Petitioning to Graduate

Everyone who receives a bachelor's degree from Weinberg College must first submit a Graduation Petition to the Northwestern Registar's Office. If you plan to graduate in June of your fourth year, then you are required to submit a petition during the spring quarter of your third year. (If you are away from campus in spring of your third year—studying abroad or on an out-of-town internship, for example—then you should petition during the fall of your fourth year).

Detailed information on the petition process, including submission deadlines, is available through the Registrar’s main Graduation website.

If you plan to graduate early, then you must file your petition early too, a full calendar year before your expected graduation date. This may enable you to register with the highest-priority group for your final three quarters; see the registration information posted by the Registrar's Office for details and/or talk with your College Adviser.

Doing your Graduation Petition is important for making sure that you haven’t overlooked or misunderstood any graduation requirements—and that you and the degree auditors in the Registrar’s Office agree on how your courses fit department, college, and university rules. It is also a good opportunity to think about how you’d like to spend your final year as an undergraduate student.

On the first page of your Graduation Petition, you will indicate where you think you stand on your general WCAS degree requirements (freshman seminars, distribution requirements, foreign language, and writing proficiency). If you’re unsure, check your Degree Progress report on CAESAR or contact your College Adviser. You should also list all major(s), minor(s) and concentration(s) you are doing.

To complete the remainder of the Graduation Petition, you will need to meet with an adviser in each major and each minor you are pursuing.  Take a copy of your CAESAR Degree Progress report to these meetings.

For each major and minor, you will indicate what additional courses you plan to take, and the relevant adviser will sign off on your plan. The adviser can indicate any special approvals or substitutions directly on the petition form or on a separate page that can be attached. If there is anything complicated or potentially confusing about your situation, it’s fine to attach an explanatory cover letter to your petition(s).

A confirmation email will be sent to your Northwestern email address after the Registrar’s Office reviews your Graduation Petition. Look carefully at this feedback and at your updated Degree Progress report on CAESAR! If their assessment of your remaining requirements disagrees with your own, you need to figure out why. If you do your Petition to Graduate when you are supposed to, you will have plenty of time to resolve any discrepancies, and you will have two or three quarters for finishing any remaining requirements.

What if you file a petition saying you plan to graduate at the end of a certain quarter and then you decide to graduate later? Be sure to notify your degree auditor at the Registrar’s Office. Postponement usually presents no problems, but you need to keep people informed.