When it makes sense
Catching up after a light term, fitting a double major or a study-abroad semester into four years, or a sequence that has to be taken together. It is not a good idea in a term with a heavy lab load, a job, or a rough patch academically.
The process
Submit the overload request before registration opens for the term, with your planned schedule and a short rationale. Approval is based on your track record — a strong GPA and no recent withdrawals or failures. Expect a hard ceiling even with approval (often 21 credits), and remember the extra per-credit charge and the workload reality.
In and around Porter Falls
Curriculum decisions at Porter run through the departments that meet in Founders Hall and the Applied Arts Building, then to Faculty Senate, then to the Provost in Millwright Hall. The pace is deliberately slow and the review calendar is published.
The practical details
Standard cap: Around 18 credits for undergraduates; anything above needs approval. Usually required: A minimum GPA (often 3.0), good standing, and your advisor's and dean's office sign-off. Cost: Credits above the full-time plateau are typically billed per credit. Anything time-sensitive — an accommodation, a booking, a deadline — is worth confirming directly before you rely on it, because the specifics here can change from term to term.
If you have a question
The office behind this is Office of the Provost (Millwright Hall, Room 300). Call (715) 555–0130 or email provost@uwporterfalls.edu during the fall and spring terms, or sign in to MyPorter to send a message or book a time. If it turns out another office owns the question, they will route it rather than send you back to the start.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.