undergraduate faq

Please see our website on AP Calculus Credit.

We update our policies each quarter on the Math/PIC Enrollment Updates page.

For lower division courses, it is based on a first come, first serve basis.  Keep a close eye on the waitlist since that is the best way to get into the class.  You should attend lecture and let the instructor and TA know of your situation in hopes that they will keep and grade your work while you are waiting for a spot to open; however, ALWAYS have a backup plan.  The waitlist you are on is a true waitlist.  This means that the only way to move up the waitlist and into the class is by other people dropping out of the course. Our enrollment capacity is 35 students per discussion sections.  We do not give out PTE numbers and we cannot predict how many people will be dropping.

At the end of Week 2, the registrar will wipe out the waitlist and it will cease to exist.  We will continue to leave the class capacity to 35 in each discussion.  When the waitlist existed, students who are on it will automatically be enrolled when someone in their discussion section drops.  At Week 3, it is up to the instructor if he or she wants to go beyond class.  If instructors do not have the enrollment policy stated on their syllabus or webpage, I suggest you go and talk to him or her directly to see what their specific policy is.  (Instructor information will be made public once it becomes official.)

It is always a good idea to have a back-up plan, as enrollment in any course is not guaranteed and you may have to take the course the next time it is offered.

Upper division math courses are restricted to math majors and minors only during the first pass. Students in a math pre-major are not able to enroll in upper division math courses during first pass. Enrollment is open to all students during second pass, with a few exceptions in certain specialized courses.

For upper division math courses only, you can place your name on the unofficial waitlist, which opens on the first day of class. Signing up for the unofficial waitlist does not guarantee that you will be enrolled in the class. The Math Department reviews all unofficial waitlist requests. Students will be given the opportunity to enroll when the class enrollment falls below its maximum based on priority.

(https://www.math.ucla.edu/ugrad/unofficial-waitlist)

It is always a good idea to have a back-up plan, as enrollment in any course is not guaranteed and you may have to take the course the next time it is offered.

Unlike most high schools, the Mathematics Department does not require that you purchase a specific calculator. Most of our calculus courses make use of a scientific calculator. If you currently have a graphing calculator, you may use this; if you do not own a graphing calculator, you do not have to purchase one.

For non-impacted (i.e. math) courses only:

By Friday of Second Week:

  • Logon to MyUCLA.
  • No fee, no transcript notation.

By Friday of Fourth Week:

  • Logon to MyUCLA.
  • $5 fee, no transcript notation.

By Friday of Tenth Week:

  • Have your professor sign the form from L&S Counseling in A-316 Murphy Hall.
  • $50 fee, transcript notation.

Warning: If you are on financial aid and plan to drop a course, it is important that you first go to the Financial Aid Office to find out the consequences of having fewer than twelve units. Impacted courses have different criteria for dropping. Please check with the college regarding this criteria.

No. All courses that are required for the major, minor, or Specialization in Computing must be taken for a letter grade.

It is recommended that you do a degree/graduation check the quarter before you graduate by meeting with your College and major advisors.

Visit my.ucla.edu.

UCLA policy states that students may repeat up to 16 units of GRADED coursework in which they receive a grade of “C-” or below (https://cac.ucla.edu/academic-policies/grading-repeats/).  However, there are RESTRICTIONS to this policy:  

  • You may repeat the same course only once.
  • You may receive units for a repeated course only once.
  • You will not receive credit for a course repeated after you have completed a more advanced course in a true sequence with a passing grade (i.e., Math, Chemistry, or foreign languages).

Mathematics courses are heavily sequenced at UCLA where students cannot go backwards to change or earn a grade once they moved forward.  For example, Math 31A is a prerequisite for Math 32A.  If a student receives any kind of a grade in Math 32A, he/she will not be able to take Math 31A, therefore possibly eliminating any chances of majoring in any discipline that requires the calculus sequence.  

Course Equivalency Petitions

Please check Assist.org* or Transferology.com** to see if the course at the other institution is listed as transferable to UCLA. Assist and Transferology have an 80-95% accuracy rate. This means there is a high chance your class will transfer in as intended. If your prospective course is listed as transferable and you want more certainty that the courses are similar in content, you can submit a Course Equivalency Petition (See the Course Equivalency section for directions and required forms).

*Assist: This site is the official course transfer and articulation system for California’s public community college and university systems. Assist.org lists transferable California community college courses which may help you determine the types of courses that are UC transferable and satisfy requirements. 

**Transferology: This site may help you determine if prior coursework is transferable from one UC campus to another or from a non-California institution to a UC. Note that courses listed on Transferology are not guaranteed to receive transfer credit from UCLA. 

We only evaluate math and program and computing (PIC) petitions. If you need your course or AP Exam score evaluated for other subjects (eg. statistics, economics, physics, chemistry, etc.), you will need to contact the respective departments. If these non-math/PIC courses are being applied to your math major, please make sure the departments that approve your petition leave a note in your Record of Interview (ROI) for math advisors to see.

If you are petitioning:
  • CS 31, 32, and 33 or 35L for PIC 10A, 10B and 10C
    • We will accept CS 31, 32, and 33 or 35L in lieu of PIC 10A, 10B, and 10C, respectively. You don’t need to submit a petition. If you need PIC 10ABC for your math major or specialization, these course substitutions will be applied to your DARS by Friday of Week 7 of your LAST quarter at UCLA. Please run a new DARS audit on Monday of Week 8 and visit us virtually or in person if these course substitutions have not been applied.

Math/PIC CEP: If your petition is approved, a math advisor will add a note to your Record of Interview (ROI).

Other Subjects: If your non-math/PIC course (e.g., physics, chemistry, economics) was reviewed and approved by another department, please make sure they write a note in your ROI for your major advisor to see.


Please keep in mind that having a CEP approved is only a preliminary approval. The course can only officially count as a in lieu of a UCLA course once you send your transcript to UCLA Admissions and it is processed with unit credits.

Transcripts should be sent to:
UCLA Undergraduate Admission
1147 Murphy Hall
Box 951436 
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1436

For more information, see Transferring Credits to UCLA.

 

For students who are in the Math Department: Course substitutions will be applied to your DARS by Friday of Week 7 of your LAST quarter at UCLA. Please run a new DARS audit on Monday of Week 8 and visit us virtually or in person if these course substitutions have not been applied.

For students who are non-math majors: Changes to your DARS is up to your departmental advisor. Please ask them when they will apply your course substitutions.

Only courses taken at other UC campuses factor in to you UCLA GPA. However, academic advisors may still take the letter grades you received into consideration when reviewing your petitions.

Credit Limitations and sequenced Courses

It is a limitation on new credits awarded based on previous credits a student has received. 

Example: Students who complete Math 31A cannot receive credit for Math 3A or 31AL at a later time and vice versa.

Source: UCLA General Catalog

  • Credit is given for at most one course in each of the following groups:
    1. 3A, 31A, 31AL
    2. 3B, 31B, 31E
    3. 110A, 117
    4. 170A, 170E
  • Courses from only one of the following statistics sequences may be applied toward any mathematics major:
    1. Statistics 100A (or Mathematics 170A or 170E),
    2. 100B (or Mathematics 170S), 100C or Former Statistics 110A, 110B
  • Mathematics 132 is not open for credit to students with credit for Physics 132.
  • Mathematics 151A is not open for credit to students with credit for Electrical and Computer Engineering 133A.
  • Mathematics 170A, 170E, and Statistics 100A are not open for credit to students with credit for Electrical and Computer Engineering 131A.
  • Mathematics 170S is not open for credit to students with credit for Statistics 100B.
  • Mathematics 174E is not open for credit to students with credit for Economics 141.
  • For lower-division mathematics courses, students may not take or repeat a course for credit if it is a requisite for a more advanced lower-division course for which they already have credit. This applies in particular to the repetition of courses (e.g., if students wish to repeat Mathematics 31B, they must do so before completing course 32B; if students wish to repeat Mathematics 3B or 31B or 32A, they must do so before completing course 33A).
  • For upper-division mathematics courses, students may not take or repeat a lower sequence course for credit if it is part of a sequence for which they already have credit. This applies in particular to the repetition of courses (e.g., if students wish to repeat Mathematics 131A, they must do so before completing course 131B or 131BH).
  • Students may not receive credit for both a course and the honors version of that course (e.g., they may not receive credit for both Mathematics 131A and 131AH).

DEGREE AUDIT REPORT SYSTEM (DARS)

If you are declared into a math program (major, minor, or specialization) and DARS is not recognizing some of your completed coursework for the program, please check below to see if these scenarios apply to you.

 **ALL courses toward a math program be taken for letter grades.**

I took…
  1. CS 31, 32, and 33 in lieu of PIC 10A, 10B, and 10C, respectively
  2. Math 170E and 170S in lieu of Math 170A and 170B, respectively
  3. PIC 16B for the specialization in computing
  4. An IB Math exam. I have written approval (via email or Message Center) that I will be waived from Math 31A and/or Math 31B.
  5. An equivalent course to one of the Math/PIC courses. My Course Equivalency Petition was approved (in writing, via email, or Message Center) for that course.
  6. A graduate course in lieu of an upper division math course for the major. My Course Equivalency Petition was approved (in writing, through email or via Message Center) for that course.
  7. AP Physics “C” Mechanics, AP Stats, and/or AP Chemistry exam(s) and received a 4 or 5. I contacted the respective departments to get credit for Physics 1A, Stats 10, and/or Chem 20A.
  8. An equivalent course to one of the non-Math/PIC courses. My Course Equivalency Petition was approved (in writing, via email, or Message Center) for that course by the department that oversees that course.
  • For Cases 1-6: Math advisors are aware of these course substitutions and account for them when we review your petition to declare a math program or audit your coursework in your last quarter for graduation.
  • For Case 7 or 8: Please make sure the advisor of that department makes a note on your Record of Interview (ROI) about these approvals so that math advisors can account for them we review your petition to declare a math program or audit your coursework in your last quarter for graduation.

If any of the above applies to you, we will update your DARS by Friday of Week 7 of your LAST quarter at UCLA. Please run a new audit in Week 8 and visit us if there are still any discrepancies.

 

I took upper division courses for my non-math minor, but DARS is using these courses for my upper division math major. I need 20.0 exclusive units to the stats minor.

We will update your DARS by Friday of Week 7 of your LAST quarter at UCLA by excluding the courses that should be exclusive to your minor. E.g. If you are a stats minor, we will exclude 20.0 units of stats courses from your upper division math coursework.

Please run a new audit in Week 8 and visit us if there are still any discrepancies.

I can have 20.0 units of overlapping courses, but DARS is overlapping too many math courses between my majors.

We will update your DARS by Friday of Week 7 of your LAST quarter at UCLA by excluding some of your upper division courses from your math major. 

Please run a new audit in Week 8 and visit us if there are still any discrepancies.

1. Model Your DARS
  1. Go to DARS.
  2. Click Run Audit.
  3. Click “Select a Different Program.” 
  4. Select “College of Letters and Science – LS” and the term in which you plan to declare.
  5. Select your prospective program. This is called “modeling your DARS.” You can model three different majors and two minors to compare different major requirements all at once.
  6. Click Run Different Program. This will show you your pre-major and major course requirements. You can click on the courses to see its description and prerequisites.
2. Check the Tentative Schedule
  • Use our Tentative Schedule to see when we plan to offer each course. We try to keep our offerings as consistent as possible each year. Use the current school year’s tentative schedule as a soft guide to plan every quarter, but please remember that things may change based on our resources.
3. Fill Out the Degree Plan Contract
  • Fill in the Degree Plan Contract (DPC), using the list of courses from DARS and the tentative schedule. Remember that some courses have prerequisites and are offered in specific quarters.
    • List specific course numbers if the course is EXPLICITLY listed for your major.
      • E.g., Math 115A and 131A are specifically listed for every major. Math students should explicitly list Math 115A and 131A in their plan.
      • If you are listing a specific class, make sure you know what the prerequisites are. You can find prerequisites by clicking on the class name. A course catalog will pop up in a new window with details on the prerequisites and course description.
    • Upper division electives just need to be listed as “[Subject] UD.”
      • E.g., The math of computation major requires “6 upper division math electives” and “3 upper division computer science electives.” Math of Comp students should just list “Math UD” 6 times and “CS UD” 3 times in their plan.
4. Have an Advisor Review Your Plan

Program Change Petitions

All Math Pre-Majors, Majors, Minors, & Specialization
  • Students must be in good academic standing at the time of their declaration and must have completed at least one full academic quarter (fall, winter, or spring with a minimum of 12.0 units) at UCLA before declaring into a program (pre-major, major, minor, & specialization).
  • ALL courses toward the program be taken for letter grades.
  • Single majors must declare by 160.0 units. This is a soft deadline. If you are progressing in your major and can graduate within your Time to Degree (TTD), then you should be able to declare the major. However, all students who are over 150.0 units in the “Minimum 180 UC Units for a UCLA Degree” section on DARS will have to have final approval of the College in order to declare. 
  • Change of program may be denied if student is under academic probation or in their last quarter at UCLA.
All Math Majors (Except the Three Specified Below)
  • Mathematics preparation (pre-major) courses for mathematics majors must be passed with a “C” or better and an overall pre-major GPA of 2.5. Non-math pre-major courses can be finished after declaring.
Data Theory
  • All pre-major courses must be passed with a “C” or better and an minimum pre-major GPA of 3.3. Math 115A is included as a pre-major course and must be passed with a “C” or better.
  • Students who are admitted as transfers must complete ALL pre-major coursework by the end of their 3rd academic quarter (spring quarter) at UCLA.
  • Students who are admitted as freshmen must complete ALL pre-major coursework by the end of their 7th academic quarter (fall quarter of third year) at UCLA.
Financial Actuarial Mathematics
  • Each pre-major course must be passed with a “C” or better. Pre-major GPAs for mathematics and economics courses are calculated separately, and both pre-major GPAs must meet a minimum 2.5.
Mathematics/Economics
  • Each pre-major course must be passed with a “C” or better. Pre-major GPAs for mathematics and economics courses are calculated separately, and both pre-major GPAs must meet a minimum 2.7.
Double Majors (Source)
  • Complete all pre-major coursework for both majors.
  • Complete at least two upper division courses for each major that is NOT SHARED with any other major or minor.
Minors
  • Complete a minimum of 12.0 units of math courses at UCLA* with a “C” or better and a minimum 2.0 GPA in the minor. Of the 12.0 math units, at least one course must be an upper division course.
    *Non-math courses (eg: Stats 100AB) do not count toward the minor.
    *Math courses from other institutions can be used toward a math minor, but student must still complete a minimum of 12.0 math courses AT UCLA before declaring.
Specialization in Computing
  • Complete PIC 10A and 10B or CS 31 and 32 with a “C-” or better in each course and minimum 2.0 GPA in the specialization.

Submit your petition once you all pre-major grades have been posted on DARS. Your petition will stay in the queue and will be processed 2-3 weeks.

In addition to meeting minimum pre-major course requirements, all students must have completed at least one academic quarter (fall, winter, or spring) at UCLA with at least 12.0 units and be in good academic standing. If it is currently your first academic quarter at UCLA, submit your petition once your fall quarter grades have been posted on DARS.

Students who are in progress for their first academic quarter at UCLA OR in progress for their last pre-major requirements will be denied the petition. 

If you are over 150.0 units of UCLA, transferred, and AP coursework in the “MINIMUM 180 UNITS FOR A UCLA DEGREE” section of DARS, your math advisor will submit a 150.0+ Petition on your behalf to the College of Letters & Sciences. This is for the College to check your non-major related requirements to make sure you are on track to graduate.

The 150.0+ Petition with the College can take an additional 15 business days on top of the Math Department’s processing time.

It typically takes 2-3 weeks for the Math Department to process your petition.

If you are submitting your petition during finals week because you are currently taking your last pre-major courses, your petition will be processed 2-3 weeks AFTER your final grades for the quarter have been posted because we need to see your grade. 

If you have 150.0 or more earned and in progress units in the “MINIMUM 180 UC UNITS FOR A UCLA DEGREE” section of your DARS, your petition will have go through a final approval from your College advising unit. This process is required in order for your college to make sure you will graduate on time. This process takes up to 15 business days, and there’s nothing you need to do on your end. Once the College finishes processing your petition and makes a decision, you will be able to find the status on MyUCLA under the Petitions tab. We will also notify you via email regarding your petition status.

About CURRENT and COMING SOON PDF’s in MAJORS, MINORS & SPECIALIZATIONS:

Course requirements in the COMING SOON catalogs have yet to be implemented, and our department has not finalized an implementation date. Once the date is finalized in the future, it will be posted on the Majors, Minors & Specializations page as well as in our new department handbooks (See bottom of the Majors, Minors, and Specializations page).

If you are already officially declared into a math major (not pre-major), you are locked into the old requirements that you declared into. 

If you are pre-major at the time the department implements new catalog requirements, you will have one academic year to declare into a major under the “old” requirements before we enforce the new requirements.

1. Model Your DARS
  1. Go to DARS.
  2. Click Run Audit.
  3. Click “Select a Different Program.” 
  4. Select “College of Letters and Science – LS” and the term in which you plan to declare.
  5. Select your prospective program. This is called “modeling your DARS.” You can model three different majors and two minors to compare different major requirements all at once.
  6. Click Run Different Program. This will show you your pre-major and major course requirements. You can click on the courses to see its description and prerequisites.
2. Check the Tentative Schedule
  • Use our Tentative Schedule to see when we plan to offer each course. We try to keep our offerings as consistent as possible each year. Use the current school year’s tentative schedule as a soft guide to plan every quarter, but please remember that things may change based on our resources.
3. Fill Out the Degree Plan Contract
  • Fill in the Degree Plan Contract (DPC), using the list of courses from DARS and the tentative schedule. Remember that some courses have prerequisites and are offered in specific quarters.
    • List specific course numbers if the course is EXPLICITLY listed for your major.
      • E.g., Math 115A and 131A are specifically listed for every major. Math students should explicitly list Math 115A and 131A in their plan.
      • If you are listing a specific class, make sure you know what the prerequisites are. You can find prerequisites by clicking on the class name. A course catalog will pop up in a new window with details on the prerequisites and course description.
    • Upper division electives just need to be listed as “[Subject] UD.”
      • E.g., The math of computation major requires “6 upper division math electives” and “3 upper division computer science electives.” Math of Comp students should just list “Math UD” 6 times and “CS UD” 3 times in their plan.
4. Have an Advisor Review Your Plan

Math Course SEQUENCES and Credit Limitations

This is a limitation applied to a student’s ability to get credit for a certain course after having received credit for another.

Credit is given for at most one course in each of the following groups:
(1) 3A, 31A, 31AL
(2) 3B, 31B, 31E
(3) 110A, 117
(4) 170A, 170E

 

Courses from only one of the following statistics sequences may be applied toward any
mathematics major:
(1) Statistics 100A (or Mathematics 170A or 170E), 100B (or Mathematics 170S), 100C or
(2) Former Statistics 110A, 110B.


Mathematics 132 is not open for credit to students with credit for Physics 132.

 

Mathematics 151A is not open for credit to students with credit for Electrical and Computer Engineering 133A.

 

Mathematics 170A, 170E, and Statistics 100A are not open for credit to students with credit for Electrical and Computer Engineering 131A.

 

Mathematics 170S is not open for credit to students with credit for Statistics 100B.

 

Mathematics 174E is not open for credit to students with credit for Economics 141.

 

For lower-division mathematics courses, students may not take or repeat a course for credit if it is a requisite for a more advanced lower-division course for which they already have credit. This applies in particular to the repetition of courses (e.g., if students wish to repeat Mathematics 31B, they must do so before completing course 32B; if students wish to repeat Mathematics 3B or 31B or 32A, they must do so before completing course 33A).

 

For upper-division mathematics courses, students may not take or repeat a lower sequence course for credit if it is part of a sequence for which they already have credit. This applies in particular to the repetition of courses (e.g., if students wish to repeat Mathematics 131A, they must do so before completing course 131B or 131BH).


Students may not receive credit for both a course and the honors version of that course (e.g., they may not receive credit for both Mathematics 131A and 131AH).

These are courses that are required to be taken in a specific order to receive proper credit. 

Lower division mathematics and PIC courses are sequenced with their prerequisites. Math and PIC courses that end in “A,” “B,” or “C” are typically sequenced in alphabetical order. 

Example: Math 61 has prerequisites of Math 31A and 31B. This is a group of sequenced courses. Students MUST take Math 31A and 31B (as well as repeat these courses, if needed) before moving forward with Math 61, otherwise, proper credit will not be granted toward Math 31A and/or 31B.

It is safer for you to continuously monitor enrollment of discussion sections before the first day of instruction. If a spot opens and there are no major restrictions, you should be able to directly enroll. 

Students who submit an MCR are not guaranteed a spot. Math advisors only manually enroll students into a course if enrollment numbers fall below capacity between Weeks 1 – 3. Students are considered based on priorities such as major, degree progress, and degree expected term. Due to the high volume of course requests, you may not find out your enrollment status for a course until the end of Week 3. 

It is open to every all UCLA and EAP students. However, as stated in previous answers, students are considered based on different priorities.

Students will have the ability to self-enroll up until the day before the first day of instruction.

The MCR form opens some time during Week 0 or 1 of each academic quarter.  Students will have to refresh the page once a day, starting the first day of instruction. There is no specific day or time since this is a manual process.

 

Once you submit your MCR, you should attend lecture and let the instructor and TA know of your situation in hopes that they will keep and grade your work while you are waiting for a spot to open. However, it is highly recommended that you have a backup plan if your course requests are not granted.