Cross-Registration

One of the greatest privileges of being a Harvard student is the ability to enhance your academic experience by taking classes at other Harvard schools as well as MIT.

Cross-registration dates for individual host schools will be posted on the my.harvard course search homepage once available.  Students cannot cross-register for a given term until HSDM registration period for that term has begun.

Petitioning for a cross-registered course

Host schools often have different add/drop deadlines from HSDM; petitions are due by the earliest deadline. Petitions submitted after the earliest add/drop deadline will NOT be considered. Before you proceed, please review both the host school and the home school (HSDM) policies regarding cross-registration.

DMD students

Complete an add/drop form (to be emailed to Registrar Services) AND follow the petitioning instructions below.

AGE degree students

Review our AGE degree electives page for information on basic science courses (and other course credit types) AND follow petitioning Instructions below.

Petitioning instructions

  1. Log into my.harvard Student Portal.
  2. Select Course Search and use the search box to look for courses. 
  3. Add courses to your Crimson Cart. (If the "Add to Crimson Cart" button is disabled, either you are not eligible to cross-register into the course or the registration period is not open.)
  4. Validate courses: Using the checkboxes, select the course(s) you wish to take and validate your selections. Validation will fail for courses that require a petition.
  5. Submit petition: Select the course(s) for which you wish to submit a petition. You will only be able to submit a petition when both the home school registration period and the host school cross-registration period are open. After you click "Submit Petition," your petition will move into a pending status. You can see any pending petitions within your Crimson Cart.
  6. Monitor your petition: Your petition may require approval from multiple offices at both the home and host schools, including your AGE Program Director, HSDM Registrar Services, and a host school representative. All approvals must take place in my.harvard. The ability to cross-register into a course is subject to the course's cross-registration policies as well as course capacity. It may take several days or even weeks to be approved by all parties.
  7. Complete enrollment: If the permission status changes to approved, you may enroll yourself into the course. Using the checkbox, select the course(s) you want to enroll in and click the "Enroll Selected" button. Please note that some schools use waitlist. Enrollment is not final until the course appears under your Enrollments.

Cross-registration into HSPH and MIT

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH)

  • Approved petitions often result in waitlist placement after clicking “Enroll Selected” button.
  • HSPH will add students from the waitlist at the end of their add/drop period if space allows.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

  • After approval by your Program Director and Registrar Services, the MIT instructor must approve the petition in my.harvard.
  • As with all cross-registration petitions, you will need to enroll in my.harvard after full approval. Any courses that you do not enroll into by the HSDM deadline will not be added to your HSDM record.
  • To drop an MIT course, you must drop it on my.harvard and with MIT. Any courses that you do not drop by the deadline will remain on your record.

Additional considerations

  • Attendance: Course attendance does not equate with enrollment.  If you are taking a course towards your degree requirements, the course must appear under your Enrollments.  If you are not enrolled by the host school’s add/drop deadline, the course will not be added to your student record.
  • Course level: AGE students must enroll in graduate-level courses relevant to their program.
  • Graduation impact: Avoid registering for courses in your last semester that may not be completed or graded before graduation to prevent graduation delays.
  • Half-semester courses: Petition by the earliest deadline for Fall 2 or Spring 2 courses.
  • Time conflicts: You may not enroll into a course that conflicts with the meeting time of another course.  Required HSDM courses should take priority over any cross-registration courses.