Division of Biological Sciences

Instructions for Undergraduate Petitions 

Students who wish to petition a course or requirement must submit an undergraduate student petition and supporting documentation to 1128 Pacific Hall. Your petition will be reviewed by the appropriate faculty member(s) and you will be notified of its approval/denial within 2-4 weeks. Please note: Petitions will not be accepted without proper documentation.

Undergraduate student petition: http://registrar.ucsd.edu/StudentLink/Undergrad_Petition.pdf

Required Documentation

Departmental Exceptions: Used for  course equivalencies, EAP coursework.

Course Equivalencies:

Lower division course work:

  • Check with Biology SIS to see if a course equivalency already exists for your course work.  If so, you will not need to petition
  • Submit petition including the UCSD course number for which you think your course work is equivalent
  • Provide documentation of course work- a detailed syllabus, title of textbook, lecture notes, and exams

Upper division course work:

  • Submit petition including the UCSD course number for which you think your course work is equivalent
  • Provide documentation of course work- detailed syllabus, lecture notes, and exams

Lab Credit: Please see specific instructions for petitioning a lab here: http://biology.ucsd.edu/undergrad/labcredit.html

Upper division course work from another UCSD department:

  • Submit petition along with course description and syllabus
  • Include Biology course number that you would like the course to count as or the requirement you would like the course to fulfill (i.e. upper division elective)

NOTE:  Petitions may be done in ADVANCE if you have the required documentation.

EAP coursework:

  • Submit a petition AFTER your EAP courses and grades have posted on your transcript.  This usually takes one full academic quarter after the courses have been completed.
  • Attach a copy of the course syllabus, reading list, and exams

University Exceptions:  used for late drops, retro adds, retro drops, and change of grading options.. University exception petitions are only approved if something beyond the student’s control (i.e. serious injury or technical issues with TritonLink) prevented the student from performing the action by the deadline. Petitions which do not meet this criteria will be returned to the student unsigned.

Retro Adds:

  • Submit undergraduate petition with course information
  • Include why deadline was missed and, if applicable, any documentation to support your reason
  • Biology SIS will route your petition to the instructor, the Education Chair, and college

Late/ Retro Drops:

  • Submit undergraduate petition with course information
  • Include reason why you missed deadline and, if applicable, documentation for your reason (i.e. print out from WebReg)
  • Biology SIS will route your petition to the instructor, the Education Chair, and your college

Change of Grading Option after the deadline:

  • Changes from Letter to P/NP after the deadline are NEVER approved, however you may petition to change grading option from P/NP to Letter if the course is needed for your major or minor.
  • Grading option petitions must include documentation from your major or minor department stating that they cannot accept the course with a P/NP grade.
  • Submit your petition with course information, the reason for changing your grading option, and why you missed the deadline