| A+ | Excellent (highest grade) | Counts 4.33, more than an A, on Columbia College’s scale and the Registrar’s chart. Columbia Engineering states the same thing as a plus worth 0.33 on A, B or C. Rule |
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| D | Poor but passing | Counts 1.0, and neither school gives a D+ or D−; the Registrar’s university-wide chart lists D+ 1.33 and D− 0.67, but those apply to other schools. In Columbia College, at most 6 points of D a year and 12 in all count toward the 124. A D generally won’t count toward a major or minor, can’t be transferred in from elsewhere, and a D in a term keeps you off the Dean’s List. In Engineering, a D in a first-year/sophomore required course or a course for your major puts you on probation. Rule |
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| F | Failure | Counts 0 in your GPA and is a final grade, not subject to reexamination. In Columbia College, an F earned under Pass/D/Fail stays on your transcript and counts, and if you stop attending without dropping or withdrawing, missing work is factored as a zero or F. An F in a term keeps you off the Columbia College Dean’s List. Rule |
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| P (Columbia College) | Pass under the Pass/D/Fail option | Covers a C− or higher when you’ve elected Pass/D/Fail and is not included in your GPA, while a D or F stays and counts. You can use it once in fall and once in spring, plus one summer course if you didn’t use both, and only for electives (in a few cases an introductory major or minor course), never for the Core. You can switch until the last day of classes and uncover a P until the end of the next Change of Program period (June 1 for May graduates). Instructors aren’t told you chose it. Rule |
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| P (Columbia Engineering) | Pass under the Pass/Fail option | Engineering undergraduates elect Pass/Fail, which turns any grade of D or above into a P; P is left out of the GPA. You may take one such course a semester, but a P generally earns no credit toward the 128 points. The exceptions are Physical Education and up to two nontechnical electives at the 3000 level or higher, which you can uncover by the end of the next Change of Program period. Other P/F courses can’t be uncovered. Rule |
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| W | Official withdrawal | Left out of the GPA in Columbia Engineering, and Columbia College gives no credit for it. In Columbia College, a course dropped by the fifth week disappears from your transcript. After that, until the Monday of the last full week of classes, you can withdraw for a compelling reason and get a permanent W, and a W keeps you off that term’s Dean’s List. In Engineering, a W means you were approved after the drop deadline to drop a course or take a leave. For financial aid, a W on your record counts as attempted credits. Rule |
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| UW | Unofficial withdrawal (Columbia Engineering) | Given when you stop attending but stay registered, or miss a final without an authorized excuse. It’s left out of the GPA, but a UW in a first-year/sophomore required course or a course for your major brings probation, and it rules out the Dean’s List. Rule |
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| IN | Incomplete | Temporary and out of your GPA until it’s replaced by a grade. Columbia College’s Committee on Academic Standing grants it only for serious extenuating circumstances, and only if you’ve finished everything except the final paper, project or exam. Miss your deadline and you get the contingency grade, which counts the missing work as zero. Any IN still open after one calendar year becomes the contingency grade or an F, and you’re considered for the Dean’s List only after it’s resolved. In Engineering, both the Committee and the instructor must approve. The work is due within the instructor’s limit, at most one year, after which the IN becomes an F or the contingency grade. Rule |
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| AR | Administrative Referral (Columbia College) | A temporary notation used when the instructor needs more time to set your grade, or while you apply for an Incomplete, along with a contingency grade. In Columbia College it takes the place of IN, CP and YC as the reportable grade, and the financial aid policy says it doesn’t count in the GPA until it’s replaced by A–F. Rule |
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| YC | Year course | Marks the first term of a year-long course. The grade earned at the end of the second term becomes the grade for both terms. It’s left out of the Engineering GPA until then, and in Columbia College it keeps you off the Dean’s List until the year’s grade is in. Rule |
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| R | Registration credit (auditing) | In Columbia College, R is for seniors in their last two terms who attend without submitting work for evaluation. It earns no credit and isn’t factored into the GPA, though an instructor may give an F if you skip the required work. Columbia Engineering undergraduates can’t take academic classes for R, and Columbia has no other formal audit procedure. Rule |
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| MU | Make-up examination (Columbia Engineering) | Means you failed the final but were granted a second exam. It’s left out of the GPA until you take that exam, and you can have it in only two courses a term (or more if they total 7 credits or less). Rule |
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| CP | Credit pending | Used only in graduate research courses that run past the end of the term, and left out of the Engineering GPA. Rule |
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| Repeated course | You took the same course again | You can’t earn credit for a course twice unless it’s approved to be taken more than once (Columbia College) or its course description allows it (Columbia Engineering). In Columbia College, if you fail a course you may take it again and earn credit the second time. The bulletin doesn’t say whether the F leaves your GPA, but the financial aid progress policy factors both grades in. Retaking a course you passed is described as very rare: both grades appear on your transcript, but only the first earns credit and only the first grade counts toward your overall GPA as the degree audit measures it. For financial aid progress, a retaken passed course counts as attempted, not completed, and its grade stays out of the GPA, in both schools. Rule |
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| Transfer credit | Grades from another college | Only Columbia grades count. Columbia College counts grades from its fall and spring terms, Columbia-owned study abroad and Columbia-owned summer programs. Grades from approved study abroad programs run by other institutions stay off your transcript and out of your GPA in both schools, and AP points aren’t in the GPA. In Columbia College, outside courses need a C− or better; pass/fail courses in outside programs and D grades earned elsewhere don’t transfer. Transfer students can bring in at most 64 points and must complete at least 60 in the College. The College grants at most 16 points for work before you enroll, and only 6 for courses taken after high school. In Columbia Engineering, a course taken elsewhere needs a Columbia equivalent, prior approval from your CSA Advising Dean and department, and a grade of at least C. Engineering accepts at most 68 transfer points, 6 credits for courses after high school and before enrolling, and you need 60 points at Columbia. Courses you take elsewhere during a suspension need a B or better. Rule |
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