Undergraduate

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a DAR?

A Degree Audit Report is a summary of your UCLA coursework.  It details the requirements you have to fulfill for your GE’s, College requirements, and your major requirements that you have yet to complete.  You can access your DAR through MyUCLA.

What is my study list?

Your study list refers to the courses in which you are enrolled for the term.  You can view and print your study list on MyUCLA.  You are advised to check your study list during the second week of each quarter to confirm your enrollment (checking during second week will give you time to add or drop a course by the appropriate deadline:  end of 2nd week to drop an impacted course; end of 3rd week to add a course; end of 4th week to drop a non-impacted course).  Check your study list at the beginning of 3rd week if you are on the wait list for any course at the end of 2nd week (being on a wait list does NOT guarantee enrollment).

What is my college catalog term?

Your college catalog term refers to the academic quarter in which you were admitted to UCLA.  For example, if you were admitted to UCLA for Fall 2014, your college catalog term is Fall 2014.  Your College catalog term is important because you follow the degree requirements listed in the catalog in effect during that quarter.  If you change your major, there will also be a specific subsequent term and year in which you entered that major (this is called your catalog major term).  You follow the major requirement in effect for that academic term.  For example, if you change your major to MCDB in Winter 2015, you follow the major requirements in effect during Winter 2015).  So, you could have a college catalog term of Fall 2014, which applies to your GE and other college requirements, and a catalog major term of Winter 2015, which applies to your major requirements.

What does it mean if I’m in good academic standing?

You are in good academic standing if at the close of a regular term you have attained at least a 2.0 GPA average for the term and a cumulative 2.0 GPA average in all University work.

What does it mean if I’m on academic probation or subject to dismissal?

You’re placed on Academic Probation if your quarterly or overall GPA falls below 2.0.  To get off probation and avoid becoming Subject to Dismissal (STD), you must maintain your GPA at 2.0 or above for two consecutive quarters.  If you have been notified that you are on academic probation or subject to dismissal, visit your College counseling unit immediately (College Academic Counseling, Honors, AAP, or Athletics).  Visit this web page for more information about minimum scholarship requirements: www.ugeducation.ucla.edu/counseling/probation.html

When is my enrollment appointment for next quarter?

Checking the time of your enrollment appointments is one of menu items under the enrollment menu on MyUCLA

Why can’t I enroll in more than 10 units on my first pass?

Every student at UCLA has two enrollment passes.  During your first pass (or priority pass/first pass for those students with priority enrollment), you may enroll in up to 10 units.  Once second pass begins, you can enroll in up to 19 units.

NOTE: Students with priority pass:  The enrollment system will only allow enrollment of up to 50% of a discussion section, lab section or lecture (if no discussion/lab is offered).  This means that if there is an enrollment cap of 20 spaces in a discussion section for which you are trying to enroll, and there are already 10 students enrolled, you will not be able to enroll in that section.

What does a hold on my record mean?  What should I do if I have one?

A hold on your record means you cannot access certain services at UCLA.  This can affect registration, enrollment, financial aid, campus services, and/or release of academic transcripts for the following three reasons:

  • Failure to comply with admission provisions
  • Failure to settle financial obligations with the University
  • Failure to respond to official notices

Each student who becomes subject to a hold action is given advance notice and ample time to respond.  In most cases, the hold must be released by the initiating office before a student may enroll in classes or receive various campus services.  Obtain information on holds through MyUCLA.  Any holds that might have been placed on your records must be cleared up before your enrollment pass begins.  Departmental counselors cannot override a hold on your records even if you have submitted a request to enroll.

How many units do I need for full time status?

Students must be enrolled in 12 units to be considered full time.

What is ECP (Expected Cumulative Progress)?

Please visit the College Academic Counseling website: www.ugeducation.ucla.edu/counseling/exp-cum-prog.html

Undergraduates in the UCLA College are expected to make steady progress toward earning their bachelor’s degree, and ECP guidelines have been designed and approved by the faculty to provide important guideposts for academic progress. ECP processes increase counseling opportunities for students, and students are encouraged to work one-on-one with an academic counselor in their College advising units. By meeting ECP guidelines, students graduate in a timely manner and open up UCLA admissions slots for deserving freshmen and transfers.

To satisfy the ECP guidelines, you are expected to enroll in a minimum of 13 units during a regular quarter of enrollment and tomeet the unit target for each quarter of your enrollment.  These unit targets are available on the above mentioned website.

How do I enroll in more than 19 units in a quarter?

If you have a 3.0 GPA (either overall or from the previous quarter), a counselor in your advising unit (College Counseling, Honors, AAP, or Athletics) can increase your maximum number of units for you while you wait.  You can only request additional units AFTER the quarter starts.  For example, if you want to enroll in 21 units during the Winter quarter, you will have to go to your counseling unit during the first week of Winter quarter, and request the extra 2 units.  When you have been approved, you can enroll in the last remaining class.

How do I know what classes satisfy GE requirements?  How can I find out what GE classes are being offered this quarter, and whether or not they are still open?

Go to www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx and scroll down the page to the menu “Search for”, and then click on GE Classes.

When is the last day to drop an impacted course without a petition or transcript notation?

Friday of 2nd week.  No fee.

How do I drop an impacted course after the 2nd week?

Students must file a Red Drop Petition with their counseling unit.  These petitions are generally only approved for extreme extenuating and documented circumstances.

When is the last day to drop a non-impacted course without a petition or a transcript notation?

Friday of 4th week.  There is a $5.00 fee for dropping a non-impacted course during weeks 3 and 4.

When is the last day to drop a non-impacted course without a petition?

During 5 through Friday of week 7.  There is a $20.00 fee and a transcript notation indicating what week the course was dropped.

How do I drop a non-impacted course after Friday of 7th week?

Courses may be dropped by submitting a Green Restricted Late Drop petition to the student’s counseling unit with a $35.00 fee and a transcript notation indicating what week the course was dropped. Students are restricted to three drops during this period throughout their academic careers.

Will I get a “W” on my transcript if I drop a course?

There is no “W” notation at UCLA.  If you drop a course during a period that requires a transcript notation, students receive a notation that the course was dropped and the week it was dropped.

What is meant by an impacted course and how do I know if a course is impacted?

Certain courses that are always in high demand have impacted status, which means that they cannot be dropped beyond the end of the 2nd week of the quarter.  Each impacted course is clearly indicated in the class listing section of the Schedule of Classes.  Click on the “Crs Info” link and look at “Impacted Course: Yes or No”.

What is the difference between dropping a course and withdrawing?

To “drop a course” means to disenroll from a course, while continuing to be enrolled in others.  Students must meet all published drop deadlines and must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 units per term.  To “withdraw” means to dis-continue attendance in ALL courses in which you are enrolled.  Withdrawal requests are subject to review and approval by the College.

How do I withdraw from a quarter?

You may file a request to withdraw only if you have not taken any final examinations or otherwise completed the work in any of your courses.  You can withdraw from a quarter, either retroactively or from the current quarter, if for each class in that quarter it says on the grade roster that you did not take the final.  You can check this by going to the Undergraduate Office of the department that offered the course (for instance, go to Chemistry to ask about Chem 14A).

Can I drop a course after the quarter without withdrawing from the whole quarter?

Sometimes if you have not completed the course.  You will need to file a retro-active drop petition with your counseling unit (College Academic Counseling, Honors, AAP, or Athletics).

Can I go to school part-time?

This is called Fee Reduction status, and you can petition for this through College Academic Counseling.  It must be done for three regular quarters and you must be enrolled in ten or fewer units each quarter.  This can be requested on the basis of family responsibility, employment commitments, and/or health reasons.  See your counseling unit for more information.

What is an “I” or Incomplete grade?

The grade I may be assigned by the instructor when a student’s work is of passing quality but is incomplete for good cause.  Discuss this option with your instructor BEFORE the term’s end.  If the Instructor agrees to give you an Incomplete, then you will have only until the end of the next quarter to complete the work for the course.  Your Instructor must file a Report of Academic Revision to remove the Incomplete and give you a letter grade for the work you complete.  Do NOT re-enroll in the course if you receive an “I”.  Don’t try to take an “I” if you are doing badly in the course.  You are better off pursuing a late drop of the course instead, the you can take the whole course in a later quarter.

What if the course isn’t being offered in the next quarter?

It doesn’t matter.  The idea is not that you take the course over, but that you simply finish the work that you have left.  If an instructor agrees to give you an “I”, you will need to work out with him or her a way for you to finish the next quarter.

What does an “IP” grade mean on my transcript?

For certain courses that extend over more than one term, evaluation of your performance is deferred until the end of the final term of the course.  Provisional grades of In Progress (IP) are therefore assigned at the end of the first term.  The IP will always show in the grade column for the first course, but a letter grade will be given for all the units in the series at the end of the final term.  Graduate and/or medical schools do not view the appearance of an IP grade negatively, when your transcript is reviewed.  MCDB has two multi-quarter research courses (MCDB 198A-B and MCDB 199A-B).

How do I change my grading basis (Pass/No Pass or Letter Grade) and when is the deadline?

Go to the enrollment menu on MyUCLA where you will see an option to change your grading basis.  The deadline is Friday of 6th week at 5:00PM.  If you want to change grading basis after the deadline, you must obtain a “change of grading detail” petition from any Counseling unit.  Please note that these petitions are rarely approved.

Is it possible to take MCDB courses Pass/No Pass?

Very few of the MCDB upper division courses are offered at “Pass/No Pass or Letter Grading”.  If the course allows the option of either grading basis, then yes, you can change from letter grade to pass/no pass, BUT you can NOT apply P/NP courses to the MCDB major requirements.

Several of the lower division courses required for the major (chemistry, physics, math, life science) are offered as either pass/no pass or letter grade.  But again, you may not apply a course that is pass/no pass to your major prep requirements.

Do I have to repeat a course if I received a grade of C-?

In the lower division major prep courses, you must earn at least a C- in each individual course, and maintain a 2.0 overall prep GPA.  If you receive a grade below C-, you will need to repeat the course for it to count on the major.  For the upper division major, the minimum requirement is not based on individual course grades.  Rather, the grades you earn in all courses applied to the major must average at least a 2.0 GPA overall.  If you receive an F in a course required for the upper division major, you must repeat that course if you want credit for it, but if you get a C-, D+, D, or D- the course does not have to be repeated as long as you have at least a 2.0 overall GPA with the upper division major.  You may, however, choose to repeat such courses.

You cannot repeat a course in which you earned a grade of C or above and replace the grade in your GPA; only courses in which you have earned grades of C- or lower, or NP, can be repeated.  You have 16 units of repeats.  After repeating 16 units, courses repeated will be grade averaged which means that both grades will be calculated into your GPA.

How many courses can I repeat and will the first grade be removed from my transcript?

For students who repeat a total of 16 units or less, only the most recently earned letter grades and grade points will be computed in your GPA.  After repeating 16 units, your GPA will be based on all letter grades assigned and total units attempted; that is, repeating courses won’t replace the previous grades in your GPA.  The grade assigned each time you take a course will be permanently recorded on your transcript; both the new and old grades will appear on your transcript.

Why does the transfer credit on my DAR not match what my counselor told me?

The DAR shows the initial UCLA Admissions Office’s evaluation of your transfer or AP credit.  Any subsequent course credit granted to you on your major has to be manually entered on your DAR by your counselor.  This is somewhat labor intensive, so it typically will take a few weeks before your DAR is updated.

Why is the PHYSICS series I completed while studying abroad not reflected in the prep section of my DAR?

The credit for any of the study abroad physics series transfer as “title credit” which means that it is not articulated as Physics 6A, 6B, and 6C.  The MCDB counselor must manually enter this credit to the major preparation section of your DAR.  When you see the physics credit in the “Transfer Coursework” of your DAR, send an email that includes your name, and student ID number to the MCDB Undergraduate Counselor to requesting that this credit be added to your DAR.

Why am I having trouble enrolling in a course that has a pre-req that I completed at Community College?

Even if your DAR is updated with the transfer credit properly applied to the major, you may still have trouble enrolling directly through MyUCLA for certain courses for which you have transferred in the prerequisites.  This is because the enrollment system reads from the UCLA transcript, not from the DAR.  If you took the equivalent of LS2 or LS23L elsewhere, and you try to enroll in a course for which LS2 or LS23L is a prerequisite, MyUCLA can only check wither you took LS2 or 23L at UCLA.  It can’t know you’ve been given credit on your DAR.  Whenever this situation arises, contact the department of the course in which you want to enroll.  Give them your name, student ID number, the course name, and the 9-digit course ID of the section you want to enroll.  They will check your DAR to see whether you’ve taken the equivalent of the prerequisite course, and if so, they will enroll you or give you a PTE number.

Can I take a course through UCLA Extension?

Don’t plan on taking courses through Extension and regular classes at the same time.  The College can revoke the units you took at UCLA during that time.  Don’t risk it.  Before enrolling, go to your College counseling unit (College Academic Counseling, AAP, Honors, or Athletics) to request CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT.  Please keep in mind that these requests are rarely approved.  This term, “concurrent enrollment” should not be confused with the same term that Extension uses to describe enrollment of non-UCLA students in regularly offered classes through UCLA Extension.

Can I take my last class to graduate through UCLA Extension Concurrent Enrollment instead of registering as a full-time student?

You may be able to do this, but you will need to consult with a College counselor and your major counselor before attempting to enroll in any courses.  If concurrent enrollment has been approved in advance, you may take regular UCLA classes while being enrolled through UCLA Extension.  However, this is up to the instructor or department offering the course.  If you are completing your final courses for your degree and NOT registering at UCLA the subsequent quarter, you will also need to follow the rules to graduate in absentia.  Speak to your College Counseling unit about graduating in absentia.

Can I take a course at another UC in summer?

This is usually fine, but watch out for the Residency Rule, which requires you to have a certain number of your courses in your last couple of years at UCLA.  Again, check first to make sure that the course will transfer for what you need.  Both the grade and the units will transfer to UCLA.