Spike
Wharton

MBA Program Office

A Quick Guide to the Auction

In order to help you understand the course registration system, we have included some rules, some tips and some aggregate statistics. A full description of the auction can be found on our web site under the Auction tab. The following tips are worth keeping in mind as you formulate your auction plan:

  • In the aggregate, course supply exceeds demand by 40–50%. Over 70% of all sections therefore eventually close at 50 points (0.5cu sections) or 100 points (1.0cu sections). That is to say that they have open seats.
  • Look at past results and the price history of individual courses over all rounds in which it was offered; Last round results are a good measure of final market equilibrium. Each semester is generally similar to the corresponding semester last year in terms of the demand for courses.
  • Beware of the mid-auction "bubble". Don't pay too high a price for a course that will eventually open up. Look at the 8th round of the Fall 2006 auction to see where prices eventually settled. This should help mitigate some of the anxiety that middle rounds inevitably create with their high prices and low liquidity.
  • Don't scatter your points over too many courses. Since most courses eventually clear for zero, concentrate your bids on a few high-demand courses and put minimal bids on the rest. Plan to spend an average of 1,000 points per cu in the auction over your four semesters. This means that every time you take a course at 100 points, you can take another at 1,900. When you spend 2,800 on a course, you need to take two others at 100 points each to break even.
  • Avoid multiples of 10 (like 100 or 1000) when placing bids or asks. Non-multiples of 10 are less likely to be tied with other bids and asks (ties are resolved randomly).
  • The following table and chart provide a summary of the Fall 2006 auction results. More information can be found in excel spreadsheets available on the “Auction Results” page of our website (under the “Auction” link).
Fall 2006 Auction Results
Round Average Seat Price Trading Volume # of Successful Bids # of Successful Asks # of Unsuccessful Bids # of Unsuccessful Asks Open Seats
1 456 3968 3968 0 2007 0 2203
2 440 729 729 163 1195 446 1637
3 701 302 301 162 726 505 1498
4 533 1037 1037 498 754 440 1010
5 646 390 374 319 470 398 942
6 529 285 255 263 354 366 949
7 301 204 129 199 295 286 1023
8 130 424 158 407 192 97 1272
9 331 172 165 146 121 31 201
10 214 74 51 72 51 5 222

 

Main Rules :

1) The minimum bid allowed for any course is 100 points/1.0cu (50 points/0.5cu). The minimum ask is zero.

2) During the auction you may bid on and hold multiple sections of one course as well as courses that are in time conflict. There is no limit on the number of credit units you may hold in the auction. You may not hold multiple seats in one section of a course.

3) By the end of the last round , however, multiple sections of one course and time conflicts mustbe resolved—both within your auction holdings, your non-auction courses (such as core courses), or your non-Wharton courses. Your credit load must also stand at 6cu or less. If you exceed the credit limit or if you do not resolve your time conflicts, the university registration system will randomly drop you from courses when the auction enrollments are transferred to it. Course conflicts will be indicated in red in the “my items” box on the main page of your auction interface.

4) You may drop a course in any round of the auction by placing an asking price of 0 (zero). If there are no student buyers, the Graduate Division will buy the course from you. This is the only guaranteed way to drop a course.

5) You cannot spend more than your current endowment of points (which will include replenishments at the rate of 1,000 points per cu for elective courses you’ve successfully completed in previous semesters). Outstanding asks are not included in your current account balance (because those sales are yet to be consummated).

6) Post-auction drops, adds and swaps (see “Out of Auction Course Registration Changes” under the Auction tab of our web site):

Dropping an elective course after the last round of the auction:

  • You will need the permission of your instructor (which some faculty deny, particularly if the course is full).
  • For such drops, you will neither earn the usual replenishment of 1,000 points for the course nor be reimbursed the clearing price that you paid for it.
  • If the course you drop was closed in the last round and if there were others trying to get in, a notation of “W” (withdrawn) will be placed for the course on your transcript and you will be penalized 350 points/1cu (175 points/0.5cu)
  • The last date to drop a course in a semester will be announced shortly after the end of the auction.

Adding an elective after the last round of the auction:

- The course must be open at the end of the last auction round.
- You will need the instructor’s permission.
- You will need to pay the larger of 100 points per cu (50 points per 0.5cu) or the last clearing price of the section.
- You will be given the usual replenishment for the course.
- You will be penalized 350 points/1cu (175 points/0.5cu)

Swapping sections of the same course after the last round of the auction (see the web site for details):

- You must pay a price determined by the open or closed status of the original or destination section (see “Out of Auction Registration Policies” on the MBA Program website).
- You will receive auction point replenishment only if the destination section was open at the end of the auction.
- You must have the instructor’s permission.
- You will be penalized 350 points/1cu (175 points/0.5cu)

7) When capacity is added to a course after the auction begins, the additional seats are offered at an asking price equal to the weighted-average clearing price of the course in previous rounds of the auction (the weights being the trading volumes in rounds).

8) Registering in courses outside the auction (e.g., core, independent study, non-MBA courses etc.) is auction neutral: you neither pay auction points for them, nor are you replenished for completing them.

9) Auction points are not transferable to other students. Any collusion schemes aimed at transferring points are a violation of the auction rules and will be referred to the Ethics Committee.