Vtyjkyuk

Situation: My university has an online course registration system. Students (including me) choose courses in the system and submit their requests at certain time.

Sometimes, the course information is not detailed enough. A lot of course information in the catalog contains no or unreasonable prerequisite. For example, no prerequisite is listed in the information of a MATH 4000-level (fourth-year) course about real analysis. Another example is that a CSCI 4000-level course about cloud computing has a very minimal prerequisite course (something like an introductory OS course).

I am not sure whether it would be rude to email the lecturer in advance, asking whether there is any prerequisite not stated in the online system. While I am feeling OK to ask the lecturer if none of the “effective prerequisite” is stated for a 4000-level course (as I believe there must be some), I feel a bit sorry in the second case because it appears that I don’t trust the department’s course director and I chose to, in some sense, challenge the lecturer.

I did send an email asking the prerequisite of the cloud computing course. Initially I expected the lecturer to require me to have some basic knowledge about, e.g. graph theory, database system etc. He replied to me that there is no other prerequisite, though. For some other reasons I decided not to take that course, but I think similar situations may appear in future.

Any help is appreciated.

I wouldn't phrase it in terms of "effective prerequisites". But it's certainly fine to discuss with the professor whether you are adequately prepared. You could visit their office hours, or send an email:

Dear Professor So-And-So:

I am interested in taking your course MATH 4321. I see that no prerequisites are listed, but I was wondering what background knowledge is expected, and whether I'd be ready for this course. I've taken related courses X, Y, Z and feel comfortable with the material from those courses, and have also had some experience with topic Q. Does this seem sufficient? If you can recommend specific topics to review, or additional reading, I would appreciate it. Or, if there are other courses I should take first, that would also be helpful to know.

If you like you can attach a copy of your transcript.

Think about this from the lecturer's point of view. If you are the lecturer, would you rather:

1. Have a student email you about what the prerequisites are and whether she meets them, or


2. Have a student not email you, enroll, then find out she cannot understand what you are saying at all?

I think most reasonable people would prefer #1. If you are concerned about overpressing and appearing rude that way (e.g. responding to your CS professor with "are you seriously saying this level 4000 CS course has no prerequisites except this very basic OS course??") then you could also ask for details such as the textbook used or perhaps look through homework/tutorials/past-year exam papers, and gauge the level of the course that way.

Its worth noting that some universities attempt to automatically enforce pre-requisites either by machine or by administrative review at the time of enrollment. Some professors may not want formal prerequisites because they can create administrative barriers to enrollment for a student that may have all the necessary knowledge without having some specific course listed on the transcript.

I smacked into this problem from the other side as a student at a University that administratively enforced pre-requisites and where the professors tended to list them explicitly and exactly. I spent a lot of time running around getting professors to sign forms authorizing me to take classes without having the formal prerequisites and it was annoying for me, my adviser that had to process it, and the professors.

With that said, I think asking about "effective prerequisites" using those words might either seem a bit of a challenge to a professor or possibly confuse them as to exactly what you mean. I suspect asking them what prior knowledge is assumed or asking for recommended prior reading is likely to get a positive response.

You can also probably get some idea of whether the class is too advanced or not by flipping through the textbook. If the first couple of chapters make sense you are probably fine. If you encounter unfamiliar terminology and concepts you consider difficult in the first couple of chapters then you should either wait on the class or do some independent study first.

Sometimes, the course information is not detailed enough. A lot of course information in the catalog contains no or unreasonable prerequisite.

Many courses are self-contained and should be accessible to any student that has studied the discipline in preceding years.

I am not sure whether it would be rude to email the lecturer in advance, asking whether there is any prerequisite not stated in the online system.

Suggesting that the lecturer was too lazy to list prerequisites is rude. Asking whether there is any reading that they would recommend is not rude, and should be encouraged.

The main idea is to ask for recommended reading, rather than required reading, because the latter invites conflict by implicitly suggesting that the lecturer didn't list some required reading, whereas the former invites a friendly reply.

I did send an email asking the prerequisite of the cloud computing course. Initially I expected the lecturer to require me to have some basic knowledge about, e.g. graph theory, database system etc. He replied to me that there is no other prerequisite, though.

You seem sceptical of your teachers, possibly unnecessarily.

TL;DR: Course information should be assumed correct; incorrect information isn't beneficial. Asking for additional reading should be encouraged.

I've actually had one of my students start asking this of professors when they enroll for courses. Many courses have implicit background classes - and for graduate classes, there is often an assumed background in the field. Memorably, he had a class where the lecturer frequently began statements with "As you will remember from your undergraduate coursework..." - something of a problem if you didn't have said coursework.

Emailing the professor to discuss your background and chances of successfully doing the coursework has, in my experience, been highly productive.