Registration Tips: New to Science

Here are some registration tips to help you make the most of your courses. 

  • The most important thing students can do is enrol in the appropriate prerequisite courses for higher-level courses in their program, to set themselves up for success in later years.
  • Enrol in a mix of "lighter" (less demanding coursework/time commitment) and "heavier" (more demanding coursework/time commitment) courses each term.
  • We recommend taking a maximum of 6 units of lab courses per term.
  • Students do not need to complete all foundational courses or Common Course Requirements in their first year.
  • There is no minimum course requirement per term in the Faculty of Science. Degrees are designed to be able to be completed in 8 Fall/Winter terms (4 years) with a 15 unit (~5 classes) course load per term. You can choose to take less (and sometimes more) units per term, take classes in Spring and Summer, and take more than 4 years to complete your degree if you would like to. 
  • Every LEC/LAB/SEM section of a course will have a code with one letter and a number (e.g. LEC A4, LAB D01, SEM E2). Any section codes preceded by an "E" are restricted to engineering students only (e.g. LEC EA4, LAB ED01, SEM EQ12).
  • Please note that Faculty of Science Students need to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 every Fall/Winter to remain in the Faculty. Honors students must maintain a 3.0 to remain in the Honors program (3.3 for Neuroscience).

Internal applicants - Changing programs and registration

Internal transfer applicants from other Faculties do not have to pay a tuition deposit. Once you receive an offer letter to the program of your choice, you have to complete the following two steps to finalize your admission: 

  1. Accept your offer in Launchpad
  2. Change your program registration in Bear Tracks for BOTH the Fall and Winter terms. 
  • If you do not change your program in BearTracks for both terms before the add/drop deadline of the Fall term, the transfer will not be complete and the system will confirm registration in your previous program. After that point, the admission offer is expired and you will have to re-apply for the next academic year during the next admission window.

IMPORTANT: When planning your registration, keep in mind that changing your program will temporarily change you to a Year 1 student until your transfer credit assessment is completed. Depending on your course selection, there may be enrolment restrictions in place that would not allow a Year 1 student to remain registered. In these instances, it may be best to not change your program until after the date these courses would become available to Year 1 students. 

  • Examples of such restrictions include PSYCH and CMPUT 300+ level courses, but you can check your currently registered courses for such restrictions in Bear Tracks.

Changing your program in Bear Tracks - step-by-step

For more detailed step-by-step instructions, please see below and check the reference guide from the Registrar’s Office for visuals:

  1. If you have been admitted to more than one program, please select the program you would like to register for. You may be registered in only one program at a time, and you have up until the Fall add/drop deadline to choose.
  2. Navigate to 'Manage Classes', then click on 'Change Program' in the left-side menu. Select the appropriate term and select 'Continue'. (Please note that you will not be able to do this until course registration opens). 
  3. Choose your new program in the 'Select Your New Program Choice' field. This field will list all of the new program(s) you may be eligible to register for. Your plan description will be displayed once a program has been selected.
  4. If you have enroled in classes under the old program, the 'Change Program Option' area will be available, with the selection to 'Drop All Classes' or 'Drop All Classes and Re-Add Eligible Classes':
    • Drop All Classes: (This option is not normally recommended) Select this option if you do not want any of the classes moved to your new program 
    • Drop All Classes and Re-Add Eligible Classes: Select this option if you would like to move your classes from the old program to the new program. This option will reevaluate your classes to ensure that you meet the course/class requirements. This will change your program and then attempt to re-enrol you in all of your currently enroled courses for that term. Should your new program not be eligible for that course based on course restrictions or requirements—or if you were enroled in the course directly by the department managing it—then you will not be re-enroled in the course. You will receive a notification and access to a report stating exactly which courses you could not be re-enroled into. Should the system not be able to re-enrol you, then that seat would become available to other students.
  5. Use the 'Submit' button to process the transaction. Select 'Yes' on the confirmation page to continue with your change program transaction.
  6. The 'Processing Complete' page will return the status of your change with a confirmation message.
  7. **Important: Remember to change your program for each applicable term (Fall and Winter). A program change in one term will not automatically change the other term. If you do not change both before the add/drop deadline for Fall term, the change is not completed in the system. You will remain in your old program and you will have to reapply for admission in Launchpad for the following September. 
  8. If any of the class requirements are not met, the class will not be transferred and a 'View Messages' link will be displayed at the bottom of the page. Click the link to view the messages returned by the system.
  9. When the program change is complete, please confirm your list of classes on the 'My Schedule - Calendar' page.