Students who intend to pursue the CaSB B.S. degree first begin in the CaSB pre-major. Students must meet eligibility requirements in order to be admitted to the major. Major students must also meet certain requirements in order to graduate.
Major Eligibility Requirements
Admission to the CaSB major is contingent on successful completion of all pre-major courses while meeting the following requirements:
- a minimum 2.7 GPA in all pre-major courses
- a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA
- a minimum grade of C or better in all pre-major courses^
^CaSB made a temporary exception allowing pre-major courses taken between Spring 2020 and Summer 2021 to be taken for a Pass grade. More details on this exception can be found here.
Students are permitted to repeat up to two pre-major courses if they do not receive grades of C or better. Declared pre-CaSB students who receive grades below a C in three pre-major courses–either in separate courses or repetitions of the same course–are officially dismissed from the pre-major, and students will be coded as Undeclared. In such cases, students will have the opportunity to submit an appeal. If students receive grades below a C in pre-major courses prior to being declared for the pre-major, they are not eligible to declare the pre-major or major, and there is no opportunity to appeal.
All pre-CaSB students are monitored at the end of each term to assess if they are meeting the minimum requirements of a C or better in pre-major coursework as stated above. Any student who receives a C- or below in a Pre-Major course will be notified via Message Center.
Graduation Requirements for Major Students
In order to graduate with the B.S. in Computational & Systems Biology, students must:
- Complete all major courses with a letter grade of C or better (with the exception of C&S BIO/COM SCI/BIOENGR M184 which is only offered on a Pass/No Pass basis)^
- Have a minimum 2.0 GPA in upper-division major coursework
- Satisfy all other University/College requirements, including unit, course, and GPA requirements.
^CaSB made a temporary exception allowing pre-major courses taken between Spring 2020 and Summer 2021 to be taken for a Pass grade. More details on this exception can be found here.