General Requirements & College Policies
The undergraduate major program in physics is under the jurisdiction of the College of Letters and Science (L&S) and is subject to the rules and regulations of the College in addition to the University. Each academic year L&S publishes an announcement covering topics from A.B. requirements, grading regulations to withdrawing (and applying for readmission). The ultimate responsibility of completing requirements to graduating within the parameters set by the University, College and Department rests with the student. Consult L&S Advisors or the L&S Double Majors and Simultaneous Degrees page for any questions or additional information.
Physics Major GPA Policy
To remain in the Physics major, students must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA in:
- All UC Berkeley courses taken for the major (both lower- and upper-division), and
- All upper-division UC Berkeley courses taken for the major.
Note: Upper-division Physics courses not applied toward major requirements are excluded from these GPA calculations.
Academic Notice & Disqualification Process
- Students whose GPA falls below 2.0 in either calculation will be placed on Physics Academic Notice.
- If the GPA minimum is not restored after one semester, the student will move to Continued Physics Academic Notice.
- Students who remain below the GPA minimums for two consecutive semesters will be disqualified from the Physics major.
After Disqualification
Students who are disqualified from the major are encouraged to meet with both an L&S College Adviser and a Physics Major Adviser to discuss options (e.g., alternative majors, pathways to redeclare Physics, or other academic plans).
Students may redeclare the Physics major once they have met the GPA requirements and still have sufficient time to complete degree requirements.
If disqualified from the College of Letters & Science, students may only redeclare Physics after they have:
- Been readmitted to L&S, and
- Met all Physics GPA requirements.
Graduation
As outlined in the Academic Catalog students must earn a minimum grade of C- in all physics major requirements and maintain an overall Physics GPA of at least 2.0 to be eligible for graduation.
Physics Department Course Policies
Course Prerequisites
The Physics Department strictly enforces all course prerequisites. All course prerequisites can be found in the Berkeley Catalog(link is external). It is the responsibility of all students to ensure that they are properly enrolled in courses and are meeting all campus and department requirements.
Course Time Conflicts
The Physics Department does not permit time conflicts for any undergraduate students and will not approve override requests.
Discussion Section Switches
The Physics Department will not perform manual discussion section switches for students; we do not have the resources to accommodate these requests. Students must use CalCentral to perform the switch on their own.