Life happens. Families need help at home. Medical issues pop up at the most inconvenient time. The great wild yonder calls. Students sometimes step away from their studies at Drexel University for a multitude of reasons. If you left the University without finishing your degree but now want to return, what should you do next? In most cases, you will want to follow the official readmission process! You can find detailed instructions on our website for both the undergraduate and graduate readmission processes.

We understand that sometimes the unexpected happens and you may need to take time away from your studies.

I work with our undergraduate readmission students, so the information below will talk specifically about the undergraduate process. In addition to reaching out to your academic advisor, you can also outreach to anyone on our transfer admissions team if you have questions about the undergraduate side of this process. To help you determine if you need to go through the official readmission process, let's go over a quick list of circumstances:

Students should apply through the official undergraduate readmission process if:

  • They dropped all courses and stopped attending the university more than four terms ago (e.g., your last term was fall 2018 and now you wish to return for winter 2020).
  • They officially withdrew from the University and sat out the very next term. These students must go through the readmission process no matter how many terms they have been away from the University.
  • They took a leave of absence that lasted for more than four terms.

Students do not need to apply through the official undergraduate readmission process and should contact their academic advisors if:

  • They dropped all courses and stopped attending four or less terms ago.
  • They took a leave of absence that lasted four terms or less.

Students should not go through the readmission process and will need to apply through the regular admissions process if:

  • They only ever attended as a student in the non-matriculated program and now want to apply to a degree-seeking program.
  • They only ever attended a graduate program and now want to attend an undergraduate program.
  • They only ever attended as a student in an undergraduate certificate program and now want to apply to the bachelor's program.
  • They completed their bachelor's degree and now want to attend for a second bachelor's degree.

If you're not sure where you fall in these categories, please reach out to our Undergraduate Admissions office at enroll@drexel.edu.

To begin the official readmission process for our on-campus programs, you will fill out the Drexel University Admissions Application as an Undergraduate Transfer applicant. If you are returning to an online program, you can find more information about their readmission process.

After you submit your application, you will also need to submit a readmission essay that talks about what you have been up to since you left the University. And no worries about your Drexel transcript! We will pull your Drexel transcript for you. We would then just need any official transcripts from schools you have attended outside of Drexel.

We understand that sometimes the unexpected happens and you may need to take time away from your studies. Always speak to your academic advisor first if you are a current student so you can best plan out your time away and understand if you will need to go through the readmission process. When you're ready to return, let Drexel know and we'll help you figure out how best to return to the University!