Undergraduate Late Drop and Semester Withdrawal

Go to: Types of Withdrawals | Winter 23 Late Drop/Withdrawals | Retroactive Drop/Withdrawals | FAQs | Calendar

• There are two types of approved late withdrawals:

  • WA and WB. Both show on the official transcript as a “W”.  The symbol “W” on the official transcript indicates that the student was approved to withdraw from the course after the drop deadline. It carries no connotation of quality of the student's performance and is not used in calculating grade point average or progress points.

• What is considered a WA drop/withdrawal?

  • WA is assigned for serious and compelling reasons that a student might have had the opportunity to anticipate prior to the semester drop deadline.

    Students are limited to 18 units.
    Postbaccalaureate students are limited to 12 units.

• What is considered a WB drop/withdrawal?

  • WB is assigned for serious and compelling reasons that are clearly beyond the student's control, usually emergencies. 

    There is NO unit limit.

• Limits for Open University and Special Session 

  • Open University and Special Session students are subject to the same criteria and limits as regularly enrolled (matriculated) students.

    Limited to 18 units of WA drops
    No unit limit for WB drops

Students should submit a separate petition for each course drop request. If you are enrolled in only one course, submit the semester withdrawal petition and not the single course drop petition.

• Instructions

  • Please read the petition instructions carefully to avoid delays in processing your petition.

    Note: Open University students need to use the Undergraduate Course Drop/Semester Withdrawal forms.

• Personal statement requirements

  • Your personal statement must describe:

    1. The extenuating circumstance; 

    2. How it affected your ability to succeed academically;

    3. Why the drop was not done before the drop deadline; 

    4. Why you are only dropping one course or a set of courses and not withdrawing from the semester; and

    5. How dropping one or all your courses will help you to succeed.

• Examples of supporting documentation

  • Supporting documentation must show your extenuating circumstance(s), and must match the dates of the term in which you are requesting the drop/withdrawal. All documentation is subject to verification. 

    Please remove all personal, sensitive information from documentation before uploading it to DocuSign (e.g., Social Security Number (SSN), Medical Record Number (MRN), birth date, credit card info, etc):

    1. Medical Related (self or immediate family): letter(s) from physician and/or Healthcare Provider Form [pdf]
    2. Mental Health: letter(s) from counselor, therapist, psychiatrist, and/or Healthcare Provider Form [pdf]
    3. Employment Related: letter from employer on letterhead or work schedule (clearly identifying hours and/or change in schedule)
    4. Death (immediate family): death certificate or obituary/memorial service card (if certificate cannot be issued)—documents must include dates
    5. Personal/Financial Hardships: documents identifying hardships with specific dates
    6. Legal Issues/Divorce: legal documents identifying incident(s)
    7. Accidents/Natural Disaster: insurance claim, police report, or legal documents regarding incident(s)
    8. Administrative Error: letter(s) from university faculty or staff on university letterhead or email
    9. Military: documentation from Commanding Officer (CO)

    Documentation that are NOT acceptable include: a statement from a family member/friend, or your own statement with no supporting documentation.

• Invalid reasons for dropping courses

  • The following are NOT valid reasons for dropping courses:

    1. poor academic performance;
    2. non-attendance;
    3. change of major; or
    4. not meeting course prerequisite(s).

    Requests for these reasons will be denied.

• Petition Form

  • Winter 2023: available Thu, Jan 5, 2023 at 8am to Fri, Jan 20, 2023 at 5pm.

NOTE: Approval of your late course drop or semester withdrawal petition does not guarantee a refund of tuition and fees, or financial aid. Please contact the Bursar’s Office or the Financial Aid Office regarding this.  For Winter and Summer session please contact College of Professional and Global Education (CPGE).

• Request to initiate a retroactive course drop/withdrawal for a previous term   

  • To initiate a retroactive course drop/withdrawal petition, students must meet with an academic advisor (see directory) to discuss their extenuating circumstances and if a retroactive drop/withdrawal from a previous semester is appropriate. If so, an advisor may provide a recommendation to Undergraduate Education via email to initiate a petition.

    Advisor's recommendation must include the following:

    Single Course Drop(s)	Semester Withdrawal (drop all courses)
    1. Student name	1. Student name
    2. SJSU ID	2. SJSU ID
    3. Term (e.g., Spring 2022)	3. Term (e.g., Spring 2022)
    4. Student's email [most responsive to]	4. Student's email [most responsive to]
    5. Course prefix and 5-digit course number	5. Department chair or advisor name and email
    6. Instructor's name and email	6. College Associate Dean's name

    Upon an advisor's recommendation, our office will initiate the retroactive petition in DocuSign. The student will receive an email with a link to complete the petition and attach their personal statement and supporting documentation.

    DocuSign forms expired in 120 days. Student need to email Undergraduate Education to extend the expiration date. 

    Note: Petitions without personal statement or supporting documentation will be DENIED.

    Winter 2023 form was available Thu, Jan 5, 2023 (8am) to Fri, Jan 20, 2023 (5pm).

• If my instructor signed the late drop petition, does that mean the petition was approved?

  • No, the petition is a formal notice of your intent to drop the course and the instructor’s signature is an acknowledgment of your intent to drop the course. 
    
    It is recommended that you talk with or email your instructor about your intent to drop. Alternatives such as an "Incomplete" grade may be possible in certain circumstances. 

• My instructor does not use their SJSU email, what should I do?

  • You should use your instructor's SJSU email when initiating the DocuSign. You can then inform your instructor (via their preferred email or in-person) that the DocuSign petition was sent to their SJSU email.

• For a course with multiple components (such as lecture and lab), which instructor should sign the petition?

  • For courses with multiple instructors, the main instructor signs. For example, if you are dropping CHEM 1A—which has an instructor for the lecture, activity/seminar, and lab—the professor from the lecture would sign the form.

• Who is my College Associate Dean?

  • College	Associate Dean
    Business	Dr. Meg Virick    m.virick@sjsu.edu
    Education	Dr. Marcos Pizarro    marcos.pizarro@sjsu.edu
    Engineering	Dr. Nicole Okamoto    nicole.okamoto@sjsu.edu
    Health and Human Sciences	Dr. Matthew Masucci    matthew.masucci@sjsu.edu
    Humanities and the Arts	Dr. Roula Svorou    roula.svorou@sjsu.edu
    Science	Dr. Shelley Cargill    shelley.cargill@sjsu.edu
    Social Science	Dr. Anne Marie Todd    annemarie.todd@sjsu.edu
    Undeclared students	Dr. Shonda Goward    shonda.goward@sjsu.edu
    Interdisciplinary Studies students	Dr. Melinda Jackson    melinda.jackson@sjsu.edu
    Open University students (Professional & Global Education)	Dr. Namrata Shukla    namrata.shukla@sjsu.edu

     

• Do I have to keep attending the course after the late drop petition is submitted?

  • Students are advised to continue attending the course and submitting assignments until a final decision on the petition is received.

• Can I cancel my request to drop?

  • Yes, students are able to cancel their request any time before it is processed (showing up on your MySJSU account as a "W"). 

    To cancel your request, please email undergraduate-education@sjsu.edu using an email title of "CANCEL Petition" and provide the following information: Name used for petition, SJSU ID, and state your request to cancel drop/withdrawal petition. For late course drops, please include the course prefix and number (e.g., UNVS 101).

• How will a late course drop affect my financial aid for the semester?

  • For financial aid eligibility, undergraduate students must be enrolled in at least 12 units for “full-time enrollment,” 9-11 units for “three quarter-time enrollment,” and 6-8 units for “half-time enrollment”. Dropping below these levels MAY impact your financial award, depending on the type of aid you receive. Students are advised to contact the Financial Aid Office with any questions about this PRIOR to dropping a course.

• I am requesting a retroactive course drop, but the professor is no longer part of SJSU, who should sign my petition?

  • In cases where the instructor is no longer affiliated with SJSU, the department chair would sign on behalf of the instructor.

• My petition was denied, can I appeal the decision?

  • Yes, students have 10 business days to appeal the final decision. Please work with an advisor and Undergraduate Education on appeal process. 

Please see the Registrar's website for additional deadlines.

Winter 2023

Spring 2023

*date subject to change

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