When the term begins on a Monday, the drop/add period ends at 11:59 p.m. on the Sunday following.  When the term begins on a different day of the week, this period ends at 11:59 p.m. on the fifth day of classes: for example, if the term begins on Wednesday, the drop/add period ends just before midnight on the following Tuesday.

Students may make changes in 10-week and first 5-week course registrations until the end of the drop/add period. Similarly, students may add or drop second 5-week courses until 5:00 p.m. of the fifth day of classes of the second 5 weeks. See the Academic Calendar for specific deadlines. (For courses that do not follow the standard 10- or 5-week schedules, the deadlines are set by the Registrar’s Office; contact that office for details.) The process for making these changes is described on the Registrar’s Office website.

After the first class meeting, adding a course online does not automatically complete registration for that course; should an instructor believe that a student has missed too much of a course, the instructor can withhold permission to add a course. To do so, the instructor must submit a request to the Registrar’s Office by 4:59 p.m. on the first business day after the student added the course.

For changes between two sections of a multiple-section course, see the Change of Section policy; for changes from one level of a subject to another, see the Change of Course Level policy.

Courses on Carleton off-campus studies programs may not be dropped.

Late Drops

Provided the 12-credit minimum is observed, courses may be “late” dropped until 5:00 p.m. on the seventh Friday of the term for 10-week courses, the third Friday of the term for first 5-week courses, and the eighth Friday of the term for second 5-week courses. Courses numbered 100 and 400, as well as those courses related to the senior integrative exercise, may not be late dropped (see point 3 under Senior Integrative Exercise for the sole exception to this policy). After the one-week drop/add deadline, a drop results in a grade notation of “DRP” on the transcript and is identified as “course dropped after the normal drop/add period without penalty.”

Students considering a late drop should discuss the choice with their instructor and adviser prior to initiating the drop through the process described on the Registrar’s Office website. Before a late drop will be processed, the instructor and adviser must acknowledge that they have had a conversation with the student (though such an acknowledgement does not imply their agreement with the student’s decision to late drop); the student will not be denied the option if they have engaged in a conversation with the instructor and adviser prior to the late-drop deadline.

No course may be dropped after 5:00 p.m. on the day of the late drop deadline noted above.

While a pattern of frequent use of this option may be interpreted by graduate schools and employers as an indication of inability to complete academic obligations, an occasional “DRP” notation on a transcript is no cause for concern. The Academic Standing Committee (ASC) regards the DRP as a valid elective option for a student in cases where a course cannot be completed for a variety of reasons as well as in cases where students have simply missed the registration deadline. Petitions to remove a DRP notation from the transcript are not usually granted.