Add or Drop a Class
Students can add and/or drop courses using Vergil during the Change-of-Program Period.
Online wait lists remain available during this period. If a schedule overlap is created through registration using a wait list, the student must resolve the overlap in Vergil by the end of the Change-of-Program Period, or submit a petition to the home school according to its established policies.
Students must use the last day of the Change-of-Program Period to resolve any course conflicts and point overages.
Unofficial notification to the instructor (e.g., verbal comments, an email) or ceasing to attend the course do not constitute dropping a course. Students who stop attending class without officially withdrawing or dropping will be assigned a grade by the instructor even if they have not completed any work in the course.
By completing registration actions, students acknowledge responsibility for the accuracy of their schedule and assume responsibility for associated financial and academic penalties.
The Post-Change-of-Program Period
Following the Change-of-Program Period, the Post-Change-of-Program Period begins for students in select schools. Check the Academic Calendar to confirm if your school applies.
During this period, students may receive faculty or departmental approval to add and/or drop courses in Vergil up until the add/drop deadline. Once faculty or departmental approval is granted, students will be sent a confirmation email and must complete the new registration action by adding the course in Vergil.
Note: Students in schools not participating in the Post-Change-of-Program Period will need to submit a paper Registration Adjustment Form.
Participating Schools
Students should only request to add courses that they have been attending during the Change of Program Period. Students should continue to attend any courses they request to drop until their drop request has been officially approved. Read and understand Columbia Engineering’s registration policies and procedures in the online Bulletin. You are responsible, both academically and financially, for all registration transactions. Course changes made during this period may result in financial liability.
Given that you are financially and academically responsible for all completed registration transactions, you should become familiar with the School of the Arts registration policies and procedures. Students who make registration adjustments during this period will continue to be responsible for any course fees, where relevant.
Columbia College students cannot drop or add Core courses after the Change of Program Period, including Art Humanities, Contemporary Civilization, Frontiers of Science, Lit Hum, Music Hum, and University Writing.
Undergraduate Engineering students cannot drop University Writing or Art of Engineering without special approval.
Columbia College and Undergraduate Engineering students cannot drop below 12 credits.
Students should only request to add classes that they have been attending during the Change of Program Period. Given that you are financially and academically responsible for all completed registration actions, you should become familiar with Columbia College’s registration policies and procedures available in the online Bulletin. Students who make registration adjustments after the Change of Program period will continue to be responsible for any course fees where relevant.
Read and understand the registration policies and procedures for the School of General Studies. You are responsible, both academically and financially, for completed registration transactions. Course changes made during this period may result in financial liability. Full tuition charges are incurred for any courses added or dropped after the Change of Program period.
Read and understand the add/drop policies and procedures for the School of Professional Studies. You are responsible, both academically and financially, for completed registration transactions. Course changes made during this period may result in financial liability. Full tuition charges are incurred for any courses added or dropped after the Change of Program period.
Given that you are financially and academically responsible for all completed registration transactions, you should become familiar with the registration policies and procedures for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences available in the Digital Student Handbook. Students who make registration adjustments during this period will continue to be responsible for any course fees, where relevant.
Given that you are financially and academically responsible for all completed registration transactions, you should become familiar with the registration policies and procedures for The Climate School. Students who make registration adjustments during this period will continue to be responsible for any course fees, where relevant.
Students in the MD program at VP&S use a system called Oasis for course registration. MD students can contact their program for further information about accessing and using Oasis.
Additionally, students in the following programs are pre-registered for courses and do not participate in manual registration at designated appointment times:
- All programs at College of Dental Medicine
- Psychoanalysis certificates at Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research
If you are not in one of the programs mentioned above, you should proceed to use Vergil to register for classes at your assigned appointment times.
CUIMC students should contact their individual schools or programs for more detailed information about registration requirements and procedures, especially those involving cross-registration with other schools.
Following the Change of Program period, CSSW only allows for students to drop courses, not add. Students should ensure they are familiar with CSSW's Course Withdrawal policies as they are responsible, both financially and academically, for any changes made during the post-add/drop period. Students should contact CSSW’s Financial Aid office to discuss how dropping a course can impact loans, scholarships, and financial aid eligibility.
Add/Drop Tool
The Post-Change of Program Add/Drop tool is used by students, staff, and Faculty in the schools listed below to manage self-service registration and enrollment for certain courses in Vergil, subject to approval by their School and/or Instructor. Students in these schools do not need to request manual registration adjustments during the weekend between the Change of Program Period and the Post Add/Drop Period as add/drop requests can be initiated electronically using the Post Add/Drop Tool.
The Post-Change of Program Add/Drop tool is used by several Columbia University schools. Read and understand your school's registration policies and procedures before using the Add/Drop Tool. You are responsible, both academically and financially, for completed registration actions. Course changes made after the Change-of-Program Period may result in financial liability. For students in the School of General Studies and the School of Continuing Education, full tuition charges are incurred for any courses added or dropped after the Change of Program period.
Background
- Historically, students could add/drop courses through Vergil only during the Change of Program period.
- Following this period, all “adds” and “drops” had been handled manually using a paper form.
- Physical delivery of the paper form caused unnecessary traffic at the Student Service Center.
- Student survey feedback indicated the older process was time-consuming, inefficient, and frustrating.
Goals
Our goals for the Post Change of Program Period Add/Drop tool are to:
- Provide an electronic mechanism to add/drop courses after the Change of Program period
- Electronically route requests to add a course to the course instructor and, where appropriate, the student’s advisor
- Allow the student to add a course following online approval from the instructor and, where necessary, the advisor
Electronically manage course drops, pending approval, where appropriate, from student’s advisor using Vergil.
How It Works
Students use the Post Change of Program Period Add/Drop tool in Vergil, after the end of the Change of Program period, to either add a course to their existing schedule or drop a course already on their schedule.
- Students can request to add a course using Vergil.
- The request will be electronically directed to the course instructor and student’s advisor, if required, for approval.
- If approval to add is granted, the student will be notified by email and will be able to register for the course via Vergil.
- Students can also request to drop a course using Vergil.
- The request will be electronically directed to the student’s advisor for approval.
- If approval is granted, the student will be notified by email and will be able to complete the drop via Vergil.
- Go to Vergil
- Log on using UNI and password
- Click on “Registration” link. Your current registration list appears at the top of the page
- To request adding a course, follow the steps as you normally would to add a course in Vergil (using call number)
- To request dropping a course, select the course from your current registration list and click on the “drop” button
- To request switching sections of a course that you’ve already registered for, select the course from your current registration list and click on the “Change Section” button.
- The request column indicates the type of request that you submitted. You may withdraw a request by clicking on the “Withdraw Request” button
- When you receive an email confirming that your request has been approved, log in to Vergil to complete the action. You must go back into Vergil to complete your request.