Frequently Asked Questions

If you have successfully added a course it will appear on your audit as a current (CUR) course.

If you have successfully dropped a course prior to the financial or academic drop deadline, it will no longer appear on your audit.

Review your audit carefully using Carleton360 and consult with an Advisor if you need assistance understanding your audit.

When you repeat a course, the attempt with the best grade will count in the audit and be included in your CGPA calculation. The attempt with the lower grade will be bumped out of your degree and moved to a section of your audit called “COURSES SET ASIDE”, and will not count towards your CGPA. Both grades will always appear on your transcript.

Failing one or more courses will negatively impact your CGPA(s). A low CGPA could result in negative academic standing. Consult with an Academic Advisor about repeating or replacing courses.

Please refer to the Undergraduate Calendar for more information.

TR – Transfer Course
CUR – Current Course
LOP – Letter of Permission
CLP – Current Letter of Permission
CUO – Current University of Ottawa Course
EXC – Exchange Course
RP – Repeated Course
ABS – Absent from a Final Exam (equivalent to an F)
FND – Failure with No Deferred Examination Allowed (equivalent to an F)
DEF – Deferred Exam

Refer to the Registrar’s Office website for more details about grades and notations.

Yes, a course can satisfy more than one degree requirement. For example, a 3000-level course successfully completed in your Major may satisfy one (or more) of the following requirements:

Breadth (depending on the course subject)

Residency (the number of credits you need to complete at Carleton)

Advanced Credits

Minor requirements

Concentration requirements

For more information contact an Advisor.

myAudit is your map to completing your degree requirements and is available through Carleton360 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is considered an unofficial document that records:

• Your degree title (for example, BA Honours English)
• Any program elements (Majors, Minors, Concentrations, Specializations)
• Courses that you have attempted and are currently registered in
• Your final grades
• Your Cumulative Grade Point Averages (CGPA’s) for each program element
• Your academic standing
• The number of credits you have to complete towards graduation

Your transcript is a permanent and official record of your academic history. You must make an official request to the Registrar’s Office to obtain your transcript. Your transcript records:

• Any degrees, certificates and/or diplomas earned from Carleton University
• All courses you have completed (passed, failed, or repeated)
• All the grades you have received and their corresponding grade point value
• The course title and the year it was completed
• All of your Academic Continuation Evaluation decisions
• Any academic awards you have achieved (e.g. scholarships, Dean’s list, medals, etc)

If you’re applying to another university (for undergraduate, graduate, or other professional programs) your transcript is the document that is used to determine your eligibility for admission.

Program elements are the Majors, Minors, Concentrations and Specializations that may be included in your degree. Students can have a total of 3 program elements as part of their degree. Some examples of degrees with multiple program elements can include Bachelor of Arts Combined Honours Majors in Linguistics & Psychology with a Minor in Disability Studies, Bachelor of Science Honours Major in Biology: Concentration in Health Sciences, and Bachelor of Communication & Media Studies Honours Major in Communication & Media Studies with a Minor in Film Studies.

Note: neither the Co-op option nor the Mention Francais are considered program elements.

For further information contact the Academic Advising Centre.

Full-time degree students are able to register in the following number of credits:

• 2.5 credits in the fall term
• 2.5 credits in the winter term
• 1.0 credit in each of the early and late summer terms ; 2.0 credits in the summer term in total

In order to qualify for a course overload you must have completed  at least 4.0 credits at Carleton and achieved a minimum overall Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 7.0 (B-).

If you meet these requirements you may be automatically eligible to register in an an additional 0.5 credit in the Fall, Winter and Summer terms.

For more information contact an Advisor.

If you want to ensure that your current registration will lead to graduation at the end of the year, check myAudit. If you are registered in your final credits for your degree, your audit will read in RED (below the graphs and charts at the top) “ALL REQUIREMENTS COMPLETED – IN PROGRESS COURSES USED”.

If you have added Hypothetical Courses and want to check to see if your hypothetical registration would lead to graduation at the end of the year, check myAudit and Planned Courses. If you are hypothetically registered in your final credits for your degree, myAudit will read in RED (below the graphs and charts at the top) “ALL REQUIREMENTS MET – HYPOTHETICAL AND/OR IN PROGRESS COURSES USED”

If you have already completed all of your courses and want to check to see if your application for graduation will be approved, you can also check myAudit. If you have completed all of your degree requirements, myAudit will read in GREEN (below the graphs and charts at the top) “ALL REQUIREMENTS IDENTIFIED BELOW HAVE BEEN MET”.

Eligible students who have repeated courses that are considered equivalent or cross-listed, will automatically be assigned the ‘best grade’ from that course requirement in relation to their myAudit and CGPA. The best grade will be used in myAudit and contribute to CGPA, and the lower grade is forfeited; if the courses preclude each
other, the last attempt will count and the first is forfeited.

Eligible students include current Undergraduate students and Special students. Contact an Advisor to see if best grade affects you.

Note: All courses with their corresponding grades will appear on the transcript.

Current undergraduate students and Special students who have attempted a course since their admission to Special studies and repeats the course during the same period of Special studies are impacted by the use of best grade.

The Senate has approved the use of ‘best grade’ in cases where a student has repeated a course (with a few exceptions). If you are eligible and have repeated a course and received a higher grade on a previous attempt, you will notice a change applied in myAudit and the best grade will be in place for that course requirement. 

Use of ‘best grade’ will not allow multiple attempts at the same course to count in the audit.  With a few exceptions, if a student repeats a course only one attempt at the course may count in the audit. All course attempts however will appear on the transcript.

There are three cases in which the use of ‘best grade’ will apply:

1. Where a student has repeated a course with an identical course number.
   Example: A student who attempts 0.50 credit PSYC 1001 and repeats 0.50 credit PSYC 1001 in a subsequent semester will be permitted to count the ‘best grade’ in myAudit.
2. Where a student has repeated a cross-listed course. Courses with a notation of ‘Also Listed As’ are deemed cross-listed due to sufficient similar content and they appear in the Undergraduate Calendar.
   Example: A student who attempts 0.50 credit SOCI 3060 and attempts 0.50 credit DBST 3060 in a subsequent semester will be permitted to count the ‘best grade’ in the audit because these courses are cross-listed in the undergraduate calendar. 
3. Use of ‘best grade’ may apply in cases where a student has attempted a first-year 1.00 credit course that has been replaced by two 0.50 credit courses and are deemed equivalent in content.
   Example: A student who attempted 1.00 credit ECON 1000 and subsequently attempts 0.50 credit ECON 1001 and/or 0.50 credit ECON 1002 may choose to count the ‘best grade’ in the audit. 
   In these cases, students must follow up with their departmental advisor or the Academic Advising Centre.
   

When a course is repeated, the best grade is used in the CGPA calculation. The best grade rule applies to direct repeats and cross-listed courses. It does not apply to precluded courses (for a definition of precluded courses, see Section 2.1.9 of the Undergraduate Calendar). For those in the Bachelor of Engineering, some exceptions to the best grade rule apply. Students must refer to the Bachelor of Engineering program regulations for details.

Also, the use of the ‘best grade’ will not be applied to the records of students who have graduated from Carleton University.

Use of ‘best grade’ will benefit most undergraduate students.  By counting the ‘best grade’ (as opposed to the most recent attempt at a course), students’ CGPA(s) may increase on myAudit.  This change may also put students further ahead in their degree.

Examples:
In cases where a student completed a course and subsequently received a lower grade when they repeated the course, the higher grade may be included in CGPA calculation(s).

In cases where a student successfully completed a course and subsequently repeated the course and received a discredit (failing grade), the completed course may be able to count for credit.

Implementation of ‘best grade’ took affect in the 2020-2021 academic year and was applied retroactively to the audit of all undergraduate students (with a few exceptions) without regard for the date when courses were completed.  Course(s) completed prior to 2020-2021 may move into myAudit in order to count the ‘best grade’.

Example: In the case of a student who completed PSYC 1001 in fall 2018 with a grade of C and repeated PSYC 1001 in fall 2019 and earned a grade of D, they will notice the 0.50 credit completed in fall 2018 (with the higher grade) replaced the fall 2019 attempt in myAudit even though the courses were completed prior to 2020-2021.

*While changes to myAudit are retroactive, use of ‘best grade’ will not impact previous academic decisions. 

myAudit will automatically apply ‘best grade’ once the final grade in a repeated course is available. Students are encouraged to run myAudit in Carleton360 or Carleton Central. 
*Exceptional situations where students would need to submit a request are outlined below.
Use of ‘best grade’ will not apply to the transcript, which is the official record of a student’s studies at Carleton University.  Unlike myAudit, the transcript lists every attempt at a course in chronological order.  Therefore, use of ‘best grade’ will not impact transcripts.

There are three exceptions where students would need to formally request an exception to ‘best grade’:

1. Where a student has attempted a 1.00 credit course and attempts a 0.50 credit course to replace it (and is deemed to be equivalent), they will need to submit a request if they prefer ‘best grade’ to count in myAudit.
2. SAT GRADES: In cases where a student has requested a SAT grade (an accommodation offered during the Pandemic) and subsequently repeats the course and earns a letter grade, the student will need to submit a request if they prefer the letter grade to count in myAudit. 
3. TRANSFER CREDITS: In cases where a student has received a transfer credit and subsequently repeats the course at Carleton, they will need to submit a request if they prefer the Carleton credit to count in myAudit. 

In any of these cases, students will need to contact their departmental advisor or the Academic Advising Centre for consultation.

Use of ‘best grade’ will apply to myAudit for Special students who have not previously studied in a degree program at Carleton University.

For Special students who have previously studied in a degree program but are not currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree:

1. Use of ‘best grade’ will apply if a Special student has attempted a course since their admission to Special studies and repeats the course during the same period of Special studies.

Example: A student was admitted to Special studies after studying in a degree program.  The student attempts 0.50 credit PSYC 1001 as a Special student and repeats 0.5 credit PSYC 1001 as a Special student.  The ‘best grade’ will apply.

2. Use of ‘best grade’ will not apply if a Special student has completed a course prior to their studies as a Special student and repeats the course as a Special student. In this case, the most recent attempt at the course as a Special student will count in myAudit as a Special student.  If a Special student is re-admitted to degree studies, myAudit will apply the ‘best grade’ rule.

Example: A student attempted 0.50 credit PSYC 1001 as a degree student.  The student was admitted to Special studies and attempted 0.50 credit PSYC 1001 as a Special student.  The ‘best grade’ will not apply to myAudit as a Special student.  However, if the student is re-admitted to degree studies, the ‘best grade’ would be applied to myAudit at that point.

Year standing is based on the number of credits you have completed successfully that are being applied to your degree. It is updated regularly as final grades are posted and you can view it on myAudit below the graphs and above the ‘Summary of Degree Requirements’ section.

Year standing is based on the following credits:

First Year: Fewer than 4.00 credits
Second Year: 4.00 through 8.50 credits
Third Year: 9.00 through 13.50 credits
Fourth Year: 14.00 or more credits (only for students in 20.00 credit degree programs)

If you are in a degree program that only requires 15.00 credits (ex. Bachelor of Economics), you cannot achieve 4th year standing.

*Engineering students should speak to their Faculty Advisor to find out more about ‘Year STATUS’, which is applicable in their programs.

There may be courses listed on myAudit under a category called ‘Courses Set Aside’. These are courses you have previously attempted that DO NOT count towards your degree. These courses do not count towards your CGPA or graduation and can be set aside for different reasons. These include:

• Your lowest graded attempt(s) of a repeated course will be listed here
• If a course you have taken precludes another one. The course you initially took would be listed here
• If you have completed more than the required amount of courses for your degree. These are ‘extra classes’ that you are registered in or have already completed
• If you have exceeded the maximum of courses at the 1000-level
• If the course has ‘no credit’ value in your degree (these courses are all listed in the Undergraduate Calendar)

Failed and/or Forfeited Courses are courses that no longer count towards your degree. This can happen if you have repeated a course, as the original attempt and grade will be forfeited. A precluded course will also appear in the forfeited section. This means if you take a course that precludes another (meaning they have similar content), you will only be credited for the most recent course attempt.

The breadth requirement is part of most Bachelor of Arts* degree programs. Its purpose is to allow you to engage in a variety of topics so you receive a well-rounded arts education.

You will need to complete at least 1.00 credit in three of the four breadth areas, which include:

• Culture and Communication (includes: COMS, ENGL, FILM, etc.)
• Humanities (includes: HIST, PHIL, RELI, etc.)
• Science, Engineering, and Design (includes: COMP, ERTH, MATH, etc.)
• Social Sciences (includes: PSYC, SOCI, ECON, etc.)

If you are unsure if you require the breadth requirement, check myAudit. It will list any of the requirements you have left, as well as break down the courses into categories so you can see which ones you still need to fulfill.

For more information about majors exempt from the breadth requirement or to view what subjects are acceptable under certain categories, please visit the undergraduate calendar.
*Different Breadth requirements are listed for programs not included in the Bachelor of Arts so if you have any questions contact your Program Advisor.

Transfer credit, also known as “advanced standing”, refers to the number of credit or course equivalents you may be awarded towards your degree at Carleton based on previous (accredited) postsecondary studies. When courses are evaluated for transfer credit students may receive one of three possible decisions:

1. The course may be evaluated as ‘no credit’ which means that the course is not equivalent to any course offered at Carleton.
2. The course may be assigned a generic credit. For example an English course taken at another institution may be given an evaluation of ENGL 1XXX. This means that the course is equivalent to a first year university level English course but does not correspond exactly to any of our first year English courses.
3. The course may be given an exact equivalency to a Carleton course. If you have questions about the transfer credit you were awarded or you wish to have a course evaluated again please contact Admissions Services at admissions@carleton.ca

If you have received either no credit or a generic credit for courses you have taken at a previous institution you may appeal to have the course evaluated again. You may only submit this petition if you have new and detailed information about the course that was not presented during the first evaluation.

Refer to the First Year Grading Policy FAQ on the Registrar’s Office website.