Enrollment

Check Physics Enrollment Live Updates. All enrollment updates will be posted there.

Classes are typically listed as “closed” when they are full with no available seats. The Physics Department is unable to manually enroll students in full courses and we cannot provide permission codes. If the class has a waitlist, you may add yourself to the waitlist. If not, please regularly check for open seats in the course and manually enroll yourself promptly if a seat becomes available.

The Physics Department is unable to accommodate requests for manual enrollment or section changes. If the section you wish to join is full, please refer to “Enrollment in a Closed or Full Class” above.

The system does not support direct section swaps between students, and the department cannot facilitate these requests.
To change sections, please use the swap function in SIS following the instructions on the Swap FAQ page. Note that the swap function will not work for Physics 7 or 8 courses or when a waitlist is in place.


Important: The Physics Department recommends against dropping a full course in order to switch sections, especially if you need the course that semester. Dropping your current section to enroll in another may result in losing your seat, and the department will not be able to re-enroll you.

The Physics Department does not allow time conflicts with Physics courses, including secondary sections (labs or discussions). This policy is strictly enforced and no exceptions are made under any circumstances. 

Official course prerequisites for all courses can be found in the General Catalog. Course prerequisites are strictly enforced; instructor consent cannot bypass course prerequisites. 


The Physics Department automatically accepts AP, IB, and A-level exam credit for Math 51 and Math 52 in accordance with Math Department guidelines, and accepts Math 51-54 and Physics 7-series coursework from California Community Colleges based on articulations on assist.org.  AP Physics credit does not fulfill the requirement for Physics 7A.



Students with prior math or physics coursework outside of these approved pathways must submit a course evaluation request to determine equivalency, using the Math Course Evaluation Form and/or Physics Course Evaluation Request Form.

Physics 5BL, 5CL, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, and Physics 10 are Early Drop Deadline (EDD) courses. The early drop deadline is midnight on Friday of the second week of instruction. After this date, you will not be able to drop via CalCentral. Additionally, after this date the Physics Department will be unable to administratively drop you from the course. 



If you would like to drop an EDD course after the Early Drop Deadline, L&S students can use a Late Change of Class Schedule if they have one remaining. Students from other colleges must contact their college advisor directly to see if they have a similar petition. If you are unable to late drop the course through a petition and are concerned about failing, you may want to consider changing your grading option to P/NP before the tenth week of instruction (for L&S students; students in other colleges should consult their college advisor). An NP will appear on your transcript but will not affect your cumulative GPA. You would then have the option to retake the course in a future semester.

The Physics Department utilizes waitlists for most courses. Waitlists are managed automatically by the system (SIS/CalCentral). If a spot opens in a full course due to an enrolled student dropping, #1 on the waitlist for the enrollment section will be enrolled automatically. 

Note: Having a spot on the waitlist does not guarantee enrollment in a course.

Tips for waitlisted students:

1. 1 Students are enrolled off the waitlist based on their position on the enrollment section’s waitlist. The enrollment section may be either the lecture or lab section depending on the course. For example, if you are on the waitlist for 7A, your ability to be enrolled from the waitlist will be determined by your LAB waitlist position.
2. 2 Due to the Department’s strict no-time conflict policy, students waitlisted for a section with an open seat cannot be enrolled if they have a time conflict. If you are #1 on the waitlist and there is an open seat, please make sure to remove your time conflict (including time conflicts with secondary sections).
3. 3 You cannot be enrolled in two different sections of a course at once (e.g. 137A LEC 001 and LEC 002). If you are #1 on the waitlist enrolled in one section and on the waitlist for another, and a spot opens up in your waitlisted section, you will need to drop the enrolled section to be enrolled automatically.
4. 4 All waitlists are purged on Saturday of the 5th week of the semester (Spring/Fall). If you are on the waitlist for a course after the add/drop deadline, you will be automatically dropped from the waitlist on this day.

Physics 7A, 7B, 8A, and 8B have three components - Lecture, Lab, and Discussion. You must enroll in all three components. Physics 7A, 7B, 8A, and 8B are offered every summer, fall, and spring.


To enroll, register for your preferred lab section—you will then be automatically enrolled in the corresponding lecture and discussion sections (e.g., enrolling in 7A 101A lab also enrolls you in 7A 001 lecture and 7A 101B discussion). Non-corresponding sections cannot be combined.

If you’re having trouble enrolling in Physics 7A, 7B, 8A, or 8B, please enroll directly in your desired lab component using the steps listed below. 

1. 1 Navigate to “Class Search and Enroll” in CalCentral. 
2. 2 Enter the 5-digit class number of the lab component you’d like to enroll in. (For example, for Physics 7A LAB 101A you would search 22800).
3. 3 Do not select a discussion or lecture section.
4. 4 Select “Enroll or Add to Cart”

To enroll in Physics 7C, you will manually enroll in Lecture 001, and select the combination of 1 lab section and 1 discussion section that work best with your schedule.

Students can request enrollment in 111A once they complete 110A, and they are advised not to wait until their senior year to request enrollment. Enrollment can only be requested by submitting the Physics 111A and 111B Enrollment Request Form, and physics majors have priority. The form closes two weeks prior to the start of the semester. Please review the detailed instructions on the form. If you have additional questions about Physics 111A/B enrollment, contact Nitin Srivastava (nitin.srivastava@berkeley.edu).



All physics majors completing Physics 111B for the first time must enroll in it for three units. Physics 111A and 111B cannot be taken concurrently. If a student receives a failing grade in Physics 111A, they must retake Physics 111A and earn a passing grade before they can enroll in Physics 111B. An incomplete in Physics 111A must be fully resolved by the start of the semester in order to enroll in Physics 111B.


Undergraduate students seeking to enroll in a graduate course must submit the Physics Graduate Course Enrollment Request Form by Friday of the first week of classes. Requests will begin to be reviewed that week, but processing will not start until the second week of the semester. In the meantime, please maintain a backup schedule to ensure you meet unit requirements while awaiting a decision.


All prerequisites must be completed before enrolling in a graduate-level course. Prerequisites can be found in the Academic Catalog.
Please note:

• Graduate students receive enrollment priority in graduate-level courses and therefore, a seat is not always guaranteed. Please plan accordingly.
• Instructor approval alone does not guarantee enrollment. This is Department policy (see “Course Prerequisite Policy” on page 1).
• Graduate courses do not satisfy undergraduate physics major requirements under any circumstances.
• UCEAP undergrad students can only take one graduate course per semester.

Please visit the Concurrent Enrollment and Summer Sessions webpage for more information on concurrent enrollment in Physics courses.