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 second 5-week course registrations online via the Hub until the end of the drop/add period. Students may also drop/add first 5-week courses via the Hub during the drop/add period. Should an instructor believe that a student has missed too much of a course, the instructor can withhold permission to add a course.  After the above deadlines, students may use drop/add cards to add or drop second 5-week courses up until 5:00 p.m. of the fifth day of the second 5 weeks.  See the Academic Calendar for specific deadlines.

When using drop/add cards for anything other than a change from one section to another of a multiple section course, the signature of the instructor(s) involved and the adviser will be required. For a change of course section, only the instructor’s signature will be required (see Change of Section for deadline information). However, a student registered for a course for which another section is offered for different credit must switch sections using the drop/add procedure during published deadlines; the adviser’s signature is required.

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 described as seminars may be late dropped only with the instructor’s permission (which may be withheld). Courses numbered 100 and 400, as well as those courses related to the senior integrative exercise, may not be late dropped (see point 2 under Senior Integrative Exercise for 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.” A blue “late-drop” card is provided for this purpose, and both the instructor’s and adviser’s signatures are needed.

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.

Carleton College off-campus studies seminars may not be dropped.

See also change of course level, change of section, registration, senior integrative exercise.