General Information

Credit and course equivalency may be awarded for certain scores achieved on specified College Board Advanced Placement exams. Please refer to the online catalog to find scores required for individual exams to receive Whitman credit. There is a limit of 30 total credits that may be awarded for combined AP and IB exam results. Please also note that you cannot receive credit for a Whitman class for which you have previously received AP course equivalency and credit. For example: If you score a 4 or 5 on the Calculus BC exam, you will receive six math credits which are equivalent to MATH-125 and MATH-126. Therefore, you cannot take either MATH-125 or 126 for credit.

If you believe you are eligible for AP credit, call 1-888-225-5427 to request that an official report of your scores be sent directly from the College Board to Whitman as soon as possible.  If you do not do this prior to starting classes at Whitman, you must do so soon afterward.  The college code, 4951, is required to order the report.

A maximum of 16 credits in activity courses will be allowed toward the minimum of 124 credits required for graduation.

A maximum of eight credits will be allowed in the following categories:

A maximum of twelve credits will be allowed in any one of the following categories:

Not more than sixteen credits toward the minimum of 124 are allowed in any one, or combination of, the following courses in applied music: Music 163, 164, 263, 264, 363, 364, 463, 464, Applied Music.

For those students who have already declared their major, the Notice of Change of Major Advisor form must be used to make the change. You'll want to complete the form, obtain the necessary signatures and then drop the form off in the office.  For those students who have not yet declared their major, they must consult the Associate Dean in Academic Affairs to have their request approved.

A major can be declared at any time but must be declared prior to registration for the student's fifth semester.  The selection of a major should be made in consultation with your pre-major advisor and the advisor(s) of the proposed major study.  The necessary form can be found online or picked up outside our office.  The signature of you major advisor(s) is required.

A minor can be declared after a major has been declared. Students will follow the requirements as stated in the College Catalog at the time they declare. The necessary form can be found online or picked up outside our office.  The signature of the department chair is required.

Grades may be deferred through a request by the instructor to the Board of Review and are for reasons that are beyond the control of the student. The deadline is as specified in the request and the grade of X must be converted into a definite and final grade.

A grade of Incomplete (I) may be petitioned for through the Dean of Student's Office (Memorial Bldg 325) by a student prior to the end of the semester, but for health or emergency reasons only.  The student must have completed at least half of the required work of a course with a passing grade for an Incomplete to be considered.  The remaining course requirements must be completed by a specified deadline or the grade of I will be converted to the grade submitted by the faculty member based on the work completed in the course at the time grades are due.

In addition to the combined major, an Individually Planned Major (IPM) study program may be developed by students with unique interests and intentions.  This permits the development of a concentrated study in some area which crosses two or more disciplines, or which currently does not offer a standard major, thus permitting an area of concentration not available in other major study programs.  Use the link above to access the guidelines and application for constructing an IPM.

1. Candidate name
2. Candidate number
3. Exam session date
4. High School where written
5. College where transcript is to be sent

Graduating seniors, who need four or fewer credits to complete their degree requirements at the beginning of their final semester, should submit the Pay-Per-Credit form to the Registrar's Office to request regular student status on a pay-per-credit basis. Students approved for pay-per-credit may then enroll in up to eight credits and pay the per-credit tuition rate (See Charges/Special Tuition in the online catalog). Students may not be concurrently enrolled at another college in order to meet the credit requirements for pay-by-credit status. All requests for this status must be submitted to the Registrar's Office by the last day to add classes each semester.

Students who add additional credits after the last day to add classes must stay within four credits to keep their pay-by-credit status. Graduating seniors who drop classes after the deadline for requesting pay-by-credit status will remain at full tuition even if they drop below four credits.

Students who register for a class on a P-D-F basis will be assigned a grade of P if they earn a grade of C- or above.  If a D or F grade is earned, those grades will be recorded as for any graded course and will be used in the computation of the GPA.  Things to keep in mind are courses used to satisfy Distribution Requirements or the General Studies courses cannot be taken P-D-F as well as many courses for the major.  The P-D-F registration period starts during week 10 of the semester and ends on the last day of classes. The form may be obtained online or from the Registrar's Office and must be submitted by the deadline.

Should a student wish to repeat a course taken at Whitman for which they received a passing grade that has not been approved for multiple enrollments because of changing subject matter, they should request consent from the instructor of record for the term in which the student will re-enroll and their advisor. If they receive consent and sign up for, and complete, the course, the repeat course credits, grade, and GPA will be applied towards the graduation requirements. Meaning the credits, grades, and GPA from the earlier course will be excluded. During their studies at Whitman, a student can repeat up to three separate non-repeatable courses. However, they can repeat a particular non-repeatable course only once.

However, if a student successfully repeats a previously failed course, the grade and credit for both the failed and completed courses are included in the calculation of the semester, cumulative, and major grade-point averages.

In the event a student wishes to take the Whitman course for which they have received transfer or AP, IB, GCE (Cambridge) A-Level exam credit, they will need advisor and instructor approval. The Whitman grade will be included in the GPA calculation but the course will not add additional credits towards graduation. Transfer courses, which are taken after a student attempts the course at Whitman, are not subject to this policy and will not be transferred back to Whitman College.

A Request for Approval of Transfer Credit (RATC) form must be completed and turned into the Registrar's Office before the credits can be added to the student's record. It is to the students' benefit that they do this before courses are taken so that they will know the credits will indeed be transferable. There is no guarantee of transfer if a RATC is submitted after courses have been taken.  Upon completion of the course, an official transcript must then be ordered by the student from that institution's registrar and have it sent directly to the Registrar's Office.  For detailed information on the transfer credit policy, see the Transfer Credit Information page.