Extended Drop

First Semester at Bowdoin:

During the first semester at Bowdoin, students may extended drop a course in the third through the seventh weeks. Extended drops used in a student's first semester do not count against the career limit of two. Permission of the pre-major academic advisor and student dean is required. 

• Students who use an extended drop in their first semester are still eligible to use two additional career extended drops.

 
Second Semester and Beyond:

After their first semester, students may drop a total of two courses in their Bowdoin career during weeks three through seven of a semester with the permission of their academic advisor only with one exception: students in their second semester still need permission of their student dean to drop below 4.0 credits per Bowdoin's course load policy.

• Students who use their two career extended drops must petition the Recording Committee to drop other courses after the end of Add/Drop II registration period (first two weeks of every semester).
• At no time may students drop below 3.0 credits during any semester without permission from the Recording Committee.

Transcripts:

To comply with federal law, courses dropped through Extended Drop or the Recording Committee will appear on the transcript as a W grade which indicates that the student withdrew with permission after the course drop deadline.

Extended Drop Request Form (only accepted if submitted by the student's official faculty advisor)

Students considering using an Extended Drop must meet with their academic advisor to consider their full slate of options. Using an extended drop is a serious decision that can impact degree completion and should only be made in extenuating circumstances. 

To comply with federal law, courses dropped through Extended Drop or the Recording Committee will appear on the transcript as a W grade which indicates that the student withdrew with permission after the course drop deadline. 

The Extended Drop Request Form will ask the advisor to indicate the student's plan to make up the dropped credit. Examples are provided below along with links for more information about the corresponding policies and procedures. 

• Activating an AP/IB credit in a future semester.
  • There are Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate deadlines for submitting official scores and regulations from the academic departments for each matriculating class to potentially earn credit. 
• Transferring credit from a different college or university.
  • Pre-approval is required and the policies and procedures around transfer credit are complex.
• Taking a credit overload (more than 4.0 credits) in a future semester.
  • Note that enrolling in a 0.5 credit music ensemble or private music lesson is competitive and often requires an audition. Enrollment is not guaranteed, so alternative plans are strongly recommended to ensure timely progress to the degree.
• Not necessary because the student is still on track to earn 32.0 credits and complete all general degree, major/minor requirements by their expected graduation date despite this drop.
  • Before submitting an Extended Drop Request Form, the student and advisor should review Degree Progress together to confirm the course they want to drop is not being applied to a major, minor, or general degree requirement. If it is, identify a plan for fulfilling that requirement in a future semester.