Registration: Advising Process

Each semester, IE students are required to meet with their primary IE academic advisor for planning the upcoming term.

Advising Process

1. Schedule Appointment

Approximately in the fourth week of the semester, IE students will receive an email from their primary IE academic advisor with an individualized link and instructions for registration appointment scheduling through BoilerConnect. Students should read this email carefully to understand the expectations and registration process.

2. Advising Appointment

During the registration appointment, the student and IE academic advisor will discuss plans for the upcoming semester (e.g. courses, co-op, study abroad, etc.) and the student's current semester progress, update the student's plan of study (POS), review the student's SmartPlan, and explain how the student can submit their course requests. Typically, registration appointments last between 15-30 minutes.

3. Post-Meeting Follow-up

Following the registration meeting, the IE academic advisor will email the student any post-meeting instructions, a copy of their updated POS, and Registration PIN. A “Note” will also be saved in the student’s BoilerConnect profile with this information.

Students Who Miss a Registration Appointment

If a student misses their scheduled registration appointment or cancels their appointment without prior communication to an IE academic advisor, the appointment will be marked as a “No Show.” A new appointment can be scheduled using the link in the original registration email.

If a student “no shows” or cancels a second appointment, they will be required to wait until open registration begins before receiving a third appointment to see an IE academic advisor. This is to maximize the number of students IE academic advisors may see before registration. The volume of students to be seen does not allow for each student to have multiple appointments.

IE academic advisors will not see students for registration during IE Undergraduate Advising drop-in office hours.

Note: Students are given ample time to make an appointment prior to the Course Request Form (CRF) final submission date. The IE academic advisors will not make exceptions or open up additional availability to students who fail to make appointments.

Degree Planning Tools & Registration Resources

We understand that learning to navigate and understand your plan of study can be challenging; however, it is the student’s responsibility to understand their degree requirements. To help, please use the following documents and links for additional information.

Apply to Graduate

For those expecting to graduate at the completion of the next semester, you must apply to graduate before registering for your final semester of study.

“Apply to Graduate” can be found through the “Graduation & Commencement Info” box of your myPurdue portal. If you need assistance, email Commencement or refer to the How to Apply to Graduate: A Step-by-Step Guide.

If you are unsure if you will graduate at the end of the semester ahead, but it is possible, please apply to graduate. You can contact an IE academic advisor with any questions about your expected graduation. You can be removed from this status if your plans change; however, applying later in the semester is not possible.

Please complete this process before your registration appointment. This is a crucial step in the graduation process. Failing to Apply to Graduate will result in you not graduating.

More information about holds, and how to remove them, can be located on the Office of the Registrar webpage.

IE academic advisors cannot remove or override holds. It is the student’s responsibility to clear all holds with the office the hold is associated with.

Registration Errors

If while submitting your course requests you encounter a registration error, please view the Registration Error Help.

Override Requests

IE Undergraduate Students

  • Prerequisite Overrides: Prerequisite overrides for IE courses will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the IE Department. Students should request an override in the Schedule Assistant/Unitime and contact their IE academic advisor for the criteria and steps to appeal for a prerequisite override. If appropriate, an override will be provided and student notified that they may register. Approval is not guaranteed, and registration is contingent on available space.
  • Prerequisite Errors due to Pending Transfer Credit: IE academic advisors will not process any overrides for pending equivalent transfer credit (see Transfer Credit Course Equivalency Guide) in corequisite or prerequisite cases. The credits must be posted to your Purdue transcript to be able to enroll in the subsequent course in your plan of study. Students should request an override in the Schedule Assistant/Unitime for any subsequent course that requires the pending equivalent transfer credit. This request will be deferred until the transfer credit posts. Information about how to submit official transcripts for equivalent transfer credit can be found here.
  • Max Credit Overrides: Max credit overrides will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the IE Undergraduate Advising Office. Students should contact their IE academic advisor for the criteria and steps to appeal for a max credit override. If appropriate, an override will be provided and student notified. Eligible requests will not be reviewed until after semester grades post.

NOTE: Overrides for non-IE courses are reviewed by those individual departments, not IE. Please check the appropriate departmental website(s) for more information.

Graduate & Non-IE Major Undergraduate Students

All override requests submitted by graduate and non-IE major students for IE courses during the batch registration process will not be processed. Graduate and non-IE major students should resubmit an override request during open registration for departmental review. Request may be deferred until a later date to manage course space. Approval is not guaranteed, and enrollment is contingent upon space in the course amongst other factors. We recommend students plan for alternative courses as a backup.

Cross-Listed Courses

The IE department has a few courses that are cross-listed with another department at the university. These include:

  • IE 48700 (BME 48700)
  • IE 53000 (STAT 51300)
  • IE 55600 (PSY 55600)
  • IE 56100 (AAE 56100)
  • IE 57700 (PSY 57700)

When reviewing space for cross-listed courses you need to look at the “XL Capacity” column in the myPurdue catalog. This will tell you the actual enrollment in a course across all cross-listed sections.

Course Attendance and Absence Reporting

Instructors are expected to establish and clearly communicate in the course syllabus attendance policies relevant to individual courses. Students should also review the general University information for class attendance and absence reporting.

Adding/Dropping Courses

Students can add and/or drop courses at various points throughout each semester. Students are strongly encouraged to communicate with an IE academic advisor before adding or dropping courses. Enrollment in a course after the deadline(s) is not guaranteed. Instructors have the right to refuse entry to their course.

Withdraw “W” Grades

A withdrawal grade (W) does not technically have a negative effect on your academic standing at Purdue. They are not actual grades, so they cannot have an impact on your GPA. However, too many withdrawal grades can affect your financial aid status (policy). In addition, evidence of frequent withdrawal grades can reflect negatively in the eyes of employers and other evaluators of your academic record. Regardless of whether you retake and complete a course in which you previously earned a withdrawal grade, the withdrawal grade will remain in your academic record permanently.

Repeating Courses

Repeating a course to improve your GPA is not generally advisable. If you feel as if your grade does not reflect your true ability, doing well in a higher-level course will likely impress prospective employers or graduate schools more than just repeating a course you have already passed with a C. If you sincerely believe that you have not mastered the material, as is likely the case if you received a D or lower, then repeating the course is a wise choice (but not necessarily required). If you have failed a required course or did not receive the minimum grade required, you must repeat it. In addition to passing all required coursework for the BSIE, students must also achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 for the degree.

Repeating Course Considerations

1. Registering for a course previously taken

For a course that a student would like to retake, requests can be made during the registration period through Scheduling Assistant/Unitime. Students will want to pay attention to departmental policies for retaking coursework.

Students have three (3) attempts/enrollments to pass a course successfully. Withdrawals are included in the three-attempt limit. When repeating a course, all attempts appear on a student’s transcript.

If additional attempts are necessary for a student in a course required for the BSIE, a 4th attempt appeal can be submitted. Please contact an IE academic advisor for more information about this process. Note: 4th attempt appeals are not guaranteed approval. In the case an appeal is denied, alternative options may be required to satisfy degree requirements.

2. Impact on GPA

When a student retakes a course, the last grade earned for the course is recorded in the cumulative GPA. This may or may not be the best grade.

3. Impact on expected graduation

Repeating courses, either due to failure or to improve your GPA, can impact your expected graduation timeline. Questions about this can be discussed with an IE academic advisor.

Pass/No Pass Policy

All courses taken as part of your IE degree requirements must be taken for a letter grade. This includes IE core courses, Technical Electives, and General Education Electives.

Only courses considered “extra” that are not part of the IE degree requirements can be taken as Pass/No pass (P/NP).

Another exception to IE’s P/NP policy is for study abroad semester exchange programs. All coursework for semester exchange is to be taken in the P/NP grade mode unless a course is being used for a Purdue minor or certificate. Minor and certificate courses should be taken for a letter grade and must meet the Purdue grade standard to satisfy minor and certificate requirements.

To view the deadlines for when the grade mode of a course can be modified, please refer to the add/drop/modify calendars from the Office of the Registrar.

Transfer Credit for Current Students

Students should become familiar with Purdue's Transfer Credit Course Equivalency Guide and Transfer Criteria.

Courses listed in the Transfer Credit Course Equivalency Guide as undistributed (i.e. MA 21XUND) indicate that there was no direct equivalent found at Purdue. In such cases, undistributed credit will not be accepted toward any BSIE requirements.

Courses listed in the Transfer Credit Course Equivalency Guide as Unevaluated Credit (i.e. MA 2xxxx) indicate the course has not been reviewed by the Purdue academic department for course equivalency. Syllabi are required for evaluation; please submit to the Transfer Credit Inquiry and Syllabi Submission form.

Students who are considering taking courses at another institution with the intention of using the credit toward their Purdue IE degree should first consult their IE academic advisor to ensure that their planned courses will count toward degree requirements. All IE subject courses are not eligible for transfer credit and must be taken at Purdue's West Lafayette & Indianapolis campus.