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Dropping Classes and Voluntary Withdrawal

Withdrawal Periods and Grades of W and WF

During registration:

When the registration system is open to students at the beginning of each semester, students may drop or add classes using PAWS.  When a class is dropped during this period, no grade is recorded and no record of the student’s being enrolled in the class appears on the student’s transcript.  Registration ends at the end of the first week of classes.

After registration and before the midpoint of the semester:

During this period, students may make a voluntary withdrawal from a class or classes using PAWS. Students will receive a grade of W or WF for any class dropped during this period depending on whether or not they have exceeded their limit of withdrawals with a grade of W.  Specifically, students will automatically be awarded a W if they have not exceeded their limit and a WF if they have.  Grades of W and WF appear on the student’s transcript.   (Note:  A grade of WF is treated as an F for GPA calculation purposes.) 

NOTE: Students cannot make a voluntary withdrawal after the midpoint. For more information, consult the Student Advisement Center or Office of Academic Assistance in your college.

Limits on Withdrawals with a Grade of W

• Undergraduate students are allowed to withdraw with a grade of W a maximum of six times in their undergraduate careers at Georgia State.  There is no withdrawal limit for graduate students. 
• The limit on withdrawals does not apply if a student withdraws from all classes during a term before the midpoint. However, students are only allowed to withdraw from all classes prior to the midpoint twice without having their withdrawals count against the limit.  Students who withdraw from all classes a third or subsequent time will automatically receive a grade of WF in their classes if they have reached their limit of Ws.
• It is possible that a student will withdraw from more than one class in a particular semester and not have enough Ws left to use a W in all those classes.  In that case, classes will be awarded a W based on the date and time the student initiated the withdrawal from that class.  For example, if a student had taken five Ws in their career at Georgia State and then withdrew from three of the four classes in which the student was enrolled, the student’s sixth W allowed would be assigned to the class from which the student withdrew first.  The student would receive a WF in the other two classes.  In these cases, students may make an appeal to the Student Advisement Center or their Office of Academic Advisement to shift the W from one class to another.  Such requests must be made no later than the end of the semester after the semester in which the student withdrew from the classes.  (Whether a student is enrolled in the semester after the semester in which the student withdrew from the classes does not change this time limit.)  Students may not shift Ws between semesters.
• The following sorts of withdrawals do not count against the limit on withdrawals with a grade of W.

1. Hardship withdrawals. 
2. Grades of WF (withdrawal failing).
3. Grade of WM (withdrawal military).
4. Withdrawals taken in semesters before Fall Semester 2006.
5. Withdrawals taken at other institutions.

This policy applies to all degree seeking undergraduate students.  It does not apply to non-degree students (such as postbaccalaureate students).  The policy is effective Fall Semester 2006.

Students formally withdrawing from all classes may be entitled to a refund of a portion of their fees.  In an emergency situation that precludes personal action to withdraw from classes, a student may communicate with the Office of the Dean of Students.