MBA Lottery
MBA students go through a lottery system for initial registration. There may be some highly sought-after courses in which demand outweighs seat availability. Stern’s lottery system was created, to make the process of registering for courses as fair as possible. This system will take into consideration a student’s program and expected date of graduation. In some cases, it may also take into account the student’s specialization(s).
The weighted lottery system will give all students in one cohort (e.g., with the same graduation date) an equal chance of getting into the classes they’ve chosen. The system will go through all of the primary selections in one cohort first and then go through the alternates of any student that was closed out of their primary. We strongly advise students to prioritize their sections in order of preference and to always make sure to include alternate options. Alternates do not reduce the chance of getting placed into a primary course but will increase your chances of getting a full schedule.
Please refer to our Lottery Tips to get a more in depth understanding of the lottery process.