Course Withdrawal Steps
Northwestern University has a withdrawal policy to help students in situations where they want to withdraw from a course. It’s important to know your options if your circumstances change and you need to withdraw from a course.
Undergraduate Withdrawal Policy
The Undergraduate Withdrawal Policy is designed to help students experiencing academic difficulties. This policy does not apply to graduate students or those on probation. If you are still determining whether or not your situation qualifies for withdrawal, contact your dean's office for further information.
Term withdrawal policy
A term withdrawal is a withdrawal from one or more courses after the add/drop period ends. A student may initiate a term withdrawal request, but Northwestern University reserves the right to require that students withdraw from all their enrolled courses if it determines that doing so is in the student's best interest.
Steps to withdrawing from a course
- Complete the withdrawal request form.
- Submit the form to your department or program office.
- Receive approval from your department or program office if required.
- Submit the completed withdrawal request form with all required supporting documents (if applicable), such as proof of extenuating circumstances, to the Registrar's Office.
Petition Criteria for Consideration of a Late Withdrawal
You may petition the Registrar’s Office for consideration of a late withdrawal if:
- you have a valid reason for withdrawing from your course(s) and program (e.g., medical issue, family emergency, etc.)
- you have already completed at least half of your courses for the term (excluding repeats)
- all other avenues to request an incomplete grade have been exhausted or are not available to you
Procedure to Submit Petition for a Late Withdrawal
To submit a petition for a late withdrawal, you will need to complete the following steps:
- Complete the online petition form. You will be prompted to enter information about your course(s), including its title and number, location and room number (if applicable), course instructor’s name(s) and email address(es). If you need these details, contact your college directly for assistance.
- Please submit the completed form electronically through StudentConnect or by printing out an offline version of it and submitting it in person at your college’s administrative office within five business days after completing all required fields on the printed version of that document.
- Once submitted, check back 24 hours later to see if there has been any activity on this particular request; if so, follow up with an email inquiry instead of calling them directly because they may be busy helping other students who need assistance immediately!