All required Core and Elective courses for the degree must be taken for a letter grade. Students must obtain a “B” or better in courses taken for the degree. If you receive a “B-” or lower in a Core or Elective class, or you take it on S/U grading, it does not fulfill your requirements. If you receive a “D” or “F”, you may be able to repeat the class, but UCSD does not allow you to repeat a class in which you have a “C-” or better. Select a scenario below for further details.
Please also see GEPA's Good Academic Standing page and FAQ. Campus-wide requirements for all graduate programs include that you must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or the equivalent in upper-division, graduate, and professional course work, and must not have accumulated more than a total of eight units of "F" and/or "U" grades overall.
Low grade in an elective
To make up for a “B-” or lower grade in an elective:
The class with a “B-” or lower grade will not count towards your elective requirement. You will need to take another approved elective and receive at least a “B” grade. If you were taking the elective to satisfy one of the required elective areas, then choose within that elective area.
Low grade in a core class
To make up for a “B-” or lower grade in a core class:
- You will need to take an approved additional graduate course and receive at least a “B” grade.
- The make-up course cannot be double-counted for two purposes, such as making up for two core classes or making up for a core class and also counting as an elective or as a fourth core class option.
- Please choose from the list of pre-approved make-up classes below, or submit a petition in advance to propose an alternative class. You do not need to petition to use one of the pre-approved options.
- Make-up classes should have substantial overlap with the core class. Typically the classes will be aimed at graduate students in other disciplines, and may have a different emphasis and a different selection of topics or applications.
- Some of these classes have prerequisites or enrollment restrictions. You will need to check if you have the prerequisites, and you may need to contact the course instructor or their department to clear prerequisites or enrollment restrictions. The Curriculum Committee does not have authority to do this.
- These are not approved as substitutions in lieu of taking the core classes. They are only approved as make-up classes if you receive a grade of “B-” or lower in the required core class.
- The quarters in which classes are offered may vary each year. Many departments post planned course schedules for the full school year in advance; check this when planning your schedule.
Low grade in BENG 202 / CSE 282
The following are approved to make up for a “B-” or lower grade in the core class BENG 202 / CSE 282:
- CSE 202. Algorithm Design and Analysis. (Usually offered Fall, Winter, and Spring.)
- CSE 280A. Algorithms in Computational Biology. (Usually offered in Winter.)
- CSE 284. Personal Genomics for Bioinformaticians.
- ECE 208. Computational Evolutionary Biology. (Usually offered in Spring.)
- BNFO 286/MED 283. Network Biology and Biomedicine. (Usually offered in Spring.)
Low grade in BENG 203 / CSE 283
The following are approved to make up for a “B-” or lower grade in the BISB-track core class BENG 203 / CSE 283:
- CSE 250A. Principles of Artificial Intelligence: Probabilistic Reasoning and Learning. (Usually offered in Fall.)
- CSE 280A. Algorithms in Computational Biology. (Usually offered in Winter.)
- CSE 284. Personal Genomics for Bioinformaticians
- MED 263. Bioinformatics Applications to Human Disease. (Usually offered in Winter.)
- ECE 208. Computational Evolutionary Biology. (Usually offered in Spring.)
- BNFO 286/MED 283. Network Biology and Biomedicine. (Usually offered in Spring.)
Low grade in Math 283
The following are approved to make up for a “B-” or lower grade in the core class Math 283:
- MED 268. Statistics Concepts for Biomedical Research. (Usually offered in Fall.)
- Math 280A. Probability Theory. (Usually offered in Fall.)
- Math 281A. Mathematical Statistics. (Usually offered in Fall.)
- Math 282A. Applied Statistics. (Usually offered in Fall.)
- CSE 250A. Principles of Artificial Intelligence: Probabilistic Reasoning and Learning. (Usually offered in Fall.)
- CSE 254. Statistical Learning. (Usually offered in Winter.)
- CSE 255. Data Mining and Predictive Analytics. (Usually offered in Spring.)
- ECE 250. Random Processes. (Usually offered in Fall and Winter.)
- ECE 271A. Statistical Learning I. (Usually offered in Fall.)
- ECE 272A. Stochastic Processes in Dynamic Systems.
Low grade in MED 264
No make-up classes have been approved yet to make up for a “B-” or lower grade in the BMI-track core class MED 264. You will need to submit a petition to the Curriculum Committee with proposed make-up classes.
Low grade in one of the “Fourth Core Classes”
To make up for a “B-” or lower grade in a fourth core class:
The class with a “B-” or lower grade will not count towards your Fourth Core Class requirement. You will need to take another approved Fourth Core Class option for your track and receive at least a “B” grade.
“U” grade in seminars or ethics
To make up for a “U” grade in a seminar (BNFO 281, BNFO 283, or MED 262) or ethics class (BNFO 294, SOMI 226, or BIOM 219):
Repeat the class an additional quarter and get an “S” grade.