Registration

Registration Procedures

Event	When it happens	What you do
Pre-Registration	Week 8: Monday, 9AM – Friday, 5PM	Select & rank courses
Pre-Registration Results	Finals Week	View results
Online Add	Monday following finals week, 9AM – Friday of Week 1, 5PM	Add courses online
Online Drop	Monday following finals week, 9AM – Friday of Week 3, 5PM	Drop courses online
Adding Courses Requires Instructor Consent	Friday of Week 1, 5PM – Friday of Week 3, 5PM	Add courses via consent

The above dates apply to Winter and Spring Quarter registration.  Autumn Quarter registration ordinarily occurs over the summer; the College will communicate to students the precise timeline.

The first phase of course registration is the Pre-Registration. Students who are eligible for Pre-Registration may select and rank courses for the following quarter via the Stellic My Planner system. Students can rank up to ten courses of interest, with a ranking of “1” indicating the most desired. Students interested in multiple sections of a course may select and rank multiple sections of interest. 

Pre-Registration requests are then “resolved” and registrations are added to students’ schedules. The Pre-Registration process does not guarantee enrollment in any course. Students can read more about pre-registration on the Registrar's website.

To be eligible to take part in Pre-Registration, students must have resolved any administrative or academic holds. Students who are returning from a leave of absence or suspension must be approved to resume before Pre-Registration begins in order to participate. Students should discuss their registration plans with their College Academic Adviser.

Students planning to graduate in the current quarter, students who have scheduled a leave of absence, and students who will be abroad for the next quarter cannot participate in Pre-Registration. This process is only available for degree-seeking students. Students at large (SAL), international visitors, and Graham School students may not participate in Pre-Registration.

Following resolution, phase two begins with the online add/drop period. When Add/Drop opens, students may drop or add classes to their schedules via my.UChicago.edu. Students may add courses online through their My Classes portal until the end of Week 1 of the new quarter; drops may be made online until the end of Week 3.

During Add/Drop, students may add courses for which they meet the prerequisites that have not reached seat limits and that do not require instructor consent. Online add/drop is processed in real-time, and works on a first-come, first-served basis. Courses may open or close instantaneously. It is most ideal to finalize schedule changes by the end of Week 1.

The system does not permit students to be registered for more than 4 courses at once, nor does it allow students to register for courses that have time conflicts. If students are interested and qualify for a 5th course, they may petition to add a fifth course here. If there is a time conflict for essential courses, students may submit the simultaneous enrollment petition here.

During the add/drop period, students may not drop below 300 units (i.e., 3 100-unit courses) per quarter as full-time enrollment is required of degree-seeking undergraduates. Students who no longer intend to complete a course after the drop deadline should contact their Academic Adviser regarding withdrawing from the course.

Students who cannot register themselves for a course may be registered and added to a course by instructor consent. Instructor Consent is at the discretion of the individual instructor or department and is not guaranteed. 

Consent requests for subsequent quarters are available through My Classes beginning when Add/Drop opens. Students will see the “Request” button which serves as the online consent form. 

Students may also complete the paper consent form to enroll in courses. Approved consent forms are submitted in person or via email to the Registrar’s Office when add/drop opens through Friday of Week 3. After Week 3, students may not add any class except via the late registration change petition, which is only approved in extreme cases. Note: If petitioning for a late add, you must also provide a signed instructor consent form.

There is no official auditing status in the College. Students who wish to sit in on a course without enrolling for credit must obtain the permission of the instructor. Even if granted, the course will not appear on the student's transcript. While some graduate and professional school courses at the University offer an official auditing status (bearing a grade of "R"), this option is not open to College students interested in those courses. Students auditing a course are expected to abide by the add/drop deadline should they decide they wish to enroll in the course. 

Many Core course sequences are identified as providing auto-enrollment (i.e., "course rollover"), which means that students are automatically enrolled in the next course and section in the sequence the following quarter provided that the section continues with the same day/time meeting pattern. Some sections may be discontinued or combined with other sections, or meeting times may be changed from one quarter to the next. Students who are registered for an auto-enrollment course do not need to select or rank that course during the pre-registration process.

Students may drop certain auto-enrolled courses during pre-registration. Students are restricted from dropping Humanities courses during Winter Quarter pre-registration and should discuss any section changes, drops, or adds for this sequence with their academic adviser. Drops made in these courses cancel the auto-enrollment for the remainder of that sequence. If a student drops an auto-enrollment course during pre-registration and then wishes to re-enroll in it, they must select and rank that course or attempt to add the course during the add/drop period. Students who wish to stay in the sequence but change sections may be better served by attempting to 'swap' the course during the add/drop period as opposed to dropping the course during pre-registration and bidding to enroll in another. Once dropped, re-enrollment in any course is not guaranteed. 

The “W” (Withdrawn) grade means that the student has decided after Week 3 of the quarter not to complete the work of the course. Students who wish to exercise this option must request a W from their academic adviser by 5PM on the Monday of Week nine, or the day before the final project/exam is due, whichever is earlier. When made before the deadline, a request for a withdrawal cannot be denied except in cases of academic dishonesty. A withdrawal may not be granted after completion of the course.

Once a student requests a W, it may not subsequently be changed to any other mark. W grades do not confer grade or impact GPA; however, they will count against the completion rate needed to maintain good academic standing.

Students who register for graduate-level courses are subject to the policies governing graduate grading. Students should discuss the implications of these policies with their advisers before registering for courses numbered 30000 and above. NOTE: Grades earned in graduate-level courses contribute to a student's GPA as indicated earlier in this section.

Reading Period

Every academic quarter, at least two days in advance of Finals Week are designated "College Reading and Review Period." Instructors and/or teaching assistants may hold review sessions on these days. However, no new material may be introduced, assignments may not be due, and final examinations may not be given (except as necessary for graduating students) during the reading period. The Reading and Review Period may not be dispensed with by classroom vote.

Examination Schedule

Students should verify that travel arrangements do not conflict with their final examinations. View the Final Examination Schedule.

Students and instructors can arrange Reading and Research (R & R) courses when:

• The material being studied is beyond the scope of a particular course
• When students are working on material not covered in an existing course, or
• When students would like to receive academic credit for independent research.

R & R courses (29700 or 29900) are graded on a Pass/Fail basis or with a quality grade in accordance with departmental guidelines.

Registering for an R & R Course

• Obtain a College Reading and Research Course Form.
• Determine the proper course and section number.
• Ask the instructor to sign the form, or, if filling out the electronic form, obtain an e-signature or an email from the instructor for consent. Students registering for a B.A. paper with a faculty supervisor in a department outside of the student's major must also obtain the signature of the director of undergraduate studies in their major. For BIOS 00199 and 00299, the BSCD Undergraduate Research and Honors Chair signs in lieu of the program chair. A second signature is not required for BIOS 00297.
• Submit the R & R form to the Office of the University Registrar by Friday of 3rd week. If using the electronic form, this may be emailed in. Note: If using an email from the instructor in lieu of a signature, this email must be attached along with the filled out form.

Guidelines for R & R Courses

• First-year students may not register for R & R courses except by petition to the Dean of Students.
• Students registering for extra-departmental R & R courses must receive approval (per the R & R form) from the undergraduate program chair of their major, rather than the chair of the department in which that course is offered.
• Registration for more than one R & R course in the same quarter is permitted when the subject matter is different. In other words, students may not receive more than one course credit per quarter for a single project.
• Students may not receive academic credit for paid work in a research environment or elsewhere, although an unpaid internship that has a significant on-campus academic component may be eligible for R & R credit. Consult a College Adviser for more information about this option.

Undergraduate students can start enrolling in Summer Quarter courses typically starting in mid-February. Students must confirm their interest in summer courses by submitting  the Summer Activation Request Form in My.Uchicago.  For further information, go to the Summer Session Registration page.