First Year Grading Policy FAQ
What is the First Year Grading Policy
Effective fall 2022, new undergraduate students in a degree program who are entering Carleton University without any previous post-secondary studies may designate up to two passing credits to a CR (credit) for their first two terms of studies. The complete policy may be viewed in section 5.4.3 of the undergraduate calendar.
Key Points
- You may request up to 2.0 credits of passing grades in your first two terms to be converted to CR (Credit). This notation will appear on your transcript and have no impact on your CGPA.
- Any F or UNS grades earned during your first two terms will be automatically converted to NR and will not appear on your transcript.
- Any withdrawal from courses during your first two terms will not be recorded on your transcript.
- Although the original grade will not appear on your transcript, it will be retained as part of your student record and may be used for scholarship, awards, prerequisites, or other academic considerations. Please consult the Academic Advising Centre for assistance
Who is eligible?
- All new Carleton University undergraduate degree students who do not have any previous post-secondary education.
- You can confirm your eligibility by reviewing your academic audit. If you are eligible to convert up to 2.0 credits under the First Year Grading Policy, the following statement can be found at the top of your audit “Eligible for First Year Grading Policy: [insert effective term].”
What do I need to do?
- Complete your first two terms of courses and review your final grades.
- If you would like to keep all of the grades no action is needed on your part.
- If you would like to convert up to two (2.0) credits of passing grades, you can submit your request via our online form. You will receive an email with a link to the online form once you have completed your second term of studies.
- Deadline of April 30th for students whose second term was in the Fall
- Deadline of August 31st for students whose second term was in the Winter
- Deadline of December 31st for students whose second term was in the Summer
- All F and UNS grades will automatically be converted to a notation of NR. No action is required on your part.
- If you need assistance, Academic Advisors are available to help.
What does a CR mean for me?
- CR is the notation used to represent that you have successfully received credit for the course that you attempted.
- Courses that are converted to CR will replace previous attempts at the same course on your audit.
- Credits that are converted from a passing grade to CR will appear on the transcript with this notation. The original letter grade will not appear on your transcript.
- Courses that have been converted to CR will not have an impact on your CGPA calculation, but the original grade still forms part of your student record and will be used as part of various academic calculations such as scholarship/award renewal and prerequisite standing.
What does a NR mean for me?
- NR (No Record) is the notation used to represent that you have not completed the credit for the associated course.
- Courses with a notation of NR do not appear on the transcript.
- Courses that have been converted to NR will not have an impact on your CGPA calculation, but they are considered to be an unsuccessful attempt at a course. This is especially important for any scholarship conditions.
What does WNR mean?
- WNR is the notation used to represent that you have withdrawn from a course before the published academic withdrawal deadline.
- Courses with a notation of WNR do not appear on the transcript.
FAQs
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Students who have studied in a post secondary institution prior to being admitted to Carleton University are not eligible for the First Year Grading Policy. This includes courses taken as a Special Student at Carleton. You must be entering university for the first time in order to be eligible.
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Students will receive an e-mail as they are wrapping up their second term of study indicating when the application form will go live for them. Once that application form goes live you can follow these steps.Step 1: Visit https://sarms.carleton.ca/cr and enter your student ID and Carleton email. NOTE: this link will not work for you unless you have been notified that you are now eligible to submit.
Step 2: An email with a unique link to the CR Request Form will be sent to your Carleton email.
Step 3: Follow the link in the e-mail and enter your student ID.
Step 4: You must click the red “Watch Video” button and watch the informational video in its entirety before being able to select your courses.
Step 5: Click the red “Continue” button once the video has concluded and select the courses you wish to convert to CR.
Step 6: Read the acknowledgements and submit your request. -
Students are eligible to convert up to 2.0 credits, however they may choose to do less than that. If students choose less than 2.0 credits in their first request, they may go back into the application form for as long as it is open to them to make more selections at a later date. Students also do not need to select any CR notations if they would rather leave all of their letter grades as they are.
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Students may choose to convert their lower grades to a CR in order to boost their CGPA. However, there are many things to consider when selecting a CR notation over a letter grade including the fact that it is irreversible at a later date, and therefore, it is highly recommended that you speak with an Academic Advisor in your department or at the Academic Advising Centre for assistance when considering your CR selection. -
If you log back in to the application form, and it allows you to make the change then you can go ahead and change your request. However, if your request has been downloaded (weekly process) then you can no longer make adjustments to your request so please ensure what you are selecting is your final decision.
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If you completed a course this term that is not listed when making your CR selections, it may be for one of the following reasons:
- You received an A+ in the course
- You did not receive credit for the course (NR grade).
- You have an outstanding grade due to an exam deferral (contact the Registrar’s Office once that grade comes in to add it for selection)
- You have an outstanding Academic Integrity allegation where your grade is currently listed as “Grade Not Available” (GNA).
- If you have a GNA in a course, you cannot choose to CR it within the application. When that grade changes in future, and if you are eligible to convert it based on the results of the allegation, you can do so by contacting the Registrar’s Office at registrar@carleton.ca
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Unfortunately not, the deadline for selecting CR notations is a hard deadline, and all selections must be in before that deadline.
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Please contact the Awards Office directly to discuss how a CR notation may impact your scholarships.Please contact the Co-op Office directly to discuss how a CR notation may impact your Co-op eligibility.
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The CR will always appear in your audit requirements with the repeated course and its letter grade being set aside. If you would prefer the letter grade from the repeated course to be pulled into your audit requirements please contact your academic advisor in your department.
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The First Year Grading Policy only applies to a student’s first two terms of study, and therefore a student cannot carry over any convertible credits to their following years.
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New F or UNS grades that have come in for First Year eligible students will be converted to NR’s automatically every Friday. -
New WDN grades that have come in for First Year eligible students will be converted to WNR’s automatically every Friday. -
The academic audit considers “NR” and F grades as equal, meaning the grade earned in the most recent attempt of the course will count towards a student’s program and CGPA. In this case, “NR” will be replaced by the more recent F.