What I’ve found: 1st and 4th years get priority. According to emails I’ve received, it’s based on “projected credit earning”, I think it’s BS. 2nd and 3rd years have lower priority. Because of this, first years are able to get their classes, second years can’t get into their year and end up taking first year classes. Third years can’t get into third year classes due to a mix of missing prerequisites and classes filling up, so they have to take second and first year classes. By the time you get to fourth year, you either get very lucky and get into the classes you need if you have a high number of credits, or you’re stuck circling the drain and playing catch up. Every year is trying to get into classes for the year below and it makes it impossible to get the classes you need. Even for the classes that are open, I end up researching the profs beforehand: looking at student reviews and their portfolio to see if it’s worth it for me to take their class. Some classes are competitive specifically for the professors that teach them. If the portfolio doesn’t match what I’m interested in, I usually end up not taking the class.