COURSE ELECTIONS

Faculty Approvals. Prior to course registration and when course changes are made,

students must have their course selections approved by their faculty advisers. In addition, all course selections for humanities and social science electives must be approved by the student’s adviser in the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts.

Overloads. In exceptional circumstances, a student with a record of successful academic

performance may take more than 18 credit hours in a semester. The guidelines for overload approval are as follows:

Overloads for First-year. First-year students must request permission for overloads through a written petition to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Petition instructions and dead- lines are available from the Office of Academic Affairs.

Overloads for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors.

your academic advisers and a petition approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Approval is granted provided previous semester GPA is at least 3.000 and all advisers agree.

2. Overload is 20 to 21 units: Overload approval requires the signature(s) of your academic advisers and a petition approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. A GPA of 3.000 in the preceding semester is required, as is evidence of the exceptional circumstances arguing for an overload. The following may constitute exceptional circumstances:

Unique opportunity to take complementary or synergizing courses •

Unique opportunity to work with a particular faculty member (i.e. a visitor) or course •

(i.e. an experimental offering)

Scheduling difficulties created by future or past semesters abroad or on exchange •

Unit credit needs for graduation within eight or more semesters. •

Students are free to make the case for other exceptional circumstances in their petitions. The simple desire to take a course, however, does not constitute an exceptional circumstance, nor does evidence of a student’s ability to “handle” additional coursework. The decision made by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs regarding overload petitions is final.

3. Overload of more than 21 units: Granted only for the justification of unit credit needed for graduation in eight or more semesters and only then with the recommendation of all academic advisers.

Petition forms are available from the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Course Changes. A required course may be replaced by a course in a different area of study

only with the consent in advance of the Scholarly Standing Committee and the chairs of the departments concerned.

Off-Campus Registration. Students may register for courses open to them in the other

Claremont Colleges. Courses taken at the Claremont Graduate University are recorded with the units of credit indicated in its catalogue. Full courses taken at Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps Colleges receive three units of credit, except those courses in science and mathematics for which a three-hour laboratory is indicated in the catalogue. In such cases, credit is determined by the appropriate HMC department. Unit credit for off-campus courses other than full courses is determined before registration by the Harvey Mudd College depart- ment involved.

Any course in which a student enrolls for credit, shown in the catalogue of any Claremont College, is indicated on the transcript with credit and grades recorded and is included in the calculation of the cumulative grade point average.

Directed Reading Courses. Directed reading courses are open to juniors and seniors

only, and a student may take only one such course (or the equivalent of 3 units) each semes- ter. Directed reading courses are also available during the summer by registration with the Claremont Summer Session. Such a course may not be used as a substitute for a required first-year or sophomore course.

Summer School Credit for Transfer. A student who wishes to attend a summer school

outside of The Claremont Colleges and transfer credits to Harvey Mudd College must obtain permission in writing from the chair of the Harvey Mudd College department concerned prior to registering for the summer school. Upon completion of the summer session, the student should request the college to send an official transcript to the Registrar. Only C quality work or better is transferable. However, some departments set a minimum grade that must be received in summer school courses, if they are to be used for transfer credit. Approved summer school courses are placed on the student’s Harvey Mudd College academic record and may be counted as fulfilling distributive requirements upon consent of the department chair. Unit credit at Harvey Mudd College for such courses is generally the same as for equivalent courses at HMC except where adjustments must be made by the Registrar to equalize credits with the semester system at Harvey Mudd College. The grade obtained in a summer school course outside of The Claremont Colleges is not counted in determining the student’s cumulative grade point average.

Foreign Languages. There are no undergraduate requirements in foreign languages.

Students planning to go to graduate school, however, are reminded that a reading knowledge of German, French or Russian may be required as part of a program leading to an advanced degree.