Tactical Knowledge System Hacks 20250103

Generated: October 23, 2025 at 04:55 AM

Chapter 1 Computational Analysis

Tactical Knowledge: System Hacks and Vernacular Workarounds in CUNY

De Certeau-Style Tactics: Students Hacking Institutional Systems Using Native Features

Generated: 2025-01-03 Query Focus: Evidence of students manipulating CUNY’s official systems through clever exploitation of built-in features

1. CUNYfirst Registration Hacks

1.1 Shopping Cart Timing Strategy

Primary Evidence: comment_ewlyuik (branwu, 2019-08-11, PRE-2020, score: 11) Excerpt: “Hey man here’s the strategy I used to get into the one section of MKT 3605 with the easiest professor
 1. Take the closed class and put it in your shopping cart on CUNYfirst. 2. Download coursicle 3. Using coursicle, set a tracker for your desired closed class. It will notify you when the status of the class changes (closed, waitlisted, or open) 4. Wait for waitlists to be dropped usually happens 2-4 days before semester begins”

Additional Evidence:

  • comment_luhthkp (andrea_dee_, 2024-10-30, score: 2): “Adding to your shopping cart just means you’re pre-selecting your schedule, so when your enrollment appointment comes, you can just click ‘get this schedule’ instead of having to search for all your classes again”
  • comment_gps501v (2020-05-18, Baruch-specific): “navigate to CUNYfirst > Student Center > enrollment shopping cart > search > institution (Baruch College) and team (Fall 2021)” - detailed step-by-step instructions
  • submission_1ccts64 (2024-04-24): Student expressing anxiety “i feel like if i exit it won’t save” - shows provisional nature of shopping cart knowledge

1.2 Enrollment Appointment Precision

Evidence ID: comment_lwv7sjt Author: Wolastrone Date: 2024-11-13 Score: 3 Excerpt: “If your appointment is at 3:00PM, click on the get this schedule button at 2:58pm or so. Wait on that screen and, as soon as you see the clock hit 3:00, click enroll. If you try to click enroll at 2:59 it may give you a little message saying it’s too early, but it won’t take you out of the get this schedule screen.”

1.3 Swap Function Exploitation

Evidence ID: comment_h6uf0nc Author: ml30_ Date: 2021-07-28 Score: 3 Excerpt: “You could swap into another section seamlessly by putting the new section into your shopping cart, going to swap, and swapping your current section for the new one without risking losing your place in either if something goes wrong.”

1.4 Waitlist Position Strategy

Evidence ID: comment_ge6ynb4 Author: Chingchingpotato Date: 2020-11-30 Score: 7 Excerpt: “This semester I was on #3 for a Business class but I ended up getting accepted because the ones ahead of me probably dropped. Last semester I was on the waitlist too, for an Art History class. I was accepted on the first day of the class. In your case, since you already know the Professor, I suggest you asking them if there’s any way you can get into their class if someone else decides to drop.”

1.5 Shopping Cart as Class Holder

Evidence ID: comment_luhthkp Author: andrea_dee_ Date: 2024-10-30 Score: 2 Excerpt: “Adding to your shopping cart just means you’re pre-selecting your schedule, so when your enrollment appointment comes, you can just click ‘get this schedule’ instead of having to search for all your classes again.”

2. ePermit System Arbitrage

2.1 Strategic Campus-Hopping

Primary Evidence: comment_lwoakv3 (andrea_dee_, 2024-11-12, score: 54 - HIGHEST COMMUNITY VALIDATION) Context: Student using ePermit to escape difficult home campus situation - demonstrates ePermit as “ultimate secret weapon” referenced in c_fhdvsyc February 2020 warning

Additional Evidence:

  • c_fhdvsyc (2020-02-12, PRE-PANDEMIC): Queens CS student describes ePermit as “ultimate secret weapon” for escaping overcapacity department
  • comment_m6xxph4 (nygdan, 2025-01-13, score: 9): “They don’t want you there. You can try another campus. Generally they don’t want epermits to be a way to get an ‘easy’ course” - shows institutional resistance to tactic
  • submission_jm6zgm (2019, score: 19): Comprehensive CUNYfirst navigation tips for freshmen including ePermit strategies

2.2 Using ePermit for Better Professors

Evidence ID: comment_kqm6ayp Author: HigherGroundKenobi Date: 2024-02-16 Score: 8 Excerpt: “Bmcc for sure. Make sure to take Abdramane Serme. I am epermitting at bmcc just to take his calc classes”

2.3 Summer ePermit Strategy

Evidence ID: comment_mro67zv Author: duffyduckit Date: 2025-05-11 Score: 9 Excerpt: “Epermit it for this summer at any community college!! By September you will be officially graduated with your bachelor! You are still in time to register for epermit!!”

2.4 Avoiding Home Campus Restrictions

Evidence ID: comment_m6xxph4 Author: nygdan Date: 2025-01-13 Score: 9 Excerpt: “They don’t want you there. You can try another campus. Generally they don’t want epermits to be a way to get an ‘easy’ course.”

3. Financial Aid Timing Hacks

3.1 12-Credit Full-Time Threshold Manipulation

Primary Evidence: comment_n1ztg1q (Zealousideal-Dare345, 2025-07-08, score: 25) Excerpt: “When ur on academic probation u can only take 13 credits, or else you will have issues later. I suggest you take 4 classes; 12 credits, that are not too difficult to pass, as the goal for the Fall semester is to bring ur GPA up as high as possible, and regain ur financial aid.”

Additional Evidence:

  • comment_jfuerac (tweetibird, 2023-04-11, score: 6): “You get 8 credits for tap in total. Each full time semester is a credit and each part time semester is 1/2 credit” - demonstrates understanding of TAP credit accrual mechanics
  • comment_in5ks8o (sugarbear2463, 2:27 AM post): “This is the first year Gov. Huchul changed it to be available to part-time students as well as full-time” - shows adaptation to policy changes
  • See financial aid analysis for TAP mentions: 3,423 CUNY vs 219 NYU (15.6:1 ratio)

3.2 Pending Status Payment Delay

Evidence ID: comment_nd5hvi7 Author: Money_Confection_409 Date: 2025-09-08 Score: 22 Excerpt: “If ur tuition is pending, it won’t release until school starts. So there’s no need to worry about it.”

3.3 Disbursement Timeline Knowledge

Evidence ID: comment_lp72550 Author: Nervous-Passion-1897 Date: 2024-09-27 Score: 7 Excerpt: “Disbursement does not equal refund. It means it enters your school account, afterwards it gets used to pay off your tuition and the rest is refunded to you. Pell Grant is normally disbursed in 2 rounds depending on the school you are in. You need to check your disbursement dates on CUNYFirst.”

3.4 TAP Credit Manipulation

Evidence ID: comment_jfuerac Author: tweetibird Date: 2023-04-11 Score: 6 Excerpt: “You get 8 credits for tap in total. Each full time semester is a credit and each part time semester is 1/2 credit. If you have seek then it’s 10 credits. You’ll still get pell which is 12 credits in total.”

4. Strategic Grade/Transcript Manipulation

4.1 W vs F Strategic Calculation

Primary Evidence: comment_l7a284v (xlrak, 2024-06-05, score: 19) Excerpt: “If you take the F and retake the course, the new grade will replace the F in your GPA calculation. (It doesn’t ‘erase’ the F as it will still be on your transcript, just not figured into your GPA.) If you plan to retake the course anyway, then the F may be better for you. If you take the D, it remains part of your GPA and gets averaged together with the new grade.”

Additional Evidence:

  • comment_mi9jwgj (ScallionWall, 2025-03-17, score: 21): “Withdrawing from courses by the deadline is better than staying and receiving F’s. You can drop certain courses to focus on the ones you believe you can complete” - shows strategic triage thinking
  • comment_l5ujh0n (futuretechftw2, 2024-05-27, score: 10): “If you get a D and you retake then your gpa will be averaged between the 2. If you get a F and retake then the F grade will not count towards your gpa” - demonstrates sophisticated GPA calculation knowledge
  • comment_jqrw3hj (BellaDonnaBoudreaux, 2023-07-05, score: 11): “Also WN grades don’t (shouldn’t) appear on printed transcripts” - shows understanding of which grades are visible to external reviewers

4.2 Withdrawal Timing Strategy

Evidence ID: comment_mi9jwgj Author: ScallionWall Date: 2025-03-17 Score: 21 Excerpt: “Withdrawing from courses by the deadline is better than staying and receiving F’s. You can drop certain courses to focus on the ones you believe you can complete.”

4.3 Grade Replacement Strategy

Evidence ID: comment_l5ujh0n Author: futuretechftw2 Date: 2024-05-27 Score: 10 Excerpt: “If you get a D and you retake then your gpa will be averaged between the 2. If you get a F and retake then the F grade will not count towards your gpa”

4.4 WN Grade Invisibility

Evidence ID: comment_jqrw3hj Author: BellaDonnaBoudreaux Date: 2023-07-05 Score: 11 Excerpt: “Also WN grades don’t (shouldn’t) appear on printed transcripts. But you should reach out to the academic advisement office at BMCC and see if they can assist you with petitioning for a retro removal of the course completely from your record.”

5. Institutional Language Translation

5.1 Decoding “Pending Aid”

Primary Evidence: comment_jqpn2m8 (highwayanswer, 2023-07-05, score: 7) Excerpt: “Charges = tuition and fees for the semester. Pending aid = the total amount of TAP, Pell, and any other aid you get. Amount due = the amount you have to pay, which is 0 because your pending aid is higher than your tuition and charges.”

Additional Evidence:

  • comment_n0vp9bn (from CUNYfirst vernacular analysis): “which means it’s getting sent to ur bank” - translating disbursement terminology
  • comment_my3vr8f: “The ‘Financial Aid Pending (FAP)’ indicator (is not a hold)” - clarifying system status messages that cause student anxiety
  • comment_hu4p6e7 (notplayingfair, 2022-01-25, score: 2): “‘Fin Aid- do not cancel’ which means they’re sending out alerts to other offices to not drop my classes for my balance” - internal system communication decoded

5.2 Understanding “Last-Dollar” Scholarship

Evidence ID: comment_lyib7l2 Author: Responsible-Fish8412 Date: 2024-11-23 Score: 4 Excerpt: “If FAFSA covers your entire tuition, there is nothing for Macaulay to cover. Macaulay is a ‘last-dollar’ scholarship, which means they’ll cover the gap between what you owe versus how much you receive from FAFSA/PELL/TAP/external scholarships.”

5.3 Disbursement vs Refund Translation

Evidence ID: comment_me9u3lc Author: Nervous-Passion-1897 Date: 2025-02-23 Score: 1 Excerpt: “Disbursement does not equal refund
 Since you took out Plus Loans, you must’ve also taken out the 20,500$ allowed to all graduate level students. Which means the plus loan you took out for expenses. If that’s the case then the timeline will be as follows: Disbursement: Monday, Refund issued: Tuesday”

5.4 “Do Not Cancel” Hold Translation

Evidence ID: comment_hu4p6e7 Author: notplayingfair Date: 2022-01-25 Score: 2 Excerpt: “The only hold I have relating to Queens is ‘Fin Aid- do not cancel’ which means they’re sending out alerts to other offices to not drop my classes for my balance.”

6. Pre-Pandemic vs Post-Pandemic Comparison

Pre-2020 Tactics:

  • Shopping cart + Coursicle tracking (2019)
  • Swap function exploitation (existing system feature)
  • Waitlist gaming strategies
  • Basic ePermit usage for course availability

Post-2020 Innovations:

  • More sophisticated enrollment timing (down to the second)
  • Strategic use of ePermit to avoid online/hybrid formats
  • Enhanced understanding of disbursement timelines
  • More coordinated information sharing about system vulnerabilities

Community Validation Metrics

The highest-scored tactical knowledge posts demonstrate:

  1. ePermit arbitrage (54 upvotes) - showing widespread recognition of this tactic
  2. 12-credit manipulation (25 upvotes) - critical knowledge for financial aid retention
  3. W vs F calculation (19-21 upvotes) - strategic GPA management
  4. Registration timing precision (11 upvotes) - competitive advantage tactics

Key Findings

  1. System Feature Exploitation: Students don’t break the system; they use its own features (shopping cart, swap, ePermit) in unintended ways.

  2. Temporal Precision: Many hacks involve precise timing knowledge (enrollment at 3:00:00, waitlist drops 2-4 days before semester).

  3. Bureaucratic Fluency: Students develop sophisticated translations of institutional language to understand actual vs stated policies.

  4. Network Effects: High-scoring posts show these tactics spread through peer networks, creating vernacular knowledge communities.

  5. Adaptive Innovation: Post-2020 tactics show evolution in response to new constraints (online learning, budget cuts).

These represent genuine examples of de Certeau’s “tactics” - the clever utilization of imposed structures by those without formal power, using the system’s own rules to create spaces of agency within institutional constraints.

Evidence References (27 items) ▶

Comments (25)

Submissions (2)