Registering for a GLN Class

Fall 2010 Semester Schedule

Our Fall 2010 Semester will start on Wednesday, September 15th. The Fall 2010 Schedule is now available. Registration will start on Thursday, September 2nd.  

Registration Overview

In order to make registration more organized and fair, we have made significant changes to the registration system. Class registration no longer takes place on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis. We will take all registration requests for a given class in a lottery and draw the names of the students who will receive a spot in the class. Here are the basic rules:

• GLN classes are open to everyone, but students must place a deposit in order to attend a class. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to read about the GLN deposit policy.


• Students may submit an application for no more than 3 classes in a given semester. Please choose wisely the classes you are requesting to sign up for.


• Students must place registration requests in their order of preference. (For instance, if a given student wants to take a Spanish Beg. I class and a French Beg. I class and his/her top choice is Spanish, he/she must first place a registration request for Spanish and then for French.) 


• Students may not register for more than one class in a given language. For example, you may not request to register for Spanish Beg. I and Spanish Beg. II. You must select the language level that corresponds best to your language ability. If you are not sure which class is best for you, read over the GLN language levels or contact us. We will be sure to place you in the right level when classes start


• All students have an equal chance to get their names drawn in the lottery. However, GLN gives priority registration to our teachers, volunteers and donors. Read more about priority registration.

Registration Timeline

• We will post a tentative list of Fall classes on August 18th and the finalized schedule will be available online on August 31st


• In order to take a class with GLN, every student must have an account with GLN. 


• Class registration will take place between Thursday, Sept. 2nd and 11:59pm, Sunday, Sept 5th. Students place their ‘registration requests’ (for no more than three classes) via their student account


• Registration will remain open until Sunday, September 12th for classes that might still have available spots.


• We encourage all students to submit their registration requests by 11:59pm, Sunday, Sept 5th to ensure a spot in the lottery. We will not accept any registration requests after Sept 5th for classes with 40 requests or more.


• On Monday, Sept. 6th we will draw a lottery with all registration requests (unless a given class has less than 20 requests in which case all students will be registered for the class) and choose at random 20 students to be placed on the main roster and 20 students to be placed on the waiting list for the class.


• On Sept 6th and Sept 7th students will receive an automated e-mail informing them whether they have been placed on the class roster or on the waitlist.


• Registered students must place a class deposit by 10am, Sept 8th in order to confirm their registration.


• Waitlisted students will be notified whether they have been promoted to the main roster between September 9th and September 13th and they will be required to place a deposit as soon as they receive the notification and no later than September 13th. Please do not place a deposit unless you are officially registered for the class.


• We will continue to accept registration requests for classes with less than 40 people until September 12th.


• Registration for all classes will close at midnight, September 12th.

Class Levels

Before registering for a class, please be sure to read over the GLN language levels. It is very important that you sign up for a class that fits your language level. If you have trouble figuring out what the right level is, please contact us. Please note that if your language level does not correspond to the level of the class, we will place you in a class that is a better fit, or drop you from that class if no other class in that language is available.

Waitlists

Some of our classes (such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Japanese) attract a lot of students. If you receive the Waitlist message, that means you have been placed on the waitlist. Don't worry! You might still be able to take a class. Registered students have 4 days to place a deposit. If they miss the deadline, their spots will be offered to students on the waitlist. Should a spot open for you, we will notify you via e-mail. 

• Please do not place a deposit if you are on the waitlist. It will not increase your chances of getting into the class


• We will let you know whether a spot has opened up for you


• Please place your deposit as soon as you receive a notification that a spot has opened for you

Deposit Policy

Organizing classes requires a great deal of administrative and teacher preparation. This is why we require students to register online and place a deposit to reserve a spot in a class. The deposit is:

• $100 for GW students, faculty, staff and alumni


• $150 for non-GW affiliates.


• There is a $10 convenience charge, which will not be reimbursed unless you end up not taking the class. The $10 fee helps us cover PayPal and other processing fees.


• No PayPal account necessary to place a deposit: you can simply enter your credit card information securely through PayPal.

The purpose of our deposit policy is to ensure that the students who register for our classes are committed to attending them regularly. Here are the rules:

• You may not attend a GLN class without having placed a deposit. Students may not ‘sit-in’ classes.


• You may register for multiple classes, but you have to place a separate deposit for each one in order to attend it.


• You have one class meeting to decide whether you would like to stay in the class or drop the class. If you drop online before the second class meeting, you will receive your deposit and the $10 processing fee within two weeks. If you stay in the class, you are subject to the attendance rule:


• You may miss no more than ¼ of all classes or 3 classes (whichever is fewer) in a semester in order to receive a return of your deposit. (For example, in a semester with 12 classes, you may miss no more than three classes; in a semester with 8 classes, you may miss no more than two classes.)


• If you miss more classes than the allowed number, your deposit will go to The Global Language Network not-for-profit organization and will be used to advance our mission