Students in Weinberg College typically take four one-unit courses each quarter. You need a minimum of 45 courses to graduate. If you take four one-unit courses per quarter for four full years, you will have a total of 48 courses. Only 45 courses are required for graduation, so even if you enter with no AP, IB, or transfer credits, you can have three quarters with only 3 courses (which still counts as a full load) and still graduate on time. This gives you some flexibility in planning your schedule, as well as the opportunity to very occasionally drop a course without falling behind.
Sometimes students take an overload, that is, they take more than 4 courses at a time. In unusual circumstances, a student may take an underload of fewer than 3 courses.
The typical load for a Weinberg College student is four one-unit courses per quarter. Sometimes students take more than four courses; this is called an overload. The extra course, or courses, may be ones you plan to count toward specific graduation requirements, or they may be elective courses. You generally will be granted permission to take an overload if your past academic performance suggests that you can successfully complete five courses.
Weinberg College students can sign up through CAESAR for a maximum of four and a half units during the regular registration period. For example, you can sign up for four one-unit courses and one half-unit music ensemble. You cannot sign up for additional courses beyond this maximum until the beginning of the add/drop period, which is the first week of each academic quarter.
To add a fifth course during the add/drop week, here's what you need to do:
- Go to the department office and request a permission number for the course. (In some cases, department staff will tell you to contact the course instructor for permission to add.)
- Complete an add/drop slip and get it signed at the Weinberg College Office of Undergraduate Studies and Advising (OUSA), 1922 Sheridan Road, or the Weinberg Advising Office, 1908 Sheridan. (Add/drop slips are available in many department offices, at the OUSA and Advising Offices, and at the Registrar's Office.) If you are a freshman and you earned a GPA of 3.50 or better for the preceding quarter, or if you are an upperclassmen and you earned a GPA of at least 3.00, then a staff member will sign your add/drop slip for you. If your GPA is below the cut-off, you can meet with your College Adviser to request an exception.
- Take your signed add/drop slip and the permission number to the Registrar's Office. A staff member there will add you to the course.
You will not be charged extra for an overload unless you are using the extra course(s) to accelerate your academic program. Details are specified by the Undergraduate Residence Requirement.
Students in Weinberg College typically take four one-unit courses each quarter. Three courses per quarter is also considered to be a full load. To register for an underload (fewer than three courses), you must have permission from the Weinberg College Assistant Dean for Academic and Advanced Standing. Permission is generally granted only in unusual circumstances, such as illness that prevents you from being able to handle a full load.
Keep in mind that taking an underload can jeopardize your financial aid package or athletic status. Explore such implications carefully before you make a decision to take fewer than three courses. Also, student registered for fewer than three courses are not eligible to take a course P/N.
Students who need only one or two courses to finish up their graduation requirements routinely receive permission from the Assistant Dean for Academic and Advanced Standing to take an underload during their last quarter at Northwestern. If you think you are in this category, you should check carefully with your degree auditor in the Registrar's Office to:
- make sure that your planned program does, in fact, include all the coursework you need to finish your degree; and
- learn what effect your planned program will have on fulfillment of the Undergraduate Residence Requirement.
