Exchange students are eligible to enroll in any courses offered at the University (with the exception of the professional schools which include Law, Business, and Medicine) regardless of your school of enrollment as long as you meet any pre-requisites required for the course and/or receive instructor permission.
Exchange students enrolled in the Law School, School of Nursing, Darden School of Busines and the McIntire School of Commerce will receive separate instructions directly from those schools on course selection and enrollment procedures.
The “Course Catalog” includes the complete list and description of all courses offered at UVA. It is called the Graduate or Undergraduate Record at UVA and can be found here. The Course Offering Directory (COD) is the list of courses that are offered for a specific semester or term. It becomes available midway through the previous semester (about 3 months before spring semester classes begin and about 6 months before fall semester classes begin). Please note that UVA cannot guarantee that an exchange student will be able to enroll in any specific course offered.
Choosing courses
Exchange students are eligible to enroll in any courses from the 1000-5000 level. Courses with restrictions or pre-requisites listed will require additional permissions in order to enroll. Courses offered through the McIntire School of Commerce are all restricted unless the course description states that it is open to non-Commerce school students.
You can search the course catalog for courses offered during the semester once they have been made available directly in SIS. You can also use this link Lou's List to search for classes. This site is a bit easier to navigate when searching for information about available classes.
You are not limited to choosing courses only in your major field of study and, in fact, we encourage you to consider classes outside your major during your exchange semester or year if your home institution allows this option. Taking advantage of some of the unique and interesting course options is one of the many benefits of studying abroad at UVA.
Enrollment issues and problems
If you are not able to enroll because the course has already filled, you can put your name on the waitlist for that course. The first two weeks of the term is the "add/drop" period. Students will be adjusting their course schedules through this period so there will still be a chance to get into class after you arrive if you are initially waitlisted or if you want to make changes to your course schedule. If a course has a pre-requisite or other restriction that prevents you from enrolling through SIS you will need to contact the instructor for that course directly for permission to enroll. Instructor names are listed next to the course name and you can find contact information for that instructor through the department information pages on the Virginia.edu website. In those cases, explain that you are an exchange student and describe courses you have taken at your home institution that you think will meet the required pre-requisite.
The minimum number of credits you will need for full-time enrollment is 12. There is a maximum enrollment of 17 credits for those enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences and 18 credits for Engineering, but we do not recommend taking such a heavy course load during your exchange semester here.