Biology Undergraduate Course Prerequisites/Restrictions

Students are expected to complete all prerequisites and meet all course restrictions prior to enrolling in any undergraduate biology course at UC San Diego. Prerequisites and restrictions are enforced in all courses and are subject to change. Please see the spreadsheet link below for the most current prerequisite/restriction information and the New Courses/Course Updates area for recent changes.

• Prerequisites are courses which must be completed prior to enrollment in the subsequent course to ensure adequate preparation.
• Restrictions are enrollment limitations put upon a course. Most commonly courses are restricted to certain class levels (junior/senior only, for example) or to certain majors.

Prerequisites and restrictions are based on the term the course will be taken, not the student's admit term to the University.

List of undergraduate biology course prerequisites/restrictions

Starting with Summer 2025, enrollment prerequisites or class-level restrictions for courses may be waived under exceptional circumstances with instructor consent.

Courses with major restrictions cannot be waived under any circumstances. Requests will be rejected at the departmental level, even if approved by the instructor.

Important Notes

• During the academic term, system availability to submit Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) requests coincides with the release of the TSS Schedule of Classes for the given quarter and is available until 4:00 p.m. on Friday of the second week of classes, which is the campus add deadline. After this deadline, the late add period begins. For more information on late adds for lectures and labs, see Enrollment and Wait Lists. (To access Schedule of Classes, log in to Triton Student System using your Active Directory single sign-on (SSO) and then search for "Schedule of Classes" to navigate to that tool)
• During summer session, system availability to submit Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) requests coincides with the release of the TSS Schedule of Classes for the given session and is available until 4:00 p.m. on Friday of the first week of classes, which is the campus add deadline. After this deadline, the late add period begins. For more information on late adds for lectures and labs, see Enrollment and Wait Lists.
• Requests will be reviewed in the order received.
• Final decision time will vary and is dependent on instructor response time. Note that instructors are not obligated to waive prerequisites or restrictions, and therefore may not respond to requests.
• Due to high volume, Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) requests may take at least 3 days to process for round of review and action (e.g., instructor, School, College, or Registrar, if applicable). Students are encouraged to plan ahead and submit requests in advance.
• We cannot guarantee full review will occur before a student's first pass booking window ends.
• If the prerequisite/restriction waiver request is approved, it is the student's responsibility to add (or waitlist, if full) the course via Triton Student System (TSS). All standard add/drop deadlines apply. (Students MUST log in to TSS or TEA regularly to check request status. Email notifications will no longer be sent).
• Students are responsible for planning their biology major coursework around enforced prerequisites and timing of course offerings.

Transfer Credit

Students who have transferred course work to UC San Diego from another institution may have earned the course equivalency necessary to satisfy course prerequisites.

Transferring from a California Community College

Course(s) must be completed, transferred to UCSD, and appear on the student's UCSD Academic History. If the UCSD equivalent, as noted on ASSIST, does not appear on the student's Academic History, the student should contact Biological Sciences via the Virtual Advising Center for further direction.

Transferring from Non-California Community College/Four-Year Institutions

Course(s) must be completed, transferred to UCSD, and appear on the student's Academic History. If an established UCSD equivalency exists, it will post on the student's UCSD Academic History. If there is no UCSD equivalent listed, the student should contact Biological Sciences via the Virtual Advising Center for further direction. A petition may be required. Please note petitions are not guaranteed to be approved.

Please be aware that UC transferability does NOT imply that a transfer course is equivalent to a specific course offered at UC San Diego.

UCSD Graduate Students

Students with graduate standing may have prerequisites/restrictions waived for any undergraduate Biology course. Graduate students should utilize the Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) tool to request such waivers.

Visiting/Non-UCSD students

Individuals with visiting student status who are taking course(s) at UC San Diego (e.g. in Summer Session, via an exchange program, student-employee program, etc.) may have prerequisites/restrictions waived for any undergraduate Biology course. Visiting students should utilize the Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) tool to request such waivers. (To access TEA, log in to Triton Student System using your Active Directory single sign-on (SSO) and then search for "TEA" to navigate to that tool).

Note: Students enrolling via UCSD Extension's Concurrent Enrollment program or the Cross Enrollment program should use the Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) tool. (To access TEA, log in to Triton Student System using your Active Directory single sign-on (SSO) and then search for "TEA" to navigate to that tool).