Course Enrollment

What undergraduate courses are offered at U of M?

The College of Engineering requires students to have breadth outside engineering, mathematics, and the sciences. As a result, students take courses in different schools and colleges across campus. The best place to find information about courses is on the school or college's individual website. For the list of Mechanical Engineering courses, visit the ME Course List. For a list of courses in the College of Literature, Science and Arts, visit the LSA Course Guide. To find information for other schools and colleges, please visit the respective website.

Mobile Application for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Students on the Ann Arbor campus now can view their class schedules for the current term or browse for classes in current and upcoming terms on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Those features are part of the new Student Academics app available on the iTunes App Store. Personal class schedule information is protected via the Single Sign-On app — also available on iTunes — that allows people to authenticate to view their information.

When can I register for classes?

The Office of the Registrar maintains deadlines and resources relevant to course enrollment. For incoming students, registration typically opens the week before the start of classes. Current students will have the opportunity to register for the upcoming term during the last month of the semester. You should be particularly mindful of deadlines for dropping and adding classes, withdrawing from classes, and for payment of fees. Typically the drop/add deadline will be three weeks after the first day of class.

How do I register for classes?

Students at the University of Michigan register for classes using Wolverine Access. Before the start of registration, the Registrar’s Office will release the course offerings for the term. These courses will now appear in Wolverine Access. At this point, students are able to start “Backpacking.”

"Backpacking" is a common term at the University of Michigan. Backpacking is similar to a shopping cart for online buying. You have the ability to store all of the classes you might be interested in taking during the term. Then after further deliberation, you can purchase (a.k.a. register) your courses

For information on how to register for courses, visit the College of Engineering's Class Registration webpage.

Permission to Enroll/Electronic Overrides

Many classes at the University require electronic permission to register. In addition, an electronic permission is required to register for any class that is full or has a waiting list. If Wolverine Access denies a request to register because an electronic permission is needed, an error message will appear that says an instructor or departmental permission is required. If this occurs, please contact the student services staff in the department (me-aso@umich.edu), school, or college that is offering the class which needs a permission to register. The ME Academic Services Office can only give electronic permission to register for Mechanical Engineering courses.

You must have a valid time conflict to receive an override.
The advising team has access to your class schedule, so please be accurate and considerate of other students who truly need a certain section of a course.
Course overrides will not be provided due to personal preferences, such as, "I'm not a morning person. I prefer not have classes before 10am."
Your request will be handled in the order it was received.
If there is a waitlist for a course, being #1 on the waitlist does not ensure you will receive an override for a course. Many factors are considered -- such as class standing, if the student needs the class to graduate this term, etc. -- before an override is issued.

Please note that it may be necessary to wait until the first class meeting (which should be attended) to obtain permission from the instructor to register. Each department or school/college has its own procedures for granting permission, but ME students are welcome in most courses around the University.

Reminder: Requesting permission to enroll does not complete the registration process for classes. Once an electronic override notification email has been received, it is still necessary to register for the class using Wolverine Access.

Visiting/Auditing a Class

"Visiting" is the official University term for taking a class for no grade and no credit toward your degree. This is also commonly referred to as "auditing" a course.

According to the official College of Engineering Bulletin:

With permission of the advisor and course instructor, a student may enroll in a course as a visitor. In such a case, the course will be entered on the permanent record with a "VI" instead of a letter grade. The same fee will be charged whether the student enrolls for credit or as a visitor. A change in elections from credit to visit must be made during the first nine weeks of a term. Signed petitions are required after this point. Required courses may not be elected as a visit.

If you plan on visiting a class, you must receive permission from the course instructor and negotiate with him/her your responsibilities as a student. This typically involves regular attendance in lecture and optional homework / exams. The amount of time and effort you put into the class is then up to you. You will also need the approval from a Student Academic Success Coordinator in the ASO. Courses required for your curriculum may NOT be elected as "Visit".

Keep in mind that the class will be on your transcript with "VI" instead of a grade, but will not be counted toward your degree requirements. In addition, a class that is visited must be paid for just like any other class. This means that if you visit a summer class, or if visiting a class takes you over 18 credits for a term, you will pay extra for it.

During the drop/add period (the first nine weeks of a term), you may choose to change a class from "for credit" to "visit". This requires the signatures of both the course instructor and a Student Academic Success Coordinator in the ASO on a course Elections form, available in the ME ASO.

Withdrawing from a Term

Please review the information available in the College Bulletin.

Grading Policies

The College of Engineering outlines the standard for student conduct in the Honor Code. Please visit the Academic Rules, Rights, and Responsibilities website for a complete description.

Pass/Fail Rules

Students have the option to take some courses as Pass/Fail (P/F). Elective courses in Humanities/Social Sciences/Intellectual Breadth, or courses to be used as General Electives can be taken P/F.

A maximum of 14 credit hours can be taken P/F toward degree requirements.
Pass/Fail course elections are limited to 2 courses per full term (Fall and Winter), or 1 course in a half-term (Spring or Summer).
Course elections exceeding the full/half-term limit will be reverted to the grade earned. Course/credit limits will be calculated in academic term order of election. Any course that is offered on a P/F basis will not be counted in the above totals.

The instructor of the course does not know a student has elected the course as P/F. The instructor issues grades to students as normal, "A+" through "E". After receiving the grades, the Registrar's Office translates grades as the following:

"A+" through "C-" = Pass (P)
"D+" through "E" = Fail (F)

Students must decide before the "Drop/Add" deadline (i.e. within the first nine weeks of the semester, or within the first four and a half weeks of a half term) whether they will take a class P/F or for a grade. No change in election can be made after this time. You may reverse P/F back to a letter grade within the deadline period.

Please note the following:

Engineering 100 and Advanced Math courses cannot be taken P/F.
CORE ME classes and Technical Electives cannot be taken P/F.
Humanities/Social Science/Intellectual Breadth classes may be taken P/F.
General Electives may be taken P/F.
Courses elected as P/F which exceed the maximum 14 credit hours will not be counted toward degree requirements.
Courses taken P/F do not affect a student's GPA because they do not generate honor points, thus cannot be calculated.
To be eligible for the Dean's Honor List, a minimum of 12 credit hours (6 for a half term) must be elected for letter grades, with a grade point average of 3.5 or better.

Drop/Add

At the beginning of each semester, there is a drop/add period during which students are allowed to register through Wolverine Access without penalty. Deadlines are set University-wide by the Office of the Registrar, please refer to their "Student Registration Deadlines" on the Academic calendar for specific dates. Changes after this deadline are only possible in certain exceptional situations (e.g., serious illness). To make a change to a schedule after the drop/add deadline, it is necessary to complete an Elections Worksheet (available in the Academic Services Office), obtain written approval from the instructor and from a Academic Services Office staff member, and submit the Worksheet to the Office of the Registrar located in Pierpont Commons. If it is necessary to withdraw from a class after the drop/add deadline, the class will continue to appear on the transcript, with a grade of “W” (for withdraw). Mini-courses that run less than the length of the full semester have their own drop/add deadlines.

A brief review:

During the first three weeks of a full term (or two weeks of a half term), Wolverine Access registration remains open, and you can add or drop classes/sections. Your transcript will not record this activity.
Between three and nine weeks into a full term (or up to the fourth week of a half term), you need to have a Elections Worksheet signed by the professor of the class and by the ASO staff (available in 2206 GG Brown). A "W" will be recorded on your transcript indicating that you dropped the class, and your tuition may not be adjusted.
After nine weeks into the term (after the fourth week of the half term), only under extenuating circumstances (e.g., severe health problems, prolonged illness, death in the family, jury duty) may changes to your schedule be considered. You must submit a petition for modification that explains the reasons for your request along with a Elections Worksheet. The petition for modification form must be signed first by the instructor of the class, then by an ASO staff member, then reviewed by a College of Engineering administrator. The petition must be accompanied by documentation of the extenuating circumstances.

Before deciding to drop a class, do the following:

Talk to the Instructor. Students sometimes want to drop a class because they have done poorly on the first exam in the course. If you have performed badly on an exam, DISCUSS THIS AS SOON AS YOU CAN. The conversation will give you an idea of where you stand, and the amount of work you need to do to catch up to a satisfactory level.
Talk to the Student Advisor or the Peer Counselor. Dropping the class could (and usually does) have an effect on the sequencing of your long term course schedule. Your graduation date may also be affected.
Talk to Financial Aid. If you have University financial aid, dropping the course may affect your ability to receive that financial aid in the years to come. If you are funded by outside sources (MET, international grants, private scholarships, etc.), they should be contacted as well since that funding may be affected by a change in your schedule.
Talk to your Parents. Coverage as a dependent on health, dental, or auto insurance may be affected should you drop below full-time status (full time status is considered to be 12 credits).

Scholastic Standing

A student's grade point average (GPA) at the University of Michigan is determined by the grades earned at the University of Michigan. A student's scholastic standing is determined by the number of credit hours taken and the grades attained in those courses. Please visit the College of Engineering's Scholastic Standing website for official rules and regulations.

Repeating a Course

A student may not repeat a course he or she has already passed. In exceptional cases, this rule may be waived by the student’s program advisor after consultation with the department of instruction involved. If the rule is waived, the course and grade will appear on the transcript, but no additional credit will be earned.

A student repeating a course they previously failed will receive no additional credit. Both grades are used in computing the grade point average.