Selective Withdrawals
Selective withdrawals are different and separate from withdrawing during the self-withdrawal period, and requesting a non-academic withdrawal from an academic dean's office. Please read below for additional information.
Selective Withdrawal Period
Undergraduates enrolled in degree programs are eligible to selectively withdraw from a limited number of classes without the dean's approval and at the student's discretion. Students may process a maximum of three such selective withdrawals during their entire undergraduate career at Mason. The three classes may have any number of credits. The academic calendar for each semester will include a selective withdrawal period beginning the day following the last day to normally withdraw from a class and extending through the ninth week. For classes shorter than a semester (14 weeks), the period will be set in proportion to the length of the class. Procedures are published in the Schedule of Classes. Students should think very carefully about all available options (such as incompletes or non-academic withdrawals with appropriate documentation - please see below) before choosing a selective withdrawal.
Selective withdrawals are processed by the Registrar's Office.
Some strict policies and procedures apply to selective withdrawals:
- Selective withdrawals can only be processed within the official selective withdrawal period for courses being taken during the current semester.
- Selective withdrawals, once requested by the student and processed by the Registrar's Office, are final and will not be removed at a later time.
- Once a student has taken a selective withdrawal, that adjustment cannot be converted later to a non-academic withdrawal. Students may wish to consult with their academic dean's office prior to choosing a selective withdrawal to see if a non-academic withdrawal is appropriate or allowable.
- Students should keep in mind that some graduate and professional schools and future employers may have a negative opinion of withdrawals, so this option should be exercised judiciously.
- Students found in violation of the honor code or who have a current honor code case pending, are not eligible to withdraw from the course in which the violation occurred.
Late Selective Withdrawals
In certain circumstances late selective withdrawals can be requested. Typically this is when a student can show that they requested a selective withdrawal during the selective withdrawal period, but the request was not able to be processed.
Students can request a late selective withdrawal by submitting a Withdrawal Request form to the Undergraduate Academic Affairs office. Documentation confirming the withdrawal was requested and what prevented the request from being processed must be submitted along with the request form. If a hold prevented the withdrawal from being processed, then information or documentation should also be presented that confirms why the hold was not able to be lifted by the deadline.