Four-Course Loads

A student may without permission or extra charge undertake during a college career a four-course load up to a maximum of four times. Each qualifying student has until the end of the tenth day of classes of any term after the student's first term of enrollment at the College, within the maximum of four, to add a fourth course. Note: It is not possible to elect four courses until the term in question has begun. A fourth course may be dropped until the end of the sixth week of classes. After the end of the sixth week, the rules for withdrawal from courses apply and one of the four uses of this provision is thereby lost.

A student who has already exhausted the quota of four, four-course loads may undertake additional four-course loads only by permission of the Registrar and the Chair of the Committee on Instruction (COI). Such permission is intended to allow students to take advantage of unexpected opportunities or to deal with unavoidable scheduling conflicts, not to allow students to do more than can be accommodated by the ordinary quota of four-course terms or to graduate early. There is no extra charge.

Permission to undertake a four-course load beyond the quota of four must be justified by petition to the Registrar and the Chair of the COI, explaining the value of the intended course of study and the necessity of the additional four-course term. The petition must be accompanied by a letter of support from the student’s major department or major advisor endorsing the value of the intended course of study and indicating the student’s capacity for the additional work. If the four-course load includes course credit for reading, independent study, or independent research, the petition must also be accompanied by a letter from the instructor of that course, verifying that the intellectual content, time commitment, academic requirements, and grading policy are at least equivalent to the demands of a classroom course.