The Academic Senate has voted to approve changes to the Grade Substitution policy—the text that will appear in the new 2019-20 catalog is below. Note that now all Tech students (those who matriculated as first-time first-years as well as transfer students) will be able to use Grade Substitution and that it is not limited to courses taken in the first two academic terms of enrollment (so we will no longer use the phrase “freshman forgiveness”).

The policy is not retroactive. All students who take courses in Summer 2019 and onward and who earn grades of D or F may repeat them and use Grade Substitution to replace the grade only once and for a total of two courses. The policy does not affect courses taken prior to Summer 2019.

C. Grade Substitution

Undergraduate students may repeat courses for grade substitution according to the following set of criteria. If these conditions are not met, the general policy governing repeated courses applies.

  • Undergraduate students may repeat for grade substitution up to two GT courses with posted letter grades of D or F. These courses will be excluded from calculation of their cumulative grade point average.
  • A course can be taken for grade substitution only once and must be repeated within one calendar year.
  • A course is not eligible for grade substitution if the student was found responsible for any academic misconduct in that course regardless of how many times it is repeated.
  • Grades excluded under previous Institute rules (such as the Grade Substitution policy that was in effect up until 2019) count toward the maximum two courses allowed for substitution.
  • Once a grade substitution is posted, the student cannot remove the exclusion or change it to another course at a later date. A student cannot request a grade substitution after they have graduated.
  • The application for grade substitution must be filed with the Registrar's Office no later than the deadline for withdrawing from a course during the student's next term of enrollment after the course is repeated.

The original grade and the repeated grades will all appear on the official transcript. Once a grade substitution is applied to a course, the credit hours attempted and earned on the course will be removed from the calculation of the cumulative grade point. Excluded courses and hours will continue to be counted in calculations of satisfactory progress, for financial aid eligibility, and for tuition.

Students should be aware that many graduate and professional schools recalculate grade point averages in the process of considering an applicant for admission to such programs. This recalculation may include restoring the grades of the repeated classes and their effects on the cumulative grade point average. 

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions recently notified all accepted first-year students of the opportunity to confirm their major at Georgia Tech during the month of May. This will ensure they are placed in the proper advising group at FASET orientation. Students will have the opportunity to confirm their major May 1 - 15, 2019, via their admission portal.

Admissions has also created a page of Frequently Asked Questions to help students, as well as faculty and staff, who may have questions about this process. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact their office.