Allocate+ / MUTTS Guide --- Please read before posting

[Fyrefly]

This is a thread with general guidance for people having trouble with Allocate+ and/or MUTTS.
Please read this whole thread before you post a question related to Allocate+ or MUTTS in the forum.

Also, if anyone has anything helpful to add to this, please PM me so I can arrange to add it.

[Fyrefly]

Allocate+
Including dates you need to be aware of

http://www.monash.edu.au/students/key-dates/principal-dates-2011.html
https://allocate.its.monash.edu.au/

NOTE: QUOTE EDITED TO REFLECT 2012 DATES

Umm... I think most people choose their units at enrolment day (I know there are advisors there at least), but I didn't go (I sent a proxy instead) so I'm not 100% on that. Otherwise, you will choose your units for the year (both semesters) online soon after you enrol.

After that, you put in preferences between 10th Jan and 16th Feb... basically, you tell the computer which class times suit you best out of the options available.

Sort is run on the 17th Feb... this is where it spits out your timetable.

Adjustment mode is open from the 21st Feb through to mid Mar (9th for Science faculty; 13th for ArtsDesign and BusEco faulties; 19th for all other faculties) ...this is where you can fix up the crap timetable Alloclash gave you by changing into other class times as places become available in them.

You have until the 9th Mar to add or change first semester units, and until the 31st Mar (census date) to discontinue first semester units without academic penalty or fees.

It doesn't matter when preference entry opens... only when it closes... obviously first years will just have a smaller time frame in which to enter their preferences.

with choosing subjects and times etc is it 1st come 1st serve if u want particular tute/lecture times?

No... preference entry mode is just preference entry mode... that's why I said it didn't matter about open date, just the close date.
When you try and switch classes in adjustment mode from 21st Feb, that's when you have to jump into an open spot in your preferred class time straight away if you want it, because class sizes are fixed.

"Allocate+ is an online allocation system, which can be accessed from any computer in the world that has Internet access. As a student, you are able to browse available timeslots for all enrolled activities and specify your personal preferences for timeslots that you would like to attend.

Allocate+ is not a first come/first served system. Your preferences are collected, ranked, randomised and sorted. After completion of the sort, you will be provided with a clash free timetable."

Oh... I should edit that last quote:

"Allocate+ is an online allocation system, which can be accessed from any computer in the world that has Internet access. As a student, you are able to browse available timeslots for all enrolled activities and specify your personal preferences for timeslots that you would like to attend.

Allocate+ is not a first come/first served system. Your preferences are collected, ranked, randomised and sorted. After completion of the sort, you will be provided with a clash free timetable terrible timetable that has you coming to uni for 8am classes 5 days a week but is, quite miraculously, completely clash-free."

i was gonna say..... i dont like that word "randomised" in that quote
how often do ppl have 8am classes?

I've never had an 8am class... if I did, I wouldn't turn up.
There aren't many for Arts or BusEco students, and rarely do students get stuck in them unwillingly.
There are more in areas like Engineering where these options must be made available since there are higher contact hours.
(higher contact hours = more classes = more clashes .: more options that are unlikely to clash are needed)

If you lurk often enough on Allocate during adjustment mode (think: refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh) you can usually switch into your first preferences.

"Randomised" is just their way of saying that there is no bias when they allocate your timetable... the fact that one person gets into a class while another doesn't is random luck... there is no conscious decision made and it's not something intentional.


Edit: Wait... I lie... I've had two 8am classes... there were two early-morning computer lab classes I had to attend for Japanese... I did actually rock up to them... it was a miracle.

[Fyrefly]

MUTTS Tutorial:

(Obviously guys, I did this in 2010... wherever there are any references to 2010, just assume I'm talking about the current year for you guys... the year is wrong because I'm quoting this from elsewhere in the forums, but I didn't want the quote box for this one since it'll make it more difficult to read.)

where do we go on MUTTS  to generate this... major help@!!

I shall endeavor to explain, with the aid of paint (ALL HAIL PAINT!):

Log in: http://mutts.monash.edu.au/MUTTS/

On the links on the right-hand side, click "2010 Timetable" and then click "View by Unit".

The next screen is a bit wtf, but:



1. Type in your unit code
2. Click on the SEMESTER 1 option for your unit code and click the arrow to move it across.
3. Repeat for each of your units.

When you've done all your units, scroll down and click the "View Grid Timetable" link.

You'll get this (which looks *completely* trippy):



These are ALL the times available for ALL of your units.
Go through and tick the check boxes for the tute/lect/lab/etc time you actually want for each of your units.
When you've done that, scroll all the way down and click "Rebuild with selection".

You'll get something much prettier looking, like this:



And voilą!


If you haven't decided your preferred timetable yet for some reason, you may find sorting through all the class times easier in the "View as Flat Timetable" screen instead. Pick your preferred times on this screen, click "Rebuild with selection", then click on the "View as Grid Timetable" to get the same result.

Ah, I accidentally selected both lecture time options for MKC1200... you get the idea though, right?

Only select your number one option for each unit's tute/lab/lect/seminar/etc... but if there are two parts to the same option (like, in this example there's two-part AFC1000 lectures), be sure to select *both* parts.

Hey Fyrefly, picking our timetable is just putting in preferences right? MUTTS is just something to help us yeah?

Yeah, just something to help... it doesn't actually do anything.
Personally, I don't like MUTTS and don't use it... but it's not too painful for me to show others how to use it if they so wish to.

The only thing I find favourable about it is that it lists all class locations (Allocate only lists the ones the unit coordinator has bothered to type in). For instance, I know this semester that my back-to-back tutes are wonderfully nearby this semester and I'll merely have to drift from Menzies East Wing to West Wing... last semester I had to constantly leave my macro tute early so I could get across to my Jap tute on time (which was... strangely, in one of the med buildings).

[Fyrefly]

Q&A:

Are we supposed to make the timetable in Allocate+ for sem1 or both semesters?

Sem1 only.

do we need to use MUTTS if we have already used allocate+

No.

My 1st preference is already 105% full. Does that mean I won't get into this class??

Don't freak out when classes get >100%. This just means that more students show a preference for this class than the class' capacity. The % actually represents how full that class is, according to preferences as they stand at that point in time. They will fluctuate, and by the time everyone enters their preferences at the end, quite a few will be >100%.

105% means that the demand for that class time exceeds capacity by 5%. That 5% means that if a class has room for 20 people, 21 want to get in . Thus, only one person misses out. So at 105%, your chances of getting in are still pretty good - about 95.2% (20/21). [Class sizes aren't all fixed to 20 people... I just used a class size of 20 as an example because it made the figures easy, and is a pretty realistic figure anyway.]

when do we get our timetable saying how it is like the entire week?

Ummm... when adjustment mode opens on the 22nd Feb... you can go into Allocate and click on this button:

  (Image removed from quote.)

The timetable will be all filled out with your allocations.


Or, if you're interested, you can usually view your timetable a day or two earlier by clicking this button on your portal homepage:

  (Image removed from quote.)

And then clicking:

  (Image removed from quote.)

Your classes for the first week will be listed by day... if you've got classes that don't start until the second week (many tutes don't start until week 2), they will not appear on this list and you'll just have to wait until adjustment mode for these.


P.S. Paint rules.

[Hope]

Extremely useful thread, I saw this coming when there's been so many questions about it
Thanks Fyrefly!

[Fyrefly]

Allocate Life Hacks

What about the trick with Allocate+ where you:

List your first preference as the class you want the most
List second to as many as you can preferences with classes that clash with other Lectures
Then list the rest of the preferences with classes that clash with your other tutorials/lab choices
Then list the last with your real second, third preferences etc.

Virtually guaranteed to get your first pref

You can best increase your chances of getting your first preferences by making your other preferences clash with **auto-allocated** classes. Alternatively, if you've no auto-allocated classes, you can instead increase your chances of getting your first preference if you select other preferences that are all... like... >300% full. [Your priority is still to cause clashes though.] Also wherever possible, you must avoid letting any classes clash with your first preferences.

If you want to enrol in a specific tute time or lecture stream, but can't because of an auto-allocated class that you don't plan on attending anyway:

It worked for me last semester. You just unenrol from the unit with the autoallocated lecture, allocate the lab for the other unit (and allocate doesnt see the clash obviously) and then reenrol.