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Force Add

What is Force Add?

Force adding is an administrative process that allows the department offering the course to place students into courses they cannot add themselves.

The Pamplin College of Business has a common platform for requesting that an ACIS, BIT, FIN, HTM, MGT, MKTG, or REAL course be administratively force added into your schedule. 

A force add request does not guarantee placement in a course.

The Pamplin department offering the course will determine whether you can be force added into a course. If you are force added into a course, you will not have the ability to change into another section of the course. 

Please Note

Pamplin advisors and professors do not force add students into courses. The only way to request a force add into a Pamplin course is via the online request platform.

Common Reasons to Request a Force Add 

Pre-requisite or Restriction Issues.  Students may not be able to add a class themselves during the add/drop period for a variety of reasons, including:

  1. Prerequisites were completed outside of VT and your student record hasn't been updated. In this situation, you must upload supporting documentation with your force add request (e.g., an unofficial transcript from the other school or a screenshot of a final grade).  
  2. The class is restricted by major, but the class is required for your major or minor
  3. The class is restricted by major, but you are a prospective (non-Pamplin) student and need the class prior to submitting a change of major application for a business major
  4. Class requires department or faculty approval
  5. Currently retaking a prerequisite 

Section is Full. Departments try to provide an adequate number of seats for all courses, but sometimes space is limited. If you need the class to stay on track for graduation, you may submit a force add request.

Please Note

The ACIS Department will not process force adds for section changes. If you drop an ACIS class, you may not be added back into it.

How quickly are Force Adds processed?

You will be notified via email when your force add has been processed. Each department will process the force adds as quickly as they can. However,  there are many factors that affect force add request results, including priority registration requirements, classroom seating capacities, and course restrictions.

All force adds will be processed by the last day to add a class of each semester.

Additional Information

Force-add information for each business department can be found below.

* Please submit requests as soon as you can to allow sufficient time for review and processing, particularly if your schedule may have conflicts.

Fall Dates

  • Opening Date: Monday, August 5, 2024 at 12:00AM
  • Closing Date: Friday, August 30, 2024 at 2:00PM