Adding and Dropping Courses

Students should:

• Use Self-Service system for all course changes.
• Use the Late Course Change Request to add a first-half semester class after the 5th day of classes.  First obtain approval from the  department offering the class, then meet with a College Advisor in Grainger Engineering.
• Independent Study credit defaults to 1 credit hour, if you are enrolling in more than one please follow the directions for Changing Variable Credit Hours.

Adding a Course:

• For all cases of students wanting to late add a full-semester class or change a section for a full-semester class (approvals are needed as indicated on the online form), follow instructions using the Late Course Change Request.
• Reminder: Independent Study credit defaults to 1 credit hour, if you are enrolling in more than one please follow the directions for Changing Variable Credit Hours.

Dropping a Course:

• For most cases, students should use Self-Service for course changes. 
• For the cases below, students must seek approval by making a request in the Grainger Drop Portal and then see a college advisor in express advising or a scheduled meeting:
  
  • Students with College Holds (Students on academic warning, graduating seniors,  Engineering Undeclared, etc.).
  • Students in the ZJUI Program may have a College hold.  They must use the Grainger Drop Portal to request course changes.  ZJUI students should indicate they are in the ZJUI program when emailing their PDF form to engineering@illinois.edu.
  • Dropping a class that brings total number of credit hours below 12 (underload) - Note that international students or students who have financial aid will need to check with other units (ISSS or OSFA) prior to making such requests.

Please note: All holds (besides a College Hold) will need to be cleared before requesting late schedule changes (add, drop, or section change). 

After 11:59 pm CDT on the campus deadline it is not possible for students to make any changes via Self-Service (except for adding or dropping a second-half semester class). Students who want to request a schedule change after this should review information below:

Adding a Course:

• For all cases of students wanting to late add a class or change a section  (approvals are needed as indicated on the online form), follow instructions using the Late Course Change Request.
• Reminder: Independent Study credit defaults to 1 credit hour, if you are enrolling in more than one please indicate that on the Late Course Change Request. 
• IMPORTANT NOTE: The last day to request a late add is the last day of instruction. 

Dropping a Course:

• For all students wanting to late drop a course, it is required to meet with a college advisor in express advising or scheduled meeting.
• Please note: late drop requests are not guaranteed to be approved. 
  
  • Students will meet (virtually or in-person) with a College Advisor to discuss their situation. If after discussing, students wish to petition the advisor will complete the Late Course Drop Petition.
    • Late drop petitions require a student narrative and any supporting documentation a student may want to include.
      • Student narratives should include extenuating circumstances, the impact of the circumstances to the course requested and not others enrolled in, and evidence to support this claim.
    • Students have 5 business days to submit their narrative. After which, the late drop request will be canceled if the narrative is not complete. 
  • A college committee will review completed petitions and send the outcome via email.
  • The last day to request a late drop is the last day of instruction. 
  • Students must have extraordinary circumstance beyond their control that directly affected academics (medical or other emergency reasons) as stated at https://studentcode.illinois.edu/article3/part3/3-311/ (part d-2).

Students should ONLY use the Grainger Drop Portal if Self-Service system cannot be used.  Students will use the Grainger Drop Portal to drop below 12 hours, if there is a college hold, or if graduating.  The Grainger Drop Portal will only be available through the drop deadline.  

1. Log into the Grainger Drop Portal to request a course drop.
2. Input the requested course information.
3. Once submitted, please schedule an appointment or stop by Grainger Express Advising to meet with a college advisor. 
4. Students can meet (virtually or in-person) with a College Advisor/Dean in The Grainger Academic Advising Center to discuss the situation.   The College Advisor/Dean will review and make decision about approval.   
5. Make sure to cancel any unwanted requests.

To determine if the request has been processed, visit UI-Integrate to view the schedule. The Grainger Drop Portal keeps track of the list of all requests made via the Grainger Drop Portal for the current semester, and their current status.

• Not all requested changes will be approved.
• Enrolling in extra courses with the intention of dropping some later is strongly discouraged. Drop requests under these circumstances may be denied after the tenth day of classes. Overload requests for this purpose will not be approved.

• When dropping a course, check the Class Schedule for co-requisites for enrolled courses. Drop requests of co-requisite courses may require additional documentation and may be denied.

• The Grainger Drop Portal is telling me to print a form and get signatures on the form; what do I do?
  No need to print a form. Simply generate a PDF version that you can send to the different units/Advisors for digital signatures, in the order specified on the form. On your last stop (College Advisors/Deans in 4th Floor of Grainger Library), the College Advisor/Dean you meet with will ask you to show the form with all needed approvals, other than the College Engineering Dean/Advisor (last step/signature).
• I want to drop a class "with W" after the drop deadline, will my request automatically be approved?
  Requesting a drop after the deadline is not guaranteed. You must have extraordinary circumstances beyond your control that affected your academic performance and are well documented. If your drop request is approved, you will get a 'W' on your transcript. 
• What is a 'W' and how does that affect me?
   A 'W' indicates that you registered and subsequently dropped the class and will appear on your transcript. It does not factor in your GPA. Some professional schools (such as law or medical) will evaluate 'W' grades as failing grades. 
• I have questions, where do I go?
  You may either email engineering@illinois.edu or ask to meet with an advisor. See go.grainger.illinois.edu/UPOAdvising. The advising team in the Undergraduate Programs Office handles all academic matters.  We are here to help, guide and assist. We will work with you and help you find solutions.
• I have been advised to "see a Dean", where do I go?
  We are in The Grainger Academic Advising Center (4^th Floor of Grainger Library, East Wing) or see go.grainger.illinois.edu/UPOAdvising.  We have a Dean on Duty Monday - Friday from 1-4pm. The advising team in UPO handles all academic matters for the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs.