I already paid for the first semester of courses and then stupidly realized I don't need to take one of them. Will I still get my money back if I drop the course before schools starts?

I know the last date to drop without financial penalty is Sept. 16th, but what's the date to get your money back, if there is one....

I think they send out a cheque (basically any remaining balance in your student account) in January or something like that. Not completely sure though.
You could also just try to go to the registrar in person and work something out to get it earlier.

Originally Posted by cypher

I already paid for the first semester of courses and then stupidly realized I don't need to take one of them. Will I still get my money back if I drop the course before schools starts?

I know the last date to drop without financial penalty is Sept. 16th, but what's the date to get your money back, if there is one....

Financial penalty means you won't get a full refund on the course. So as long as you drop before Sept 16th, you'll get all of your money back. If you drop after, then it based on when you drop you get a percentage of your money back.

Originally Posted by AnguishedEnd

I think they send out a cheque (basically any remaining balance in your student account) in January or something like that. Not completely sure though.
You could also just try to go to the registrar in person and work something out to get it earlier.

To get back any extra money in your student account earlier than when McMaster sends out cheques, you should go to SAC on the second floor of Gilmour Hall. http://www.mcmaster.ca/bms/student/

Sort of an add-on to the original question: I was reading the course cancellation schedule here and it says that "Student in an overload situation will be charged for cancelled courses."

So if I'm overloading, does this mean that if even I drop a course before the Sept. 16th deadline there will be a cancellation fee?

Originally Posted by Steph.Lau

Sort of an add-on to the original question: I was reading the course cancellation schedule here and it says that "Student in an overload situation will be charged for cancelled courses."

So if I'm overloading, does this mean that if even I drop a course before the Sept. 16th deadline there will be a cancellation fee?

No, you won't be charged because you aren't cancelling the courses. You are just dropping it.

Originally Posted by Steph.Lau

Sort of an add-on to the original question: I was reading the course cancellation schedule here and it says that "Student in an overload situation will be charged for cancelled courses."

So if I'm overloading, does this mean that if even I drop a course before the Sept. 16th deadline there will be a cancellation fee?

Just to add to the previous post, cancelling a course means dropping the course after September 16th. On your transcript the course will be shown as cancelled. Also, there is a chart I believe offered by the registrar's office that shows how much money you will be refunded depending the certain date you drop the course by. For example, if you drop the course by October 1st you may only get 60% of the course payment.

Also I think if you have over 5 courses per a semester you would be considered to be in an overload situation and if you drop a course after Spetember 16th you will be charged for doing so instead receiving a certain amount of money back for your course. Please don't quote me on the last sentence because that is what I believe happens.

Thanks for your help guys!