Choosing Courses at Laurier

Course registration for exchange students is a manual process. To register, you will need to submit a list of the courses you wish to take at Laurier so that staff at Laurier International can register you in these courses. Please follow the steps below to help ensure you are registered in the correct courses.

If you have any further questions about the course registration process, please email us at exchange@wlu.ca.

Course Selection and COVID-19

For the 2021/22 academic year, the course selection process will continue to evolve as Laurier transitions back to in-person learning. Please review the guide below for general steps, and continue to review the emails you receive from us for the most up to date information on course registration for exchange students at Laurier.

Step One: Research

Detailed information on courses at Laurier can be found online in our university calendars as well as on our websites for future students and current students. On the future students site, you can find sample courses on each program page and on the current students site, you can find course offerings on the left-side menu on each program page.

There is not one specific repository for previous course syllabi at Laurier. However, once you have located a course code you can try a web search to find more information. Please note that course syllabi are subject to change from year to year and each section of a course may have different content, depending on who is teaching.

You can take a maximum of five courses (2.5 credits) in each term. Full-time studies is considered four courses for undergraduate students and three courses for graduate students.

Please note that exchange students are not allowed to register for online learning courses (courses with the section OC).

Understanding Course Numbering and Levels

Our courses are numbered by academic year. 100-level courses are first year, 200-level courses are second year, 300-level courses are third year and 400-level courses are fourth year. You are not permitted to take 300- or 400-level courses in a subject that is not your major of study. For example, a business student cannot take 300- or 400-level science courses. You may take elective courses outside of your major of study, but they must be at the 100- or 200-level.

For graduate students, your courses will be numbered 500-700. Undergraduate students are not permitted to take any graduate level courses. If you are admitted as a graduate student, you may take undergraduate (100-400 level) courses, but you must take at least one graduate level course during each term to remain in good standing.

Step Two: Consult Your Home Academic Advisor

It is your responsibility to make sure that the courses you have selected will be transferrable. It is also your responsibility to ensure you have sufficient prerequisite knowledge (can demonstrate you have taken the equivalent course material) to succeed in the courses you have selected. Please consult with your academic advisor at your home institution regarding your course selections. 

If you have registered for a course for which you do not have the prerequisite knowledge, you will be asked to leave the course.

Step Three: Consult LORIS Browse Classes

LORIS Browse Classes is an online tool that will allow you to build your course schedule by looking up the courses you wish to take and seeing when they are offered. To use Browse Classes:

1. From the drop-down menu on the main page, select the academic term you want to search and click Submit.
2. In the Subject field, select your area(s) of study. More than one can be searched at the same time by holding down the Control key while making selections.
3. Choose the specific campus for which you have been nominated - either Brantford or Waterloo. Students cannot take courses on more than one campus.
4. Choose the Course Level - either Undergraduate or Graduate.
5. When you have generated a list of available courses, begin by checking to see if there are seats remaining. As the registration for exchange students is a manual process, you do not have access to waitlist seats.
6. Review other important information related to the course, including:
   • Course code, section code and class type: When you submit your list of courses, you will need to include this information. The course code is an alpha-numeric code starting with two letters, followed by three numbers. The section code is indicated after the course code. The class type may be a lecture, a tutorial or a lab. Please note that some courses will have more than one class type and, if so, you will need to fill both in on your application.
   • Prerequisites: You are not required to have taken the specific course prerequisites listed but you are responsible for ensuring you have the equivalent knowledge from previous studies. You can click each of the prerequisite course codes for notes regarding the required knowledge. You cannot take a course at the same time as its prerequisite.
   • Restrictions: Course restrictions could include a student be in a specific level of study, field of study, on a specific campus and/or in a specific year of study. If you do not meet a specific course restriction, you will not be able to enrol in that course.
   • Corequisites: Students registered in a course with corequisites are required to take the listed courses concurrently in the same term. In the Faculty of Business and Economics, at the undergraduate level, this usually also indicates a special closed cohort and, most often, courses with corequisites are not available to exchange students.
   • Scheduled Meeting Times: This is information you will need to ensure the courses you are choosing do not conflict or overlap. The days of the week will be indicated with the following codes: M=Monday, T=Tuesday, W=Wednesday, R=Thursday and F=Friday.

Step Four: Submit Your Choices With Your Application

We ask that you submit your top five course choices as well as three alternative course choices. Please do not repeat the same course code in your choices (same course, different delivery time) as you will automatically be considered for other sections of the same course if the lecture, tutorial or lab you have selected is full. 

Exchange students wishing to take BU courses must register in non-BBA sections (e.g. P1, S1) wherever possible. This applies to 100-, 200- and 300-level BU courses.

Before you submit your application, please ensure:

• There are no time conflicts for your top five choices.
• The courses you have listed are offered in the term(s)/semester(s) you will be studying at Laurier and are available on the correct campus (Brantford or Waterloo).
• The sections of the courses you have selected are not restricted.
• The courses you have chosen are available at your level of study.

Step Five: Receive Your Course Schedule

Once you have submitted your course choices, we will begin registering you in your courses. This is a manual process and does take some time, so you will not see your full schedule in LORIS until the end of July or the beginning of August.

We know it can be tough to wait, but be assured that we're working on getting you registered!