Registration

You must inform yourself of University rules and regulations and keep abreast of any changes that may occur. The Registration section of this publication contains important details required by students during their studies at McGill and should be periodically consulted, along with other sections and related publications.

Registration for Fall and Winter Terms (Including Additional Session and Non-Thesis Extension Students)

All returning and new graduate students must register online at mcgill.ca/minerva. It is your responsibility to obtain departmental approval before registering on Minerva.

Courses may be added until the end of the course change period without penalty.

Returning Students

Returning students register via Minerva between May 28 and August 14, 2025.

Newly-Admitted Students

New students entering in Fall 2025 register via Minerva between July 8 and August 14, 2025.

New students entering in Winter 2026 register via Minerva between December 2, 2025 and January 5, 2026.

Note: If you fail to register during the normal registration period, you can register within the period designated by the University for late registration. You will, however, be charged a late registration fee. To avoid the late registration fee, students must access Minerva and register for REGN RCGR (the Registration Confirmation course) in both the Fall (CRN 268) and Winter (CRN 173) terms. New and readmitted students entering in January 2026 only need to register for REGN RCGR in the Winter (CRN 173) term.

Successful completion of registration is contingent upon acceptable academic standing in the previous session and payment of any previous outstanding fees and fines.

You must register (and pay fees) annually up to and including the term of graduation. Outstanding tuition fees must be paid before graduation. A graduate student registered in the Winter term with outstanding fees who graduates in February will have their Winter registration and fees cancelled at the end of February.

Summer Registration

Detailed summer registration information will be available in the middle of March in individual departments and at mcgill.ca/gps/students/registration/dates.

Students taking summer courses register in Minerva, respecting Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies deadlines.

Summer Term of Residency

Students in thesis programs who wish to register for a Summer term to count as part of their residency requirements must advise their department in March and complete the appropriate Summer Registration Form in April. Newly admitted students beginning their graduate thesis program in a Summer Term of Residency can get a 100% refund (less $200 minimum or registration deposit if applicable) up to and including the May 15 withdrawal date. Students in thesis programs, who are continuing in their programs at the end of the Winter term, are expected to devote the summer to research and are considered “Continuing Students.”

Course Change Period

You may make changes to your course registrations (add or drop courses), subject to the requirements and restrictions of your program and individual courses, from the opening date of registration until the end of the Course Change period. The Course Change deadline (i.e. add/drop deadline) coincides with the deadline for late registration. See mcgill.ca/importantdates.

If you are registered in the Fall term, you may add and drop Winter term courses throughout the Fall term until the Winter term deadline for course change/late registration.

After the Course Change deadline, you may add courses exceptionally only with written permission of the instructor and your department, and the approval of Enrolment Services. A fee will be charged for each course you add.

Fee Policies Related to Registration

Refer to the Fees section; particular attention should be paid to Fees and Withdrawal from the University.

Late Registration

If you fail to register during the normal registration period, you can register within the period designated by the University for late registration with the payment of a late registration fee.

Returning Students: You may register late via Minerva from August 15 until and including September 9, 2025.

New and Readmitted Students (Fall): You may register late via Minerva from August 15 until and including September 9, 2025.

New and Readmitted Students (Winter): You may register late via Minerva from January 6 until and including January 13, 2026.

Special Late Registration: If you cannot register online during the late registration period, usually due to late admission, you may receive special permission to register. This information is included with your letter of acceptance.

Courses Taken as an Admission Requirement

Courses taken as an admission requirement are undergraduate-level course(s) (400-level or lower) which are named as a prerequisite or admission requirement in the Offer of Admission letter and/or indicated in the "additional admission remark" section of the letter from the accepting department. Admission requirement courses must be successfully completed within the first year of graduate study as per conditions outlined in the Offer of Admission.

The course will be designated an "admission requirement" at the time of registration and on your transcript. The grade earned will not be included in your grade point average (GPA) calculations, and credits earned will not count towards the credits necessary for your graduate degree. You must pass this course according to the grade scale used at the undergraduate level in the Faculty offering the course, unless the Offer of Admission specifies an alternate required grade. A failure will not fall under the Graduate Failure Policy.

Courses Taken in the School of Continuing Studies

In the Fall and Winter terms, students may add credit courses (500 level or higher) offered through the School of Continuing Studies (SCS) directly in Minerva. Please see mcgill.ca/importantdates for deadlines.

Non-credit general interest or language courses cannot be added directly by you. You may register for these courses in person at the SCS Client Services Desk, where the course(s) will be added to their record as “Extra” to their program and course fees will be charged.

Courses Taken as Extra to a Program

In certain rare cases, you may choose to take a course outside of your program’s coursework requirements. This course would be classified as “extra” (display as "RX" at the time of registration, and "E-Extra" once the course is graded) on your transcript, and the grade earned in that course will not be included in your grade point average (GPA) calculation. You will be charged additional tuition fees for a course classified as “extra” and are responsible for paying them with the exception of those eligible for a Graphos tuition sponsorship (see below for details). To have a course flagged as “extra” in a given term, you must submit a Request for Registration/Course Changes form by the add/drop deadline of that term. A course cannot be flagged as “extra” after the add/drop deadline and under no circumstances after the course has been completed. A course flagged as “extra” cannot be unflagged to count towards your program after the add/drop deadline.

Graphos Scholarly Communication Courses

The McGill Writing Centre offers several credit courses in scholarly communication. Most of these courses form part of the Graphos program for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Graphos courses are not counted toward the requirements of a graduate program (the sole exception being the non-thesis Master's program in Second Language Education).

Notes:

• All Graphos courses are pass/fail.
• Thanks to a sponsorship program, nearly all doctoral students and master's thesis students are eligible to take Graphos courses at no extra cost, provided that they remain in the course (i.e., do not withdraw) and submit all required assignments. If you are in "Thesis Evaluation" status (i.e., Thesis Evaluation Students), you are not eligible for sponsorship; you can register as a "Special Student" but would be responsible for the course fees. If you are otherwise eligible but your tuition is already externally sponsored by another entity, please contact graphos@mcgill.ca to see if any extra steps are necessary for course sponsorship.
• Since these courses follow a particular schedule with different start and end dates, the Graphos add/drop and withdrawal (with and without refund) dates are often earlier than the standard University dates for full term courses and vary based on the start date of the course.
• Graphos courses are exempt from the "J" grade assignment percentage policy set out in the University Student Assessment Policy (see 3.1.7).
• Before registering, please consult the Graphos website for further details.

Registration for Two Degree Programs Concurrently

No student may register in two degree programs or in two departments or Faculties or two institutions concurrently without special permission granted by the Graduate Admissions Committee (composed of the Dean and Associate Deans of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) and in consultation with the Graduate Admissions Unit of Enrolment Services. Permission is never granted to attempt two full-time programs concurrently. Letters of recommendation, including details of the proportions of time that the student intends to allot to each program, must be received from the Chair of each department concerned. Each year, a progress report must be submitted from the two departments concerned to the Graduate Admissions Committee and the Graduate Admissions Unit of Enrolment Services before a student in this category will be permitted to register.

Course withdrawal

After the course change deadline in the Fall and Winter terms, there is a period of a few days during which you may withdraw, with a grade of W, and receive a full refund of course fees.

After the Withdrawal (with refund) deadline, there is a period during which withdrawal from a course will also result in a grade of W but no course fees will be refunded.

Courses that begin in the Fall 2025 Term

Deadline for withdrawal (grade of W) with refund:

• Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Deadlines for withdrawal (grade of W) without refund:

• Single-term courses: Tuesday, October 28, 2025
• Multi-term courses that begin in Fall term (refund for the Winter portion of the course only): Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Courses that begin in the Winter 2026 Term

Deadline for withdrawal (grade of W) with refund:

• Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Deadline for withdrawal (grade of W) without refund:

• Single-term courses: Tuesday, March 10, 2026
• Multi-term courses that begin in Winter term (refund for the Summer or later portion of the course only): May 15, 2026¹

After the withdrawal (without refund) deadline but before the end of term, and only under exceptional circumstances, you may be granted permission to withdraw from a course. Permission will not be granted merely because you are doing unsatisfactory work. A grade of W or WF, as appropriate, will appear on your transcript but will not be calculated in your GPA. For further information, consult your Faculty Student Affairs Office.

Note:

1. To withdraw from required or complementary courses after the withdrawal (without refund) deadline, you may need to obtain permission from your advisor, and you must fill out and submit a course withdrawal form, available from your Faculty Student Affairs Office. Additional restrictions for Music courses are indicated on the Schulich School of Music page.
2. It is solely your responsibility to initiate a course withdrawal in Minerva. Neither notification of the course instructor nor discontinuing class attendance is sufficient. The date on which you withdraw in Minerva is the official date of withdrawal, even if you had stopped attending lectures earlier.
3. You may still withdraw from a course after the course change deadline without academic penalty provided that you do so within the appropriate withdrawal deadlines for the term. Otherwise, after this time, your name will continue to appear on the class list and grade reports and, in the event that you do not take the exam, you will be given a J grade.
4. Fee refunds, if any, will be in accordance with Fees and Withdrawal from the University.
5. Withdrawing from one or more courses during the term may—where applicable—affect your government aid and/or McGill's Work Study Program eligibility. For international students, it may also impact your immigration status and/or permission to work in Canada. Please ensure that you are aware of any consequences related to the course withdrawal request; consult with the Scholarships & Student Aid Office, International Student Services, and/or your faculty Student Affairs Office, where relevant.

Note for the School of Human Nutrition: Intensive internship courses, like Professional Practice (Stage) in Dietetics, may have different start dates and withdrawal dates than other courses. You should consult the course outline.

Note for the Faculties of Arts and Science (including B.A. & Sc.): Requests are made through Service Point. However, it is important that you also consult a Faculty advisor to talk about your options and the effects that your request may have on your studies. For more information, see mcgill.ca/students/advising.

Note for the Faculty of Law: You are encouraged to meet with a student advisor before withdrawing from a course (without refund).

Note for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies: To add/drop/withdraw a course after the deadline has passed, you must submit a course change Request form, available at Student Records Forms, to your department. If the department supports the request, the department will forward the request to the Student Records Office, Enrolment Services, along with the recommendation from the department Graduate Program Director (GPD).

Graduate students who wish to withdraw from McGill should consult University Withdrawal, and submit a "Request for a University Withdrawal" form, available at Student Records Forms. Please note that this form is sent to the Student Records Office, Enrolment Services.

Note for Health Sciences: Withdrawal (W) deadline dates are listed at mcgill.ca/importantdates. The health profession programs described in this Course Catalogue are highly structured and students should consult their advisor or Student Affairs Office to determine what course changes, if any, are allowed.

1. To withdraw from required or complementary courses after the withdrawal (without refund) deadline, you may need to obtain permission from your advisor, and you must fill out and submit a course withdrawal form, available from your faculty Student Affairs Office. (Note 1 is not applicable to Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing. For information, you should refer to your Faculty/School section in this publication).
2. It is solely your responsibility to initiate a course withdrawal in Minerva. Neither notification of the course instructor nor discontinuing class attendance is sufficient. The date on which you withdraw in Minerva is the official date of withdrawal, even if you had stopped attending lectures earlier.
3. You may still withdraw from a course after the course change deadline without academic penalty, provided that you do so within the appropriate withdrawal deadlines for the term (see deadlines above). Otherwise, after this time, your name will continue to appear on the class list and grade reports and, in the event that you do not take the exam, you will be given a J grade.
4. Fee refunds, if any, will be in accordance with Fees and Withdrawal from the University.

Note for Ingram School of Nursing: To withdraw from any courses after the withdrawal (without refund) deadline, you need to obtain permission from your Program Director. To do so, submit a formal request by email to the Ingram School of Nursing Student Affairs Office along with proper documentation to support this request.

Note for School of Physical and Occupational Therapy: The Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy programs are highly structured and you must receive the approval of the Program Director to determine what course changes, if any, are allowed. You can consult the Student Affairs Office for information on policies and procedures.

If you are blocked from withdrawing from a required course on Minerva, and have permission to do so, you must contact the Student Affairs Office.

Note for M.D.,C.M. program: Course changes are not permitted and withdrawals are only permitted when the student is on an approved leave of absence from the program.

Withdrawal from a Degree Program

You are withdrawn from the program if you have failed two courses for your program, or you failed the comprehensive examination. You may be withdrawn from the program if your progress is not satisfactory. Please see Failure Policy.

Any student who withdraws from the University must complete a Request for a University Withdrawal form available at mcgill.ca/student-records/forms. Fees will then be refunded according to the conditions outlined in Course Change Period and in the Course Withdrawal section above.