Students may freely add and drop courses for the first five days of the semester (the first week) if there is a seat available in the class and they meet course prerequisites. Students in need of academic advice regarding add/drops may be assisted through the Academic Advising Center. Questions regarding add/drop can also be directed to the Registrar's Office.
After the fifth day of the semester, during the second week, permission from the instructor is required to add a course. Faculty members are often reluctant to add a student to a class during the second week, so it is best to finalize your course schedule during the open add/drop period of the first week. Students wishing to drop a class (or add a class after receiving permission) during the second week may do so online.
After the tenth day of classes, no course can be added except by an approved petition and no course can be added that increases a student's billing charges, except through a petition that requires the approval of Student Accounts and, if applicable, Financial Assistance. Students are charged a late registration fee for courses added after the tenth day of class.
Dropping a course after the tenth day of registration is not permitted except through a petition approved by the Dean of Students, or through the Withdrawal option.
II. First-Year Students
Schedule changes made through add/drop during the first ten days of Fall semester (as described above) may apply only to the fall schedule. Changes to the spring schedule can be made during the college-wide spring registration period in late November. Exceptions are made for students changing their major, which may necessitate an immediate change of both the fall and spring schedule.
First-year students are encouraged to discuss schedule changes with an academic advisor. The Academic Advising Center holds walk-in hours during the first week of each semester and assists all students in need of help on a first-come, first-serve basis. Call the Advising Center (617/824-7876) for exact dates and hours of walk-ins.
First-year students may NOT drop the required first-year writing courses (WR101 and WR121) or interdisciplinary course (IN100-level). However, students may change sections of these required courses. For example, a student may change the section of WR101 from WR101C to WR101R if section R has a seat open and meets at a more convenient time. Or a student may change from IN111 to IN123 if IN123 has a seat open and focuses on a topic that the student finds more interesting.