Students are placed on academic probation at the end of any quarter—except for the first quarter at the University, when an academic warning is issued instead—in which the cumulative GPA falls below 2.0. Students on probation status are dropped the following quarter unless their quarter GPA is at least 2.5 or they raise their cumulative GPA up to 2.0 or above.
Academic Warning
So your first quarter at the UW didn't go so well. You're probably sorely disappointed and may be wondering if you made the right choice to attend the UW.
Well, the UW isn't for everyone, but don't give up so fast. The first quarter at a new school—whether your previous school was a high school or another college or university—is fraught with dangers that can lead to poor academic performance. You may have a new commute, leading to less study time. You might not have had to study as much at your previous school, or the studying was very different. You miss home. The classes are much bigger and move much quicker than you're used to. So many reasons.
Very often we'll see students who do very poorly in their first quarter, then turn completely around after that. Perhaps they just needed some time to figure out how everything works here. Or maybe they found the problem and addressed it. As advisers, we recommend you address the issue right away, and we hope to be a great resource for you. Check out the I'm Not Doing Well in My Classes page for a discussion of many of the most common academic issues (and their solutions!) facing UW students.
At Undergraduate Advising at the Gateway Center, we want to make an extra effort to reach out to students on academic warning. So, although academic advising is not generally required at the UW, we put registration holds on many students on academic warning and ask that they come in and meet with an adviser. After the meeting, the registration hold is removed. This process is not meant to be punitive; rather, we want to try to help you get on the right track while the hole is not too big.
Academic Probation
When you're on academic probation, you're teetering on the edge of losing your place as a student at the UW. In your probation quarter you have to earn a 2.5 on the quarter or earn high enough quarterly grades to raise your cumulative gpa to 2.0. If you don't, you'll be dropped from the UW for low scholarship. For some students, bringing it up to a 2.0 won't be too difficult. For others, the numbers may paint a bleak picture.
We encourage you to come see an adviser if you're on probation. We'd like to help you assess your situation, how you got into it, and how to approach getting out of it. Among other things, we can help you figure out exactly what gpa you need on the quarter to bring your cumulative gpa up to 2.0 and get off of probation. (Use our GPA calculator to figure it out for yourself.)
In the meantime, check out the I'm Not Doing Well in My Classes page for some common issues and their solutions.
