The University has issued new guidelines for Credit/No Credit in light of the Coronavirus situation. This blog will cover: New Credit/No Credit options, how to elect Credit/No Credit, and what to know if you are considering this option.
New Credit/No Credit Options and Deadline
Credit/No credit is now an option for most courses (unless they will be graded Pass/No pass) because the University of Illinois has decided to accept Credit towards courses that count toward a major, minor, or General Education requirements this semester. Find University of Illinois academic policies for Spring 2020 here.
The deadline to elect credit/no credit or to drop a course has also been extended to May 6.
How to elect Credit/No Credit
LAS has updated the Credit/No Credit form as of April 3. You can find and submit your form here. You will only need to submit one form for all of the classes for which you elect Credit/No Credit.
When filling out your Credit/No Credit form: You can submit multiple classes on one form. Please take care to identify the class(es) correctly, including the CRN.
Processing times: The Economics department is processing Credit/No Credit forms for our majors within one business day (Mon-Fri). Then it goes to LAS for processing. You will receive a confirmation from LAS after your request is processed at the college level. Please allow at least 3 business days before emailing about the status of your request.
What to know about Credit/No Credit
First, you will want to carefully assess your performance in the class so far. Make sure that your calculation of your performance is correct–you may want to double check with the instructor, because it’s easy to make a mistake here. If you elect Credit/No Credit, then you must achieve a C- or better in the class to get Credit. Anything lower will earn No Credit.
LAS has posted these helpful FAQs outlining various CR/NC scenarios.
Electing Credit/No Credit can have unexpected consequences, so you will want to consider this option carefully. For example:
- Many graduate programs will consider No Credit as an “F” and will factor it into your GPA as such. (For example, you can see how the Law School Admission Council will factor a No Credit as an “F” into a law school applicant’s GPA here.) If you think graduate school is in your future, then contact a few different graduate programs and ask about how they view Credit or No Credit on a transcript.
- Employers will be able to see the Credit/No Credit on a transcript and may prefer candidates with strong GPAs in relevant coursework over those with Credits in those classes.
- Having no GPA for the semester (as a result of taking all courses for Credit) could impact many things, including: honors status, Dean’s List, probation status, scholarships requiring a minimum GPA, etc. Check into these to understand how Credit/No Credit will impact your individual scenario before making a final decision. These posted FAQs covers most of these topics.
How will earning Credit in my Spring 2020 classes affect my ability to declare an Economics/Econometrics/CS+ Econ major?
Each of our three majors requires a minimum GPA in relevant coursework in order to declare it.
LAS has posted updated requirements here for declaring majors, taking into consideration Spring 2020 Credit/No credit options.
Visit their website here for additional information about declaring an LAS major.