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Course Change Period
You may make changes to your course registrations (add or drop courses), subject to the requirements and restrictions of your program and individual courses from the opening date of registration until the end of the course change period. The course change deadline coincides with the deadline for late registration. See mcgill.ca/importantdates.
If you drop all Fall courses before the end of August (or drop all Winter courses before the end of December), you will not be registered in that term. If you are a newly admitted student, you may be able to defer your admission (see Deferred Admission), or you may have to apply for a later term. If you are a returning student and want to register in a later term, you must follow the procedures for readmission (see Readmission).
If you drop all Fall courses after the end of August (or drop all Winter courses after the end of December) you are considered University Withdrawn and your transcript will display a notation in that term. Whether you are a newly admitted or returning student, you must follow the procedures for readmission. For more information see Readmission.
If you are registered in the Fall term, you may add and drop Winter term courses throughout the Fall term until the Winter term deadline for course change/late registration.
After the course change deadline, you may add courses only with written permission of the instructor, and the Associate Dean or Director of your faculty. A fee will be charged for each course you add.
Course Withdrawal
Course Withdrawal
After the course change deadline in the Fall and Winter terms, there is a period of a few days during which you may withdraw, with a grade of W, and receive a full refund of course fees.
After the Withdrawal (with refund) deadline, there is a period during which withdrawal from a course will also result in a grade of W but no course fees will be refunded.
Courses that Begin in the Winter Term
Courses that Begin in the Winter Term
Deadline for withdrawal (grade of W) with refund:
Deadline for withdrawal (grade of W) without refund:
- Single-term courses: Tuesday, February 27, 2024
- Multi-term courses that begin in Winter term (refund for the Summer or later portion of the course only): May 15, 2024*
* If you are in multi-term courses with course numbers ending in N1 and N2 (course begins in the Winter term, skips the Summer term, and is completed in the subsequent Fall term) you may withdraw after May 15 and until the end of the Fall term course change period by contacting your faculty Student Affairs Office.
After the withdrawal (without refund) deadline but before the end of term, and only under exceptional circumstances, you may be granted permission to withdraw from a course. Permission will not be granted merely because you are doing unsatisfactory work. A grade of W or WF, as appropriate, will appear on your transcript but will not be calculated in your GPA. For further information, consult your faculty Student Affairs Office.
- To withdraw from required or complementary courses after the withdrawal (without refund) deadline, you may need to obtain permission from your advisor, and you must fill out and submit a course withdrawal form, available from your faculty Student Affairs Office. Additional restrictions for Music courses are indicated on the Schulich School of Music page.
- It is solely your responsibility to initiate a course withdrawal on Minerva. Neither notification of the course instructor nor discontinuing class attendance is sufficient. The date on which you withdraw on Minerva is the official date of withdrawal, even if you had stopped attending lectures earlier.
- You may still withdraw from a course after the course change deadline without academic penalty provided that you do so within the appropriate withdrawal deadlines for the term. Otherwise, after this time, your name will continue to appear on the class list and grade reports and, in the event that you do not take the exam, you will be given a J grade.
- Fee refunds, if any, will be in accordance with Fees and Withdrawal from the University.
- Withdrawing from one or more courses during the semester may—where applicable—affect your government aid and/or McGill's Work Study Program eligibility. For international students, it may also impact your immigration status and/or permission to work in Canada. Please ensure that you are aware of any consequences related to the course withdrawal request; consult with the Scholarships & Student Aid Office, International Student Services, and/or your faculty Student Affairs Office, where relevant.
Graduate students who wish to withdraw from McGill should consult University Withdrawal, and submit a "Request for a University Withdrawal" form, available at Student Records Forms. Please note that this form is sent to the Student Records Office, Enrolment Services.
- To withdraw from required or complementary courses after the withdrawal (without refund) deadline, you may need to obtain permission from your advisor, and you must fill out and submit a course withdrawal form, available from your faculty Student Affairs Office. (Note 1 is not applicable to Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing. For information, you should refer to your Faculty/School section in this publication).
- It is solely your responsibility to initiate a course withdrawal on Minerva. Neither notification of the course instructor nor discontinuing class attendance is sufficient. The date on which you withdraw on Minerva is the official date of withdrawal, even if you had stopped attending lectures earlier.
- You may still withdraw from a course after the course change deadline without academic penalty, provided that you do so within the appropriate withdrawal deadlines for the term (see deadlines above). Otherwise, after this time, your name will continue to appear on the class list and grade reports and, in the event that you do not take the exam, you will be given a J grade.
- Fee refunds, if any, will be in accordance with Fees and Withdrawal from the University.
If you are blocked from withdrawing from a required course on Minerva, and have permission to do so, you must contact the Student Affairs Office, who will provide you with the proper forms.
