Registration Procedures
Fall 2025
Important Dates — Fall 2025
August 5
You will be able to add courses to your Crimson Cart and validate them in my.Harvard. Note that actually submitting your enrollment in courses, via the Crimson Cart, will not begin until August 28.
August 14
The Option Studio Lottery, MDes Advanced Course Selection Process, and the Limited-Enrollment Lottery will all open at 9 a.m. via my.Harvard.
August 19
The Option Studio Lottery will close at 9 a.m., with the results posted in my.Harvard the following day.
August 20
Option Studio Lottery results posted in my.Harvard.
August 26
The MDesS Advanced Course Selection Process will close at 9 a.m., with the results posted my.Harvard later that evening.
August 27
The Limited-Enrollment Lottery will close at 9 a.m., with the results posted in my.Harvard later that evening.
August 28
On this date, you can officially enroll in and drop courses via your Crimson Cart in my.Harvard.
September 2
Classes begin.
Please note that on Tuesday, September 2, the GSD will be utilizing a Monday class schedule. Any classes that normally meet on Mondays will meet on Tuesday, September 2. The first day that a Tuesday class will meet is September 9.
All students must complete the check-in process in my.Harvard by Tuesday, September 2 at 11:59 p.m. Students who complete the check-in process after this date will have a $30.00 fee charged to their bills weekly until Tuesday, September 16, when they will be withdrawn from the GSD.
September 9
Final course add/drops for no fee will be due by 11:59 p.m. via my.Harvard. The GSD charges no fees for non-GSD course transactions.
September 10 through September 16
Students can add and drop any number of courses for a flat $15 charge. The GSD charges no fees for non-GSD course transactions.
September 17
Beginning on this date, each course addition must be done via the late add form (see the Documents tab in my.Harvard), resulting in a $30 fee. All fees will be posted on your bill. Full term and Fall 1 courses that are dropped, which can be affected via my.Harvard, become withdraws. When you withdraw from a course, a ‘WD’ will appear on your transcript in place of a grade. All pdf petitions should be emailed to [email protected].
September 23
Last day to withdraw from a Fall 1 course.
October 14
The last day to withdraw from a full term course.
October 22
Final Fall 2 course add/drops for no fee will be due by 11:59 p.m. via my.Harvard. The GSD charges no fees for non-GSD course transactions.
October 23 through October 29
Students can add and drop any number of Fall 2 courses for a flat $15 charge. The GSD charges no fees for non-GSD course transactions.
October 30
Beginning on this date, each Fall 2 course addition must be done via the late add form (see the Documents tab in my.Harvard), resulting in a $30 fee. All fees will be posted on your bill. Fall 2 courses that are dropped, which can be affected via my.Harvard, become withdraws. When you withdraw from a course, a ‘WD’ will appear on your transcript in place of a grade. All pdf petitions should be emailed to [email protected].
November 5
The last day to withdraw from a Fall 2 course.
December 4
Full term and Fall 2 classes end.
Last day to file an incomplete petition for the fall semester. Petitions after this date will only be considered for documented medical reasons.
Spring 2026
Important Dates — Spring 2026
October 24
You will be able to add courses to your Crimson Cart and validate them in my.Harvard. Note that actually submitting your enrollment in courses, via the Crimson Cart, will not begin until January 23.
October 31
Students returning from leaves will be able to access and complete the online check-in process via my.Harvard. If you were an enrolled student in the fall, you do not need to complete this process again for the spring semester.
January 8
The MDes Open Projects Lottery, Option Studio Lottery, MDes Advanced Course Selection Process, and the Limited-Enrollment Lottery will all open at 9 a.m. via my.Harvard.
January 14
The Option Studio Lottery will close at 9 a.m., with the results posted in my.Harvard the following day.
January 15
Option Studio Lottery results posted in my.Harvard.
January 20
The MDes Open Projects Lottery will close at 9 a.m., with the results posted in my.Harvard later that evening.
January 21
The MDes Advanced Course Selection Process will close at 9 a.m., with the results posted my.Harvard later that evening.
January 22
The Limited-Enrollment Lottery will close at 9 a.m., with the results posted in my.Harvard later that evening.
January 23
On this date, you can officially begin to enroll in and drop courses via your Crimson Cart in my.Harvard.
January 26
Classes begin.
All students returning from leaves must complete the check-in process in my.Harvard by Monday, January 26 at 11:59 p.m. Students who complete the check-in process after this date will have a $30.00 fee charged to their bills weekly until Friday, February 6, when they will be withdrawn from the GSD.
January 30
Final course add/drops for no fee will be due on Friday, January 31, by 11:59 p.m. via my.Harvard. The GSD charges no fees for non-GSD course transactions.
January 31 through February 6
Students can add and drop any number of courses for a flat $15 charge. The GSD charges no fees for non-GSD course transactions.
February 7
Beginning on this date, each course addition must be done via the late add form (see the Documents tab in my.Harvard), resulting in a $30 fee. All fees will be posted on your bill. Full-term and Spring 1 courses that are dropped, which can be done via my.Harvard, become withdraws. When you withdraw from a course, a ‘WD’ will appear on your transcript in place of a grade. All pdf petitions should be emailed to [email protected].
February 13
Last day to withdraw from a Spring 1 course.
March 6
Last day to withdraw from a full term course.
March 9
Spring 1 classes end.
March 10
Spring 2 classes begin.
March 23
Spring 2 class selections due.
March 23
Spring 2 class selections due. The GSD charges no fees for Spring 2 course transactions on or prior to this date.
March 30
Spring 2 class add/drop ends. Students can add and drop any number of Spring 2 courses for a flat $15 charge between March 24 and March 30.
March 31
Beginning on this date, each Spring 2 course addition must be done via the late add form (see the Documents tab in my.Harvard), resulting in a $30 fee. Drops incur a $30 fee and show as a WD on transcript.
April 6
Last day to withdraw from a Spring 2 course.
April 28
Full term and Spring 2 classes end.
Last day to file an incomplete petition for the spring semester. Petitions after this date will only be considered for documented medical reasons.
Additional Information
Please Note:
Cross-registration instructions and deadlines can be found in the GSD Student Handbook. Some cross-registration partner schools have early petition deadlines, so please familiarize yourself with them. If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact the Registrar. You can petition to enroll in all non-GSD courses via your Crimson Cart in my.Harvard. Cross-registration dates are found on the main page of the my.harvard course catalog. Please see the GSD Cross Registration website for more information about cross registration processes for GSD students.
GSD students may use the Audit Petition Form to request faculty permission to audit a GSD course. Note that auditing may not be possible for some limited-enrollment courses. Once approved by faculty and the registrar’s office, the student will be added as a guest to the course Canvas site. Questions about Canvas access may be directed to [email protected].
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