How to enrol in classes
Enrolment Terminology
MyTimetable
There are two ways you can enrol: using MyTimetable or using Mosaic. MyTimetable is the newest online self-service tool for undergraduate students that allows you find an optimal and conflict-free timetable and direct class enrolment. Any classes you enrol in or drop from MyTimetable will be immediately reflected in Mosaic.
Undergraduate Calendar
The official document where you can find all degree, program and course requirements, along with rules and regulations for the academic year.
Enrolment Appointment
The date you are randomly assigned to enrol in classes based on your academic level. Note: you can use MyTimetable to create your schedule prior to your enrolment appointment by adding to your shopping cart but can only “check out” (submit) those classes after your enrolment appointment date/time opens.
Course Catalogue
A historical list of all courses that are currently or have been offered at McMaster, with descriptions and additional course details.
Class Search
A master timetable of courses offered during the current academic year.
Academic Advising
Picking your courses can be overwhelming. Academic Advisors in your Faculty are here to help! Advisors can answer questions about your program, picking courses, course requirements and more.
Access MyTimetable
You can access MyTimetable two ways:
- Log into Mosaic and go to the MyTimetable tile on the homepage
- Or, go to the MyTimetable link in the Student Center in Mosaic
- Once logged in, you will be able to search, sort, select your optimal timetable.
- Check when MyTimetable will become available.
- On the day of your enrolment appointment, you will be able to move your selected schedule from the shopping cart and enrol.
Plan your schedule
You can access MyTimetable before your enrolment begins. This allows you to save schedules to your favourites and easily pull them up when it’s your time to enrol. You can also add courses to your shopping cart and validate it to ensure that you meet the prerequisites for the course. Need help picking your courses? Academic Advisors in your Faculty can answer questions about your program, picking courses, course requirements and more.
To add courses to your shopping cart:
- Search for and select the classes you want.
- Once you have found your ideal schedule, go to ‘Get this Schedule’. On the next screen under “Action” you’ll see that it has been set to ‘Add to Cart’.
- Go to “Do Actions” and the “Results” column will update to let you know that it has been added to your shopping cart.
- Go to “Return to Select Courses”.
- Go to “Validate Shopping Cart” to see if you meet the prerequisites for the courses you plan on taking.
- View the results for each course and make changes as needed.
Even though these classes are in your shopping cart, you are not enrolled yet and a spot is not held for you. You will have to wait until enrolment opens for you before you can successfully add these classes.
Checking requirements and prerequisites
You can find course requirements and prerequisites in the Academic Calendar. You can also review the catalogue description in MyTimetable – just go to ‘show more’ on each class in the left-hand column.
Dates, times and locations
When you search for a course through the ‘Add Courses’ section, the date, time and location of the class will appear on the timetable in the results section, under each course.
Full courses and course availability
Both class and enrolment information are refreshed every 30 seconds so full courses shown on MyTimetable are accurate and up-to-date.
Courses with a green circle are available and courses with a blue box are full. At this point we do not offer a wait-list for full classes.
Time blocking
You can click and drag to block out certain times in the schedule based on your commitments. The timeslot will appear grey once you have done this.
Time blocking won’t remove any timetables, just re-order the results so the ones that work best with your personal time constraints are at the top of the list. This way, you can really see all your options and make an informed decision about what works for you.
To remove a time block, just click on the grey area for the timeslot that you no longer want to block. The block will be removed to show that you are available.
Sorting results
In some cases, you may be facing tens or hundreds of possible options for your schedule. You can use the sort preferences found in the top right-hand corner of the results section to bring more favourable results to the front. While this will not eliminate other options, it allows the more favourable ones appear first so that you can scroll through less schedules before finding your favourite one.
You can sort your schedule results by going to ‘Sort Preferences’ on the right-hand side of the screen to include:
- None
- Most days off
- Morning classes
- Mid-day classes
- Evening classes
- Time off campus
- Most on-campus
Based on what preferences you select, your results may change.
If you come up with too many schedule possibilities while selecting courses, we recommend reducing the number of enabled classes or pin some classes before adding more courses. This will help you narrow down a timetable.
Pin courses
When you find a course section that you really want to keep, pin it down and the list will eliminate any timetable options that don’t include your pinned course or section. You can click to pin right on the time grid or in the list of courses. Now when you sort through, the system will hold that class constant and sort other combinations again. Just click again to un-pin.
When a class is unpinned, this may provide more possible schedule results to display searched classes during the day and time of the unpinned class.
To search for a class during a time that you already have a class enrolled, unpin the enrolled class and search for the desired course. The results section will display alternative schedule options.
Favourites
Go to ‘Favourite’ at the start of the page to save a timetable to refer to later. This will open a new panel and all timetables that you favourite can be found here. You can save 5 favourite schedules; this can be done before enrolment opens.
NOTE: Placing a timetable in ‘Favourites’ will NOT reserve a seat. Please complete your enrolment as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Once your enrolment appointment opens and you’ve created the timetable you want using the shopping cart, go to “Get This Schedule”. It’s recommended that you enrol as soon as you can after choosing your timetable. While the class availability updates every 30 seconds, it’s possible that a course which was not full when you were creating your timetable in MyTimetable might be full by the time you register. Note: please use a different browser if you have trouble with enrolment on Google Chrome.
From here, click “Go to Enrol” and you’re done! You can print your schedule by going to the “Print Schedule” link in the top left corner of the “Results” section.
Adding courses to your list
- Select a term
- Search for a course: In the search box start typing any of the following options:
-
- Course code (e.g. ENGLISH, ENG 1A03) or title (e.g. Literature in English: Shorter Genres) or instructor’s name (e.g. Jeffery Donaldson).
- Select the desired course from the list that appears.
Repeat step 2 for all desired courses for the term. Conflict-free schedules will generate and appear in the right column. You can go through all options and choose your optimal schedule.
Note: if you select courses but no results appear, this means that a conflict-free schedule cannot be generated from the combination of classes you have selected. Try deselecting one at a time using the checkbox found in the top left-hand corner of the course, to see if conflict-free options appear.
Dropping and removing courses
If you’re currently enrolled in a course, the word “Enrolled” will appear under the course code in the left-hand column. Here’s how to drop the course:
- Click on the “x” in the upper right-hand corner of the box for that course. The box will turn grey and the drop down menu in the box will show “Drop Course”.
- Go to “Get this Schedule” in the right-hand column.
- Go to “Do Actions” and ensure that you receive a success message in the results column.
To remove a course, use the “x” in the upper right-hand corner of the box for that section. To deselect a course without removing it from the list, remove the check mark left of the course code.
Labs and tutorials
All associated course components, including labs and/or tutorials, automatically display in your timetables in order to ensure you can select the most optimal timetable. You don’t need to search for labs and/or tutorials.
If you are looking for a specific core, lab or tutorial, you can select the combination from the drop-down menu found in the box for that course.
When trying to decrease the number of available lecture/lab/tutorial combinations, do NOT deselect the individual lecture/lab/tutorial check boxes on the left.
Use the drop-down menu to pin a class or scroll through the generated results to pin a preferred class.
If you are already enrolled in a course(s), your current timetable will be pre-loaded in MyTimetable and you will be able to review them when you log in.
Who can use MyTimetable?
All undergraduate students can access and use MyTimetable.
Is MyTimetable accessible?
Yes. All functions of MyTimetable are compatible with screen readers. Go to ‘Increase Accessibility’ on the bottom left-hand side of the navigation screen to enable this function.
My academic advisor has helped me pick my courses, should I still enrol using MyTimetable?
MyTimetable can provide students with different timetables, even if specific courses are encouraged.
I’ve added too many courses or have made too many changes, can I start over?
In the left-hand column, under the last course you have selected, there is a ‘Start Over’ button. This will allow you to start from the very beginning. Any courses that you are currently enrolled in will appear.
Common error messages and what they mean.
“Unable to add this class – requisites have not been met.”
Check the Undergraduate Calendar to ensure that you meet the prerequisites for the course. If you meet the prerequisites and you are still receiving this error then please contact an academic advisor from your faculty.
“Available seats are reserved/You do not meet the reserve capacity criteria”
A certain number of seats are reserved in each section for students who are required to take this course, along with a certain number of seats for students taking the class as an elective. If this is an elective course, these seats have been filled. You can try another section or keep checking back on Mosaic to see if a seat has opened or choose another available elective. If this is a required course, try enrolling in another section of the course. If you are still experiencing issues then please get in touch with an academic advisor from your faculty.
Issue | Contact |
---|---|
Problems logging into Mosaic, accessing the tile through Mosaic and signing into MyTimetable | uts@mcmaster.ca |
Admissions and Enrolment support | Office of the Registrar online chat |
Course related issues? Contact an Academic Advisor in your Faculty.
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