Ask and You Shall Receive...Probably!
In an earlier post, I talked about how awesome it is that being in the Fisher MAcc program allows you to take a multitude of courses, both in and out of the accounting department. As a MAcc student, you can enroll in finance, HR, operations, and even math classes if you really wanted to! During my last quarter, I really wanted to take advantage of this and selected an operations class to take. However, when I attempted to enroll in it, I received the dreaded "Could Not Add Class - Prerequisites Not Met" error message...
I emailed my adviser to let her know my dilemma. Luckily for me, she assured me this was by no means a rare occurrence, and that I should simply email the professor teaching the course and ask for permission to be enrolled. As long as he gave me the okay, I could be added to the class!
I emailed the professor, explaining the situation and asking for permission to enroll in the course. I included some background information in the email as well, which I would recommend doing if you find yourself in this situation. What kind of background information did I include?
- Why you are interested in the course - Thoroughly read the course description, then explain exactly why you want to take the course. Maybe its directly related to the field in which you hope to work, or maybe its a topic you know you'll never get to experience in the real world but find incredibly fascinating. Be honest!
- Look at the prerequisites in detail - Once I realized I hadn't taken MBA 850, the prerequisite for this course, the first thing I did was go look at the course description for MBA 850. As I read, I realized it sounded fairly similar to a course I had taken in my undergraduate days. When I emailed the professor, I told him about the course I had taken in undergrad, so he could use that to evaluate whether or not I would be prepared for his course.
I was extremely excited when I got an email back from the professor, letting me know he'd be glad to give me permission to enter his class.
SO - as a MAcc student, you truly do have every opportunity to take the courses you really want to take. Sometimes, you have to work a little bit harder to get into those classes, but that makes it more fun. This really is a case of ask and you shall receive!