I searched eight CUNY subreddits for “shopping cart” mentions and found 630 posts spanning 2016 to 2025. Registration tactics spread from one mention in 2016 to 154 mentions in 2024 as students developed systematic workarounds for CUNYfirst’s inadequacies. A commercial app filled the gap that the university left open.

2016-2018: Learning the System

In August 2016, a Queens College student asks if items in the shopping cart mean enrollment. Another student clarifies: “No, you will not be enrolled. The course is closed, but is still showing up in your Shopping Cart after you select it” (comment_d6w55q3).

By January 2017, students document system behavior: “For whatever reason CunyFirst is sometimes slow when it comes to processing waitlist. Just gotta keep checking and waiting until it does update” (comment_dcv9705, Baruch). The phrase “for whatever reason” stuck out to me. No one explains why the system works this way.

2018-2019: Coursicle Appears

In August 2018, someone mentions a third-party app: “Yes. Go on coursicle or noclosedclass and put in the class information and your cell phone number. They’ll text you if it opens” (comment_e3tyzre, Queens College).

By April 2019, a student named branwu uses the word “snipe”: “I would set up a tracker with Coursicle. Where you have it track the section that is closed for you, and then with the phone app, it will notify you when it has opened again so you can hopefully snipe a spot. That is what I had to do to get my MKT 3605” (comment_ek99voy).

August 2019: The Template

Four months later, branwu posts a numbered list (score: 11):

“Hey man here’s the strategy I used to get into the one section of MKT 3605 with the easiest professor (Marketing majors know which one I’m referring to…)

  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”

(comment_ewlyuik, 2019-08-11)

I found this exact template repeated across campuses for six years. The “2-4 days before semester” detail comes from observation, not any official source.

2020-2022: Pandemic Spike

  • 2019: 33 mentions
  • 2020: 70 mentions (+112%)
  • 2021: 68 mentions
  • 2022: 102 mentions

Remote registration made these tactics essential.

2023-2025: The Founder Shows Up

In November 2023, the Coursicle co-founder posts on a CUNY subreddit: “My very first registration brought me to tears too. After pulling an all night planning, I went to register and got nothing I wanted. I’ve been a computer person my entire life but I was so distraught that the advisors had to tell me which button to click to use the site, and they just had me register for random classes so I could meet the minimum hours” (comment_k836qtt, score: 10).

Students now pay for Coursicle’s premium features. Other universities provide course availability notifications as standard. CUNY does not.

By 2024: 154 mentions. 2025 projects 218. Nearly every registration thread includes shopping cart tactics.

Who Shares This Knowledge

I found 412 different people contributing, with four appearing repeatedly:

  • monstermac77 (Coursicle co-founder): 18 posts across Baruch, CCNY, Queens, Hunter over two years
  • Living_Leading79797: 14 posts at Baruch across 2.5 years
  • branwu: Created the original template
  • H-encore: Shares the same tactics at Hunter

The surprising finding: 48.6% of shopping cart mentions happen outside registration periods (306 of 630). Students search for these strategies months in advance. They’re finding old posts through search, not just asking in real time.

What This Shows

Students document what the system does when the university won’t. They share step-by-step instructions. They develop timing knowledge through trial and error. They rely on each other more than advisors.

A commercial tool fills the gap. Students pay for notifications. The tactics spread. The system doesn’t change.

Dataset: 630 posts across 8 CUNY databases (2016-2025). Key evidence: comment_ewlyuik (branwu’s template), comment_k836qtt (founder’s story), comment_e3tyzre (first Coursicle mention). Full analysis in databases/current/scripts/ch3/.