Advice regarding withdrawing from a course

Advice regarding withdrawing from a course

The last day to withdraw (without academic penalty)
from a Fall, 2022 course is October 21, 2022
(and from a Spring, 2023 course, March 8, 2023).


Students considering withdrawing from a course  should be mindful of the potential academic and/or financial effects of doing so – and consult their course instructor, academic advisor, and/or Financial Aid advisor before withdrawing. 

  • Students who have made a genuine effort to learn course material, have participated in class activities, and have met course requirement deadlines with genuine attempts but are still struggling in the course should talk with their instructor about their performance, possible strategies for improvement, and whether a passing or specific grade is potentially achievable. 
  • Students should also discuss with their major academic advisor (for sociology majors, contact ) about the effect of withdrawing from a particular course on their progress toward degree completion.
  • Students should also consult their Financial Aid advisor about the effect of withdrawing from a course on their financial aid eligibility (e.g. satisfactory academic progress, etc.).
  • Students should also consider the effect of withdrawing on Housing, etc.

Students who withdraw from any course through the withdrawal deadline (October 21 for Fall, 2022; March 8 for Spring, 2023) may do so without approval from their instructor (or advisor) by using the registration link in ULink.  Once withdrawn from the course, the course(s) will remain on the student's transcript with a “W” in the grade column.  (NOTE that students who never attend/participate in class or submit course requirements or stop attending/participating or submitting assignments and who do not formally withdraw from the course will be assigned a grade of “F” for the course.)

Beginning Fall, 2022, students who withdraw from a course may opt to be reinstated in the course within 24 hours of the withdrawal.  Upon withdrawing, students will receive information from the Registrar about how to proceed if seeking reinstatement in the course.

Students who attempt to withdraw from any course after the withdrawal deadline will be required to submit a petition to the College of Arts & Sciences for a “late withdrawal.”  The petition must be accompanied by an “instructor remarks” form completed by the instructor of the course from which the student is requesting the withdrawal.  (NOTE that not all petitions for a late withdrawal are approved.)

Compassionate Withdrawal
Students who are withdrawing due to extenuating circumstances may wish to be considered for a compassionate withdrawal.  For details and instructions, visit this site.