Special Students and Second Degree

Special Students are undergraduates who have already earned a degree at Western or another recognized accredited university. If you earned your degree from Western and you haven’t attended another post-secondary institution since completing your degree, you may reactivate your status as a Special Student in Social Science by submitting a Degree/Module Change Request through our Help Portal and explain your reason for returning. Recent students can use their UWO credentials to log in to our Help Portal. If you have trouble logging in, reach out to us through live chat for assistance. Some reasons for admitting as a Special Student may include:

Taking courses out of interest
⇒ Upgrading before applying to graduate and professional programs
⇒ Earning a certificate to add to your Western degree
⇒ Completing a second degree

If you are a Western graduate who plans to complete a second degree, your first step is to connect with one of our counsellors. You can do this by submitting a request through our Help Portal and letting us know that you plan to complete a second degree. Students who completed their first degree at another university need to apply to Western through the Admissions Office before our counsellors can advise them.

NOTE: The majority of your second degree module must be completed at Western. If there is too much overlap between your first degree and your proposed second degree, your request may be denied.

If you plan to take courses out of interest, you do not need to meet with us. In this case, you will be a Special Student who is Undeclared, giving you access to courses after priority periods are lifted and for which you have the prerequisite(s). We do offer the opprotunity for registration as a Special Student in BMOS, History or Psychology, which may help with accessing courses in those subjects. If you will be taking courses in any of those subjects, we recommend that you make note of it on your Degree/Module Change Request.

You may find a course you want to take for which you have an equivalent course that would serve as a prerequisite. To gain access to these courses, you will need to have your course evaluated for equivalency. Once approved, special permission will be added to your record.