Registering for an Independent Study
To register for an independent study, students should:
- Discuss their plans with the potential project director, a faculty member;
- Complete the online Independent Study/Honors Project Request Form;
- Confirm their schedule is correct in Polaris before the end of the second week of classes during the term in which the project is being conducted.
Approval: all requests for independent studies must be approved by the project director before the end of the second week of classes during the term in which the project is being conducted.
- Please submit the request form well in advance of the deadline so the faculty member has time to review and respond.
- Beyond the second week of the term, students will have to petition the Recording Committee to add any class.
Registration: if the faculty member, designated in the form by the student, agrees to serve as the project director, the Office of the Registrar will create the class and directly register the student into it.
- Students may submit request forms earlier, but independent studies are not added to a student's schedule until the Add/Drop I round of registration.
- During Add/Drop I, please allow 2-3 business days from the time the faculty member agrees to serve as the project director for the registration to be complete.
- If the request was not approved until the final day of the Add/Drop II registration period, students should check Polaris and Degree Progress in 2-3 business days to confirm their schedule.
Additional Information:
- Students must submit a new request form for each semester of independent study even if it is a continuation of the same project.
- Independent studies, collaborative studies, and honors projects may not be taken on a Credit/D/Fail basis.
- For more information, see the Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook under "Academic Standards and Regulations."