Sarah Lawrence College

Student Handbook

Course Registration

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General Description

Course registration takes place immediately prior to the beginning of each semester. Courses are self-selected by students in Online Course Selection (OCS). Dons review and either approve or suggest alternate course selections for their donnees; final don approval is required. Immediately following the OCS period, placements are made available to students on MySLC, and students are then registered for courses. Course selection and registration usually has two rounds where students participate in the second round if they are not initially placed in a full course load. Students placed into all first-round selections are not eligible to participate in the second round. Only students who participated in the first round are eligible for second-round selections; second-round participation alone is not permitted. See the Registration pages in MySLC for more information.

Students are responsible for regularly reviewing My Courses to view their class schedule, Credits by Distribution Area for registered classes and credits, and Unofficial Transcripts for completed credits and grades.

Students are expected to be registered for an appropriate course load (depending on enrollment status) during the OCS period, prior to the beginning of the semester. A two-week Add/Drop period follows the initial course registration period for minor schedule changes only. Students should not expect to register for an entire course load during the Add/Drop period. Students with active holds on their records, including balance owed to the College or outstanding required health forms, are not permitted to register for courses. Attendance in classes is permitted only with official course registration.

Interviews

An interview period precedes each course registration period where students are expected to interview faculty for desired classes. Students review the curriculum and semester offerings and discuss course selections with their dons. The interview process allows students to learn more about course content and expectations, to explore possible conference ideas, and, if relevant, to discuss prior experience with the subject.

Add/Drop Period

Students must be registered for classes by the beginning of the semester. The two-week Add/Drop period begins on the first day of classes and is intended for minor schedule changes. To participate in Add/Drop, students must submit the appropriate form located on MySLC, approved by the relevant faculty. Students are expected to discuss schedule changes with their don and confer directly with the instructor of the interested class. In exceptional circumstances, students may contact the Office of the Dean of Studies for late registration permission, subject to a $50 fee. Courses dropped during this period do not appear on the official transcript.

Summer or intersession courses dropped before the class begins do not appear on the official transcript, with no tuition charge. Summer directed studies dropped after June 1 are considered a withdrawal and students are responsible for full tuition. Courses dropped after Add/Drop are considered a withdrawal; see the Course Withdrawal policy.

Restrictions

Student schedules must include a minimum of two five-credit courses.

First-year students may not take more than one course in the same discipline, and may not take two creative/performing arts courses concurrently (which includes First-Year Studies classes). First-year students cannot register for more than 16 credits per semester.

Students may not enroll in two writing courses of the same genre per semester. Only one filmmaking production course and one screenwriting course are permitted in the same semester.

Credits More than 18

Full-time students generally enroll in 12 to 18 credits in a given semester; however, neither first-year students nor students on academic probation are permitted to exceed 16 credits of coursework. Students are encouraged to consult with their dons when considering extra coursework (beyond 15 credits) during an academic semester. Registration for more than 18 credits takes place only in the second week of Add/Drop. A student wishing to enroll in more than 18 credits must consult with their don and submit the appropriate form available on MySLC. Credits more than 18 for the semester are charged at the regular per-credit tuition rate.

Yearlong Courses

In addition to fall and spring semester courses, the College has a number of yearlong offerings. Evaluations are submitted for both fall and spring, and students receive a grade for the entire course at the end of the spring semester. Students who remain enrolled for the entire yearlong course are assessed and graded according to the expectations of a 10-credit course.

Students enrolled in yearlong courses may elect to drop the course at the end of the fall semester, with the exception of the required First-Year Studies course, which may not be dropped. First, students must discuss this request with their don and also the instructor, then submit a Yearlong Course Drop form during the Yearlong Drop period. If a student does not continue in the spring portion, the fall portion of the course receives a grade from the instructor. If students do not participate in the yearlong drop period during fall, drops may occur only during the Add/Drop period in the spring semester.

Faculty who indicate that a student has not completed passing work will give them a grade of “F” for the fall, and the student is dropped from the spring portion of the course. Students who continue in the course for the second semester but submit a Course Withdrawal Request by the deadline receive five credits for the fall portion. Students may not submit additional work in the second semester to increase a fall semester grade.

Accommodations

Any student who has a disability and requires accommodations related to course registration at any point in the registration process should contact the Assistant Dean of Access and Disability Services at disabilityservices@sarahlawrence.edu or 914.395.2235. Examples of registration-related accommodation support include:

  • Students with mobility impairments requiring accessible classrooms should choose their classes without regard to location
  • Assistance with online interviews
  • Support in navigating the course registration process

The registrar works with the assistant dean of access and disability services to arrange a location for the class in an accessible classroom space. Interviewing faculty before course registration is an integral part of the Sarah Lawrence course selection process. Any student who has a disability and requires accommodations to participate in the interview process should contact the assistant dean of access and disability services who determines the appropriate accommodations to ensure that the student meets with the faculty for interviews in a manner equivalent to other students. The assistant dean of access and disability services assists the student in contacting the faculty and setting up the interview.

Auditing

Students may audit one course each semester with the permission of the instructor for zero credits. Audits do not contain conferences with the teacher nor have written work evaluated, but semester attendance throughout the course is required. Standard course registration procedures apply; students may not audit a course without being officially registered. Audit registration occurs only in the second week of Add/Drop, and requests are reviewed and approved by the Office of the Dean of Studies on behalf of the Committee on Student Work. View the Audit Request form available on MySLC. If approved and properly registered, and the student attended the class throughout the semester, the audit appears on the student’s official transcript. There is no charge for auditing by matriculated Sarah Lawrence students. Students cannot convert an audit into a course for credit, or vice versa, after the Add/Drop period has ended.

Pass/Fail

Students may take one course each semester on a pass/fail basis by submission of the Pass/Fail Request available on MySLC. Courses taken as pass/fail are subject to instructor approval. The form must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office during the Add/Drop period. Pass/fail decisions cannot be made retroactively. Students cannot convert a pass/fail into a letter grade, or vice versa. Practicum and fieldwork courses are graded on a pass/fail basis only.