Instructions for Graduate Course Enrolment on ACORN

Dates & Deadlines

  • July 10, 2023: Deadline to add July-to-August S section summer courses; and
  • July 28, 2023: Deadline to withdraw from July-to-August S section courses.
  • August 3, 2023: Course enrolment opens in ACORN 
  • August 25, 2023: Course enrolment opens in ACORN for students outside the department 
  • September 11, 2023: Start date for fall session Geography & Planning courses 
  • September 20, 2023: Deadline to add full-year and Fall session courses 
  • November 6, 2023: Deadline to withdraw from Fall session courses 
  • December 8, 2023: Last day of classes for Fall session courses 
  • January 8, 2024: Start date for Winter session Geography & Planning courses 
  • January 22, 2024: Deadline to add Winter session courses 
  • February 20, 2024: Deadline to withdraw from full-year and Winter session courses; 
  • April 6, 2024: Last day of classes for Winter session courses 
  • May 3, 2024: Deadline to add May-to-June F section summer courses; 
  • May 13, 2024: Deadline to withdraw from May-to-June F section courses; 
  • July 8, 2024: Deadline to add July-to-August S section summer courses; and 
  • July 29, 2024: Deadline to withdraw from July-to-August S section courses. 

UTORid and JOINid

Students use their UTORid or JOINid and password to log onto ACORN.

Every applicant to the University of Toronto is assigned a JOINid. It was provided to you through an email from SGS (admissions.sgs@utoronto.ca).

When you begin your studies at U of T, your JOINid will become your UTORid, which will allow you to access a number of services such as email, library resources, and Quercus, the University’s student portal and learning management system. Many courses use the portal to provide online materials, discussion groups, quizzes, and more.

Enabling your JOINid

You must enable your JOINid and create a password if you wish to access ACORN. This can be done online.

Activating your UTORid

The UTORid is a digital credential used to access University systems and resources, including ACORN. Admitted students will need to convert their JOINid to a UTORid.

ACORN

Visit this webpage for a detailed, step-by-step guide to using ACORN for course enrolment, program enrolment, checking finances, updating address and contact information, printing or ordering transcripts, and more.

Graduate students can access ACORN to:

  • View, request, add, drop, or waitlist for courses
  • View personal timetable
  • View/Change address, telephone numbers, email, safety abroad address, and emergency contact information
  • View academic history, including final grades
  • Order transcripts
  • View your financial account information (invoices, account details, payments)
  • Defer payment of tuition (available to recipients of a funding commitment from the graduate unit and to students approved Ontario, Canada and some US government student loans)
  • Update direct deposit details
  • Print “Educational Credit” tax forms (T2202A)
  • Order convocation tickets
  • And more

Student Responsibility

While academic advisors, faculty, and staff are available to assist and advise, it is ultimately the student’s responsibility to keep personal and academic information up to date at all times and to follow all University, SGS, departmental and program regulations, requirements and deadlines. ACORN makes it easier for you to check and correct this information. If questions arise about requirements, policies and procedures, you are responsible for seeking answers to these questions from staff and advisors.

Declaration

The use of ACORN to enrol in courses means that you agree to abide by all of the academic and non-academic rules and regulations of the University, the School of Graduate Studies, and the graduate unit in which you are registered. It also means that you agree to assume the obligation to pay academic and incidental fees according to the policies and requirements of the University of Toronto. You normally will use ACORN to add or cancel courses. If, for extraordinary reasons, you are unable to use the system, contact your graduate unit as soon as possible.

Students are expected to be responsible when using the system and should not attempt to flood it with requests, or to automate the process of course enrolment. Such activity may clog the system so that other students may be denied access or experience degraded performance. Any student(s) attempting such activity may be denied access to ACORN until after the relevant registration period.

Checking course status

You are responsible for knowing the status of your course requests at all times. This information can be obtained through ACORN. The following are possible statuses:

  • REQ: Course requested, requires approval by the student’s home department. For Geography & Planning students, course requests will be reviewed by program staff on a regular basis. It is not necessary to contact us to request that your request is reviewed.
  • INT: Course requested pending instructor/host department’s approval in addition (this status appears after the student’s home department reviews and approves their request). Contact the host department or instructor for instructions.
  • APP: Request approved. Student is enrolled in course.
  • REF: Request denied. Student is not enrolled and may not make another request for this course via the web during this session.
  • CAN: Course cancelled (student withdrew from course before deadline).
  • WAIT: No room in the meeting section. Student has been placed on a waiting list based on category and will be enrolled automatically if space becomes available.
  • DWAIT: Student has cancelled place on the waiting list or been removed.

Cancelling or withdrawing from courses

You may cancel or withdraw from individual courses up to certain deadlines. Before doing this, however, you are advised to consult with your advisor or departmental office.

The deadlines to drop courses are as follows:

  • November 6, 2023: Deadline to withdraw from Fall session courses 
  • February 20, 2024: Deadline to withdraw from full-year and Winter session courses;
  • June 3, 2024: Deadline to withdraw from May-to-June F section courses; and
  • July 29, 2024: Deadline to withdraw from July-to-August S section courses.

If you miss the deadline to drop a course:

  1. Complete the Add/Drop Course(s) form and submit it to your graduate unit, along with a letter of rationale with supporting documentation (e.g. medical certificate).
  2. The graduate unit will consider the request and, if supported, will forward the request to SGS for review. 
  3. If approved by SGS, the transcript notation of WDR (Withdrawn without Academic Penalty) will be assigned by SGS to the course. The WDR notation carries no credit for the course and is not considered for averaging purposes.

Some graduate units offer modular courses which have enrolment deadlines that do not conform to the deadlines above. Modular courses with non-standard start/end dates require the graduate unit to establish suitable drop dates. Please check with the graduate unit offering modular courses for the drop dates.

Dropping courses may have implications for your progress in the program. For details, check with your departmental graduate administrator.

Please note that withdrawing from all your courses does not constitute a withdrawal from your program. To do so, you must complete a Program Withdrawal Form. Dropping courses prior to deadlines or withdrawing from a program does not guarantee a refund. Information on fee refunds and deadlines is outlined on the Student Accounts webpage.

University of Toronto Email

The department and other university offices may send important information to you by email. It is your responsibility to ensure that your email address, mailing/permanent address, and telephone numbers are up to date at all times.

Under University policy, students are required to maintain a University based email account (i.e., ending in utoronto.ca or toronto.edu), record it in ACORN, and regularly check for messages. The University will send official correspondence to your utoronto email account.

Final results

Final grades in courses can be accessed in ACORN by selecting Academic History.

Grades can be viewed after the following dates. If a grade is not available after these dates, contact your instructor or the graduate unit offering the course.

  • January 17, 2024: Fall Session grades available
  • May 15, 2024: Winter Session (and Fall/Winter courses) grades available.

Important dates and deadlines

Important dates and registration deadlines are available on the on the SGS Calendar and can be found here.