Incoming Exchange Students

You may enroll in courses outside the business school if you meet the requisites.

To request permission to enroll in:

• an economics course, visit Special & Non-Degree Seeking Students.
• a math course, visit Math Department Special Student course enrollment page and fill out an enrollment request form under the “Enrollment Request Forms & FAQs” section.
• a statistics course, visit Courses and Enrollment and fill out the form under the tab that says, “I am a VISP student or special student and I want to enroll in a statistics course. How do I get permission to enroll?” 
• a physics course, submit a Physics Course Requisite Exemption Request form.
• a computer science course, visit Course Enrollment FAQs and:
  • Open the second item, which begins “I am a visiting international…”
  • Open the “Current Term Enrollment Information” document and check the fourth column for the class you are interested in
  • If a department other than computer science is identified as the enrollment “manager,” contact that department to request permission
  • If a different department is not listed in column four, complete the linked computer sciences enrollment request form

You can enroll in any courses that do not have any requisites. If you are trying to enroll in courses that are NOT business, economics, math, statistics, physics, or computer science that have a specific requisite, you need to email a department or instructor for permission to enroll. Follow the instructions and include all information listed in the course access email template below:

• View email template in Google Docs
• View and download email template as a PDF
• Download email template as a .DOCX

WSB exchange students can enroll in courses in these departments:

• Accounting and Information Systems (ACCT IS)
• Actuarial Science (ACT SCI)
• Finance, Investment and Banking (FINANCE)
• General Business (GEN BUS)
• International Business (INTL BUS)
• Management and Human Resources (MHR)
• Marketing (MARKETING)
• Operations and Technology Management (OTM)
• Real Estate and Urban Land Economics (REAL EST)
• Risk Management and Insurance (RMI)

*Economics courses are not business courses. Refer to the “non-business courses” tab above to see how to enroll in economics courses.

Courses are identified by an abbreviation and a three-digit catalog number. For example, OTM 300 is the course “Operations Management,” offered through the department of Operations and Technology Management.

When you register for business classes, you’ll find WSB exchange students do not need special permission to enroll. This applies to any business course that includes the requisite “declared in Business Exchange program.”

However, you are required to meet all the stated requisites IN ADDITION to “declared in Business Exchange program” to take any particular course. For example, the requisites for FINANCE 305 Financial Markets, Institutions and Economic Activity are FINANCE/ECON 300 or declared in the Business Exchange program. The system will allow you to enroll in FINANCE 305, even if you have not previously completed the equivalent of FINANCE 300 or ECON 300. However, you are still required to have courses equivalent to Finance/Econ 300 taken at your home institution.

If you do not meet the academic requisites of a course, you should not enroll. This is regardless of whether the system allows you to do so. Please be aware: The registration portal will incorrectly give you access because the system has no record of your previous coursework. We will audit your enrollment at the start of the semester, and if you have enrolled in a course you are not qualified for, you will be required to drop that course. If you are uncertain whether you meet all the requisites, immediately contact us at incoming.exchange@wsb.wisc.edu to discuss.

Your NetID is your username that gives you access to services on campus. You must activate your NetID before preparing for enrollment and enrolling in classes. You can activate your NetID the day after you are officially admitted by the Division of Continuing Studies, this happens after your admission to WSB.

Here’s how to activate your NetID:

1. Visit https://www.mynetid.wisc.edu/activate and enter your 10-digit ID number and date of birth
2. Click “activate”

After activating your NetID, you will have a UW–Madison email account. Use this email for school-related communication and check it frequently.

Use your NetID and password to log in to the MyUW portal. This is where you view and select courses.

If the system doesn’t create a UW email address for you,f check these steps to determine how to manually create your email and activate any other missing services.

You can browse and search courses in the “Course Search & Enroll” app in your MyUW portal. To add the app to your MyUW portal:

1. Log in to the portal
2. Click on the menu in the top left corner and select “Browse apps”
3. Search for “Course Search & Enroll” and click “Add to home”
4. Click “MyUW Home” at top left
5. Click “Search for courses”
6. Set your term and then search by subject, keywords, etc.

• When you see a course that interests you, look at its description, eligibility requirements (called “requisites”), number of credits, and more.
• Select “see sections” to view when the course is offered and what times have open seats.
• Click anywhere on a section to see the number of open seats, whether there is a waitlist, what textbooks are required, and the date and time of the final exam. You must remain in Madison until after your last exam.

When you find a section that could work, click “save section” to add the course to your cart. The system will check if you can enroll in that course when you click “validate.” If you are unable to enroll in non-business courses, follow the instructions in the “Non-business courses” section above. If you are unable to enroll in business courses, follow the instructions in the “If you received a ‘validation failed’ or ‘enrollment failed’ message” section below.

If a course is full and there is a waitlist, follow the instructions to add yourself to the list. Check your UW–Madison email daily for a notice of permission to enroll. You must enroll within 48 hours of being offered a spot in the course or you will lose your place in the queue. Please note that even if the course/section says “Available seats: 1” (or sometimes “Available seats: 2”) or if the course status says “Waitlist seats available” instead of “Open,” that means the course/section is full and you cannot enroll but will be put on a waitlist. The available couple spots are for students at the top of the waitlist and they are given 48 hours to decide whether they are going to enroll or lose their space in the queue.

The “scheduler” at the top shows if your sections overlap. You must resolve any scheduling conflicts before the end of the semester’s drop period.

Avoid scheduling courses with overlapping final exam times. If two courses have final exams scheduled for the same time, contact the instructors immediately to ask if you may take one at a different time.

Immediately prior to your enrollment time, or as soon as possible thereafter, return to the “Course Search & Enroll” app. At your enrollment time, you may begin enrolling in courses.

1. Check the box to the left of the first course you want to enroll in
2. Click “Enroll”
3. Click “Enroll” again

You should then see your course under “Enrolled Sections.”

Check the following:

1. Are you enrolling for the correct semester?
• Yes: Go to step 2.
• No: Change your term to the correct term.
2. Do all of your business courses show validation or enrollment failed messages?
• Yes: Email incoming.exchange@wsb.wisc.edu to alert us of the issue.
• No: Go to step 3.
3. Is the course full? Or does it have one or two spots left?
• Yes: If the course is full, you will be put on a waitlist. If the waitlist is also full, you cannot enroll. We cannot give you an exception to enroll in a full course. If you are on a waitlist, you have to wait until a spot opens up for you; make sure to have a back-up course in case you cannot enroll. If the course says there are one or two spots left but places you on a waitlist, that means the course is full. Those couple spots are for students at the top of the waitlist and the system is waiting for them to enroll.
• No: Go to step 4.
4. Is it a business course? Check the list of business courses.
• Yes: Go to step 7.
• No: Go to step 5.
5. Is the course an economics, mathematics, statistics, physics, or computer science course?
• Yes: Read the section under “Non-business courses” and follow the instructions.
• No: Go to step 6.
6. Do you meet the course’s requisite?
• Yes: Use the course access email template to contact the department/professor and request permission to enroll.
• No: Unfortunately, you cannot enroll in courses you do not meet the requisite for.
7. Does it say “… declared in undergrad Business Exchange program” or “… declared in graduate Business Exchange program” under the course’s requisite?
• Yes: Go to step 8.
• No: Read the course’s requisite carefully. If you believe you meet the requisite of the course, fill out this form to request permission to enroll. This does not guarantee enrollment.
8. Click “see sections” on the upper right corner of the course and select the lecture and/or discussion section you are trying to enroll in. Under class notes, does it mention the course is only open to declared or specific majors until a certain date?
• Yes: You have to wait to enroll until after that specific date. The course is reserved for students declared in that major first.
• No: Fill out this form to request permission to enroll. This does not guarantee enrollment.