By ASHLEY COLLIS-BURGESS
In response to the University’s decision to extend the deadline to drop courses or change a grade option, several Cornellians say they are relieved to have the additional week.
The deadline was extended to Oct. 17 to accommodate changes to the academic calendar — which went into effect last semester — that no longer give sufficient time for students to receive their first prelim grades and gauge their academic performance, according to the University.
“The new academic calendar creates a situation in which some course prelims are scheduled late enough that grading will not be completed by the [original deadline] — with the result that students may lack information about their performance in time to drop,” according to an email sent to all College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students.
Though the new drop deadline is University-wide, each college has their own guidelines for the process of dropping after the original deadline, according to the Arts and Sciences Advising Office.
“Because of systems issues, the University cannot extend this deadline electronically in Student Center,” the Arts College said in an email to students. “Each college has put in place procedures for allowing students to drop a course or change the grade option.”
Aaron Bhole ’16 said he thinks the new deadline will help alleviate some of the stress students face in trying to select the best courses from a range of “interesting” options.
“I think that the drop deadline extension will be extremely helpful to a number of students, myself included, who like to enroll in several courses and end up dropping towards the end of the deadline,” he said. “Now I will be able to have a better feel of which classes I should keep as well as reduced stress in missing a deadline.”
Emily Teall ’16 also said the later drop deadline will allow her to make more careful decisions as she tries to complete courses to graduate on time with her dual degree.
“The later drop deadline gives me enough time to meet with advisors and make a more informed decision rather than the rushed one I thought I would be forced to make,” she said. “I am trying to see if I can do dual degree, which affects my schedule and affects which classes I need for requirements.”
The new deadline will be instrumental in providing opportunities for students to properly evaluate course experience, rather than feeling rushed, according to Alexandra Saint Laurent ’16.
“I think it gives students a better opportunity to judge how they are doing in their classes before making that decision to drop,” she said. “The original deadline made the process feel rushed, and I personally never took part in it because so.”
Marcus Hill ’16 also said that he appreciates the University’s efforts to accommodate students in their process of selecting the best courses for their academic needs.
“The extra time will definitely help people pick the most relevant courses,” Hill said.