Large waitlists are common across disciplines this term, forcing some students to find alternative courses or change their D-Plans.
This term's largest class is Chemistry 6 with 224 students enrolled in the two sections, followed by Earth Sciences 3 with 159 and Cognitive Science 2, cross-listed as Psychology 28, with 137.
The five most oversubscribed classes this term are Music 51, Women and Gender Studies 66, Speech 20, Chinese 62 and Government 86, Registrar Meredith Braz said in an email.
Professors of oversubscribed courses and the Registrar's Office work to accommodate students' interests by adding additional sections of highly demanded classes or overriding enrollment caps after the preliminary add and drop period.
Even with additional sections and enrollment cap overrides, however, some students are still unable to register for popular classes.
Alex Lopez '15, who could not enroll in a public policy course, suggested that the Registrar's office should stop prioritizing students based on their class year or major and leave enrollment for some popular classes up to chance.
"While I understand that Dartmouth's focus on undergraduate teaching allows smaller class sizes and more focused learning, in some instances students are unable to take advantage of Dartmouth's incredible opportunities because classes fill so quickly," he said.
Lopez said that when students email professors to join the wait list, the correspondence opens the door for communication in the future, even if the students are unable to be accommodated.
Bridget Melvin '16, who did not get into Engineering 20 this spring, will have to take four courses at some point next year in order to maintain her current D-Plan, study abroad her junior fall and graduate as an engineering major.
"Spring is a popular time for students to take this class because people usually take the other engineering major prerequisites in the fall and winter before Engineering 20," she said.
Thomas Wang '16 made it off the waitlist for an 18-person Public Policy 41 class taught by professor Julie Kalish. He contacted Kalish during course election and expressed his interest in the class.
"Professor Kalish has an amazing reputation, so I knew it would be a popular class, and I really wanted to get in," he said.
Goodman has been managing the Sociology 1 class waitlist to ensure that students who contacted him about registering for the class first have priority when spaces became available.
"I do not like the idea of people repeatedly checking the Registrar's page and then jumping on an open spot I would rather it be the first people who expressed interest to me that get into the class," he said.
With the upcoming addition of a sociology section to the 2015 MCAT, non-sociology majors and pre-medical students have flocked to Goodman's course, he said.
He also attributes the popularity to sociology's growing prominence.
"The majority of students in the class aren't sociology majors, but I think there has been a lot of new interest in sociology after it was made fun of in popular culture for years," he said. "People are getting tired of economics and business and psychology majors."
