that required the prerequisite will be dropped from the student’s schedule no later than the third calendar day of the quarter.

Permission Required: You must enter an Entry Code.

Entry codes are one-time use codes, five-digit numbers in length, and issued to students by academic departments as authorization to add or drop restricted course sections.

  • All courses require an add code in order to be added beginning the 8th calendar day of the quarter.
  • All courses require an entry code once the Late Add Period begins week 2 of the quarter.

Permission Required: You must enter a Drop Code.

Some courses require a Drop Code to remove a course from a student’s schedule. Students must obtain the drop code from the department offering the course.

Permission Required: Invalid Entry Code, try again.

  • This message means you have entered an invalid entry code, or an entry code that may have already been used.
  • Entry codes are one-time use codes. You may need to obtain a new entry code from the department offering the course.

Independent Study: You must enter a Faculty Number.

Independent study courses such as 499, 600, 700, or 800 require students to first obtain a Faculty Number from the instructor or department.

You have previously taken this course and the department offering the course does not authorize repeat registration. Contact the offering department for more information.

  • Undergraduate students may repeat a course once with the approval of the academic department offering the course. Courses considered to have been taken once include any with a numerical grade or those with grades of I, CR/NC, or S/NS. Withdrawn or dropped courses and courses with X or no grade reported will not count as the first taking of a course.
  • Please reach out to the department offering this course, as they will need to determine if you are eligible to retake this course and register you directly in the course to override the repeat restrictions that exist.

Error Messages based on Student Category

Student category can be defined as one of the following:

  • UW Seattle student
  • UW Bothell student
  • UW Tacoma student
  • Undergraduate
  • Postbaccalaureate
  • Professional School student
  • Graduate Student
  • Non-Matriculated Student
  • Graduate Non-Matriculated Student
  • International Student
  • Student Athlete

Your registration period has not yet started.

Registration priority for currently enrolled students or for students who completed the previous quarter begins at 6:00 a.m. on the priority registration date as determined by student status and student number. Priority registration dates are based on your completed credits, credits currently registered for, and the last digit of your student number. You can check your registration date for a quarter on the University’s academic calendar if it is not displayed on your MyUW homepage.

Registration Period II, primarily for newly admitted students and returning former students, opens at midnight. If you are returning from an absence of two or more quarters, or if you are resuming coursework in a different student category (such as going from undergraduate to graduate after completing a bachelor’s degree at UW), you will register with registration period II.

You may not add a course at another campus until (Registration Period II).

Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and postbaccalaureate students enrolled at one UW campus may register using MyUW for courses at another UW campus beginning with Period 2 registration.

You may not add this course because you will have exceeded the maximum of 15 credits that may be taken at another campus in an academic year.

  • A maximum of 15 credits per academic year (autumn quarter through summer quarter) may be taken on a campus other than the home campus. This restriction is monitored by the registration system.
  • Individual petitions for waivers of the credit requirements may be considered by a student’s home campus registration team. However, the approval of such a waiver does not obligate the campus unit listing the desired course(s) to grant special consideration for course admission.

Freshman may not add a course at another campus until they have completed 25 credits at their home campus.

  • Once admitted, freshmen must complete 25 credit hours on their home campus before enrolling in courses on other UW campuses. (UW Professional and Continuing Education courses are not considered home campus courses.)
  • Individual petitions for waivers of the credit requirements may be considered by a student’s home campus registration team. However, the approval of such a waiver does not obligate the campus unit listing the desired course(s) to grant special consideration for course admission.

Students with sophomore standing or above may not add a course at another campus until they have completed 15 credits at their home campus.

  • All students with a class standing from sophomore to postbaccalaureate must complete 15 credits on their home campus before cross-enrolling.
  • Individual petitions for waivers of the credit requirements may be considered by a student’s home campus registration team. However, the approval of such a waiver does not obligate the campus unit listing the desired course(s) to grant special consideration for course admission.

You may not register for this course until Registration Period II. Contact UWC2 Registration Services (206-543-2310, c2reg@uw.edu).

You are enrolled in a fee-based program through UW Continuum College or UW Professional and Continuing Education. Priority for these courses are restricted to matriculated students in state-funded programs during Registration Periods I.

You may not register for this course until Registration Period III. Contact UWC2 Registration Services (206-543-2310, c2reg@uw.edu).

You are enrolled in a fee-based program through UW Continuum College, or UW Professional and Continuing Education, or you are a non-matriculated or graduate non-matriculated student that registers through UWC2/UW PCE. Priority for these courses are restricted to matriculated students during Registration Periods I and II.

You are not eligible to register using this service.

You are a student that is enrolled through UW Continuum College or UW Professional and Continuing Education in a certificate or non-credit course. You must contact UWC2 Registration Services in order to register (206-543-2310, c2reg@uw.edu)

You are not eligible to register using this service. Contact the office of your major program for registration information.

You are a student that is enrolled in a self-sustaining program where registration is completed for you by your program or departmental adviser. Please contact your adviser directly to register. Contact information for all UW departments can be found in the UW Office Directory.

You are not eligible to register this quarter.

Undergraduate, Postbaccalaureate, and Professional School students who have been away from the University for more than one quarter (excluding summer quarter), or who withdrew from one quarter and did not attend the subsequent quarter must submit a Returning Student Request Form in order to regain registration eligibility.

Graduate students who failed to apply for on-leave status or maintain continuous enrollment via registration (excluding summer quarter) and wish to resume studies in their previous graduate program must submit a reinstatement request to the Graduate School.

Alumni: If you receive this message and have already graduated from the University, in order to register you will either need to enroll as a non-matriculated student through UWC2 Registration Services (206-543-2310, c2reg@uw.edu), or apply for matriculated student status through the appropriate admissions office.

You are not eligible to register for this quarter since your Graduation Plan expired

Undergraduates who have completed over 210 credits but are not yet eligible to graduate will be permitted to register for succeeding quarters only if they receive approval from their department and college after filing a graduation plan. If you have not graduated by the quarter indicated by your adviser in your graduation plan, you will be ineligible to register until you complete a graduation application with your adviser or have your adviser file a graduation plan extension.

You are not eligible to register for this quarter since you applied to graduate in a prior quarter.

Undergraduate students who have a graduation application on file for a quarter will not be permitted to register past that graduation quarter, as the expectation is that you have registered for all required coursework for your degree prior to that quarter’s end.

If you need to continue registering for coursework towards your major, minor, or degree, you must contact your adviser to move your graduation application to another quarter.

If you are planning to graduate or have already graduated, but wish to register for additional courses, you must enroll as a non-matriculated student through UW Continuum College/Professional and Continuing Education. Please contact their registration office for assistance with registering for courses after graduation. Their phone is 206.543.2310 and email is c2reg@uw.edu.

Error Messages while Dropping a Course

Course not dropped. You have used your Quarterly Drop for this academic quarter. More information...

  • If you have already used your self-serve Quarterly Drop, or if you know you want to drop more than one course, you will use the Adviser-Assisted Drop process.
  • With the Adviser-Assisted Drop Request Process, you will submit a form that sends an email to your adviser(s), as well as a copy for you. You will connect with your adviser(s) to discuss what you want to do, and the adviser(s) will then communicate with the registration team on your campus to drop the classes.

Course not dropped. It is past the deadline to completely withdraw using this service. To withdraw from all courses for this quarter, complete an Adviser-Assisted Current Quarter Drop Request.

  • If you have already used your self-serve Quarterly Drop, or if you know you want to drop more than one course, you will use the Adviser-Assisted Drop process.
  • With the Adviser-Assisted Drop Request Process, you will submit a form that sends an email to your adviser(s), as well as a copy for you. You will connect with your adviser(s) to discuss what you want to do, and the adviser(s) will then communicate with the registration team on your campus to drop the classes.

To drop this section, you must also do one of the following: (1) Drop the related primary section (most likely a lecture section), or (2) Add another `secondary´ section of the same type (most likely a lab [LB] or quiz [QZ] section).

  • Courses with Lab and/or Quiz sections require these SLNs to be dropped at the same time the Lecture section course SLN is dropped.
  • If you are trying to change to a different quiz or lab sections, but wish to keep the lecture section, depending on the time during the quarter that you are attempting to make the change, you will either be able to add another section of the same type directly on the Register with SLN page, or you may need to complete a Registration Transaction Form [PDF] with the Registrar Student Services office to make the change.

To drop this section, you must also drop the related section. (For instance, if you want to drop a lecture section, you must also drop the related lab [LB] section.)

Courses with Lab and/or Quiz sections require these SLNs to be dropped at the same time the Lecture section course SLN is dropped.

Error Messages while Changing a Grading Option

You may not select the S/NS grading option for this course because you will have exceeded the 20-credit S/NS registration limit.

  • Students are allowed up to 25 credits of S/NS toward graduation, but may only register for up to 20 credits of S/NS through Student Personal Services on MyUW.
  • Exceptions to the 20 credit S/NS change limit may be granted by sending a request to petition@uw.edu.
  • Review more information about the Grading System.