Medical Late Course Withdrawal

This process is designed to support students who may have an unforeseen medical event that has impacted a class. WashU Cares collaborates with academic units to provide committee consultation.

Similarly to the Medical Leave of Absence (MLOA) policy, the schools hold the final decision.

Course withdrawal vs. medical late course withdrawal 

A late withdrawal is withdrawal from coursework after the final date that a student can elect to withdraw from classes. This date generally falls three weeks before the final day of class for each semester. The late withdrawal policy is designed to prevent a student from receiving a failing grade in classes in which serious and unforeseen circumstances occur beyond the student’s control after the official withdrawal deadline.

Before the withdrawal deadline, students can generally process a withdrawal online without seeking approval. After the official withdrawal deadline for a semester has passed, students whose reasons for withdrawal meet the guidelines below for “extreme circumstances” must obtain the approval for late withdrawals from the appropriate designee in the student’s school or college. 

Using available resources to avoid late withdrawal

It is extremely important for students to take advantage of the support opportunities available through Health Services, the Office of Disability Resources, the Office of Student Success, academic advisors, and other relevant offices or resources off-campus. These trained and dedicated professionals can assist the student in academic planning and decision-making and help avoid the need for late withdrawals. If something unexpected happens after the official withdrawal deadline, the student’s case will be significantly strengthened if the student is already working with a professional staff member in one of these offices who can confirm that the event was indeed unforeseeable. This individual could also confirm that the student has been doing everything that they could to work through their difficulties and fulfill their academic responsibilities within the normal procedures and deadlines.

Definitions and further information

What does it mean that the event must be “unforeseeable”?

Some chronic illnesses such as diabetes or depression or some serious and recurring family obligations or financial circumstances can present severe impediments to a student’s success. During the first semester in which students find themselves confronted with these circumstances, they may be learning to cope with the challenge. It may happen that the withdrawal date has passed and a late withdrawal is necessary before the student has become completely aware of what is happening and what effect this will have on the student’s classes.

Severe difficulties beyond the student’s control will count as grounds for a late withdrawal unless these difficulties could reasonably have been foreseen and handled through the normal processes before the final withdrawal deadline. If the student knew of the difficulties before the withdrawal date and decided to stay in classes anyway, then the late withdrawal policy is not designed to reverse this decision (or failure to make a decision). Late withdrawals for classes are not acceptable substitutes for careful planning with the help of trained professionals.

The student should normally be able to demonstrate that he or she was attending regularly and making good academic progress in the class until the intervening event occurred.  The student should also be able to show that the event took place after the published withdrawal date.

If a student stays enrolled for most of the course and continues to take quizzes, tests, etc., difficulties that arise before the end of the course will typically not be considered “unforeseeable.” Students who encounter difficulties should petition for a late withdrawal as soon as these problems become clear to them. Late withdrawals are not intended to substitute for the need to make appropriate decisions at the time.

What counts as “severe”?

Anything severe enough to warrant a late withdrawal should normally be so severe as to be a complete hindrance to completing the semester at all. Several weeks of hospitalization following a car accident would count. Having the flu for a week would not.

Whatever is severe enough to justify a late withdrawal in any one class should normally affect all of a student’s classes. Hence it will be unusual for a petition for a withdrawal for a single class or for only some of the classes, but not others, in order to be successful. Under some circumstances, this may be justified. For instance, if a student misses an entire month of classes due to illness and was doing well in all of their classes until then, there might be a case where the student could be allowed to continue the classes where most of the work consisted of reading outside of class that the student was able to complete. Withdrawing may be permitted from all of the classes where regular attendance was essential for success in the class. In any case, requests for anything other than a withdrawal from all classes must contain additional clear documentation of the reasons why the event affected the one class or the one group of classes differently from the others.

What if my petition is not successful?

A school’s repeat policy generally allows a student to repeat a course and replace the previous grade if the student has not taken the course before. This means that a student should be able to make up for a semester that did not go well without any long-term negative effects on academic status or GPA if this is the first time there have been problems. The important thing is for students to assess their problems honestly and make sure they have addressed them adequately before they attempt to begin the next semester. Here again, what is crucial is that students address problems early and take advantage of the many support opportunities including one’s academic advisor.