The GMU withdrawal form you need depends on when you’re withdrawing and why. During the add/drop period you don’t file a form at all — you drop the course through PatriotWeb. After that, undergraduates in good standing use the electronic selective withdrawal form through the Registrar’s Office. For medical emergencies, military deployment, or any request that falls outside the standard windows, you complete the Withdrawal Request Forms Packet and get your academic dean’s signature. Using the wrong form, or the right form at the wrong time, will get your request rejected or leave you owing tuition you could have avoided.
Which Form Applies to Your Situation
Match your situation to one of these paths before you start filling anything out.
- Before the Last Day to Drop: No form. Drop through PatriotWeb. The course disappears from your transcript and you get a full or partial tuition refund depending on the date.
- Unrestricted withdrawal period (right after the drop deadline): No form. Withdraw through PatriotWeb yourself. A “W” posts to your transcript and you owe 100 percent of tuition.
- Selective withdrawal period (undergraduates only, later in the semester): Electronic selective withdrawal form through the Registrar’s Office website. No dean’s approval. Capped at three for your entire undergraduate career at Mason.1Mason Student Services Center. Selective Withdrawal
- Medical, personal emergency, military deployment, or outside the standard windows: Withdrawal Request Forms Packet (PDF). Requires supporting documentation and your dean’s signature.
- Leaving the university entirely: Leaving Mason form, not a course withdrawal form.
- After the semester has ended: Late Retroactive Withdrawal Request Form. Rarely approved.
Check the academic calendar for your specific session before you file. Full-semester, 7.5-week, first-half, middle-half, and last-half terms each have their own compressed withdrawal windows, and a form submitted outside the correct window will not be processed.2George Mason University. Fall 2026 Academic Calendar
Withdrawing Through PatriotWeb
During the unrestricted withdrawal period you handle everything yourself. Log in at patriotweb.gmu.edu, go to the registration area, and drop the courses you want to withdraw from.3George Mason University School of Business. Unrestricted and Selective No form, no signatures, no approvals. Each course gets a “W” on your transcript and you owe full tuition. The change is immediate.
This is the simplest path if you’ve passed the drop period and don’t have a medical or emergency reason to pursue a dean-approved withdrawal.
Completing the Selective Withdrawal Form
The selective withdrawal form is available on the Registrar’s Office website and is submitted electronically. It’s open only to degree-seeking and non-degree-seeking undergraduates, and only during the selective withdrawal period for your specific course session.4George Mason University. Selective Withdrawal
A few things to know before you file:
- You’re limited to three selective withdrawals across your entire undergraduate career at Mason, not three per semester.
- No dean’s approval is needed. You decide.
- You owe 100 percent of tuition for the course. There is no refund.
- Once the Registrar’s Office processes it, the withdrawal is final and cannot be reversed.
- Processing takes two to three business days.5George Mason University. Selective Withdrawal Processed
Sign the form electronically and submit it before the selective withdrawal period for your class closes. Late submissions won’t be processed.
Completing the Withdrawal Request Forms Packet (Dean’s Permission)
If your situation involves medical issues, a personal emergency, military deployment, or anything that falls outside the standard withdrawal windows, you’ll use the Withdrawal Request Forms Packet. It’s a PDF available from the Registrar’s Office website.
Before you file, Mason recommends talking to your instructor, advisor, or department chair about any academic problems that are driving the request. Then schedule a meeting at your academic dean’s office and bring your documentation.6George Mason University. Withdrawal Request Forms Packet
What the Application for Withdrawal Asks For
The Application for Withdrawal inside the packet requests:
- Last name, first name, and middle initial.
- G-Number (your Mason student ID).
- Mason email address.
- Student status: undergraduate, graduate, or non-degree.
- Your program.
- Semester and year of the withdrawal.
- Type of withdrawal: partial (list the specific courses) or complete (all courses for the semester).
- Reason: military deployment, illness, personal, or other, with space to explain.
- Your signature and your dean or director’s signature, with dates.
Supporting Documentation
Medical withdrawal requests must be backed by relevant, verifiable, dated medical documentation. The packet asks for official letters from professors, advisors, employers, or doctors that support the request. If you’re asking for a partial withdrawal — keeping some courses while dropping others — you need to explain why the condition affected the specific courses you’re leaving but not the ones you’re staying in.7George Mason University. Course Withdrawal
Make sure any provider’s letter includes contact information so the university can verify it.
Where to Submit It
Once the form is complete and signed, you can submit it to the Registrar’s Office on the second floor of Student Union Building I, Suite 2101, on the Fairfax campus.8George Mason University. Registrar You can also email scanned documents to registrar@gmu.edu. Put your G-Number in the subject line so it gets routed quickly. For status questions, call (703) 993-2441.
Leaving Mason Entirely Uses a Different Form
If you want to separate from the university — not just drop a class or two — the course withdrawal forms are not the right paperwork. Undergraduates file a Leaving Mason form through the Registrar’s Before Leaving Mason page.9George Mason University. Before Leaving Mason If you plan to come back within a permitted time frame, file a Leave of Absence form instead.
If you’re leaving mid-semester, you still have to deal with your course enrollments: drop everything through PatriotWeb before the Last Day to Drop, or go through your academic dean for a withdrawal after that date, and then submit the Leaving Mason form.
Retroactive Withdrawal Requests
Once a term has ended and grades are posted, a withdrawal request is considered retroactive and is rarely approved.10George Mason University. Non-Academic Withdrawals The Late Retroactive Withdrawal Request Form asks for a detailed written statement with a timeline of events plus verifiable supporting documentation — typically from a healthcare provider — describing how the circumstances prevented you from attending classes, completing assignments, or filing during the semester’s normal withdrawal periods.11George Mason University. Late Retroactive Withdrawal Request Form Speak with your academic dean’s office before filing.
Extra Steps for International Students
F-1 and J-1 visa holders can’t just file the standard withdrawal form. Dropping below a full course load has immigration consequences, so you need to go through the Office of International Programs and Services (OIPS) before you touch any course withdrawal paperwork.12George Mason University. Leave of Absence
In order:
- Meet with your academic advisor about eligibility to return and re-enrollment steps.
- Speak with Student Accounts to clear any outstanding financial obligations.
- Make an appointment with an OIPS advisor to discuss the impact on your SEVIS record and on CPT or OPT eligibility.
- Complete the OIPS Withdrawal Form (on the F-1 and J-1 Forms page). Only after submitting this form should you drop your classes.
- Leave the United States within 15 days after OIPS terminates your SEVIS record for Authorized Early Withdrawal.
The 15-day departure window is firm. Involve OIPS before you drop a single course.
Military Activation
If you’re withdrawing because of a call or order to active duty, select “Military Deployment” as the reason on the withdrawal form and give the Registrar’s Office a copy of your military orders. You’ll receive a credit of tuition and fees, along with pro-rated credits for dining and housing.13George Mason University. Military Activation, Separation and Reinstatement Policy
If deployment hits in the final three weeks and you’ve completed more than half of a course, you may be able to arrange an incomplete grade with the instructor instead of withdrawing. If that doesn’t work out, withdrawing gets you a 100 percent reduction of tuition for that course. Any financial aid already credited will be recovered in the amount of the tuition credit, and Title IV funds are subject to federal return-of-funds rules. Contact the Office of Military Services as well.
What Filing the Form Does to Your Transcript, Tuition, and Aid
Any withdrawal filed after the Last Day to Drop produces a “W” on your transcript. The “W” doesn’t affect your GPA, but it does count as attempted hours — and both Mason’s academic standing calculations and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements for financial aid use attempted hours.14George Mason University. What Are the Implications of Withdrawing From a Class? Enough W’s and you can fall below the completion rate your aid depends on, even with a fine GPA.
On tuition: filing a withdrawal form after the drop period does not produce a refund. You owe 100 percent of tuition for the withdrawn courses unless you qualify for a dean-approved withdrawal tied to military activation or another covered circumstance.15Student Accounts Office. George Mason University Calendars
If you receive federal financial aid, there’s one more step the university handles after your withdrawal: a Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) calculation. It determines how much aid you actually earned based on the percentage of the semester you completed. If you received more than you earned, the unearned portion goes back to the federal government — and you can end up with a balance due to Mason for funds that have already been returned.16Federal Student Aid. General Requirements for Withdrawals and the Return of Title IV Funds Factor that in before you submit the form.