Many students have questions about course selection and General Education Requirements (GERs). The most common questions and answers are listed below. If you have further questions or need clarification about a policy, please make an appointment with an OUE academic adviser by calling 404.727.6069 or visiting the front desk in White Hall 300.
Course Selection and Enrollment FAQs
- What resources are available for course selection?
- How many credit hours should I be taking? And what is the minimum and maximum course load allowed during a given semester?
- How do I enroll in courses?
- How and when can I change my course schedule? When can I enroll if I missed my pre-registration appointment?
- What should I do if I'm having trouble enrolling on OPUS or making changes to my schedule?
- How do I register for a course that is "permission only"?
- How do I enroll in a course that is full or closed?
- How do I overload my schedule in order to take more than 19 academic credit hours?
- Am I allowed to take classes pass/fail?
- Am I allowed to retake a course in which I did poorly?
General Education Requirements (GERs) FAQs
- How can I determine which GERs I need in order to graduate?
- When should I complete the GERs?
- Can my AP or IB credits count toward Emory GERs, my major and graduation requirements?
- How can I fulfill my writing requirements?
- Can I fulfill my GERs by taking similar cooresponding courses at another academic institution?
- Is it possible to fulfill two GERs at the the same time by taking a course that falls under the listing for more than one general education category?
Course Selection and Enrollment
1. What resources are available to students when selecting courses?
Students should begin by consulting the Course Atlas for the current semester. The Course Atlas lists courses offered by GER and Department.
You may follow up with your faculty adviser or an OUE academic adviser to discuss your course selection and load.Faculty advisers and OUE academic advisers can also assist with planning future semesters.
2. How many credit hours should I be taking? And what is the minimum and maximum course load allowed during a given semester?
Students normally enroll for 16 academic credit hours (4 courses) and often take additional one credit academic electives such as music or dance courses. Health/PE courses count as one credit non-academic credit courses. Students, in consultation with their advisers, may choose to enroll in fewer credit hours to balance their schedules or more credit hours to achieve a particular academic goal.
Students may not enroll in fewer than 12 credit hours, as Emory does not permit part-time status. For final semester graduating seniors ONLY, students may enroll in as few as one credit hour. Graduating seniors who are interested in underloading must complete a Graduating Senior Underload/Overload form and return it to the Office for Undergraduate Education, White Hall 300.
Students who have Emory grade point averages (GPA) of 3.0 or greater or are in their final semester may enroll in up to 22 total credit hours. Students who have grade point averages of less than 3.0 may enroll in up to 19 academic credit hours plus up to three non-academic credit hours. No exceptions will be made to this policy. No student may enroll in more than 22 academic credit hours and no more than 24 total credit hours.
3. How do I enroll in courses?
Emory students enroll in courses through OPUS. For class enrollment instruction videos, click here.
4. How and when can I change my course schedule? When can I enroll if I missed my pre-registration appointment?
After pre-registration the Registrar will re-open registration on OPUS to all students during what is called the drop/add period. This period at the beginning of the semester allows students to make changes to their schedules, enroll in open courses, swap courses, or drop courses. Please check the Calendar & Deadlines for the date and time of this period.
If you are attempting to switch from one class to another open class, it is better to use the ‘swap’ command instead of dropping and adding so that you do not lose your first class before you are enrolled in the second one.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to review and print a copy of your schedule on OPUS each time you make changes to confirm that your request is processed as you intended. Keep a copy for your records.
5. What should I do if I'm having trouble enrolling on OPUS or making changes to my schedule?
There are several reasons why you may be having trouble enrolling in OPUS. If you suspect that there is a technical problem, contact the Office of Information Technology and submit a Help Request at http://it.emory.edu/help/index.html or call 404.727.7777. If your issue is not technical in nature, contact the Registrar at 404.727.6042. You may also have a HOLD on your account that prevents you from enrolling during a particular semester. Please check your OPUS account and look for messages/holds that indicate how you may remove such a hold.
6. How do I register for a course that is "permission only"?
If a class is designated "permission only", students will need a permission number from the department, or the departmental secretary will need to register the student for the course. As an alternative, you may also bring a signed letter from the professor to White Hall 300 during the drop/add period indicating the name of the course, the course number, and the grading basis. If the course is a directed study, the number of credit hours should also be included.
7. How do I enroll in a class that is full or closed?
In certain circumstances some departments and professors allow students to overload into a class even if it is full. However, this is not guaranteed and students should make every effort possible to plan their schedules and gauge their academic progress to maximize their choices. Your first step is to speak with the course professor to determine if overloadinig is possible and what, if any procedures are involved for overloading into the course.
8. Can I overload by taking more than 19 academic credit hours?
Students must have an earned cumulative Emory GPA of a 3.0 to enroll in more than 19 academic credit hours. If a student meets the criteria he/she may enroll in additional academic credits directly in OPUS. If a student does not meet this criteria or does not yet have an Emory GPA, an academic course overload will not be permitted. If students who do not meet the overload criteria register for greater than the number of credit hours permitted, classes will be dropped from the student’s schedule by the Office for Undergraduate Education before the end of add/drop/swap.
9. Am I allowed to take classes on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory (pass/fail) grading basis?
Emory College students may take up to a total of 20 credit hours of academic credit on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading basis during their Emory careers and apply the credits toward graduation with the following stipulations:
For any course, students must indicate their grading basis on OPUS by the designated deadline. Grading basis cannot be changed after the deadline.
Courses that are being taken for General Education Requirements or toward a major or minor must be taken for a letter grade with the exception of P.E. courses which may be taken satisfactory/unsatisfactory. Professors are not notified of a student’s grading basis unless the student chooses to share this information with the professor. In addition, classes taken with this designation are not factored into the GPA.
10. Am I allowed to retake a course in which I did poorly?
Students who are interested in retaking a course should meet with an OUE academic adviser or a dean as this will affect your graduation requirements. Students will not receive credit toward graduation twice for the same course (that is, if they received a passing grade on the first attempt as well as the second attempt). If the student failed the class on the first attempt, he or she may receive credit upon receiving a passing grade on the second attempt; however the passing grade will not replace the failing grade on the transcript.
When students retake a class, both courses along with both grades remain on the transcript and are factored into the students’ GPA. For instance, if a student fails SOC 101 during fall semester and takes it again in the spring and receives an A, the transcript will show the F in SOC 101 under the fall semester and the A in SOC 101 under the spring semester.
General Education Requirements (GERs)
1. How can I determine which GERs I need in order to graduate?
Emory students should review their Academic Advisement Report (degree audit) in OPUS to determine which General Education Requirements have been satisfied. If there is a discrepancy between what is indicated on your Academic Advisement Report, please make an appointment with an OUE academic adviser by calling 404.727.6069 or stopping by White Hall 300.
2. When should I complete the GERs?
PACE, Health 100, first year writing requirements and Freshman Seminar must all be completed during your first year at Emory (this may vary for Transfer students and Oxford Continuees). There is no specific timeline to complete the remaining requirements. If you would like assistance with planning when to take GERs, please make an appointment with an OUE academic adviser by calling 404.727.6069 or visiting White Hall 300.
3. Can my AP or IB credits count toward Emory GERs, my major and graduation requirements?
The Office of Admission evaluates the credits that you have received from another institution as well as Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) test scores to determine the type of credit, if any, you will receive toward Emory GERs and whether particular requirements may be waived. Take steps to ensure that all AP, IB and transfer credits are applied to your Emory transcript within your first semester at Emory as credit will not transfer after this time.
For Oxford Continuees, Oxford College will determine how your Oxford credit hours apply toward your Emory requirements.
It is up to your major/minor department to determine which credit hours count toward your major or minor.
4. How can I fulfill my writing requirements?
You must fulfill both a freshman writing requirement consisting of one course as well as a continuing writing requirement (CWR) consisting of three courses. For the freshman writing requirement (which is different from the freshman seminar) you must take either ENG 101, ENG 181 or LIT 110 or receive AP English credit as determined by the Office of Admission.
Only courses with the WRT or W suffix on OPUS during the corresponding semester can be used to fulfill the post-freshman writing requirement (see Course Atlas by Requirements). It is important to verify the suffix when you enroll as courses and course sections that satisfy the writing requirement vary by semester. You must earn at least a C in any CWR course in order to receive the GER credit.
Courses taken at other institutions (i.e., through transient study or study abroad) generally cannot be used to fulfill a writing requirement even if the courses are writing intensive.
5. Can I fulfill my GERs by taking similar corresponding courses at another academic institution?
Students interested in fulfilling GERs by taking similar courses at another institution should visit the Domestic Transient Study webpage for detailed information about credits and procedures.6. Is it possible to fulfill two GERs at the same time by taking a single course that falls under the listing for more than one general education category?
Yes. Students may use a single course to satisfy two GERs as long as one of the GERs being satisfied is the CWR.
For example, AMST 112WR fulfills a History, Society Culture as well as a CWR because the course is listed in both area III and VI of the GERs.