Academics
General Information
mma Willard is committed to students' gaining experience in making academic choices.
There are two grading systems in use at Emma Willard. For most courses the grading system ranges from A to No Credit with grades of A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D- and No Credit. For some courses a grading system of Credit/No Credit is used.
Freshmen receive grades of Credit/No Credit for their first semester at Emma Willard. In the second semester, freshmen receive letter grades that are recorded with the registrar and reported on transcripts. Comprehensive final exams may be included in this second semester grade. There is no year grade recorded.
In some but not all arts courses, a student may elect to take a course Credit/No Credit on her transcript. To use this option the student must arrange her grading choice with the registrar's office. She cannot then change this arrangement. For fall semester courses, the choice of Credit/No Credit must be made by the end of the third week of fall semester. For spring semester courses, the choice of Credit/No Credit must be made by the end of the third week of spring semester.
COURSE LOAD AND HOMEWORK
Courses are assigned units as follows:
1.5 unit = year Advanced Placement course
1 unit = year course
.75 unit = semester Advanced Placement course
.5 unit = semester course or its equivalent
A student customarily carries 5–6 units per year: 2.5–3 units per semester. A student must carry a minimum of 2.5 units per semester.
A student may carry more than 6.25 units only with the permission of her advisor and the academic office. The student must petition for a course overload with a written explanation of why the program should be approved. This petition should address the issues of time demand (such a load consumes a minimum of 40 hours per week, not including extracurricular commitments), stress level and well-being, ability to be successful with such a load, and rationale for taking more than 6.25 units. This petition must carry the signature of the student and her advisor.
A year course designated as 1 unit or a semester course designated as .5 unit typically requires 6–7 hours of work per week, counting time both inside and outside of the classroom. A year course designated as only .5 unit typically requires 3 hours per week, counting time both inside and outside of the classroom. A 1.5 unit year course typically requires 9–10 hours per week, counting time both inside and outside of the classroom. The actual time required varies from student to student and week to week.
