Cornell Community FAQs

For semester-long or first-half (7 week) elective courses, you may pre-enroll in, or add or drop Johnson classes through your Student Center system during the normal appointment dates and times (see the Johnson Academic Calendar). Johnson also offers 7 week classes occurring during the second half of each semester (these run mid-October through December for Fall term classes and mid-March through May for Spring term classes); you can add or drop these classes during a short period before these classes begin.

In addition to the regular semester-long classes, Johnson also offers seven-week classes that take place during the first or second half of each term. For the fall term, first half classes run from August to mid-October; second-half classes run from mid-October through December. For the spring term, first-half classes begin in January and end in mid-March; second-half classes start in mid-March and end in May. Johnson also has week long class offerings in early January, before the University’s official start of Spring classes.

Add and drop deadlines for Johnson often differ from those of other Cornell colleges. Please refer to Johnson-specific deadlines in the “notes” section of your class of interest on Student Center, on the Cornell Class Roster or on the Johnson Academic Calendar.

For each class added or dropped after the deadlines on the Johnson Academic Calendar, Johnson charges a $100 fee.

Aligning with the Johnson Faculty By-Laws, auditing is not available for any Johnson class.

You can place yourself on the waitlist for a Johnson class via your Student Center. After locating your class of interest on the “enroll” tab, check the box labeled “Waitlist if class is full.” Proceed to the end as you would a normal enrollment, and you will receive a message indicating your waitlist number. We recommend checking this box even if the class appears open.

Waitlists are manually processed on a daily basis during the add/drop periods. If seats are available, students are individually enrolled into the class to fill those seats. If you have been enrolled, you will then see the enrollment reflected on your Student Center, and you’ll receive an email confirming that you have been officially enrolled. We will not enroll you if you have a time conflict with another class, or are over your credit limit. You will instead recieve an email requesting you to correct any issues before we proceed with enrolling you.

You can see course descriptions, requirements, prerequisites, and other important information for all available Johnson electives classes on the Online Class Roster.

You can change your grade option (e.g., letter grade or pass/fail) using the “enroll” tab on your Student Center, which displays the optionally graded classes in which you are enrolled. From the “edit” tab, select the appropriate class, then check the appropriate grade option, and submit.

A Directed Reading (commonly known as an Independent Study class) is a course completed independently under the supervision of a Johnson-appointed faculty member. You can enroll in a Directed Reading class with any Johnson faculty. Please pick up a Directed Reading form in Sage 106. This form should be completed by both the faculty and student, then submitted to Sage 106 for approval and entry into the student record. The course number NMI 5000 Directed Reading Research will appear on your schedule.

Space in Sage Hall is extremely limited, and priority is given to Johnson events. Please review the Room Reservation page for more information.

Johnson does not offer classes in the summer for non-matriculated Johnson students.

Refer to the Johnson Academic Calendar for the most up-to-date start and end dates. Please check the Johnson Class Roster pages for exact dates for a specific class.

For dates for exams and final deliverables information, see Johnson’s Final Deliverable Schedule.

Each class is set up according to the faculty member’s preference. Please read the “notes” section posted on each individual class, on your Student Center or Cornell Class Roster, to determine whether you are eligible, and if there are required permissions or prerequisites.