The article is using an elective course as an example, for some reason. Usually what you do (based on my experience at UT Austin) is try to register for all yo

The article is using an elective course as an example, for some reason. Usually what you do (based on my experience at UT Austin) is try to register for all your classes in the system, with priority based on major and year. Then if there's something you really need to get into that's already full, you go to an adviser and tell them why you have to get into that class that semester and they can override the system and get you in.