UCTransfer123

Is it okay to switch one's grade to pass/fail for a class outside of your major at UCSB? as a transfer student I'll obviously be taking less classes, but I don't want to sink my GPA because of a C in class outside of my major.

is it looked down upon by graduate schools? for emphasis - the classes are not in my major. Is it okay if a majority of your classes are Pass/Fail in a single quarter? eg. 4 classes, 3 P/F or 3 classes, 2 P/F.

emprex

I have a sibling attending UCSB and he told me that only 25% of classes can be pass/fail and they cannot be major classes. Only GE classes like you said. I think the 25% applies to transfers too but I'm not 100% sure. This 25% is throughout your academic career so I think you should be able to take a few p/f in a quarter. You should definitely ask a counselor. As for grad schools, I don't know but my best guess is that if you're going for an MBA for example and you take a pass/fail in east chinese studies or something then they won't care ( i dont even know if that is a ge class let alone a class).

UCTransfer123

Yeah, that's basically me. none of my classes relate to my major. i am concerned though that i end up doing well in one of the classes that is P/F, and don't receive the A or B i deserve, though that seems unlikely.

the deadline is coming up for a lot of UCs i think. problem is some professors take forever to grade midterms, many passed the grade changing deadline. and some of the classes, particularly the electives many have to take because they can't register for classes in their major, have no homework or tests. the teacher just grades on participation and a paper, more like an essay dare i say. nothing i experienced in cc. half way into a class and nothing has been graded.

i just dont want to see my GPA get killed by electives. but i dont have the kind of latitude 4 year students do who can afford to absorb a C or two.



BUT - for clarity, that 25% only applies to the academic career (~90 units for transfers), not 25% of the quarter. potentially, i guess, one could have all their classes P/F if they are electives.

what if they are upper-division electives that don't relate to your major? im done with GE because of IGETC.

Inquiringmind2

I am a transfer student at UC Davis which is also on the quarter system. I have talked to my major advisor about this. At Davis, throughout the four years, 1/3 of your classes can be P/NP. But only one can be a class in your major (this varies by major, engineering students cannot use one for a major class). I also have finished IGETC so I am thinking that when I take an upper division class that I need for units, but not for my major, I will occasionally take it P/NP so that I don't have to stress over the grade. I am also taking a special class for older re-entry students and we talk a lot about issues like this. The prof said this is a way the University encourages people to take classes that might not normally take since if you do it P/NP you don't have to worry about it affecting your gpa. My daughter just graduated from UCLA and she took a few classes this way as well. She wanted to take some upper div French classes that were really hard but taking them P/NP did not affect her gpa. As far as graduate school goes, as long as there are just a few, and they are never in your major area it is fine. Personally I don't think I would do more than one per quarter as that might appear a bit excessive.

UCTransfer123

well i might be doing two, but id never do a pass fail again. this quarter has just been rough for me - not because of school.

can't be that big of a deal, it's probably better than two C's right? even i get a B- it's still a 2.7.