Should I elect Credit/No Credit this semester?
This is a complicated question and there are individual answers. I will try to provide a thorough guide below to help you make decisions. If you want to discuss your situation in a one on one meeting after reading this, please make an appointment via the appointment scheduler https://go.illinois.edu/SOCWadvisingappointment, please make sure you do so before January 5th.
Why consider electing credit/no credit?
- If you only need the course for elective, Gen Ed, minor, or major credit and you will pass with a C-, C, C+, or B- but don’t want that grade to impact your grade point average.
- If you are in a course that is preparing you for the next level of a subject (i.e. Chem 101 preparing for Chem 102) and you want to continue to be enrolled and learning in that prep course but don’t want the grade to factor into your GPA.
Why lean toward keeping the course for a grade (rather than electing C/NC)?
- If you are going on to a professional school, such as Law, Pharmacy, Medicine, etc. you should be checking with those schools to see how they will interpret a CR/NC grade, particularly a NC grade, before you make a decision.
- If the course is a requirement of some sort (you need the credit), you never want to re-take the course and/or do not have time to re-take in a future semester before your internship, and it is not preparing you for the next level of a course (i.e. Chem 101 preparing for Chem 02) and you will pass the course with a D-, D or D+.
- If you will pass a course with a B+ or higher, I would recommend taking the grade you have earned for the semester.
When is it tricky?
If you’ve got a B is probably the trickiest. A “B” is not a bad grade at all and I would probably recommend in most cases you take the grade, but there might be situations where it might be the right decision.
You also need to take into consideration any requirements related to your Financial Aid award. Information about that can be found here: https://osfa.illinois.edu/process/satisfactory-academic-progress/.
How do I elect CR/NC?
The Registrar’s Office is creating a form for students to elect Credit/No Credit. Beginning Saturday, you can go to https://registrar.illinois.edu/registration-process/credit-no-credit or on the MyIllini student dashboard https://student.myillini.illinois.edu.
If you have ANY questions, please reach out to me and we can e-mail or set up an appointment to discuss your situation.
Happy Holidays and Enjoy your break!
