2023-2024 Catalog > Degree Requirements and Academic Regulations > Class Registration

Class Registration

1. Pre-Registration: Official pre-registration for courses shall be conducted at announced dates during the preceding semester, beginning no earlier than five weeks before the last day of classes. A student may pre-register for a maximum of 19 credits during this period.
2. Add/Limited Add Periods: The first week of classes each semester is considered the Add Period, during which students may add new courses to their schedules (subject to enrollment limitations, prerequisites and guidelines for over-pointing). The second week of classes is considered the Limited Add Period, during which students may add courses only with the explicit approval of the instructor. After the conclusion of the Limited Add Period, courses may be added only with the approval of the Committee on Academic Standing.
3. Delete Period: The first two weeks of classes are considered the Delete Period, during which students may delete courses from their schedule without any record on their transcript.
4. Cross-Listed Courses: A student may change the departmental designation for a cross-listed course until the end of the Limited Add Period. After the conclusion of the Limited Add Period and prior to the completion of the course, the departmental designation may be changed only with the approval of the Committee on Academic Standing. Once a course has been completed, the departmental designation is a permanent part of the academic record. For the purposes of the College’s degree requirements, the Committee on Academic Standing may approve a petition asking to treat a cross-listed course as if it had been taken with one of the course’s other departmental designations.
5. Course Withdrawal: The Course Withdrawal Period begins the day after the conclusion of the Delete Period and ends five weeks before the last day of classes. The Limited Withdrawal Period begins the day after the conclusion of the Course Withdrawal Period and ends two weeks before the last day of classes. During these periods, a student may withdraw from one or more courses with a grade of “W” recorded on the transcript. During the Course Withdrawal Period and the Limited Withdrawal Period, the student must consult the instructor, the faculty adviser, and the academic dean before withdrawing from a course; each of these individuals must affirm on the course withdrawal form that this consultation took place, prior to the withdrawal being processed by the Office of the Registrar. During the Limited Withdrawal Period, a student must also receive explicit permission from the instructor to withdraw from the course. Under exceptional circumstances, the Committee on Academic Standing may allow a student to withdraw from courses after the end of the Limited Withdrawal Period. A student may not at any time fall more than two courses (eight credits) behind the normal accumulation of four courses per semester. If a student has fallen eight or more credits behind the normal accumulation, the course withdrawal option will not be available, except by explicit permission of the Committee on Academic Standing, until the student has earned additional credit through over-pointing or completing additional courses outside the regular semester. A student may only use eight credits of Advanced Placement credit to repair credit deficiencies. Failure to make satisfactory academic progress does not entitle a student to an additional semester at Connecticut College. Any student who has an Honor Council case pending in relation to a course, or who has been found responsible for an Honor Code violation in relation to a course, is not permitted to exercise the course withdrawal option in that course.
6. Over-Pointing: Students may take up to 19 credits per term, subject to approval from their faculty adviser.  Any additional coursework is considered over-pointing and is subject to additional guidelines and restrictions.  Students may not over-point during the pre-registration period, but must wait until the beginning of the Add Period.  First-semester first-year students are not allowed to over-point.

   Requirements for over-pointing are as follows:

   • From 20 to 23 credits: Students must have earned a grade point average of at least 3.0 during the previous semester.  Students whose grade point average from the previous semester was below 3.0 must obtain approval from both their faculty adviser and their academic dean.  Approval forms are available from the Office of the Registrar.
   • From 24 to 27 credits: Students must obtain approval from both their faculty adviser and their academic dean. 

   Students may not take more than 27 credits per semester without the approval of the Committee on Academic Standing.  Under normal circumstances a student may not take more than six courses that are worth four or more credits.

   *Not applicable to RTC students.

7. Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Option:
   • In each semester of the junior and senior years (to a maximum of four semesters), a student with a cumulative and current grade point average of 2.0 may elect one otherwise letter-graded course for which the instructor is required to enter the final mark as either Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U). Return to College students must petition the Committee on Academic Standing to elect the satisfactory/unsatisfactory option. Non-degree students may elect one satisfactory/unsatisfactory course per semester. A grade of Satisfactory will be awarded for course work completed at or above a letter grade of C–; the grade of Unsatisfactory will be awarded for course work completed at or below a letter grade of D+.
     • The following limitations pertain to this version of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option:
       • This option cannot be exercised for any course that may be counted toward the major, even if the minimum requirements for the major have already been completed.
       • Courses taken with this option may not be counted toward a minor or College-wide requirement.
   • Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Option for Study Away/Teach Away Programs**: Any student participating in a Study Away/Teach Away program, or a similar program for which Connecticut College is the school of record, may elect up to two otherwise letter-graded courses for which the instructor is required to enter the final grade as either Satisfactory (S*) or Unsatisfactory (U*). The grade of S* will be awarded for courses completed at or above a letter grade of D-; the grade of U* will be awarded for courses completed below a letter grade of D-. Courses taken with this version of the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option may be counted toward a major, a minor, or any College-wide requirement. Courses for which a student has selected this option will not be considered when computing distinction within a major. A semester in which this option is taken will not count as one of the four semesters for which a student can exercise the standard Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) option.

    **Beginning with students matriculating in Fall 2021, including transfer and RTC students.

   • The following procedures pertain to both versions of the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option:
     • Neither the Satisfactory nor Unsatisfactory grade will factor into the cumulative grade point average, and credit will only be earned for a Satisfactory grade.
     • A grade of Unsatisfactory automatically excludes a student from Dean’s Honors and Dean’s High Honors for that semester.
     • The option may be filed from the first day of classes to the end of the first six weeks of classes. Upon submission of the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory form, the instructor will be notified of the student’s election of the option.

   • Note: These two versions of the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option do not apply to any course that is graded under the pass/not passed option.

   • Note: Any student who has an Honor Council case pending in relation to a course, or who has received a penalty in relation to a course, is not permitted to exercise either version of the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option in that course. Should the student have elected the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option prior to the Honor Council deliberations, the final decision of the Honor Council will override the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option, if appropriate.

8. Repeating a Course: Normally courses may not be repeated for credit. Any student who has received a passing grade and earned credit for an individual course may not repeat the course; this includes Advanced Placement, summer school and all course work taken at other institutions. Note that this policy does not apply to certain courses, the content of which varies from year to year: Advanced Study Seminars, Individual Study courses, and courses specifically noted in the catalog that by faculty vote may be repeated. A student who has failed a course may repeat it, the original grade remaining on the record and calculated into the grade point average; the second grade is also recorded and calculated in the grade point average.