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Registration

Pre-registration for the Spring semester occurs in early November and pre-registration for the Fall semester occurs the preceding April.  Exact dates are included in the Academic Calendar. We ask that you update or verify your address each term so that we have accurate information on file.   

How to Update Address in SIS.

New students entering for the first time will register for their Fall semester courses in the month of June.  Visit the Student Success website for new student advising and registration information. For any questions regarding registration, please contact newstudentreg@rpi.edu.

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Add/Drop

You may use the Student Information System (SIS) to add or drop courses. Generally speaking, from the beginning of the semester, you will have two weeks to add courses and eight weeks to drop them. Please refer to the Academic Calendar for specific add and drop deadline dates.

If you wish to petition to add or drop classes after the published deadline, you may do so using a Late Add/Drop Form. Please note that after the instructor's signature (if required), the form must also be approved by either the Advising and Learning Assistance Center (for undergraduates) or the Office of Graduate Education (for graduate students). The locations of these offices are included on the form.

  • If you receive approval to drop a course after the deadline, you will receive a grade of "W" in the course.
  • If you do not attend a class for which you have registered, or fail to unofficially notify the instructor, this does not constitute dropping a course, and you will receive an Administrative "F" ("FA") grade.
Half-Term Courses

Rensselaer's course listing includes some seven-week (half term) courses, and you may register for these on-line using the Student Information System (SIS). For these courses, you have one week to add and three weeks to drop from the start of the particular class.

Late Drop Policy and Procedures

Undergraduates

After the drop deadline, undergraduate students will need to submit to the Advising and Learning Assistance Center (ALAC) located in Academy Hall:

  • A completed Late Add/Drop Formand
  • a written appeal (form available in the ALAC) explaining why they are late in dropping the class.

Submission of the required paperwork DOES NOT guarantee approval of the request.

The Associate Director of ALAC reviews each appeal and makes a decision based on whether it adheres to the Institute's late drop policy. Rensselaer's policy states:

  • Rensselaer's policy states "Responsibility for dropping or adding a class prior to the deadlines rests entirely with the student. Failure to fulfill the responsibility because of oversight, ignorance, or possibility of low grades is not sufficient grounds for permission to drop or add a course after the deadline. It is the policy of the institute that no petitions be accepted for the retroactive dropping or adding of a course except under extenuated circumstances beyond the student's control."
  • Some examples of extenuating circumstances are a death in one's family, bodily injuries and health problems, personal or emotional issues. If any of the above can be substantiated, students should include that documentation with their appeal.

You are strongly encouraged to speak to your academic advisor about your decision to drop a class and the impact it might have on your plan of study and rate of progress towards your degree.

Graduate Students

After the drop deadline, graduate students will need to submit a Late Add/Drop Form to the Office of Graduate Education located in at 1516 Peoples Ave.

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Cross Registration

Registration at consortium colleges

It is possible to register for courses, at no additional tuition charge, at other colleges and universities in the Capital Region. Here are some pointers to keep in mind if you think you might be interested in cross-registering at one of the participating colleges:

  • Courses taken at one of the consortium colleges will appear on your student record in the same manner as courses taken at Rensselaer, and thus carry term and cumulative hours, and grade points.
  • Tuition cost for courses taken at one of these colleges is covered by the tuition charge at Rensselaer and is subject to the same regulations that apply for courses taken at Rensselaer. However, you are responsible for any additional charges such as lab fees, activity fees, and so on.
  • You must be a full-time student.
  • You may take no more than half of your academic credits at a consortium college in any semester.
  • You cannot cross register for courses offered at Rensselaer.
  • If you are a graduate student, your cross-registration course should appear on an approved Plan of Study prior to your enrolling in a course taught at a consortium college. It is important to remember that the Office of Graduate Education reserves the right not to accept the course toward a degree program if it was not listed on an approved Plan of Study.

The form required to cross register at consortium colleges can be found at CROSS REGISTRATION FORM

You can obtain additional information on cross-registration at consortium colleges from the Registrar's Office, located on the 2000 level of Academy Hall, or via the Student Information System (SIS).

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Holds

If you have any of the following holds pending, you will not be able to register for classes until you have resolved the problem as outlined below.

TYPE OF HOLD WHOM TO CONTACT FOR RESOLUTION
Bursar Office of the Bursar
2000 Level Academy Hall.
Phone: (518) 276-6610
Student Loan/Student Exit Interview Student Loan Manager
2000 Level Academy Hall
mccump@rpi.edu
Medical Student Health Center
healthcenter@rpi.edu
3200 Academy Hall
Phone : (518) 276-6287
Dean of Students Dean of Students
4000 Level Academy Hall
Phone: (518) 276-6266
Graduate Ed Office The Office of Graduate Education
1516 Peoples Ave.
Phone: (518) 276-2626.
GR Orientation The Office of Graduate Education
Connie Grega
email: gregac@rpi.edu
School of Engineering School of Engineering Office
JEC 3018.
Phone: (518) 276-6203
Greek Matthew Hunt
Residence Life
Commons Dining Hall
Phone: (518) 276-6284
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Independent Study

If you wish, it is possible for you to make arrangements to participate in special independent study coursework. However, remember that it is your responsibility to find a faculty member who is willing to complete an independent study with you. Prior to arranging for an independent study, consult with your adviser(s) to determine if/how the course will contribute to meeting your degree requirements.

Here are some additional tips if you are considering an independent study:

  • Remember that you cannot register for independent study courses on-line as you can for your regular classes.
  • Print out the approriate form below and submit the signed form to the Registrar's Office by the add deadline, as specified in the Academic Calendar.
Accordion

Pass/No Credit

The purpose of the Pass/No Credit option is to allow you to take courses outside of your normal curriculum or minor program which you might otherwise not consider taking because of grade considerations.
Please note that the Pass/No Credit option is not available to graduate students or nonmatriculated students.

Subject to the limitations listed below, undergraduate students may elect to take courses on a pass or no credit basis, for which the grade is either “P” (Pass) or “NC” (Fail). Grade points will not be assigned for these courses and the “P” or “NC” will not be reflected in the grade point average. “NC” is a failing grade and can be cause for academic action.

A student may take up to 4 courses as Pass /No credit.

Courses that can be taken pass / no credit are:

  • Free electives
  • Two courses in the science core unless explicitly required by name
  • Two courses of the HASS Core that are not part of the depth or pathways sequence or used to meet the communication intensive requirement.

The Pass/No credit cannot be used for:

  • Courses required by name in the student’s major, required professional/technical/multidisciplinary/science elective, or similarly designated subsets of courses (except where explicitly stated otherwise) to be applied toward the student’s program curriculum,
  • Courses used towards the minor
  • A HASS course going towards your pathway
  • Courses at the 6000 level
Submission procedures and deadlines

If you wish to take a course with the Pass/No Credit designation, you must file an approved Pass/No Credit Form, with the Registrar's before deadline date specified in the academic calendar.

Similarly, if you have elected to take a course on this basis, you must choose to drop the Pass/No Credit designation by filing a Remove Pass/No Credit Designation Form by the same deadline.

Please refer to Rensselaer's academic calendar for specific dates by which you must add or remove Pass/No Credit designations.

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Time Tickets

As a student here at Rensselaer, you are issued a "time ticket," which assigns you a specific window of time during which you may register for the next semester. Your time ticket will be sent to your RPI email address, 2 - 3 weeks before registration.

Your registration time is assigned based on the number of credit hours you have earned as a student. Please note that classes which are still in progress or courses which have been graded as "incomplete" do not count towards earned credits.

You should receive your time ticket via e-mail approximately four weeks prior to the scheduled registration period. In addition to making the registration assignment, this e-mail message notifies you of any existing holds which may prevent you from registering if you do not resolve them. We've included a sample time ticket below, to give you a better example of what you might see in your e-mail notice.

If you do not receive your e-mail time ticket or have misplaced it, you can find the identical information through the Student Information System (SIS). After logging in, first select the Student Menu option, then View My Registration Status.

Your time ticket is in United States Eastern Standard Time and is displayed in military/24 hour time. You may register any time after your assigned time slot during the registration period.

  • If you are unfamiliar with military time representation, times of 0000-1200 are equivalent to AM times. For times between 1201 and 2359, subtract 12 to get the equivalent PM time - for example a time of 1600 equates to 4:00 pm, a time of 1930 equates to 7:30 pm).

Make sure to double check your major which is listed on your time ticket. If your major is not updated, you must file a Change of Major form with the Registrar’s office before registration!

  • Please note that some engineering students are listed as Undeclared Engineering until they formally declare their major.
Earned Credit Hours

Range of earned credit hours associated with each class.

  SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING ALL OTHER SCHOOLS
Freshman 0 - 31 0 - 30 0 - 29
Sophomore 32 - 65 31 - 60 30 - 59
Junior 66 - 100 61 - 95 60 - 89
Senior 101 - 134 96 - 128 90+
Fifth year students 135+
Sample Time Ticket

Dear Student,

  • Registration for Fall/Spring semester is (begin date – end date) for all currently registered Rensselaer students.
  • You have been assigned a time ticket based upon your total number of earned credits(does not include courses currently in progress).
  • Your time ticket is listed in United States Eastern Standard Time.
    • Total Earned Hours:
    • Major 1:
    • Major 2:
    • Bursar Status:
    • Medical Status:
    • Dean of Students Status:
    • Graduate Services Status:
    • School of Engineering Status:
    • Greek Status:
    • Student Loan status:
  • Make sure you test out your SIS pin before registration
    TIME TICKET: mm,dd time xx:xx
  • If you have any other questions, please contact the Registrar’s office. Thank you.

Additional information on holds, and who you many contact regarding the clearance of those holds, can be found below.  Please note: all holds must be cleared in order to register.

Hold Information

What to do if you have a Hold

Students with a hold must clear the hold with the appropriate office before registering.

  • If you have a Bursar Hold, records indicate that your account still shows an outstanding balance. To remove this hold, you must satisfy your obligation in full. Payments will be accepted at the Bursar's Office, located on 2nd floor of Academy Hall. Office hours are Monday - Wednesday and Friday, 8:30am. until 4:30pm. On Thurday, the office is open from 9:00am until 4:30pm.
  • If you have a Medical Hold, your health records are incomplete or missing. To remove this hold, you must go (in person) to the Health Center. Their office hours are Monday - Friday, 8:30am until 5:00pm. The Health Center requests that you do not phone to clear a hold.
  • If you have a Dean of Students Hold or Greek Hold, you must contact the Dean of Students office immediately. Their office is located on the 4th floor of Academy Hall, office hours are Monday - Friday, 8:30am until 5:00pm.
  • If you have a Graduate Services Hold, please contact the Office of Graduate Education, which is located at 1516 Peoples Ave, office hours are Monday - Friday, 8:30am until 5:00pm.
  • If you have a School of Engineering Hold, you have not declared your major. Please contact the School of Engineering. Their office is located in the JEC building, room 3018, office hours are Monday - Friday, 8:30am until 4:45pm.
  • If you have an Exit Interview or Student Loan Hold, you have yet to sign your student loan exit interview. To remove this hold, please contact Pamela McCumber (mccump@rpi.edu) in the Student Loan office. Office hours are Monday - Friday, 9:00am until 4:30pm. Pamela’s phone number: 276-6263.

When registration closes at the end of the scheduled registration period, it will remain closed for several weeks, but reopen on the date indicated on the Academic Calendar. You will not be able to alter your registration during this time period.

If you have any other questions, please contact the Registrar's Office

Accordion

Waitlist

Automated Registration Waitlisting is a process that permits students to add their name, directly through SIS, to a list of a section of a course that has reached maximum enrollment and is closed. If a seat becomes available in the closed section, the student in the first position on the waitlist is automatically notified and given the opportunity to register for that class.

Why a Waitlist?

Academic departments and instructors have long maintained manual waitlists. Maintaining a paper waitlist can be very time consuming and difficult to manage. Manual waitlists are inefficient for staff and students. An automatic waitlist eases the burden for the staff and students are able to efficiently add themselves to a waitlist on the SIS during the registration period and can monitor their position on the list.

Development of the Waitlist

The waitlist function has long been a feature in the Banner/SIS but was not considered for implementation until Core Engineering requested the possibility of an automated waitlist. Core Engineering has a number of courses with multiple sections and a hard constraint on those section enrollments. Manual waitlists for these sections were difficult to maintain and are ideal candidates for the automatic waitlist through SIS.

A committee was formed to discuss the concept and basic criteria established. A considerable amount of time was spent learning the functional capabilities of the feature and much testing was done to insure the feature was set up to meet the needs of the customer.

Waitlist Feature Rollout

Once the feature was set up and tested in test banner/SIS, the first version of the waitlist was offered to a limited number of Core Engineering sections. The first version only allowed a student to sign up for a section that is closed. In subsequent semesters, the features were expanded to include signing up for the waitlist on the SIS and automatically being notified of an opening in the section. The feature is now fully automated and available for any section.

How It Works

Students registering for classes in the SIS will receive a message stating the section is closed. If the closed section is utilizing the automatic Waitlist feature, students are given the option on the Register Add/Drop page of signing up to be put on the waitlist. The same drop down box used to drop a section from their current schedule on the Register Add/Drop page is utilized to sign up for the waitlist. The position on the waitlist is on a first come, first serve basis. If a seat becomes available in the section either from a student dropping the course or an increase in the maximum enrollment, an email is sent to the student in the first position on the waitlist announcing a seat is available. The student has 48 hours from the time the email is sent to take action. If the student does not register for the course within the 48 hour time limit, he/she is dropped from the list and an email is sent to the next student in line.

Waitlist Features

There are a number of options available in the set up of the Waitlist. These options can be altered if needed. The current options include:

  1. Waitlist enrollment – The Academic department sets the number of students eligible to sign up for the waitlist.
  2. Time Limit - At this time students are given 48 hours from the time the email is sent notifying them of an available seat and action is requested. It may be decided as the semester approaches to give the students less time to act once notified of an available seat.
  3. Pre-Requisites & Restrictions – Any pre-requisite and restriction that is in place for registration is enforced for the Waitlist. For example, if MATH 1010 is the pre-requisite for MATH 1020, students would not be able to register for MATH 1020 nor could they go on the waitlist for MATH 1020. If COMM 1510/01 is restricted to EMAC majors, only EMAC majors will be able to sign up for the Waitlist.
  4. Multiple Sections – Students are able to register for a section of a course and add their name to the waitlist for another section(s) of the same course.
  5. Course conflicts – Students can register for a course and add their name to the waitlist for another course that is in conflict with the registered course. For example, a student can register for MATH 1010 on MR at 10am and go on the waitlist for ARTS 1200 that meets on MR at 10am. If a seat in ARTS 1200 becomes available, the student will be notified and can decide at that time to either drop the registered class and take the seat in the waitlisted course or not.
  6. Waitlist Position - Students are able to see their place on the waitlist. Instructors can also view the waitlist.
  7. Closed Course Authorization Forms - In order to maintain the integrity of the waitlist, instructors cannot sign a student into closed sections using an authorization form. If a closed course authorization form is received by the Registrar for a closed section maintaining a waitlist, the student presenting the form is placed at the bottom of the waitlist.
  8. Pre-Req Override Authorization Form - An instructor can sign an authorization form to override a pre-req or restriction for a section maintaining a waitlist. If the section is closed, the student can be manually placed on the waitlist by the Registrar.
Courses Omitted from Waitlist Feature

While any section is eligible to use the automated waitlist option, not all courses are good candidates to use the feature. Upper level courses needed by seniors to graduate on schedule are often not good candidates. Students are often better served if a manual waitlist is used in this instance. For example, there are a number of senior MANE courses that students need to graduate. Often a senior can’t register for the courses due to a hold on their account or some other reason. Once able to register, this student would often need to be forced into a closed section of a course in order to graduate on time. If exceptions need to be made that continually override the waitlist, use of the automatic waitlist should be discontinued. If an instructor wants more control as to who is allowed in their class, a manual waitlist should be used as the position of a student on the waitlist must be honored to maintain the integrity of the procedure. The Academic departments and the Registrar have the final say as to who is registered for a course. While maintaining the integrity of the waitlist is a prime consideration, individual situations may arise that forces us to override the waitlist.