Who this is for / when to use it
If a course shows rejected in a minor course plan and it is not clear why, this article explains the common reasons and what to do about them. Advising staff often see this first when a student asks why a course was rejected; the student can also use this article directly.
A course can be rejected for more than one reason. This article covers the reasons related to how a grade was entered — how to fix a course that is already rejected, and how to prevent it going forward. If a course is rejected for a reason not listed here, contact JCB IT.
Students enter their own courses and grades in their course plan under each minor on the student dashboard, and each grade is checked against the minor's requirements. Advising staff and administrators can also update or correct these entries on a student's behalf.
Before you start
Two common grade-entry reasons a course is marked rejected:
- An incomplete (INC) grade was entered. An incomplete is treated as a non-passing grade, so the course is rejected right away as soon as that grade is entered. That happens even if the course is in progress this term or has not started yet.
- A grade was entered before it was official. A grade typed in for a course that is still in progress is not yet an official grade. That includes a planned course for the current term or a future term. While the course is current it stays pending. Once the term ends and the course becomes a past course, the system checks the entry against the official grade in PeopleSoft. If it cannot be verified against an official grade, the course is rejected.
Identify which of the two applies before making a change.
Steps
- If an incomplete (INC) grade was entered: correct the entry in the course plan by removing the grade and leaving the Grade field blank. The course then moves to pending.
- If a grade was entered before it was official: the grade needs to be reset so the system can re-check the course once the official grade is available.
- Advising staff can reset the grade in the course plan.
- If they are unable to, or prefer that IT handle it, contact JCB IT at itrequests@business.cornell.edu.
- A reset is done only when it is confirmed to be needed.
- Going forward, leave the Grade field blank for any planned course — one that is in progress this term or has not started yet.
- The entry is accepted and the course stays in a pending status instead of being rejected.
- It is checked against the official Cornell record automatically once an official grade is available.
- Enter a grade only after it is official.
- Wait for the automatic check. A course with no grade yet, or one entered with a passing grade, is placed in a pending status.
- Once an official grade is available, the course is verified against it automatically.
- There is no need to resubmit or contact anyone.
- The system does not display a separate confirmation when it runs.
Common problems / if that didn't work
- A course was rejected as soon as it was entered — most often because an INC (incomplete) grade was entered. An incomplete is treated as a non-passing grade. Leave the grade blank for any course that is in progress or has not started yet.
- A course was rejected after the semester ended, when it looked fine before — a grade was entered before it was official, and it could not be verified once the term ended. Leaving the grade blank until the grade is official avoids this.
- You are not sure what to enter for a course being taken now or next semester — leave the grade blank. The course stays pending until an official grade is available, rather than being rejected.
- You are worried a blank grade means the course will not count — it does not. A blank-grade course is held as pending and is checked against the official grade once it is posted.
- You think this applies only to the Real Estate minor — it does not. Grades are checked the same way for any minor tracked in a course plan, so these rejections can occur regardless of which minor the course is under.
- The student cannot make the correction themselves — advising staff and administrators can update, correct, or reset these entries on a student's behalf.
- Re-entering the grade did not help — do not repeatedly re-enter a guessed or expected grade; that does not resolve the rejection. Use the steps above.
Still stuck?
Contact JCB IT at itrequests@business.cornell.edu. Include the student name and NetID, the minor the course is listed under, and the details of the course in error: the course code, the course description, and the grade that was entered.
Still need help? Contact the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Helpdesk at itrequests@business.cornell.edu.
[edited via Jane by wwl54 on 2026-10-08 15:39 UTC]