Registration Guidance

This page guides you through the course registration process. It is highly recommended for students to prepare the registration at least one week before the registration starts.

Students can review the frequently asked questions below or contact academic advisor with registration questions. Advisors typically respond to students within 2-3 business days. Please note that the Office of Academic Advising receives a high volume of inquiries during the registration period, so there might be a delay in response.

Step 1: Explore courses

Course offerings are available in Albert Course Search (log-in is not required). We suggest you note down the classes that interest you, what degree requirements they fulfill, and whether you meet the prerequisites.

Explore Shanghai Courses

Core Curriculum CoursesMajor Courses

Explore Courses Out of Shanghai

Global Course ListGlobal Courses Satisfying Shanghai Degree Requirements

* If a course you want to register for is not listed on the Global Courses Satisfying Shanghai Degree Requirements sheet, you can request a course evaluation.

** Credits from any courses taken in NYU’s School of Professional Studies & Internet and online courses [from other divisions or schools of NYU] will not be counted toward major requirements, the GPA, or the minimum 128 credits required for graduation. 

Step 2: Prepare your course plan

Each semester, students should normally enroll in 16 credits. It is recommended that first-year and second-year students take core curriculum courses to explore their academic interests. Upper-class students should check their degree progress report to see what requirements remain for degree completion and plan their semester accordingly. Below are some considerations when selecting courses: 

  • make sure you have fulfilled the prerequisite(s) for courses you want to take
  • check the time for each course to avoid scheduling conflicts
First-year StudentsSophomoresJuniorsSeniors

Step 3: Get your advisor's approval hold released 

Fall and Spring Registration:

First and second-year students and any students who are on probation will have an Advisor Approval Hold on Albert's account. If you have an Advisor Approval Hold, you are required to follow the instructions below to get your hold released. 

  1. Complete the course plan and email it to your academic advisor (required)
  2. Complete the Major Curriculum Worksheet or Four-year Plan (recommended - this worksheet allows you to map out the courses you have completed and the courses that you need to complete in order to graduate) 
  3. Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor 

Junior and senior students who are in good academic standing are welcome to schedule an appointment with your academic advisor if you would like to do a degree progress audit or have any questions about course registrations.

J-term and Summer Registration: 

All students would need to complete the course plan and email it to your academic advisor to get your Advisor Approval Hold released. 

New York summer course registration: Students who intend to enroll in summer courses in New York are required to complete the Interest form in slate. Completing this form will enable the Global Programs New York City staff to support students over the summer, including access to on-campus summer housing and other facilities.  Upon completion of this intake, you will have access to the NYU New York Summer Enrollment Portal.

Step 4: Add courses to Albert, validate, and enroll

  1. Add & validate your courses to avoid time conflicts or issues with prerequisites. Refer to the Albert Registration Cheatsheet to guide the validation process (e.g. prerequisite is not met, instructor consent, department consent). Or refer to FAQ Global Courses Registration Frequent Asked Questions. 
  2. Enroll in courses when the registration window is open. If a preferred course is wait-listed, you can set up an edit-swap. This will tell the system to automatically enroll you when seats are available. 
Registration FAQs
1. When can I register for courses? What's the add/drop deadline?

a) When can I register for courses?

Check the NYU Shanghai Academic Calendar for registration dates. You can check your registration appointment time on Albert (see instruction). 

 

b) What's the add/drop deadline?

The deadline to add or drop a course is the end of the second week of the semester for full-term courses. Check out the NYU Shanghai academic calendar for add/drop deadlines for a full term, first 7-week, and second 7-week courses. If you drop a course before the add/drop deadline, the course will not appear on your transcript.

Students are often still working to finalize their schedules after the first few days of instruction. As the semester progresses, you may decide you do not wish to keep a course on your schedule and find yourself looking for a replacement. Just because you can add a course before the add/drop deadline does not mean you should do so. If you are considering adding a course that you have not been attending since the first day of instruction, consider the following and discuss with the instructor:

  • How many weeks of instruction have you missed?
  • How many readings, assignments, and/or quizzes have you missed? How likely is it that you will be able to catch up?
  • What is the attendance policy of the class?

Adding a course after the deadline is usually only permitted when changing levels within the same discipline (e.g., from CHIN-SHU 101 to CHIN-SHU 201, or from Calculus to Precalculus) and with the written approval of the instructor. 

2. I am trying to register but I have a hold on my account. What does that mean and how do I get it removed?

The University blocks registration for students who are not in compliance with requirements, such as immunization requirements and outstanding tuition balance.

You can view all holds by checking the “Holds” tab in the Student Center on Albert. If a hold appears, click on “Details” and follow the instructions provided to resolve it.

Albert Hold

3. Global Courses Registration Frequent Asked Questions

a) Is it still open? Does it count towards my degree requirement? Am I eligible for it?

1. It is still open? Check on Albert public course search.
2. Does it count towards NYU Shanghai's degree requirement? Check Global Courses Satisfying Shanghai Degree Requirements. Students are encouraged to take courses that are approved on the Global Courses Satisfying Shanghai Degree Requirement. If the course information is not listed, you may request a course evaluation. 
3. Am I eligible? Check prerequisite requirements on Albert Course Search and try validating the course on Albert.

 

b) I’ve met the course prerequisites, but I still can’t validate the course on Albert. What should I do?

New York courses: Students can refer to New York Registration Procedures and submit a Course Registration Request form in your Enrollment Portal. Contact gpnyc@nyu.edu if you have any questions.

Abu Dhabi courses: Students can submit an Abu Dhabi Course Registration Request Process form in your Enrollment Portal under the checklist. Please contact nyuad.visitingstudents@nyu.edu with any questions.

Global Site courses: Contact global.academics@nyu.edu with any questions.

c) Can I take courses from NYU School of Professional Studies and/or Internet and online courses?

Yes, you can take courses from the NYU School of Professional Studies (Course Handle:  XXXX-UC/ GC) and/or Internet and online courses [from other divisions or schools of NYU].

Please note credits from any courses taken in NYU’s School of Professional Studies will not be counted toward major requirements, the GPA, or the minimum 128 credits required for graduation.

Credit for Internet and online courses [from other divisions or schools of NYU] will not be counted toward the baccalaureate degree.

4. I cannot validate my course successfully. What should I do?

If you run into the following error messages on Albert during the registration, check the Albert Registration Cheat Sheet and for solutions (Error Messages: Hold on Record, Prerequisite Errors, Time Conflicts, Reserved Capacity Errors, Department Consent, Class is Full, Class is Full and the Wait List is Full, and Instructor Consent).

Class Standing: First-year status requires 0-31 credits; Sophomore status requires 32-63 credits; Junior status requires 64-96 credits; Senior status requires 96 credits or more.

Error Messages: 

1. Instructor Consent Required.

You must obtain permission to take this class. Solution: You will need to contact the instructor to obtain approval to enroll in the course. The instructor's contact email can be found via the NYU Shanghai faculty directory or NYU directory.

2. Prerequisite Errors.

Students are expected to follow prerequisite requirements as they’re supposed to acquire prior knowledge to have a better chance of succeeding in the course.

5. How many credits should I take each semester?

Fall/Spring Semester: Students are recommended to take 16-18 credits per semester. If you would like to take more than 18 credits, please meet with your academic advisor and request a credit overload.

Winter Term (J-term): Students can take up to 4 credits for J-term.

Summer Term: Students can take up to up to 8 credits per summer session. Summer Term typically has two sessions, therefore students can take a maximum of 16 credits during the summer.

Check the Bills, Payments and Refunds website for tuition and fees information.

6. My preferred class session is full or I am on the waitlist. What should I do?

Unfortunately, advisors cannot guarantee a spot in any course for any student. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you have some flexibility in your schedule. Advisors can work with students to explore alternative class options and review academic plans. If you want to take a course that is closed, we recommend that you add yourself to the waitlist if it is still available. Many courses have a waitlist limit of five students. When this waitlist limit is reached, the waitlist for the course is no longer possible.

While you are on the waitlist, you can use the Swap function so that Albert knows which class to drop you from should a space open up in the course. You can also use the Edit Swap function, so Albert can automatically enroll you in selected courses if the seats are available and there are no time conflicts with your schedule. You can continue checking on Albert to see if there are any seats available and make the enrollment changes before the add/drop deadline.

For a small seminar class, if you are 1st or 2nd inline on the waitlist, you will be more likely to be able to successfully enroll in the course than if you are 10th in line. If there are many students on the waitlist before you, it might be difficult for you to get into that course. We suggest enrolling in the backup course(s) first and then setting up an edit swap for your preferred courses. 

The waitlist does NOT guarantee you a spot in a class, but students do occasionally get in off of the waitlist when enrolled students drop the course. After initial registration, this movement is most likely to happen during the add/drop period once you arrive at your site, so occasionally students are able to get the courses they want on-site even if they weren’t able to do so at registration. Since the likelihood of getting into a course off of a waitlist can be difficult to predict, you should always be enrolled in a backup course. Additionally, for some courses, we monitor the waitlist, occasionally adding seats or opening additional sections if demand is high enough and enough classroom space and instructors can be found.

7. January and Summer Term Frequently Asked Questions

To get enroll in January and/or Summer term courses, you would need to follow the same process for the Fall or Spring semester (See Step 3: Get your advisor approval hold released).

Add/drop 

Students can add or drop a course on their own before the add/drop deadline. After the add/drop deadline (see academic calendar) there will be no refunds on courses, and any course withdrawal will result in a W on your transcript.

Credits

January Term: Students can take up to 4 credits for J-term.

Summer Term: Students can take up to up to 8 credits per summer session. Summer Term typically has two sessions, therefore students can take a maximum of 16 credits during the summer.

Tuition and Fees

For information about billing, payments, and refunds please visit the Bursar's website.

Textbook

Books and course materials will be provided to you if it is required. Fees will be charged based on the requirements of the specific course. Contact shanghai.textbooks@nyu.edu with your questions.

8. What is the NYU Shanghai's audit policy?

Matriculated students in NYU Shanghai may audit (i.e., attend lectures without intending to receive credit) any course in NYU Shanghai with the consent of, and under the conditions established by, the instructor and the major. Auditors count against the enrollment cap for a course and may not preempt space required for students registering for a letter grade.


Courses cannot be audited as a means of satisfying requirements for an incomplete grade or as a means of changing a previous grade. Language classes may not be audited. Students may not audit classes during their first year of enrollment at NYU Shanghai.

Students seeking to audit a course must register as an auditor by the end of the add/drop period and audited courses will appear on the student’s official transcript. Special (non-degree) students may not audit courses. Once a course is declared as an audited course it may not be changed to a letter grade or pass/fail course. If the credit value of the audited course causes the total number of credits to exceed 18, an overload petition is required and overload charges apply.

Students that officially audit a course are expected to complete the work that is agreed upon by the instructor. There is no credit given for the course, though the course would appear on the student’s record with a mark of “R” for Registered Auditor. If the student does not comply with the stated expectations, then the instructor could issue a “F” grade and that mark would be calculated into the student’s overall GPA.

9. What is NYU Shanghai's attendance policy?

Although the administration of NYU Shanghai does not supervise attendance of classes, it supports the standards imposed by instructors.

When students are ill, they are expected to notify professors in advance of class, if at all possible. If the instructor determines that it is an excused absence then the student should negotiate with the professor the time and place for make-up of assignments, tests and/or examinations missed.

Students who are seriously ill and/or will miss more than a week of classes due to medical reasons, should contact their academic advisor and the Office of Health and Wellness for assistance in excusing their absences from class.

Students who, in the judgment of the instructor, have not substantially met the requirements of the course or who have been excessively absent are not considered to have withdrawn from the course if they remain on the roster and may be given the final grade of F.

10. Albert Instructions

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