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Academic Advising

Academic advisors assist students in planning their educational careers, in learning the skills needed for academic success and in learning how to access the variety of resources and services available to them on campus. Students are required to meet regularly with their academic advisor regarding program requirements, opportunities for scholarships, undergraduate research and future employment.

Who is my academic advisor?

Depending on your academic level and major, you are assigned a freshman advisor or a faculty and professional advising team. To find your academic advisor, log on to your myUK account, select “Student Services” from the top of the screen, and then “Degree Planning and Registration (myUKGPS).”  Your advisor is listed on the upper right-hand side of the screen under “My Advisor.”

How do I schedule an academic advising appointment?

To schedule an academic advising appointment, use the myGPS scheduler or contact your advisor via email or phone, or just stop by their office.

  1. Select “Student Services” from the top of the screen.
  2. Select “myInfo”.
  3. From the menu on the left, select “myAppointments.”
  4. Under “Advising Departments,” select “College of Engineering.” 
  5. Under the available appointment categories, select the nature of the appointment you wish to schedule (ex. “Priority Registration 30”).
  6. Select an available day on the calendar. Available days are in BLUE.
  7. A list of available appointment blocks will be displayed for the selected day. Mouse over and select the desired appointment.
  8. The appointment block will now display a grey background color. This indicates the appointment has been scheduled.
  9. You will receive an email on your UK email account confirming your appointment.

When and how do I register for classes?

Meet with your academic advisor to have your advisor hold lifted. You must have this hold lifted before you can register (non-degree students do not have an advisor hold).

Check your account for any stops or holds. To do this, log on to your myUK account, select “myInfo” from the top of the screen, and then “my Stops and Holds” from the menu on the left. You must resolve any stops or holds before you can register.

Newly Admitted Undergraduate Students

  • Freshmen, transfer and readmission students will register during a Big Blue Nation Orientation.
  • Non-degree students are not required to attend a “see blue.” U Orientation, but may do so if they wish. If you chose not to attend an orientation, refer to the information in your acceptance letter for registration dates.

Currently Enrolled Undergraduate Students

  • Registration for upcoming semesters is held every November and April. Students are assigned a registration window. During this time, students may register for courses, add⁄drop, review their schedules and perform other functions.

What advising deadlines do I need to worry about?

Please consult the Academic Calendar for important dates and deadlines. Please mark your personal calendar so these deadlines are not missed!

What is myUK GPS and how do I use it?

The Degree Planning and Registration Application (myUKGPS) is an integrated system that helps students do both short and long-term planning, register for courses for the current term and view their progress to make sure they are staying on track to get their degree on time. View instructions on how to use myUKGPS.

What is Engineering Standing and why is it important?

There are two levels of admission for every engineering major:

First Level: “Pre-Engineering”

Includes all students accepted to the College of Engineering and continues until selected pre-major courses are completed.

Second Level: “Engineering Standing”

Students who have achieved a minimum 2.5 GPA in select major courses and a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA. This status allows enrollment in upper-division engineering courses.

Each major in the College of Engineering has a specific departmental GPA (currently a 2.5 or higher) and grade requirements for engineering standing. Requirements may include courses counted in the first three semesters, repeat options allowed, number of applications for engineering standing allowed, restrictions on taking upper-level courses, minimum course grades, etc.

The same criteria are applied to transfer students with the equivalence of courses determined by the Director of Undergraduate Studies for each major.

What are holds and how do I get them lifted?

A hold on an account indicates that a student owes money or must complete a process with a particular office prior to registration or add/drop activity. Holds must be removed from a student's account before registering for classes or receiving a transcript. A student may check whether or not they have a hold by calling the appropriate department in which the stop was placed.

How do I withdraw from a course?

You may cancel your registration before the first day of class by using myUK. See below for dropping a class with a W grade.

All students, including degree-seeking, non-degree seeking and visiting students, who wish to leave the university during a term (fall, spring, summer or winter) must formally withdraw.

There are five methods of withdrawing from the University of Kentucky:

  1. Withdrawing in person at the Registrar's Office in 10 Funkhouser Building;
  2. Requesting withdrawal from course work via UK email account (@uky.edu; @g.uky.edu or @l.uky.edu)
  3. Requesting withdrawal from course work via fax;
  4. Mailing your withdrawal request to the Registrar's Office; and
  5. Dropping or withdrawing from all courses using myUK. (NOT available beginning the 1st day of classes; see options 1 - 4 to withdraw).

How do I withdraw from a class post-midterm?

Friday, November 8th is the last day students may withdraw from a Fall 2024 course.  As of November 9th, they will need to petition for withdrawal by submitting the Post-Midterm (or Permissive) Withdrawal* Petition through Qualtrics.

The petition will be open November 9th through December 11th .  The deadline to submit the petition for Fall 2024 courses is December 11th at 11:59 PM.

Required with the petition:

  • A personal statement explaining the urgent non-academic reasons for withdrawal.
  • Documentation with identifiable information that supports the non-academic reason for withdrawal (examples- health care visits, funeral notices, timesheets)
  • Course prefix/number and instructor contact information.

Incomplete or insufficient petitions will not be considered and will be denied by the committee.

Petitions will not be considered for courses that have ended or for which a final grade has been issued.

*Academic Regulations 5.1.7.3 PERMISSIVE WITHDRAWALS 
A student may withdraw from a class, or from the University, after the withdrawal period until the last day of classes for the academic term. This requires the approval of the dean of the student’s college, based on a petition certifying urgent non-academic reasons, which may include but are not limited to: 

  1. Illness or injury of the student.
  2. Serious personal or family problems.
  3. Serious financial difficulties.
  4. Having excused absences for the dates and times associated with more than one-fifth of the required interactions in a course.

*The “last day of classes” refers to the date (published on the Office of the University Registrar’s website), not the last day that an individual class met. 

*“Required interactions” are interactions that, if not completed at or by their specified date and time, would penalize a student in a course. Interactions may include, but are not limited to, student engagement with other students (e.g., participating in an in-class or online discussion), engagement with the instructor (e.g., attending class) or engagement with an instructor’s proxy (e.g., attending a guest lecture or uploading a file to the course management system). 

Before acting on such a petition, the respective dean will consult with the Instructor of Record of the class. The dean may not delegate the authority to approve or deny a petition to withdraw to the Office of the University Registrar or to any other agency external to their college. If such a petition is approved by the dean of the student's college, the dean shall inform in writing the Instructor of Record of their action. The student shall be assigned a grade of “W.”

Can I repeat a course?

Students are allowed to repeat one time as many as three different completed courses with only the grade, credit hours and quality points for the second completion used when calculating the student’s GPA. The limit of three repeat options is for the student’s entire undergraduate career at UK, no matter how many different bachelor's degrees are pursued in a lifetime.

The repeat option can be used only to remove the first grade in a class from the GPA and replace it with the second grade. Both grades remain on the transcript but the first will have a notation saying the first grade is not used to calculate the GPA. An E grade received for an academic offense may NOT be replaced with the repeat option.

A student exercising the repeat option must consult the student’s academic advisor and must notify the Office of the Registrar. A student may exercise the repeat option at any time prior to graduation and must be enrolled at UK.