Ericka Henriquez

More than a week after course registration opened for Yale College students, early enrollment numbers for next semester’s most popular classes are beginning to roll in.

Excluding laboratory classes, the three most popular classes were “America at 250: A History” — a one-time course offered next semester — “Intermediate Microeconomics” and “Game Theory,” according to data on course registration from the registrar’s office’s course demand statistics for the upcoming fall semester.

Enrollment numbers will likely fluctuate when add-drop period opens in the fall, especially as the new first-year class registers just several days before the semester begins. 

Alison Tae ’28 plans to take “America at 250” next semester, after hearing about the class via the Yale News announcement. She emphasized her excitement for the course. 

“Last year during Bulldog Days, I went to a lecture, and it was with Professor [Beverly] Gage. She’s one of the preeminent historians at Yale,” said Tae. “When I saw that there was an opportunity to take a class with her, as well as with David Blight and Joanne Freeman … it was a really good opportunity.”

Gage, Blight and Freeman are co-teaching “America at 250.”

Though the News excluded laboratory classes for the purpose of these rankings, some of them outranked classes such as “General Physics Laboratory” and “Laboratory for Organic Chemistry” in registration figures. 

Many seminars require instructor permission requests due to enrollment caps on the number of students who can take each course. Though the Earth and Planetary Sciences course “Dynamic Earth” currently shows zero enrolled students, it receives nearly 500 applications each time it’s offered. Interested students must apply through a Google Form, and 145 are currently “visiting” the class on Canvas.

Evan Kessler ’28 told the News that he was currently waiting to hear back from professors regarding instructor permission requests. He hopes that he will receive decisions soon, so that he can register for other courses that may be available. 

“It makes it difficult, especially as an underclassman, if you’re trying to get in and you’re not a part of that major,” he said. “There are often only one or two seats in that class that are reserved for people who aren’t studying that subject.”

Kessler plans to major in math and computer science. He said that he had applied to a “fair number” of history and political science classes. However, he emphasized that he understood the reasoning behind prioritizing students in specific majors. 

According to University Registrar Shonna Marshall, an average of 20 to 30 new courses are added over the summer, as additional faculty members are hired. She noted that some of these courses will only be available during the spring semester. 

The University Registrar Office is located at 246 Church St.