Withdraw/Pass/Fail

Courses can be declared pass/fail from the fifth day of class through the 8th week of the fall and spring semesters. The deadline to declare a course pass/fail is posted on the registrar’s academic calendar each term. *For Fall 2023, the deadline to pass/fail a course is 11:59 pm EDT on October 13, 2023. The priority deadline is October 6, 2023.* The priority deadline allows time for you to declare another course pass/fail by the final deadline if the first is denied for failure to meet the regulations governing the pass/fail option.

To declare a course pass/fail, you select Pass/Fail Course Request in the drop-down menu in your Student Center in ConnectCarolina. You can read more about the rules, regulations, and pass/fail policy in the Undergraduate Catalog by clicking on the Pass/Fail Option section.

Once a course has been declared as pass/fail, you cannot reverse your decision and change the grading basis back to a letter grade.

See below for the steps to view requirements via your Tar Heel Tracker. Please note this is a mock account that we use during orientation, so rest assured you are not seeing anyone’s real data! If you have concerns or questions about how a course fits the requirements, we encourage you to contact your advisor.

Step 1: Log into ConnectCarolina and go to your Student Center.

Step 2: Open the drop-down menu on the left-hand side that says “other academic”.

Step 3: Click on Tar Heel Tracker on the drop-down and press the double arrow on the right-hand side.

Step 4: Click on “View Summary Report” (this will give you a clean way to view your requirements in a PDF view).

Helpful Hint: if this is the first time you are pulling your summary report, you may have to turn off your pop-up blocker.

Step 5: View the PDF summary 2-3 pager to view where your current courses are counting towards your degree.

If you choose to pass/fail a course that is currently counting as a general education requirement, you will no longer be able to use that course to fulfill gen ed requirements (with the exception of LFIT). For a comprehensive list of regulations on pass/fail please visit the Undergraduate Catalog.

How to view your general education requirements on the tracker: 

• Requirements still remaining: will show as not satisfied (see arrow #1)
• Courses in progress: will show they are satisfying a requirement (see arrow #2)
• Completed Courses: Courses taken at UNC (grade listed) transferred in (TR) or By-Exam (BE) will show satisfied (see arrow #3)

How to review major requirements on your tracker:

Please note: you may not pass/fail any “Gateway” or “Prerequisite” or “Additional Requirements” for declared majors or minors as outlined in the Undergraduate Catalog (i.e., courses not listed as “Core Requirements”). Only one course completed with a grade of PS (not LP) may be used toward major and/or minor “Core Requirements” as outlined in the Undergraduate Catalog. You can see below the courses that would be required in the major (COMP BS) as well as the section for “Additional Requirements”. Please note, that not all majors have additional requirements. For a comprehensive list of regulations on pass/fail please visit the Undergraduate Catalog.

Helpful Hint: If you are viewing your tracker and see “missing sub plan” you can come to advising during drop-in hours and we can add a sub plan so you can see all requirements.

Withdrawing from a course and dropping a course mean the same thing.  During fall and spring terms, students have through the 8th week of the term to drop courses online. The Registrar posts the specific drop deadlines on their calendar each semester. Dropping a course after the second week of classes will result in a W (withdrawal) notation on your transcript. This denotes that you have chosen to drop from the course after the census date (10th day of classes for the term) and before the drop deadline. Course drops can be done via ConnectCarolina via the Enroll – Drop tab.

Note that summer school has a different, and much shorter, timeline to drop a course. So be sure to note the drop deadlines for the summer session in which you are enrolled on the Registrar’s website course drop page.

Also, note that withdrawal from all courses is a separate process. For more information see the withdrawal policy and how to initiate the official University withdrawal process on the Registrar’s website.

Information on the grade notation of “W” (withdrawal) on a transcript can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog.