Registration

When does registration open?

You can find when registration opens each semester on the Registrar’s website: https://www.purdue.edu/registrar/currentStudents/students/registrationFaq.html. 

Once registration opens, check your time ticket window in myPurdue.

Video: How to find your time ticket

Deadlines

Add/Drop Deadline Calendar:  https://www.purdue.edu/registrar/calendars

Grad School Calendar of Events, Dates & Deadlines (for graduation candidacy, defense/deposit deadlines, etc.): https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/about/calendar

Academic Calendar: https://www.purdue.edu/registrar/calendars/

Registration Process

1. Remove any Holds

Enter your course registration through myPurdue, using the scheduling assistant. 

Change in Grade Mode

Some courses allow you to audit a course or change to pass/no pass, but there are several issues to keep in mind. 

• All courses on your Plan of Study must be taken for a letter grade.
• If you elect to change the grade mode to pass/no pass, you’ll need to receive a ‘C-‘ or higher to receive a ‘P’. 
• Auditing a course requires instructor permission.
• International Students:  A course taken as ‘audit’ does not count toward the registered credit requirement.  
• Also, when changing grade-mode, per Grad School policy, you can only retake a course in the same grade mode as originally taken (ex:  If you take a course as pass/no pass, you can only retake it as pass/no pass; you cannot retake it for a letter grade.)  We recommend you consider dropping a course if needed, instead of taking a course as pass/no pass, as you could then retake the course in a future semester for a grade.

Please see the Registrar's website for instructions on changing the grade mode of a course. 

Guidelines for Funded Students (RA/TA/Purdue Fellowships)

Registration should be completed before the end of the first week of classes, or your funding could be in jeopardy. 

Spring and Fall Semester Guidelines: 
If you are funded quarter-time or higher for research, teaching, graduate professional assistantship, or a Purdue fellowship, then you are required to register for courses or research full-time (8 cr, though Political Science graduate students typically register for 9).

This also applies in your last semester (unless registering for CAND 992 or CAND 993).

Summer Semester Guidelines for Domestic Students:

• No graduate student is required to do anything in the summer (work or take classes)
• If a student is taking classes, they are not required to work - however, if not working, they are only eligible for tuition remission if they were a TA in the spring prior to summer and will be a TA in the fall after summer (and it must be a TA, RAships do not qualify).  This is part of the Adler policy.
• If a student is working as a TA OR RA, they are required to register for at least 3 CR in one summer module.  Otherwise, they are ineligible for summer employment.

• International Students - Summer registration is not required to maintain your legal status if
  • You were full-time in the previous spring semester, and
  • You will be full time in the subsequent fall semester in the same academic program, and
  • You do NOT have a summer Graduate Staff Appointment.

• For International students with a summer Graduate Staff Appointment, full time registration for the summer is three (3) credit hours (required), which cannot be scheduled during the same module in which you are working as a TA.  

Registering for Research Credits

After you've completed your Plan of Study coursework, you are required to enroll in POL699 thesis research every semester you are registered (except if registering as CAND 992 or CAND 993 in your final semester).  Students enrolling in POL590, POL695, POL689 or POL699 will complete a fillable Course Agreement Form for Independent Research Courses and Thesis Hours each semester.

Register for research by using the scheduling assistant within myPurdue. This is a 2-step process, so make sure to do both steps!

Here is a video that will show you how to register for the appropriate number of research credits.

Step 1: You first have to register for research using the scheduling assistant; please make sure to add a note stating which professor you will be working with, and the number of credits you plan to register for in step #2 (this can be as simple as ‘Prof Name/# research credits’).  The professor will need to approve before the advisor can approve.  Do not select one of the ‘automatic’ reasons in the system as to why you’re requesting to register for research. Once your research registration posts to your schedule, you’ll see that it registered you for 1 credit. 

CRNs for POL699 are published each semester.  Contact the Graduate Coordinator for assistance.

Step 2: You’ll then need to go back into the system and modify the number of credits to the correct number you need to register.  (Make sure that between your research credits and coursework credits, you don’t exceed the maximum for the semester, and that if funded, you are registered full time, which is 8 credits in spring or fall semesters, unless on an assistantship.)  Check your schedule to confirm that you are registered for the research, with the correct number of credits, with the correct professor, once everything posts.

If you do not complete the 2nd step, your research registration will remain at 1 credit for the semester.  This can impact your funding and your progress toward your degree.  ALWAYS check your schedule, to make sure registration has posted as expected.

Please register for research as early as possible. If you register before the end of the first week of classes, while registration is in the ‘open’ phase, and research posts to your schedule, you can manually adjust the credits to the correct number. If you wait, additional approvals will be required which can lead to late fees. 

CHECK YOUR SCHEDULE!  Make sure it accurately reflects your research advisor, number of credits, etc. It’s important to catch any errors and get them fixed no later than the first week of classes!

Off-Campus Research
All domestic & international PhD students who have NOT completed their Preliminary Oral Exam and POS coursework and are conducting research off-campus for greater than 22 days, must complete the electronic G.S. Form 19 and submit it to the grad school. If you are also in an RA position, a Change of Duty Station request will be generated in the business office and forwarded to you for signature.  

PhD students who have already completed prelims and coursework, are not funded by Purdue, and will be conducting research off campus need to file a Research in Absentia form: G.S. Form 12.  They must also register for at least 3 research credits (POL699) that semester and each semester going forward.

Please talk to the Political Science Graduate Coordinator about completing GS Forms 12 and 19. 

GS-Form 41, Retroactive Research Change Request Form

If you do not correctly register for research in a semester you will need to complete GS-Form 41.  A $200 fee may be charged.