Frequently Asked Questions

A student whose cumulative GPA drops below 2.0 will be placed on Academic Probation. While on academic probation the student will be limited to 16 credits per semester and must follow the academic probation requirements of their college.

Students whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.0 are placed on academic probation.

Students whose cumulative GPA rises to or above 2.0 will be considered returned to good academic standing. Students whose cumulative GPA remains below 2.0 but their semester GPA is 2.5 or above will remain on probation until the cumulative GPA reaches 2.0.

Academic probation does not restrict students from taking summer or winter courses. Student GPA is checked at the end of each semester after grades are recorded. It is possible to get off academic probation after completion of a summer or winter course/s if the student’s cumulative GPA rises to 2.0 or above. Speak with your academic advisor to run GPA calculations to see if one or two courses could help you return to Good Academic Standing.

Once you have stayed away from Virginia Tech for the designated period, then students simply need to contact your college to return. University Studies students should email UnivStudies@vt.edu to request to return and an advisor will contact you to talk about what course or courses would be best. Students should be able to add courses to their schedule for the respective semester once a hold is removed from their account by the advisor.

This will be dependent on your college, however University Studies students are required to meet with their probationary advisor four times during the semester. If the student does not meet with their advisor a hold will be placed on their account preventing future adding and dropping of courses.

Please read the What is Academic Probation or VT policies for more information on academic probation and academic suspension. 

An Incomplete grade will not affect your cumulative or semester GPA and your probationary status until you complete the course and a final grade is recorded.

University Students on academic probation are required to take LAHS 1014 if they have not taken the course prior. Often there are several sections of LAHS 1014 at different days and times, so if you have a scheduling conflict reach out to your advisor and see if one of the other sections will work. If none of those courses work you may have to adjust your schedule. 

Not necessarily, if you have to retake several courses because of college requirements or choose to change major then you have the potential to have a postponed graduation date but it is not a guarantee. You can reach out to your advisor to go over your planned graduation timeline and you can also use Hokie GPS and DARS found in HokieSpa to determine if probation affected your graduation.

If you change your major to an unrestricted major you will be able to transfer to that major and they will take you as a probationary student. You will have to follow your new college's requirements for probationary students. If you are wanting to transfer to a restricted major you will need to be off probation because GPA requirements for application are 2.0 or above. 

All restricted majors have a minimum GPA requirement of 2.0 or above to apply. If you are on probation, then you will not meet the GPA requirement until a future semester.

Academic probation has the potential to affect financial aid if the aid requires the student to meet certain GPA requirements. Contact information for the Scholarship and Financial Aid office.

A GPA calculator may be found under the Grade Menu in HokieSpa. Your cumulative GPA may also be found in your unofficial transcript found in HokieSpa. We strongly suggest working with your academic advisor to create a goal for your GPA for your probationary semester. Seeing what grades are needed can be motivating and help students to know how much time they need to invest in each class.

Yes, you may take a course up to three times per VT policy, but certain majors could have specific attempt policies. Contact your advisor for more information.. However, the new grade will not remove the old grade and your cumulative GPA will reflect all grades given at Virginia Tech. VT Grade policy

This is very much dependent on the student and their specific situation. Meet with your advisor and discuss your options to determine the best way forward. In general it is recommended to take fewer credit hours and to excel in those classes however this is situation dependent. 

VT has many resources that can be useful to students. Academic resources include Student Success Center, The Writing Center, Career and Professional Development, Professor’s office hours, meet with your advisors. Health resources include Cook Counseling, Schiffert Health Center, Services with Students with Disabilities, and/or Dean of Students.