Registration Policies

Breadcrumb

Advising

Must be completed each term before undergraduate students are permitted to register. Your advisor will remove your advising hold when this requirement is met. It is very important that you meet regularly with your advisor and develop a close working relationship. 

Concurrent Enrollment

A student may not take courses for credit at both Whittier College and another institution simultaneously without prior permission from the Registrar. To request permission, complete the Concurrent Enrollment Form. The Registrar will not approve a total course load greater than that acceptable at Whittier.

Corequisites and Linked Courses

Used when two or more classes must be taken simultaneously. This is typically used to link a lecture to a lab but it is also common with the Community (link) and Connections I (pair) requirements in the Liberal Education core. You must register for each class in the corequisite group. If courses require a co-requisite or are part of a first-year link, both courses must be taken. No exceptions.

Declaration of Major

Students who have not completed their declaration of major by registration during the spring of their sophomore year will receive a hold on their registration. They will not be allowed to register for junior year courses until the Declaration of Major form is filed with the Office of the Registrar.

Dropping and Withdrawing from Courses

NOTE: Non-Attendance does not constitute a drop or withdraw and will result in a grade of "F." It is the student's responsibility to drop a course and to ensure their schedule is accurate.

A student may drop a course online or with an Add/Drop Form at the Registrar's Office, without record of enrollment within the first three weeks of the semester.

A student may drop a course and receive a grade of "W" online or with a Withdrawal Form at the Registrar's Office, between the end of the third and sixth weeks of classes.

Grade Option

Exist for most classes. This permits you to take a class for a letter grade (default) or for credit/no-credit (with instructor permission). Classes taken under the credit/no-credit option are excluded from GPA calculations. Taking too many credits under the credit/no-credit option may also prevent you from being considered for the Dean’s List each term, departmental honors, and Honors at Commencement.

Grade Option changes must be submitted by the fourth week of the term. You may select your grade mode online when registering for your courses or you may fill out the Add/Drop Form and submit it to the Registrar's Office with the signature of the instructor.

Holds

Students are not allowed to register if they have holds on their records. Please check your holds through My.Whittier.edu and contact the office which has placed the hold on your record for assistance. The office that placed the hold will remove it when you have resolved the triggering issue.

Independent Or Directed Studies

Students may take a course by independent study when the subject matter is not covered in a regular Whittier catalog course. In rare circumstances a student may take a regular Whittier course outside of the normal classroom setting by directed study. You must fill out an application for independent study or directed study. You are allowed to take only one independent or directed study in a given term. Independent studies may be taken for a maximum of 3 credits.

Instructor Permission

You must obtain the instructor's permission on an Instructor Permission Form for any course for which permission is required. You may register for all your other courses online. It is only the instructor permission course that must be processed by the Registrar's Office in person.

Late Registration Fees

The Registrar's Office may impose a late registration fee when a student petitions to conduct registration actions after the published deadlines. If the petition is approved, then payment of the fee is required before the petition will be processed. Please review the Academic Calendar prior to the start of the term to ensure you know the deadlines in advance.

Prerequisites

Exist for many classes and are used to ensure that a student is adequately prepared before attempting a more challenging class. The registration system has access to your entire transcript, accepted transfer work, and test scores. If the prerequisite for a class is not found, you will not be permitted to add the class. Exceptions can only be made by instructor signature (of the intermediate level course) on a Course Override Form that is turned in to the Registrar's Office. Review the current College Catalog for the specific prerequisites assigned to each course.

Study Load Restrictions

Used to ensure undergraduate students register for a full-time schedule (12 to 17 credit hours). Please note: There is an additional charge for any credits above 17. First year students and students on academic probation are limited to no more than 12 credit hours per term. Once your study load for a fall or spring term exceeds 12 credit hours you will not be permitted to drop below that threshold. Self-service registration permits you to drop a class and add a class at the same time (even exchange) so that you may change your schedule without receiving a study load error.

Time Conflicts

Detected by the registration system and will prevent you from adding overlapping classes. Review the days and times for your selected classes and adjust as necessary to eliminate the conflict. Students must seek approval on the Course Time Conflict Form available to register for conflicting classes.

Waitlists

Provided for most classes. Classes requiring instructor permission do not offer waitlists because they may not be added using the self-service registration system. You will be presented with the waitlist option if it is available for a class that you attempt to add and that class has reached its maximum enrollment. Waitlists are maintained in priority order giving preference to higher class standings (seniors, juniors, sophomores, first-year). Within a classification, priority is assigned based on who waitlisted first. Automated notices are sent via email to your student email account when a seat is available. You have 48 hours to add the class before your seat is offered to the next student on the waitlist. Waitlists are deactivated 48 hours before the first day of instruction for a term.

Withdrawal

Withdrawal from the College is completed by Registrar’s office and submitting the required paperwork and exit interview. My.Whittier.edu will not permit you to drop your last class. If you stop attending classes and fail to complete the withdrawal process you will receive failing grades.