Registration FAQ

Registration windows and key dates

When can I register for spring 2027?

Continuing students’ registration windows begin November 9, 2026, in waves by earned credits: graduate students and seniors first, then juniors, sophomores and first-year students. Non-degree students register from December 7, 2026.

How do I find my registration time?

It is in MyPorter. You can register any time after your window opens, but popular sections go in the first hours of each wave (getting ready to register).

What should I do before my window opens?

Clear every hold, meet your adviser, and build your schedule plus two backups in the planner, with the CRN and one alternate section for each course. When your window opens you are entering numbers, not browsing.

What are the spring 2027 dates?

Classes begin January 25, spring recess is March 13–21, classes end May 7, finals run May 10–14, and commencement is May 15 (academic calendar).

When are fall 2026 finals?

Fall classes end December 11 and final exams run December 14–18, 2026. The section-by-section schedule is on the fall 2026 final exam schedule, and conflicts are handled under the final exam conflict policy.

Is there a Winter Term or summer session?

Winter Term 2027 meets January 4–22, one intensive course only. Summer 2027 has an eight-week session from June 7 plus four-week sessions starting June 7 and July 6 (summer session).

Holds

What is a hold?

A flag an office places on your account that blocks registration — and sometimes transcripts, your diploma or grade viewing. Your holds and the office to contact are listed in MyPorter (registration holds).

What are the common holds?

Financial (an overdue balance, the Bursar), advising (meet your adviser), immunization (Student Health), missing final transcript from a prior school, conduct (Dean of Students), and library or equipment fines.

How do I clear a hold?

Only the office that placed it can remove it. Pay or set up a plan for a financial hold, meet your adviser for an advising hold, or submit the missing record; a financial hold can take a day or two to lift after you pay.

When should I check for holds?

Two weeks before your registration window. A hold cleared an hour after your window opens has already cost you your place in line.

Why do I have an immunization hold?

Your record is incomplete. MMR is required, plus a meningitis vaccine or signed waiver for students in university housing; submit through the student health portal (immunization requirements).

Full classes, waitlists and credit loads

The section I need is full. What now?

Join its electronic waitlist; your position is by the time you added yourself. When a seat opens, the system emails your Porter address and holds it for you for a short window, often 24 hours (how waitlists work).

Does a waitlist enroll me automatically?

No. You must act on the email, meet the prerequisites and have no time conflict. Waitlisted credits do not count toward full-time status for aid until they convert.

How do I get into a closed section or past a prerequisite?

Ask the department for a permission number — not the Registrar. It overrides a closed section, a prerequisite the system cannot see or an instructor-consent requirement, and you still register yourself before it expires.

How many credits is full time?

12. Undergraduate tuition is flat from 12 to 18 credits, so 15 or 16 credits — the pace that finishes in four years — costs the same as 12.

Can I take more than 18 credits?

With an approved credit overload request, usually requiring a 3.0 GPA, good standing and your adviser’s and dean’s office sign-off. Credits above 18 are billed per credit.

Adding, dropping and withdrawing

When is the last day to add a class?

The end of the first week of the term. Shorter courses have shorter windows, published with the section.

When can I drop without a record?

Through the end of the second week of a standard 15-week term — for spring 2027, Friday, February 5. A course dropped by then never appears on your transcript (add, drop and withdrawal deadlines).

What is a withdrawal?

Leaving a course after the drop deadline and before the withdrawal deadline, around week ten. It posts a W, which does not affect your GPA; after that date you receive the grade you earn.

Can I withdraw after the deadline?

Only by a late-withdrawal petition for a documented non-academic emergency, such as a serious illness or a family crisis. Doing poorly in the course is not grounds.

Will I get money back if I drop?

Tuition is refunded 100 percent through week two, 50 percent through week four and not at all after that. Compressed courses compress the schedule too — on a three-week course the full-refund window can be two days.

I need to leave all my classes. How?

File a term withdrawal through the Dean of Students or the Registrar, and talk to Financial Aid first. Do not just stop attending; an unofficial withdrawal usually turns into failing grades and a worse aid outcome.

Grades, transcripts and records

Can I take a course pass/fail?

A capped number of courses, usually free electives only, elected by a date a few weeks into the term. A Pass does not affect your GPA; a Fail counts as an F (pass/fail option).

What happens if I repeat a course?

Both attempts stay on the transcript, but only the latest counts toward your GPA, within limits on how many courses you can replace. Financial aid pays to repeat a failed course, and to repeat a passed course only once (repeating a course).

How do I order a transcript?

Through MyPorter. Electronic transcripts are free; paper and rush copies carry a small fee, and a financial or conduct hold blocks an official transcript (transcript ordering).

I need proof that I am enrolled. How do I get it?

Download an enrollment verification letter free and instantly through MyPorter (enrollment verification).

How do I know what I still need to graduate?

Run your degree audit every term before registering. A what-if audit shows how your credits would count in another major or minor before you switch.