VI. Registration Schedule and Course Change Deadlines

• Registration Overview
• Check-in Dates
• Course and Clinic Registration Periods
• Course Add/Drop Deadlines
• Course Withdrawal Deadlines
• Clinic Add/Drop Deadlines
• Clinic Withdrawal Deadlines
•  Waitlists (Course and Clinic)

A. Registration Overview

Students are responsible for knowing and meeting all Law School check-in, registration, and course change deadlines as set forth below.    

B. Check-in Dates

All students are required to check in online using HELIOS (https://helios.law.harvard.edu) at the start of the academic year in order to provide updated Emergency, Local and Permanent directory information.  Failure to submit updated information by the applicable deadline may result in a web hold on all registration functions including add/drop and waitlist processing.

Note that in addition to online check-in through HELIOS, in-person check-in is required of first-year J.D. students, all LL.M. students and first-year S.J.D. students. All continuing S.J.D students who have received a financial aid award package must check in with the Graduate Program Office in person to get financial clearance by no later than September 7, 2012.  

•  LL.M. students in-person check-in: Beginning August 20, 2012 and must be completed by August 27, 2012
• New S.J.D. students  in-person check-in: Beginning August 20, 2012 and must be completed by August 31, 2012
• Continuing S.J.D. students check-in: Beginning August 20, 2012 and must be completed by September 14, 2012
• First-year J.D. students in-person check-in: August 30, 2012
• Second- and third-year J.D. students online check-in: Beginning August 15, 2012 and must be completed by August 31, 2012

Students will not be allowed to check in late, unless they first obtain permission from the Dean of Students, for J.D. students, or the Graduate Program, for LL.M. and S.J.D. students.

C. Course and Clinic Registration Periods

1.  First-year J.D.: Students are assigned, according to their section, to the required 1L courses. First-year J.D. students register for the required spring course in international or comparative law and for the spring upper-level elective credits in the fall. 

2.  Second- and third-year J.D.: Students register for fall term electives, all multi-section, and all clinics in the prior spring, and usually register for winter and spring electives in November. 

3.  LL.M.: Students register for all courses over the summer. 

4. Any student who does not register during the appointed registration periods must wait until the beginning of the relevant add/drop period to add, drop, and wait-list courses and clinics. 

Specific course and clinic registration periods are established each year by the Registrar.

D. Course Add/Drop Deadlines

Table 4: Course Add/Drop Deadlines

Certain courses have earlier add/drop deadlines than those listed above. Students should consult the course descriptions in the HLS course catalog for information about earlier deadlines.  

E. Course Withdrawal Deadlines

A student withdrawing from a course, seminar, or reading group after the last day of the add/drop period for the term will be considered to have withdrawn after the deadline, and the course, seminar, or reading group will be listed on his/her transcript with a “Withdrew after Deadline” (WD) notation. Withdrawal from a course, seminar, or reading group after the last day of classes in the course, seminar, or reading group will result in the student receiving an “F” in the course, seminar or reading group.

Exceptions to this policy are available only for a compelling reason such as illness or unforeseen circumstances. Students should contact the Dean of Students (dos@law.harvard.edu) and the Office of the Registrar (registrar@law.harvard.edu) to request an exception to this policy.

F. Clinic Add/Drop Deadlines

Table 5: Clinic Add/Drop Deadlines

1. The Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs oversees add/drop deadlines for clinics.

2. Clinic add/drop deadlines are earlier than most course add/drop deadlines. In addition, some clinics have even earlier add/drop deadlines than those listed above. Students should consult the clinic descriptions in the HLS course catalog for specific add/drop deadlines. 

3. All clinics must be taken in conjunction with a relevant course.  The three ways in which students enroll in the classroom component of a clinic are: 

a)  Course and clinic enrollment are bundled together.  The class and the clinic are added and dropped together, and share the same add/drop deadline.  

b) Course and clinic enrollment are separate.  Students enroll in the course on their own without accommodation. Adding or dropping the clinic does not affect course enrollment.  A student who is unable to enroll in the course by the clinic add/drop deadline forfeits his or her clinic enrollment. 

c) Course and clinic enrollment are separate, but the course has reserved seats for clinic students.  Students who receive a seat in the course due to their clinic enrollment and drop the clinic must also drop the course.

G. Clinic Withdrawal Deadlines

A student who drops a clinic after its add/drop deadline will have the clinic listed on his/her transcript with a “Withdrew after Deadline” (WD) notation. Clinic work ends on the last day of class for the semester. Withdrawal from a clinic after the last day of class for the semester will result in the student receiving an “F” in the clinic. Exceptions to this policy will not be permitted, except for a compelling reason such as illness or unforeseen circumstances. Students must contact the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs (clinical@law.harvard.edu) to request an exception to this policy.

H. Waitlists (Course and Clinic)

Once the maximum enrollment for a course or clinic has been reached, enrollment is closed and a waitlist is formed. Admittance into a waitlisted course or clinic is strictly in order of the waitlist. Students who are offered a place in a course or clinic from the waitlist will be notified by email and must formally accept to be officially admitted into the course or clinic

For more information about enrollment in courses, please contact the Office of the Registrar (registrar@law.harvard.edu). For more information about enrollment in clinics, please contact the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs (clinical@law.harvard.edu).