Registration FAQ

There are many possible scenarios here:

1.  Have you completed, or are you enrolled in, RHE 306? It is a required course in the University Core that should be completed prior to taking E 316L, 316M, or 316N.

2.  Perhaps you've earned credit by exam for RHE 306? If so, you'll need to petition/claim that credit for the registration system to acknowledge it. You can do so here.

3.  If you took RHE 306 through a dual credit program or, say, a community college in the summer, make sure that you've sent your transcript to the UT-Austin Office of Admissions. (Please note that the transcript must come from the institution awarding the credit, not your High School.)

4.  You may have completed an equivalent course to RHE 306 that applies toward your core requirement. If your degree audit shows something other than RHE 306 as satisfying the "English composition" requirement, we will accept that course in lieu of RHE 306.

The registration system is set up to warn you of the prerequisite, rather than to prevent you from registering; however, we do ask students in categories 1, 2, or 3 above to resolve any prerequisite issues before classes begin next semester.  No additional action is needed from students in category 4.

Because E 316 is part of the core curriculum, we are committed to making sure that every student has timely acccess to the course. Each academic year, more than 5,000 seats are made available to students!  That said, these courses do sometimes fill during pre-registration. Typically, however, seats begin to open (and close, then open again, etc.) during the pre-semester add/drop period (January/August). We recommend that students check the course schedule again during add/drop. Though we can't guarantee students an E 316 spot in a particular semester, the Department of English allocates instructional resources to make sure that there are no long-term bottlenecks for E 316 enrollment. If you are entering your graduating semester and are unable to enroll in any section, please reach out to gulliver@austin.utexas.edu.

Generally, students are best prepared for an upper-division English course having completed an introductory composition course (e.g., RHE 306) and a literature survey course, such as E 316. We do not require Upper-Division Standing (Junior/Senior classification) to enroll.

If you are uncertain about your preparation, take a look at the course description for any course you're considering. If you believe the course is a good match with your abilities and interests, you are welcome to enroll.

If you don't yet feel confident, consider first completing a lower-division course where texts are analyzed and written about, such as English 314J, 314L, or 314V.  These courses exist in part to prepare students for more advanced coursework in English.  Good luck!

The English Honors Program (EHP) seminars are reserved for students who've been admitted to EHP. Applications are accepted year-round, so please apply if you qualify. These courses also cross-list with Liberal Arts Honors (LAH). Liberal Arts students who've earned a UT-Austin GPA of 3.5 or higher are invited to pursue upper-division LAH and enroll in these courses under the LAH listings.

Sometimes, the course will be open under English and closed under LAH. Once the admissions cycle for EHP has ended for the semester, usually around the time add/drop begins, any remaining English seats will be added to the LAH section. In other words, do add your name to the LAH wait list if one is available.

Nope. Sorry!

We're going to work with any student to make sure graduation needs are met. If you are an English major, make an appointment to meet with one of the advisors. If you are not an English major, please feel free to reach out to us through gulliver@austin.utexas.edu with your request. If we are unable to reply right away and/or if your situation is urgent, please also feel free to contact the Graduation Help Desk.

Reservations are unrelated to the prerequisite. When a course shows as "reserved" in the course schedule, it means that some portion of the seats are set aside for a particular population of students, often students majoring in the subject who need the course to stay on track for graduation. Most English courses are not reserved, though there are some exceptions:

1. Honors Seminars (courses with an HON or HONORS suffix on the title): see above.

2. Conference Courses (358R, 367C, 367E, etc.) are for English majors who've made special arrangements to study under the direct supervision of a professor or program director.

3. UTeach Courses (360R, 364T) are primarily for students formally pursuing teacher certification through the UTeach-Liberal Arts program. Others who are interested in enrolling should check the Course Schedule during pre-semester add/drop to see if the reservation has been lifted.

4.  Independent Inquiry- and Ethics-flagged course seats are often set aside for English majors. If seats remain open after pre-registration (April/November), the reservation will be lifted no later than the pre-semester add/drop period (August/January).

5.  Shakespeare at Winedale courses (321P, 678S) require consent of the program's director.  For program and application information, please visit the S@W site.

6.  Some of the seats in film/media and other high-demand English courses may be reserved for English majors.  If seats remain open after pre-registration (April/November), the reservation will be lifted no later than the pre-semester add/drop period (August/January).

We try to keep our wait lists at a manageable size, meaning that we don't allow the wait lists to get so large that students on it don't really have a reasonable shot at enrolling in the course. With that in mind, the wait list for the course may have already filled (and, consequently, no longer appear in the course schedule). Additionally, we rarely turn on wait lists for lower-division courses in order to provide more real-time access, as the wait list system can get bogged down in so-called promotion errors for our high-demand, multi-section offerings. If the wait list or course hasn't opened up by the time add/drop rolls around, please feel free to send a message to gulliver@austin.utexas.edu and we'll try to provide a registration strategy or alternative course options.  

Though Creative Writing is affiliated with the Department of English, all aspects of CRW admission and enrollment are handled by the folks in charge of the Creative Writing Certificate, rather than the Parlin Advising Office.

Similarly, though the Parlin Advising Office very much works with Rhetoric & Writing majors, most of the course management for RHE is handled by the main Rhetoric & Writing office. RHE majors, please feel free to make an appointment with your advisor if you have RHE enrollment questions. Others, please feel free to reach out to Rhetoric & Writing directly.