GW Nursing's calendar, withdrawals and Incompletes
GW Nursing keeps its own calendar: shorter 10-class sessions run beside 13-, 14- and 15-class sessions, there is no fall break, and Summer 2027 dates were not yet posted in the latest captured version. When a clinical site collapses mid-term, the options range from a quick replacement preceptor to an Incomplete, a withdrawal or a leave, and each carries its own deadline.
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Tell us your GW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your GW course.
The 2026-27 dates
GW Nursing's academic calendar lists two session lengths in each term. The page does not say which programs use the 10-class sessions and which use the longer ones, so read your own course dates in the Schedule of Classes. Two fall and spring rows have no withdrawal date listed at all.
| Session | Starts | Last day to drop without a W | Last day to withdraw | Ends | Conferral |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 2026, 10-class | May 18 | June 14 | July 5 | July 26 | August 31 |
| Summer 2026, 13-class | May 18 | June 14 | July 26 | August 16 | August 31 |
| Fall 2026, 10-class | August 24 | September 20 | Not listed | November 1 | January 8 |
| Fall 2026, 15-class | August 24 | September 20 | November 22 | December 13 | January 8 |
| Spring 2027, 10-class | January 11 | February 7 | Not listed | March 21 | May 16 |
| Spring 2027, 14-class | January 11 | February 7 | April 11 | May 2 | May 16 |
The calendar states that GW Nursing does not observe fall break. Thanksgiving break runs November 23 to 28, 2026 and spring break March 8 to 14, 2027, though several breaks and holidays are marked specifically for in-person ABSN or prelicensure classes. Summer 2027 was missing from the June 2026 capture, while GW's website puts summer placement requests due February 1, so plan a summer rotation from your plan of study. The request deadlines page compares GW's dates.
Why session length matters for clinical hours
A 10-class session fits a course into fewer weeks. Because GW's 2026 CORE workshop keeps all clinical hours within semester dates, the same total squeezed into a 10-class session means a heavier weekly schedule than it would across 15. Confirm your course's session before you agree a schedule with a preceptor, and leave room for a canceled shift.
The session's last day is the hard stop. Degree conferral comes weeks later, but hours logged after the course ends do not fit GW's inside-the-dates rule. The Fall 2026 10-class session ends on November 1, six weeks before the 15-class session, so a preceptor who expects you through early December may be planning around the wrong calendar. Give your preceptor the exact end date on day one.
Dropping and withdrawing
GW Nursing's own rule is in the Bulletin. After the fourth week of classes, a dropped course counts as a withdrawal and a W appears on your transcript, and you can withdraw until three weeks before the course's last day; the calendar's withdrawal dates follow that pattern. Once the add and drop deadlines pass, withdrawing also needs permission from your program director and the associate dean for your program. How a W interacts with GW's two-attempt rule is covered on the grades and course failure page.
Accelerated BSN students face a tighter rule because ABSN tuition is billed over four consecutive semesters: no adding, dropping or withdrawing without the program director's permission, and a student who falls out of progression pays additional per-credit tuition. The university's default deadlines, including a tenth-week withdrawal deadline for graduate fall and spring courses, are written for the standard schedule. For courses on a nontraditional schedule, GW says deadlines come from the school's advising office, so check the nursing calendar and your advisor.
Incompletes, and a conflict over what happens next
An Incomplete is the instructor's decision. GW's university regulations allow an I when you give a satisfactory explanation for reasons beyond your control, and only if your earlier performance and attendance in the course were satisfactory. The remaining work must be finished within a window of no more than one calendar year from the last day of the term.
GW's documents disagree about what happens if the work is never finished. The university regulations say the I converts to the Incomplete final grade the instructor entered in GWeb, or to an F if no such grade is on record after a year. The 2023-24 undergraduate nursing handbook says the I converts automatically to an F. Ask your course faculty which grade they have on file.
That handbook adds two School of Nursing rules for undergraduates: while finishing an Incomplete you must stay in active status, registering for continuous enrollment if you take no other courses, and a prerequisite still carrying an I stops you from moving on to the next required course. It also names an Incomplete as one outcome when missed clinical time cannot be made up.
GW's CORE workshop still requires clinical hours inside semester dates, so if you take an Incomplete, agree in writing with your course faculty and program director when and where the remaining hours will count.
Leave of absence and continuous enrollment
The Bulletin expects every nursing student to stay continuously enrolled each fall, spring and summer until the degree is conferred. Continuous-enrollment status covers terms spent finishing Incomplete or In Progress work and is generally limited to one year. If you break enrollment without an approved leave, you must apply for readmission, with deadlines of June 1 for fall, December 1 for spring and April 1 for summer.
A leave of absence is a petition to the vice dean, routed through the associate dean, for up to one calendar year. It takes the Request for Policy Exception form plus the Leave of Absence/Continuous Enrollment Registration form, submitted before the first day of the term, and you register for leave status each semester. Leave time does not count toward your program time limit. One catch: if a required course is not available when you return, GW places you on administrative leave for that semester, which can add a term to a clinical sequence. The delayed graduation page covers planning around a later finish.
When a site falls through mid-term
- Tell GW the same dayWrite to sonclinical@gwu.edu, the Clinical Placement Team's inbox, and copy your Clinical Experience Faculty. GW's 2021 clinical placement guide asks students who drop a site to notify both the team and the site directly.
- Count what is leftCompare the hours logged in CORE with the course total and the weeks remaining before your session's last day.
- Line up a replacementThe 2021 guide has the Clinical Placement Team verify any new or added preceptor first, so a replacement means a fresh Site Prospector submission with license and bio or CV.
- Decide on a fallback by mid-semesterThe same guide sends students with no site at the semester's midpoint to their Clinical Experience Faculty and program director to judge whether the objectives are still reachable. That is when to weigh an Incomplete, a withdrawal or a leave against the dates above.
- Protect the next termIf this course moves, later rotations move with it, so revisit any requests you have filed for upcoming terms.
Our guides to a preceptor who dropped out and to falling behind on clinical hours go deeper on the recovery.
Why GW students choose us
In a mid-term collapse, the calendar decides almost everything. A replacement preceptor confirmed in week 5 of a 15-class session leaves real room to finish; one confirmed in week 8 of a 10-class session leaves very little. Your placement advisor opens a replacement search the moment you get in touch, matched to your course and your area, and delivers the preceptor's credentials and the site's signer details ready for a new Site Prospector entry.
GW's program director gives the final approval and the Clinical Placement Team clears you; our job is handing them a package with nothing missing. If your term is already running, read need a preceptor fast or use the form below.
Questions GW students ask
When will GW publish the Summer 2027 nursing calendar?
GW had not posted Summer 2027 dates on its nursing academic calendar as of the June 2026 capture reviewed for this guide. Watch the calendar page and the Schedule of Classes. A summer placement request is due long before then, with GW's website listing February 1, so build the request from your plan of study instead of waiting.
Can I get an Incomplete because my preceptor quit?
Possibly. An Incomplete is at the instructor's option when reasons beyond your control stop you from finishing and your performance and attendance were satisfactory up to that point. Explain the circumstances in writing to your course faculty and Clinical Experience Faculty early, and keep searching for a replacement at the same time so an Incomplete stays a fallback.
Do I have to register for anything while finishing an Incomplete?
Undergraduates do: the 2023-24 handbook requires active status during the completion period, with continuous enrollment registration if you take no other courses. The Bulletin's continuous enrollment rule for all nursing students also covers terms spent on Incomplete work and is generally limited to one year. Graduate students should confirm the exact registration with their advisor.
What happens if I stop enrolling without an approved leave?
The Bulletin treats that as a break in enrollment, and you must apply for readmission to return. Applications are due June 1 for fall, December 1 for spring and April 1 for summer. An approved leave, requested before the term begins, avoids that step and keeps the time away out of your program time limit.
Does GW Nursing have a fall break?
No. The nursing calendar says GW Nursing does not observe fall break, so fall sessions run from late August straight through to Thanksgiving, which falls November 23 to 28 in 2026. A preceptor whose own calendar includes an October pause may need to know your GW course keeps going through it.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against GW's Bulletin and GW Nursing's own program and clinical pages. Your course, CORE and GW's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
GW asks you to find your own site and preceptor. Hand that search to us.
Tell us your GW program, where you live and which clinical course is next. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, bio and site details GW's review asks for, so your Site Prospector goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice for
NURS 6230toNURS 6232, older-adult primary care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - License, bio or CV and the site's agreement signatory ready for your CORE submission
- Close to home, in DC, Maryland, Virginia or wherever you live and hold your RN license
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