Add Drop Continuing Ed New School

Incoming college students are often overwhelmed with information when they first step onto campus. It can be challenging to make sense of everything, mainly when they're just getting situated with classes. One particular school policy students have difficulty grappling with is the add/drop period.

The add/drop period is a set timeframe at the start of the academic term where students can add new classes, drop from existing classes, or switch class sessions without any repercussions. Students receive full refunds for dropped courses. Furthermore, class drops do not appear on grade transcripts.

However, there's much more to the add/drop period than the description above. In the following sections, we will address how add/drop works, the length of the add/drop period, and tips for managing the add/drop period.

What is the Add/Drop Period?

The beginning of a new semester is a hectic time for students. They get flooded with information concerning their course schedule from the school, academic advisors, and professors. From this chaos, students finally grasp what their classes are going to be like, for better or worse.

Unfortunately, some classes look much more attractive on paper than in reality. As a result, it is not uncommon for many students to find that they made a wrong decision during those first couple weeks of class. For some, the course workload might be too challenging to handle. For others, the class material may be too dull to sit through. Whatever the case may be, many students want to rearrange their class schedule in those first few weeks to set themselves up for a better semester.

Schools are aware of this dilemma, so they purposefully build in the add/drop period. Remember, the add/drop period is at the onset of the semester. During this time, students can reorganize their class schedules without penalty.

For this reason, many people refer to the add/drop period as the "class shopping" period where students enter and leave courses similar to how they would purchase and return store items. They test out different courses, keep the classes that suit them best, and exchange the ones that suit them worst.

Students can restructure their schedules in three main ways during the add/drop period:

• Adding Courses – Students can register for more courses on top of their existing course load, as long as there is open space. Typically, students add on extra courses if their semester workload is more manageable than they originally thought. It's worth bearing in mind that for college students to stay on the standard four-year graduation timeline, they must enroll in at least 15 credit hours per semester (source). Thus, it's important for students to take advantage of this add/drop period and enroll in a reasonable number of semester credit hours.

• Dropping Courses – Students may also drop courses as they see fit. It's not unheard of for them to do so, as they discover that some of their classes are more challenging or uninteresting than they presumed. By removing one or two classes from their schedule, students can improve the quality of their semester tremendously in terms of both academics and stress management.

• Switching Class Sessions – Moreover, students can modify their class schedule to make it more accomodating to their needs and preferences. For example, students usually gravitate toward specific class time slots depending on whether they are most productive in the morning or afternoon. Furthermore, students may prefer one professor over another, so they might switch around their schedule to register for that particular professor's section.

In summary, the add/drop period grants scheduling flexibility to students. It allows students to explore classes they would not experiment with otherwise for fear of being locked into an overly challenging or tedious course. This lack of consequences encourages students to step outside their comfort zone to improve their overall learning experience.

How Does Add/Drop Work?

Today, students do practically all of their course schedule changes digitally. When students add, drop, or switch classes, the system processes real-time. Thus, class spots may open up or get occupied instantaneously as students across campus rearrange their schedules.

You should note that course registration works on a first-come, first-serve basis. Thus, when a course reaches maximum student capacity, it is closed for further registration until an enrolled student drops the class. Even then, it can be challenging to secure a spot, as other students are likely competing for that one open position as well.

Every year, a few popular class slots fill up soon after registration begins. This phenomenon occurs for various reasons:

• class sessions are held at an ideal time of day
• the class may be a requirement in multiple degree programs
• the course is largely considered an "easy A"
• the subject material being taught may be extremely fascinating

So, if you intend to sign up for one of these popular courses, it is critical to register for your classes early before the primary wave of students. Otherwise, all of your preferred class spots will fill up, and you will have to adjust your schedule accordingly.

Each school utilizes a unique online format for course registration. Not every one of these course registration services operates in the same manner. For this reason, there is a slight learning curve to navigating the online course registration system.

Academic advisors and student volunteers generally assist first-year students with the digital course registration process to set their initial semester schedule correctly. After that, however, it is up to the students to create their class schedules independently in subsequent semesters.

If you're worried about potentially making a mistake on your schedule, fear not! When you run into any issues adding, dropping, or switching classes during the add/drop period, you can always meet with an academic advisor to settle any points of confusion. Academic advisors are well-versed in the area of course registration. They will be able to assist you with any scheduling problems. It would be wise to set up this meeting sooner rather than later, as academic counselors can get extremely busy during the add/drop period.

How Long is the Add/Drop Period?

Another common subject of discussion about the add/drop period is how long it lasts. Unfortunately, this question can be a bit tricky to answer, as every academic institution sets a different date for when the add/drop period ends. Sadly, there is no universal date for the add/drop deadline.

The add/drop period typically lasts anywhere from one to three weeks. However, this timeframe may be shorter or longer depending on the academic institution you attend. Your school may structure the add/drop period so that you have more time to drop classes than add classes without penalty.

Schools explicitly mark the add/drop deadline on the academic calendar. Therefore, you should circle this date on your calendar to ensure that you implement all your preferred schedule changes on time.

You can find the length of the add/drop periods for several reputable academic institutions below:

Academic Institution	Length of Add/Drop Period
Duke University	2 weeks
Harvard University	3 weeks
The University of Chicago	Add Period: 1 week Drop Period: 3 weeks
The University of Florida	5 days
University of Arizona	10 days
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	10 days
University of Michigan	3 weeks

What Happens After the Add/Drop Period?

Once the add/drop deadline passes, students do not have much room for scheduling flexibility.

Adding Courses After the Add/Drop Period

After the add/drop period ends, students can no longer add full-term courses to their schedule. Since they missed so much class time already, their grades would suffer if they were to join the class late. Even if it were possible for students to catch up, it would be tough to do so.

Thus, the course selection becomes somewhat limited once the add/drop period ends. Generally, students can only add accelerated 8-week courses at this time. Remember, just because the course length is shorter does not necessarily mean that the course is more manageable. A semester's worth of content is condensed into eight weeks for these accelerated courses. For this reason, you should consider all of your options before adding an 8-week course after the add/drop deadline.

Dropping Courses After the Add/Drop Period

The implications of leaving a course also change. When a student leaves a class before the add/drop deadline, it is considered a course drop. On the other hand, it is regarded as a course withdrawal when a student leaves a course after the add/drop deadline. Course drops and course withdrawals are not the same in that they carry different consequences.

If you would like to learn more about the discrepancies between course drops and withdrawals, click over to Course Drop vs. Withdrawal Explained: Full Student Guide.

As we previously discussed, students receive full refunds for the tuition and fees associated with dropped courses. In addition, course drops do not appear on official academic transcripts. Instead, they are wiped clean from the academic record. It is as if the student never took the class in the first place.

In contrast, course withdrawals do not merit full refunds. Instead, students may receive a prorated refund depending on the number of instructional days left. In some cases, they may not receive a refund at all. Another difference is that course withdrawals show as a 'W' grade on grade transcripts. W grades do not impact GPA, but they indicate to future employers or graduate schools that you left the class early.

You can find more information about W grades by reading through Withdrawal (W) Grades: 7 Answers Students Should Know.

Switching Classes After the Add/Drop Period

Switching class sessions is not possible after the add/drop deadline. The only exception to this rule is if you have a credible excuse and the school administration approves your appeal.

It would be far too tricky for professors, teaching assistants, and course coordinators to manage section changes after the first few weeks of class on top of their other responsibilities. Therefore, switching courses after the add/drop period is prohibited to minimize confusion.

Tips for Managing the Add/Drop Period

Now that you're familiar with how the add/drop period works, you likely want to know some of the best practices for making the most out of it. Below, we will discuss several proven strategies you can try out yourself.

Use Notification Tools for Course Registration

If you were a tad late to course registration, you might find that all your preferred classes are full. Under such circumstances, most students would concede and settle for less appealing courses. However, you can still have a chance at securing a spot in your preferred classes if you use the right tools.

There are notification tools out there that alert you when a spot in your preferred class has recently opened up. Coursicle is the most popular, as it is compatible with over 918 college course registration systems. Thus, it is likely that your online class registration system will work with this platform.

This tool saves you the hassle of constantly checking if a class spot has freed up. Instead, you can go about your day and quickly secure your place in a class once you're alerted that a seat is open.

Check Online Reviews of Courses & Professors

Before the digital era, students could only rely on word of mouth to separate the good, the bad, and the ugly during course registration. Nowadays, students have many more tools at their disposal to pick the right classes for them.

For example, students can access general online forums, like Reddit, to get an idea of what a class is like before they take it. Here, former students paint a broad picture of what sort of workload to expect. In addition, these students may also provide practical tips and strategies for earning the highest grade possible.

Another helpful resource is Rate My Professors. Here, former students share their thoughts and opinions about professors they have had in the past. You can find valuable information from these reviews about which teachers align with your learning style and which teachers do not. These reviews can save you the trouble of switching classes later down the road.

But, again, word of mouth is still a perfectly viable means of selecting your classes. More often than not, it would be best to use all these different avenues to pick your classes and craft the ideal schedule for you.

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Source: https://outscholar.com/what-is-the-add-drop-period-complete-student-guide/

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