Section 3: Registration & Enrollment
3.1 Course Availability
The Tepper School reserves the right to withdraw any announced course if enrollment is too small to warrant offering it. The Tepper School also reserves the right to make changes in the schedule of hours, units, room, or instructional staff when such changes are deemed necessary or advisable.
3.2 Preregistration
All first-year, students have a set of required classes that are taken in the first semester in the Full-Time program and the first year in the FlexTime programs. Registration for these courses is completed by the MBA Student Services office. No action is required by students during this time.
Full-Time students start choosing courses in the spring of their first year; FlexTime students start as early as summer of their first year. The remaining required courses in the 2nd semester Full-Time program (minis 3 and 4) and 2nd year FlexTime program, will be scheduled by the student during preregistration. If you do not register for your required courses, they will be chosen by Student Services and may possibly conflict with the timing of a course you have selected. The required course(s) take precedence and the elective course may have to be adjusted to accommodate the change.
The Tepper School does not participate in online registration (OLR) at the university level for MBA courses. We utilize our own web-based registration, add/drop system. Students will have access to the Tepper School Registration System during the preregistration weeks in November and April. The university’s OLR System is required for students choosing non-Tepper School classes.
- Preregistration does not operate on a first-come, first-served basis.
- During preregistration you will be given the ability to rank the courses you want for the upcoming semester.
- You may change your schedule as much as you want during the preregistration week. At the end of the week, however, the system will be frozen and courses will be assigned to students on the basis of how they were ranked.
- Students must be registered for each course they want to take, whether for credit or not.
- During the add/drop period, students may make changes to schedules by accessing the Tepper School Registration System and adding or dropping courses.
3.3 Registration Deadlines
Adding and dropping courses must be completed by the deadline listed in the Tepper School Academic Calendar for a specific mini. (Note: Some faculty may not permit a course to be added after the first day or the first week of classes.) This deadline applies to all requests for pass/fail status, audit status, and approval for Independent Studies. The period for add/drop, pass/fail, and audit requests is typically the first two weeks of a mini semester.
The only change that can be made after the add/drop deadlines is to withdraw from the course with faculty permission. A (W) will appear on the student’s transcript and the course cannot be removed from the academic record.
All section changes require “dropping” the old section and “adding” the new. Required courses may not be dropped. All students must take required courses in the appropriate semesters as listed in the graduation requirements found in this handbook and online.
3.4 Waitlist
If the number of preregistered students for a course exceeds the class size specified by faculty or the size of the room, then a waitlist is created.
All students admitted to any course with a waiting list must attend the first class, unless notified otherwise. No-shows may lose their space to other waitlisted students unless they receive prior permission to miss class by contacting the professor.
Students on the waitlist will not be able to obtain course packets. If a student moves from the waitlist to the class roster, then they will be eligible to pick up a course packet. All waitlists are cleared at the end of the add/drop period.
3.5 Course Load
Full-Time Students
To be considered a Full-Time student and thus be eligible for loan deferment and financial aid, students must carry a minimum of 36 units, 6 classes per semester. Students must also have enrollment in both mini-semesters.
The maximum course load in the Full-Time program is 30 units per mini-semester. Any student wanting to carry more than 30 units (excluding Physical Education courses, prefixed 69-) must be in good academic standing and must secure permission by contacting their academic advisor.
FlexTime Students
The expected course load in the FlexTime program is 12 units per mini-semester for the first 8 consecutive mini-semesters. Students wanting to carry more than 18 units must secure permission by contacting their academic advisor.
Foreign National Students
For student visas, federal law requires students to maintain “Full-Time” status, which at Carnegie Mellon is defined as “a student who carries at least 36 units in a (full) semester. The exception is the final semester. Foreign national students must contact the Office of International Education (OIE) Web site and complete a reduced course load form in order to maintain visa status. Visit the OIE Web site at: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/oie/
3.6 Independent Study
If interested in a specific research topic related to faculty research pursuits that no MBA course covers in depth, students may propose an independent study with a Tepper School faculty member and submit an independent study form and proposal for approval to the executive director, masters programs. MBA candidates may take a maximum of 12 independent study units toward the 192 units required for the MBA degree. Independent studies are designed to allow the student to pursue scholarly inquiry, requiring in-depth primary research in a particular topic or subject matter and submission of a final paper. Therefore, independent study proposals designed without this intent (e.g. creating a business plan or industry investigation) will not be approved. For an independent study, students must complete the following:
- Detailed proposal for course of study, designed by student with faculty input.
- Complete independent study form with faculty signature.
- Submit proposal and form to the executive director, masters programs, for approval before the Tepper School add/drop deadline.
Students wanting to pursue an independent study with non-Tepper school qualified faculty must comply with the independent study procedures.
3.7 Course Registration - Other Carnegie Mellon Departments
A maximum of 18 units from other departments at Carnegie Mellon may count toward the MBA degree, provided they are graduate-level courses. These departments include: the Carnegie Institute of Technology, the Mellon College of Science, the Heinz College, the School of Computer Science, the College of Fine Arts or the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. This 18 unit limit ALSO applies to Tepper School classes not in the MBA curriculum, i.e., MSCF or PhD courses.
In order for outside courses to count towards MBA unit requirements, you must receive prior approval from a Student Services advisor. An External Unit Request form must be completed and is available online and in Student Services.
Language courses at Carnegie Mellon are almost exclusively taught at the 12 unit rate, therefore a maximum of 24 units, or two classes, of foreign language may count toward the 192 units required for the MBA degree. You must work with a Student Services academic advisor to determine if the course is at an appropriate level to count towards your unit requirements. All language courses are taken pass/fail only.
Students may take any Carnegie Mellon course, including undergraduate courses, in addition to the 192 units required to earn the MBA degree. These courses do not count toward fulfilling the MBA degree requirements, but do appear on a student’s university transcript. Some courses require additional fees for which students are responsible.
Since dual degree students have a reduced unit requirement, all units and requirements of the MBA degree must be satisfied by Tepper School MBA courses only.
Check www.cmu.edu/hub for course listings from other departments.
3.8 Course Registration - Local Partner Schools
Students may petition the executive director of student services to cross-register for courses at other colleges and universities. Local partner schools include: Carlow University, Chatham University, CCAC, Duquesne University, LaRoche College, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Point Park University, Robert Morris University, and the University of Pittsburgh.
Approval for such courses which must meet the academic standards of the MBA program may be initiated by meeting with a Student Service academic advisor. Final approval is with the executive director, masters programs.
Students may also earn credit for foreign language courses taken at another school if the language is not offered at Carnegie Mellon. A maximum of 24 units, or two courses, on a pass/fail basis can be credited toward the MBA degree.
