Jump to each section:

• Qualifying for MCDB Sponsored Majors
• Double Major Policy
• Letter Grade Policy
• Declaring Your Major
• Appeal Process

To qualify for any of the MCDB Sponsored majors, students must complete and pass a series of 8 qualification courses. These courses must be completed and passed prior to submitting a Petition to Declare the Major. Students who enter UCSC as Frosh, must complete and pass all qualification courses by the end of their 5th quarter at UCSC (Summer terms are not counted toward the 5th quarter timeline).

All courses must be taken for a letter grade, see Letter Grade Policy.

Students with two or more non-passing grades (grades of NP, C-, D+, D, D-, or F) in the qualification courses are not qualified to declare and must submit an Appeal.

Qualification Planner – Use this tool to keep track of your qualification course progress 

Qualification Courses

Biology BS; MCD Biology BS; & Neuroscience BS Qualification Courses & Policy

The Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology has a qualification policy that applies to the Biology B.S.; Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology B.S.; and Neuroscience B.S. majors. To qualify for any of these majors, students must pass (with a letter grade of C or better) the following courses or their equivalents:

• MATH 11A: Calculus with Applications or MATH 16A: Mathematics for Life and Environmental Sciences or MATH 19A: Calculus for Science, Engineering, and Mathematics
• CHEM 3A: General Chemistry
• CHEM 3B: General Chemistry and CHEM 3BL: General Chemistry Lab
• CHEM 3C: General Chemistry and CHEM 3CL: General Chemistry Lab 
• CHEM 8A: Organic Chemistry
  • CHEM 8L: Organic Chemistry Lab – though CHEM 8L is not a qualification course, it is generally completed in the same quarter with CHEM 8A
• BIOL 20A: Cell and Molecular Biology
• BIOE 20B: Developmental and Physiology
• BIOL 20L: Experimental Biology Laboratory 

NOTE: Students with two or more non-passing grades (grades of NP, C-, D+, D, D-, or F) in the qualification courses are not qualified to declare and must submit an Appeal.

Students interested in pursuing multiple majors within the biological sciences may NOT declare the following combination of majors:

• Biology (BA, BS, or minor) AND any other biological sciences major
• Any combination of the following: Human Biology, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, Neuroscience, or Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Should you choose to double major in two science majors, you must qualify for both majors.

Please consult with the major adviser for which you are currently proposed or declared to receive further instructions.

All courses used to satisfy any of the biological sciences major requirements must be taken for a letter grade.

Courses taken for Pass/No Pass CANNOT be used to satisfy your major requirements. Only courses with grades of C (2.0) or better can be used to fulfill major requirements. Courses in which you receive a grade of C-, D+, D, D- or F cannot be used to satisfy a major requirement or satisfy a prerequisite for another course.

Upon enrolling in your courses, the grading option will automatically be set to letter grade. For courses required for the major, do NOT change to the pass/no pass grading option. If you have mistakenly enrolled in a course for pass/no pass, you may change your grading option to a letter grade prior to the Grade Option Deadline.

For more information on grades and grading options, see the page on Grading and Enrollment options.

Students should submit a petition to declare by completing the online declaration petition as soon as they complete the major qualification courses or reach their declaration deadline quarter, whichever comes first.

Students petitioning when the campus declaration deadline is imminent (i.e., in their sixth quarter, for students admitted as frosh), will either be approved, denied, or provided with conditions (e.g., completion of some courses with certain grades) that will be resolved within at most one more enrolled quarter, even if they have not completed major qualification courses.

Students who petition to declare the major after the campus major declaration deadline must submit an Appeal.

Academic Year Declaration Deadlines

Please see the Office of the Registrar’s Academic and Administrative Calendar for Campus Major Declaration deadlines:

• Frosh students must declare a major before enrolling in their 7th quarter/third year at UCSC
• Transfer students must declare a major by the posted Declaration of Major deadline in their 2nd quarter at UCSC

Additionally, students who are declared a major outside MCD Biology, who have completed the qualification requirements, must also submit an Appeal to declare an MCD Biology sponsored major.

Once you have completed and passed your qualification courses, submit a Petition to Declare the Major.

Students who are not eligible to declare the major may submit an appeal to the Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology faculty advisor. The department will notify the student and their college of the decision within 15 days of the quarterly appeal deadline. See our appeal process for more information.

Appeal Deadlines