Course Listings

Fall Term 2012

Catalogs will be available after July 9, 2012.

Enrollment and Lottery Process

Your course application must be received by the due date to be included in the enrollment process. If the number of enrollment requests does not exceed the quota allowed for the course, all applicants are enrolled. If there are too few, the course is canceled.

If there are too many persons for a course, there is a lottery. Each member has an EPH, a priority number that guides the lottery. Its initial value is 50 when a person becomes a member. EPH is decreased for a member enrolled by lottery and increased for a member not enrolled. This increases your chance of winning a lottery enrollment if you lost out previously.

First Choice Lottery

This process takes place for applications for a course as a first choice. Applications are sorted into priority order by decreasing EPH, then decreasing random number. Those with the highest priority are enrolled first. For example, 5 members apply for a course with a quota of 3 places. The applicants might be:

Name EPH Random number
Alice 51 46738
Bob 50 88377
Dave 50 54668
Chuck 50 32566
Esther 46 91006

There are three places, so the first three items in the list are enrolled. Alice is enrolled. Esther is not. Bob, Chuck, and Dave compete for the two remaining spots by random ordering. Bob and Dave win and are enrolled.

Then all members enrolled have their EPH decreased by four. Those not enrolled have EPH increased by one. After the enrollment, the EPH scores become:

Name EPH
Alice 47
Bob 46
Chuck 51
Dave 46
Esther 47

After the lottery, ILEAD staff may change enrollment status and adjust EPH scores manually using a data entry screen, to accommodate, for example, a situation where two people travel together but only one is accepted. There is no effect on EPH unless the course is oversubscribed.

Secondary Choice Lottery

Next is a process for open courses applied for as a second, third, or fourth choice. If there is room, applicants are enrolled. No applicant is enrolled in more than the total number of classes they asked for.

If there are more applicants than opening, applications are sorted into order by decreasing EPH, increasing choice number, and decreasing random number. For example:

Name EPH Choice Random number
Alice 51 2 43748
Bob 50 2 88677
Dave 50 3 44368
Chuck 50 3 22565
Esther 46 2 81606

Thus, an applicant preferring a certain course more than another has a slightly better chance to enroll. At each successful lottery enrollment, the EPH is reduced by four.

Wait List

If an applicant is enrolled in fewer courses than applied for, the unfilled applications are automatically placed on wait lists for those full classes, in the event an enrolled member withdraws.

Catalog Archive

For a list of past catalogs, see Catalog Archives.