Registration Instructions, Fall 2021

Course Schedule: Available in the Class Finder on April 19, 2021 PDF versions of the schedule will also be available on the Course Information page of the Registrar's website. 

Round 1: Begins at 9:00 am on Thursday, April 22. Ends at 5:00 pm on Thursday, April 29. Round 1 is used to submit top-choice course requests. Advisor Hold must be released by the end of the round for course requests to be processed. 

Round 1 Results in Polaris: by 5:00 pm on Monday, May 3.

Round 2: Begins at 9:00 am on Wednesday, May 5. Ends at 5:00 pm on Friday, May 7. Round 2 is used to submit alternate/additional course choices; no courses registered for in Round 1 may be dropped during Round 2.

Round 2 Results in Polaris: by 5:00 pm on Monday, May 10.

Add/Drop 1: Begins at 9:00 am on Tuesday, May 11. Ends at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, May 18 which is also the last day of spring 2021 classes. Instructor permission required to add any course during Add/Drop rounds.

Add/Drop I Results in Polaris: immediately.

Re-enrolled Student Registration: students with a spring 2021 status requiring re-enrollment to register for fall classes may participate in earlier rounds of registration if re-enrollment is finalized by Wednesday, April 7. Students re-enrolled after that time will initially register in mid-summer. The round begins at 9:00 am on Monday, August 16. Ends at 5:00 pm on Friday, August 20.

Re-enrolled Results in Polaris: by 5:00 pm on Monday, August 23.

Transfer Student Registration: By appointment on Sunday, August 29. Transfer students meet with their student dean, academic advisor, and staff from the Office of the Registrar to submit their course requests. Appointments will be handled by the student dean. 

First-Year Round 1: Begins at 12:00 pm on Monday, August 30. Ends at 5:00 pm on Monday, August 30. Round 1 is used to submit top-choice course requests. Advisor Hold must be released by the end of the round for course requests to be processed. 

First-Year Round 1 Results in Polaris: by 7:30 am on Tuesday, August 31.

First-Year Round 2: Begins at 8:00 am on Tuesday, August 31. Ends at 12:00 pm on Tuesday, August 31. Round 2 is used to submit alternate/additional course choices; no courses registered for in Round 1 may be dropped during Round 2.

First-Year Round 2 Results in Polaris: by 6:00 pm on Tuesday, August 31.

First-Year Add/Drop: Begins at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, August 31. Ends at 11:30 pm on Tuesday, August 31. This is Bowdoin's only first-come, first-served round of registration designed for first-year students to make necessary adjustments to their schedule in advance of Add/Drop II opening for all students the following morning.

First-Year Add/Drop Results in Polaris: immediately.

Add/Drop II: Begins at 9:00 am on Wednesday, September 1. Ends at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, September 15. Instructor permission required to add any course during Add/Drop rounds.

Add/Drop II Results in Polaris: immediately.

Credit/D/Fail: Begins at 9:00 am on Wednesday, September 1. Ends 5:00 pm on Wednesday, October 13. 

Credit/D/Fail Results in Polaris: immediately

Extended Drop: Begins at 5:01 pm on Tuesday, September 14. Ends at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, October 13. With the permission of their academic advisor, students may use an extended drop twice in their Bowdoin career. Note: new students may use an extended drop, with the permission of their pre-major academic advisor and student dean, and it does not count toward the limit of two.

Extended Drop Results in Polaris: 2-3 business days after request submitted and eligibility confirmed.

All students with an enrollment status of "Here/Matric" and who have no registration holds, other than the Advisor Hold, are eligible to participate. 

Do you have an enrollment status of Here/Matric? 

• Log in to Polaris and navigate to the Status section, 
• Click "Show All" to expand the chart,
• In the term column of the chart, find Fall 2021,
• The enrollment status needs to say Here/Matric.

What do I do if my enrollment status is something other than Here/Matric?

• Your status needs to be corrected through the Office of the Dean of Students or the Office of Off-Campus Study. As soon as possible, directly contact the respective office to begin the process.
• Note: If you will be studying off campus next semester, you will not be allowed to register for courses.

The Advisor Hold is in place to help ensure that students are consulting with their faculty advisors about their curricular plans and potential class schedule. Students should reach out to their faculty advisor early in the registration cycle to arrange to meet with them to begin that conversation. For students currently studying away, that will need to be a virtual meeting or email exchange.

Students may submit course requests before the Advisor Hold is lifted. However, in order for Round 1 course requests to be processed, every student's faculty advisor must release the Advisor Hold in Polaris before the deadline. The times which each round of registration open and close are final and normally no exceptions are made. Students are strongly encouraged to check the "My Courses" section of Polaris before the close of each round of registration to make sure their course selections are displaying correctly and all holds are resolved. 

Other than the Advisor Hold, do you have any registration holds? 

• Log in to Polaris and navigate to the Academic Profile section,
• Click on the "Holds" tab,
• All active holds are listed there along with the office that placed the hold.
• Note: all students have an Advisor Hold which the advisor will release after discussing your registration plans with you.

What do I do if I have a registration hold other than the Advisor Hold?

• Any "Registration Hold" must be resolved before you will be allowed to participate in registration.

• As soon as possible, directly contact the office that placed the hold (the office who applied the hold is indicated in Polaris). 

1. Confirm eligibility to participate (see above). 
2. Mark calendar with registration dates and deadlines.
3. Reach out to faculty advisor to schedule a time to meet (in-person or virtually). 
4. Prepare for that meeting by:
   • Checking Degree Progress to identify requirements yet to be fulfilled, 
   • Reviewing the schedule of course offerings in the Class Finder, 
   • Drafting a potential schedule with 4 top-choices and 4 alternate choices.
     • Utilize the Schedule Planning Sheet or the Weekly Planning Calendar.
5. Meet with faculty advisor to discuss a potential schedule. 
6. After the faculty advisor approves the selections, request that they release the Advisor Hold.
7. Submit the approved course requests via Polaris.
8. Before the close of Round 1, check the "My Courses" section of Polaris to confirm course selections are displaying correctly and the Advisor Hold has been lifted. 
   • Course requests may be submitted before the Advisor Hold is lifted, but those requests will not be processed if the Advisor Hold is not lifted by the end of the registration round.

During the first two rounds of registration, where students enter requests and do not directly register, Polaris will allow more students to request a class than there are seats available. When there are more requests than seats, the registration preference order of the course is activated. The preference order is determined by the faculty at the time the course is officially added to the curriculum and represents the order in which the seats should be distributed by class standing. This information is available in the Class Finder, click the down arrow to expand the course details.

Students are encouraged to check their class standing in advance of registration and to pay close attention to a course's preference order as well as the number of pending requests during Rounds 1 and 2.

When registration preferences are activated, some students are shut out and do not receive a seat in the class as there were not enough for all students requesting the class. When a student is shut out of a class, they receive a bump up in the registration preference order for that specific course in a future semester's registration cycle. Students should bear in mind that "priority for being shut out" does not guarantee a seat in the class in a future semester. Instead, it moves the student to the top of the group they fall under in the registration preference order.

Some courses have registration restrictions based on a student's class standing or major/minor during the semester in which the course is taught. However, because registration occurs before the start of the semester, Polaris presumes that students will advance in class standing and applies the restrictions accordingly. Students whose class standing does not advance, e.g., they are on a leave currently, should read through the following guidelines to understand which courses they can take in the fall: 

Fall 2021 Class Standing (and Major/Minor) Restrictions

In order to register for two courses with overlapping times, the following is required:

• Both course instructors provide instructor permission, and any other applicable overrides, in Polaris,
• Both course instructors email registrar@bowdoin.edu with their approval of the time conflict override,
• Student emails registrar@bowdoin.edu requesting to be registered for the conflicting class/lab,
• and The Office of the Registrar processes the override and notifies the student when complete.

There are limits to how many credits may be requested/added during each round of registration:

• Rounds 1 and 2: may request up to four, 1.0 credit classes and two additional 0.5 credit classes.
• Add/Drop I and II: may add a fifth, 1.0 credit class, but may not go over 5.0 total credits. 

At no point may a student be registered for fewer than 3.0 or more than 5.0 credits without the permission of their faculty advisor and student dean. First-year students may not take fewer than 4.0 credits without permission of their faculty advisor and student dean.

In order to maintain timely progress to the degree, students are expected to take 4.0 credits per semester. The maximum amount of credits students can register for in one semester is 5.0 credits. In rare occasions, it is appropriate for a student to take more than 5.0 credits.

To obtain an override to the 5.0 total credit limit, the following is required:

• Course instructors provide instructor permission, and any other applicable overrides in Polaris, 
• Academic advisor(s) email registrar@bowdoin.edu approving the overload, 
• Student dean emails registrar@bowdoin.edu approving the overload, 
• Student emails registrar@bowdoin.edu requesting that the class/lab be added to their schedule, 
• and The Office of the Registrar processes the override and notifies the student when complete.
• Please note that this option is only available during Add/Drop rounds of registration. 

• How to register with updated registration interface in Polaris: reference the guide.

• Help with Technology: Reach out to the IT Service Desk if you experience any issues with system speed or connection. Email sts@bowdoin.edu, call 207-721-5050, utilize the student live chat feature during open hours, or visit the Tech Hub in the library.

• Keep Checking Class Finder: Continue to check the Class Finder throughout each round of registration as class information is continuously updated. There is also a live count of pending requests. 

• Switching sections: If, during Add/Drop rounds, you need to switch sections of classes or labs, we recommend submitting the drop and add simultaneously. 

• Reserved Seating: Some faculty choose to reserve seats in their courses for students new to Bowdoin in fall semesters. Reserved seats are not available to returning students. 

• Independent Studies/Honors Projects: Registration for Independent Studies and Honors Projects is not done through Polaris. Instead, students submit an Independent Study/Honors Project Request Form after discussing their plans with their project advisor. Note that students must submit a new form each semester even if it is a continuation from a previous semester. 

• Degree Requirements: details about general requirements, like Divisions and Distributions, and Major/Minor requirements are available in Degree Progress. Keep in mind that students are strongly encouraged to complete all Division and Distribution requirements by the end of the sophomore year.