Pass/Fail Option

PASS/FAIL FORM - Spring 2024

The spring 2024 pass/fail form will be available beginning January 31. The deadline to submit a pass/fail grading request for spring 2024 courses is March 6 (5:00 p.m.). Petitions to extend the deadline beyond this date will not be considered.

The deadline to cover final grades for fall 2023 pass/fail courses for students graduating in fall 2023 is 5 p.m. on January 5, 2024. The deadline for continuing students to cover final grades for fall 2023 pass-fail courses is 5 p.m. on March 6, 2024. Petitions to extend the deadline beyond these dates will not be considered.

The deadline to cover final grades for spring 2024 pass/fail courses for students graduating in spring 2024 is 5 p.m. on May 15, 2024. The deadline for continuing students to cover final grades for spring 2024 pass-fail courses is 5 p.m. on October 10, 2024. Petitions to extend the deadline beyond these dates will not be considered.

Steps for Pass/Fail

  1. Submit your pass/fail selection by completing the online form found at the top of this page during the pass/fail registration period (see the current academic calendar for detailed dates).
  2. Save your confirmation email
  3. Email passfail@brandeis.edu to cover the grade – if you need to!

Electing a Class Pass/Fail

To elect a class pass/fail, undergraduate students must complete the online request form before the published deadline in the semester they are enrolled in the course. Students may only fill out the form one time. Once the form is submitted, they may not change their course selection. No more than one course may be taken pass/fail during a single term.

In order to fill out the form, students will need their 8-digit student ID number. A confirmation email will be generated and sent to the student's Brandeis email address. This is the student's proof of their pass/fail request and should be kept for their records.

This counts as one of the four pass/fail elections over the course of their undergraduate career, regardless of whether the final grade is converted to a "P."

Note that the pass/fail option is not available to graduate students.

Cover a Class With a 'P' Grade

After a final grade has posted:

  1. If the student wants to keep the letter grade earned in the class, no further action is needed.
  2. If the student wants to cover the letter grade received in this class, they must email passfail@brandeis.edu before the pass/fail deadline indicated on the academic calendar. If the student fails to contact the office before the published deadline in the semester after they are enrolled in the course, the letter grade will remain on the record. The email should include the student's full name, student ID number, the course subject, catalog number and title of the course elected pass/fail.

Students must receive a grade of C-minus or higher to convert the letter grade to a "P." Students who wish to use the pass/fail grading option for an approved general education requirement must indicate this in the same email.

Additional Policies Regarding the Pass/Fail Option

  1. Letter grades covered by "pass" ("P" for performance at the C-minus level or above) will not be used in computing GPAs. Grades of "D"and "E" will remain letter grades, to be used in computing GPAs, and will be considered by the Committee on Academic Standing when determining academic standing.
  2. No more than one class may be taken pass/fail during a single term.
  3. One class may be used to fulfill a general university requirement with the pass/fail grading, excepting University Writing Seminars and writing intensive and oral communication courses. No more than one course (and never the final one) in the foreign language sequence may be taken pass/fail. Only students who entered Brandeis prior to fall 2019 may satisfy the quantitative reasoning requirement using the pass/fail grading option as one of their general university requirements. Students who entered Brandeis in fall 2019 or after are not eligible to use the pass/fail grading option to satisfy the quantitative reasoning requirement.
  4. Classes taken pass/fail will not satisfy major or minor requirements.
  5. In full-year courses, the elected grading option (pass/fail or letter grade) applies to both semesters and may not be changed midyear. (Such a course taken pass/fail would expend two of the allowable four pass/fail elections.)
  6. In an undergraduate's final semester, conversion of a class attempted on the pass/fail basis in which the student received a grade of C-minus or higher must be converted to a "P" grade before the deadline in the academic calendar for the receipt of senior grades (normally three days after the last day of final examinations).
  7. Students must make all pass/fail option requests within the published deadlines. No exceptions will be made for a student missing the deadline to make an initial pass/fail option request nor to make a request to cover a grade for a class.
  8. Petitions will not be entertained for exceptions to the above constraints and deadlines.
  9. Please note: Arrangements between students and instructors do not constitute official pass/fail enrollment. Instructors are not informed of the grading option that a student has chosen. Students taking courses pass/fail must complete all assignments and examinations.
  10. Undergraduate students elect the pass/fail option by completing the online Pass/Fail Grading Option Request Form prior to the published deadline.