Regulations
You may repeat a particular course once to improve your grade-point average (GPA) at UCSB if:
- You earned a grade of NP or a letter grade lower than C (C- through F) in a UCSB course.
- That particular course is offered again.
- You have not yet earned your bachelor's degree from UCSB.
This is called a legal repeat or authorized repeat. Unit credit will be allowed only once for a repeated course, even if your grade is passing on both attempts (e.g., if you repeat a 4-unit course in which you first earned a D and then earn an A, you will earn only 4 units).
You may not repeat a course in which you have earned a grade of P or a letter grade of C or higher, unless the course is designated as repeatable for credit. In the case that a course may be repeated for credit, each grade will be included in your GPA.
Effects of legal repeats on your GPA and transcript (first 16 letter-graded units)
- If your new grade is P or a letter grade, the Office of the Registrar will adjust your total units and grade points, deleting the effect of the first attempt for the first 16 units of letter-graded coursework you repeat.
- If you repeat a course on a P/NP basis after earning a letter grade in your first attempt, the letter grade will be removed from your cumulative totals only if you earn a grade of P. In the event that your grade is NP for the repeat, no adjustment is made, and your earlier letter grade will remain in your cumulative GPA.
- If your new grade is P or a letter grade, your cumulative GPA will not reflect the first attempt after you have repeated a course. However, that first attempt will continue to show on your transcript and to influence your quarter GPA for the quarter in which you first enrolled in that course, and your cumulative GPA preceding the repeat.
- If the more recent attempt is a letter grade, it will be entered into your cumulative GPA, whether the new grade is better, the same, or worse than your previous grade.
- Every attempt of every course you have undertaken at UCSB will show on your transcript. Most graduate and professional schools will use all attempts in evaluating your candidacy.
Multiple repeats of one course and repeats beyond 16 units
- Your cumulative UC GPA will be calculated using all attempts of courses repeated in excess of 16 units.
- If you wish to repeat a course more than once, you must complete a petition and discuss your situation with and academic advisor in the college advising office (1117 Cheadle Hall). If the course is pertinent to your desired major, you will need to get departmental recommendation before we consider your request.
Frequently Asked Questions about repeating courses
Q: If I get lower than a C in a course, do I have to repeat it?
A: Not necessarily. At the time of graduation, you must have
earned a minimum UC grade-point average of 2.0 in three categories: overall,
in your total major, and in your upper-division major. Sometimes, it is both
easier and more rewarding to let the grade stand in a course that has been difficult
for you, so that you can concentrate on earning high grades in new courses to
raise your GPA to the required level. There are, however, four circumstances
in which you must repeat a course.
- You must repeat Writing 1 until you earn a grade of C or better to satisfy the Entry Level Writing Requirement (previously Subject A requirement).
- You must repeat a course that you have failed if it is specifically required for graduation. For example, the anthropology major requires Anthropology 5. A student majoring in anthropology who fails Anthropology 5 must repeat the course. However, an anthropology major who earns a D- grade in Anthropology 5 does not need to repeat that course, provided s/he earns a 2.0 or higher GPA overall and in the major by earning compensating high grades in other courses.
- You must repeat any course in which your grade does not meet the minimum requirement in your major. For example, the communication major requires a minimum grade of C- in each pre-major course. A student who earns a D in Communication 88 will have to repeat the course, unless s/he decides to pursue a different major.
- You must repeat a course if your grade is not high enough to fulfill the prerequisite for another course you that wish to take. For example, most upper-division MCDB courses require a minimum grade of C in each prerequisite course. Students who earn C- or lower grades in such prerequisite courses must repeat them and earn a C or higher grade before they will be allowed to enroll in upper-division MCDB courses.
Q: What advantage is there in repeating a course if I don't absolutely have to?
A: First, a low grade is usually an indication that you haven't
mastered the course material. If that course provides needed foundation for
more advanced courses that you want to take, repeating the course will give
you an opportunity to improve your mastery before moving on, even if the prerequisite
does not absolutely require repeating.
In addition, repeating a course can lead to a dramatic improvement in your grade-point average. For the first 16 letter-graded units you repeat, only the most recent attempt is used by the UCSB Office of the Registrar in calculating your UC grade-point average. But you'll need to use caution, because it is the new grade that will be used in calculating your cumulative GPA, whether or not this is an improvement over your first attempt.
Remember, too, that the GPA benefit is somewhat limited, because your first attempt will remain on your permanent record. Even though the effect of the first attempt is removed from the UCSB calculation of your grade-point average, external evaluators (such as graduate school or professional school admissions committees) will see every attempt and probably use every attempt in their evaluation of your record.
Q: Why might I NOT want to repeat a course, since it would obviously be to the benefit of my GPA?
A: There is no assurance that repeating a course will benefit
your GPA. Sometimes students earn a lower grade the second time, but nevertheless
it's the more recent grade that will be used in the calculation. So, if you
really didn't like the course and you don't see that situation changing, or
if you found the material exceedingly challenging and you don't see a way to
get through it, you may find it's better not to repeat the course.
Q: If my grade is lower the second time, what happens? I'll get my better grade, won't I?
A: The more recent grade is the one that the Office of the Registrar will
use in calculating your GPA. You will not be able to reclaim your first grade,
so you don't want to repeat a course unless you have good reason to believe
you will turn in an improved performance.
Q: Do I have to repeat the course at UCSB, or can I take it over somewhere else?
A: It is best to repeat courses at UCSB. For purposes of academic
eligibility, we consider only your University of California (UC) grade-point
average. That is, only grades that appear on a regular transcript from within
the University of California are used in this calculation. UCSB courses
completed by concurrent enrollment through University Extension Fall 2000 or
later will also apply. However, other coursework appearing on a University Extension transcript is excluded, and you cannot influence your UC GPA
with course work completed outside the UC system. And, of course, coursework
from non-UC institutions has no influence on your UC GPA.
Since you can NOT influence your UC GPA with coursework completed
outside UC, you should NOT plan to "repeat" a UCSB course at a community college,
out of state, or at any four-year university other than the University of California.
Further, even if you want to repeat one of our courses at another UC campus,
you must obtain approval by petition, and there are some serious limitations.
First, it can be hard to find a course at another campus that is sufficiently
similar to our course to be approved as a legal repeat. In addition, you are
pretty much limited to summer session when repeating a course at another UC
campus, because during a regular quarter or semester, our sister campuses will
offer you only concurrent enrollment through University Extension, which is
not acceptable in your GPA. (UCSB courses completed by concurrent enrollment
through Extension will apply, but courses from other campuses by this means
will not apply.)
Q: When I repeat a course, am I stuck with the same grading option I chose the first time?
A: When you repeat a course, you are not required to choose
the same grading option as you had the first time. Thus, if you earned an NP,
you may now repeat the course on a letter-grade basis (provided that option
is available). Since you did not earn grade points with a grade of NP, though,
no adjustment is made to your GPA except to add in your new letter grade.
Similarly, if you are in good academic standing and the course provides optional
grading, you are free to choose P/NP grading when repeating a course in which
you originally earned a letter grade. But remember: your earlier letter grade
will remain in your GPA if your new grade is NP; the earlier grade will be removed
from your GPA only if you earn a P in the repeat. Also remember that
you must choose letter grading for courses you intend to apply to your major,
even if the course is not offered by your major department.
Q: When does repeating a course become excess?
A: Each time you repeat a letter-graded course, an adjustment
is made to your cumulative GPA as described above, provided that this newly
repeated course does not bring your letter-grade repeat total to more than 16
units and provided your new grade is not NP. If the course you are repeating
brings your total to more than 16 units, no adjustment will be made to your
cumulative GPA. Fractions of courses are not removed from the total. If you
have already repeated 13 letter-graded units (two 4-unit courses and a 5-unit
course, for example), and now you are repeating another 4-unit course, no adjustment
will be made. Instead, both your earlier grade and your new grade will be used
in computing your grade-point average, although units will be awarded only once
for a passing grade (P or letter higher than F).
Q: Does it matter when I repeat a course?
A: Yes and no. To receive the benefit of deleting the first
attempt from the calculation of your cumulative UC GPA, you must repeat the
course within 16 units of repeat and before you graduate. Beyond that, you are
free to carry out the repeat in the quarter immediately following your unsatisfactory
grade, several quarters later, or even years later, as long as the course continues
to be offered. However, certain circumstances urge prompt repetition, while
others do quite the opposite. See questions below.
Q: Should I hurry to repeat a course?
A: You would want to repeat a course quickly if it provides
needed foundation for more advanced coursework you need to complete. In addition,
if your grade in Writing 1 is C- or lower, you must repeat the course without
delay, because you are required to fulfill the Entry Level Writing Requirement within
your first three quarters.
Q: Why might I want to wait a while before deciding to repeat a course?
A: To get the greatest advantage from the adjustment in your
GPA calculation, you may want to put off repeating a course if your grade is
not very far below C (say, C- or D+), especially if it's not a course needed
to prepare you for more advanced study. If you repeat 16 units graded C- and
then earn an F in a course, the F will remain in your GPA even if you repeat
the course.
You also might also want to think twice before repeating a 5-unit course because
of the limitation of 16 units to be deleted from the GPA. If you have already
repeated 13 units (three courses, with one weighted at 5 units), when you go
to repeat a 4-unit course, the original grade will remain in the calculation.
Q: If I repeat many courses, can't I just choose which ones I want removed from the calculation?
A: No, this is not an option. Adjustment to your record begins
with the first letter-graded course that you repeat and continues only until
16 units have been removed from your GPA. No exceptions are made to this policy.
Q: What if I'm repeating two courses, and together they take me to more than 16 units of repeat, but either one alone would take me to just 16 units?
A: In this case, the Office of the Registrar will normally select the first
course in your study list as the one to be considered within the 16 units, regarding
the second-listed course as the excess. Your study list appears alphabetically
by department heading and in ascending numerical within each department heading.
Thus, your official program might be, for example:
Art
History 6A
Economics
100A
Economics
136B
History
176A
If you find that this arrangement is not satisfactory, you may petition to the Dean of Undergraduate Studies to designate the second-listed course to be the one whose earlier grade is removed from the calculation, designating the other course as the excess repeat. You would probably want to do this in either of the following situations:
-
Your original grade in the first-listed course is C-, while your original grade in the second-listed course is F, because it is more beneficial to remove the effects of the F from the calculation of your cumulative GPA.
-
The first-listed course is unrelated to your major, but the second-listed course is applicable to your upper-division major.
Remember that you need to earn a UC GPA of 2.0 or higher in your major and in your upper-division major, as well as overall. Thus, it may be more desirable to retain the original grade for the non-major course in your cumulative GPA, so that your upper-division major GPA can benefit from the deletion of the original grade in the pertinent course.
Q: If I repeat a course as an excess, what happens to my GPA?
A: Once you've repeated 16 letter-graded units, all attempts
of each subsequently repeated course are used in calculating your GPA.
Q: If I have an excess repeat, basically, the two grades are averaged, right?
A: Not exactly. Remember, in calculating your GPA, each
attempt is used for repeats in excess of 16 units. If you choose letter grading
for a repeat of a 4-unit course in which you first earned a letter grade, and
you have already repeated 16 letter-graded units, this course will have an 8-unit
impact on your GPA (both the earlier grade and the new grade are used).
Q: Can I repeat one course with another?
A: No, you cannot. The only way to get the benefit of removing
a grade from your cumulative UC GPA is by repeating the very same course. The
instructor does not have to be the same, and you do not have to choose the same
grading option you selected the first time, but the course must be the same.
Thus, you cannot use Math 3A as a legal repeat of Math 34A or vice versa. The
only exceptions are:
- If a course is cross-listed (for example, EEMB/MCDB 20), you do not need to choose the same version when repeating.
- If a course is renumbered, but the title and content remain the same, you may use the new number as a legal repeat of the course you originally took.
Q: What if my grade is C in one course, but my other grades are all B and higher? I'd like to be able to improve my GPA, too.
A: We're sorry, but you are not permitted to repeat a course
if your grade is P or C or higher. You will not be permitted to register a second
time in such a course. It may help to keep in mind that the special recalculation
of the GPA is intended to assist students in reaching the minimum standard for
graduation, which is 2.0. If your GPA is above 2.0, you will fulfill that requirement.
Q: What if I got a P in a course, and now I need it for my major? Can I repeat it?
A: Since you cannot repeat a course in which you have a grade
of P, you must consult the sponsoring department to find a solution. You may
petition to have the course accepted with a grade of P. Where the course in
question is one of many choices, you will normally be required to complete one
of the other courses on a letter-grade basis. Sometimes, though, the course
you took is the only choice. Often in such cases, the course with a P grade
will be accepted, but you will be required to take an extra course on a letter-grade
basis in order to fulfill the major requirement.
Q: What if I earn a low grade in the same course twice? Can I try a third time?
A: You need special permission to repeat a course more than
once. To obtain that permission, you'll need to visit the college advising office
(1117 Cheadle Hall), fill out a petition, and meet with an advisor. If the course
is pertinent to your major, you'll need to obtain departmental recommendation
before coming to the college advising office.
Your discussion with the advisor will focus on how you find yourself in this
predicament, what you're trying to accomplish in trying again, and the likelihood
of succeeding in the new try. If there is good reason for the repeat and good
reason to believe you'll be successful, approval will be granted.
When you repeat a course more than once, each successive repeat causes an adjustment
to your GPA, up to a total of 16 units. So, if you repeat a four-unit course
twice relatively early in your career, both the first and second attempt will
be removed from your GPA, and you'll have devoted 8 of your first 16 repeat
units to this one course. (Remember, your GPA is adjusted only for the first
16 units you repeat of letter-graded courses.)
