I am currently an undergraduate student in Germany and I will attend Columbia College in Fall 2018. I am incredibly excited and looking forward to this unique experience. In order to graduate from my home university, I have to take certain core electives that can be transferred to my home institution in Germany. Unfortunately, exchange students have a “lower priority” than regular students regarding allotment to classes. Therefore, I wanted to ask if professors can allow additional students to their class? In Germany, the university allocates the students to the different classes (often based on “first come, first served”). After that, changes are virtually impossible. I heard from friends that it is possible in the US to write “motivational letters”/ e-mails to professors in order to attend their courses even though they might technically be full. Is this true and/or do you have any insights how this works?
It’s really up to the university and the professor. Some universities are very strict about enforcing the registration priority, others give professors leeway to let additional hand-picked students into the class. It’s also quite possible that the courses you are interested in don’t fill up and will have space available.
How to approach a professor: I would send them an email a few days before the class starts. Put the course name and number in the subject line. Briefly explain why this class is important to you, and ask if it may be possible for you to join the class even though it’s at capacity and closed for registration online. I emphasize - please be brief. The professor may get dozens of these emails.
If you don’t get an email response, go to the first class and talk to the instructor in person before or after class. If they don’t stick around to answer questions (usually instructors do in the first week because lots of students will have questions), go to their office hours and ask them there. They should announce their office hours in the first class.
I am not sure which Columbia College you are referring to, since there’s multiple institutions by that name. If it’s Columbia College of Columbia University in New York City, you can check which courses currently have space available here: http://bulletin.columbia.edu/columbia-college/departments-instruction/search/ (Look at the “enrollment” column. A single number means that the course has no enrollment limit. Two numbers, like 34/50, means that the course has a capacity of 50 students with 34 currently registered.)
Upper-level courses probably won’t see too many additional sign ups between now and the beginning of the fall semester, since returning students already signed up for their classes.
