CaSB students have the option to petition to substitute a listed course for the pre-major and/or major with another course from UCLA and/or another college/university. Students also may petition to remain eligible for the major if they do not meet certain eligibility requirements. All petitions are collected and reviewed by the Chair and/or Vice Chair twice per quarter.
NOTE: Starting WINTER 2026, students will need to submit their petitions via MyUCLA forms. Please review this announcement to learn more.
Petition Deadlines
Petitions will be collected and reviewed twice per quarter and once during Summer Session. Petitions will be due on:
- Friday Week 3 of Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters
- Friday Week 8 of Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters
- Friday Week 2 of Summer Session A
Please allow 7-10 business days after each deadline for faculty review. Students who do not turn in petitions by these deadlines will have to wait for the next review period. Students can begin submitting petitions as early as 2 weeks before each deadline.
Reminders for submitting petitions:
- Be mindful of enrollment passes and plan ahead.
- Course substitution petitions should be submitted at least one quarter before taking the substitute class(e.g., in the Fall quarter for a class a student plans to take in Winter).
- If a student has already taken a course, they can still petition to have the course satisfy a CaSB major requirement.
- Be mindful of the study list and drop deadlines. For example, petitions submitted in Week 3 will not be decided on before the Week 2 study list deadline.
Types of Petitions
Course Substitution Petitions
For students who would like to petition to substitute a listed course for the CaSB pre-major and/or major with another course from UCLA and/or another college/university. Petition statements should focus on what students will gain from taking the substitute class, not just why a student cannot take the approved course. Students should also attach a copy of the syllabus from the quarter in which the course was taken, or the most up-to-date syllabus if you are planning to take the course in the future. If a syllabus is not available, please attach the course description.
Minimum Grade Petitions
For students who would like to petition to have a course in which they received a C- or below satisfy a pre-major and/or major requirement (CaSB requires a C or better). Please note, these are rarely approved if the student has the time/units available to re-take the course. Petition statements should discuss the circumstances that led to the student being unable to meet requirements, but should focus on how the student plans to be successful in the major going forward (i.e., what changes they are going to make). If a petition is approved to count a C- or below in a pre-major course towards pre-major requirements, the C- or below grade will still count towards the maximum two pre-major grades below a C- that students are allowed to have and remain eligible for the major.
Minimum GPA Petitions
For students who do not meet the minimum 2.7 pre-major GPA. This petition must be submitted by the time that students apply for the major (i.e., submitted along with the major application). However, if a student has not yet completed all of the pre-major requirements to apply to the major, but knows that they will not meet pre-major GPA requirements, this petition can be submitted prior to applying to the major. Petition statements should discuss the circumstances that led to the student being unable to meet requirements, but should focus on how the student plans to be successful in the major going forward (i.e., what changes they are going to make).
Petition Process
CaSB Petition Submission:
- Complete the appropriate petition form below and submit the petition PDF and any supporting documents as one file to the C&S BIO Undergraduate Office via MyUCLA Forms.
- The C&S BIO Undergraduate Office will send the MyUCLA Form link to all C&S BIO students via BruinLearn. Students must complete the MyUCLA form to have their petition considered for review.
- If you are submitting a course substitution petition, please also attach a copy of the syllabus from the quarter in which the course was taken, or the most up-to-date syllabus if you are planning to take the course in the future. If a syllabus is not available, please attach the course description.
- Students have the option to submit additional documentation to support their petition.
- Students will need to combine all documents(Petition Request, Course Syllabus/Description, and any supporting documents) into one PDF.
Petitions will be forwarded to faculty for review. All notifications of results will be sent via Message Center.
