Major Declaration 

To officially declare an Ecology & Evolution BS, Marine Biology BS, Plant Sciences BS, or Biology BA major, students must complete the following qualification courses, or their equivalents, by the end of their fifth quarter and with a grade of C (2.0) or higher:

• BIOL 20A Cell & Molecular Biology

• BIOE 20B Development & Physiology

• BIOE 20C Ecology & Evolution

• CHEM 3A General Chemistry*                                               

• CHEM 3B General Chemistry*

Additionally, students declaring Ecology & Evolution BS, Marine Biology BS, or Plant Sciences BS must complete one of the following mathematics courses, or their equivalents, by the end of their fifth quarter with a grade of C (2.0) or better:

• MATH 16A (recommended) or MATH 11A or MATH 19A

* Students may complete CHEM 4A Advanced General Chemistry: Molecular Structure and Reactivity instead of CHEM 3A+3B.

Please note that the ALEKS PPL must be completed and an appropriate minimum score received in order to enroll in either of the initial General Chemistry series' courses.

The qualification courses are only a subset of your major's introductory requirements. View complete major requirements in the catalog.

• Students who complete all the qualification courses with a grade of C (2.0) or better by their major declaration deadline (or at most one additional enrolled quarter as determined and if approved by the department) are eligible to declare.

• Students with two or more grades of C-, D+, D, D-, F, or NP in the above qualification courses (Math grades excluded) are NOT eligible to declare without an appeal submission and appeal approval. Positive appeal results are not a guarantee, so please plan accordingly.

• Students with AP exam course credit for any of the qualification course(s) may petition to declare after successfully completing the remaining qualification courses.

Consult with an undergraduate advisor if you find you will be unable to declare by the campus declaration deadline. Students who are not able to complete the degree by their Expected Graduation Term, or EGT (see MyUCSC), must appeal to declare the major.

• If you were admitted as a Frosh/first-year or sophomore student: Submit your petition to declare at the end of your fifth quarter or, at the latest, by the second week of your sixth quarter of enrollment. You must be declared in your major no later than the posted deadline in your sixth quarter of enrollment.  This means all qualification courses will need to have been successfully completed BY THE END of your fifth quarter.

• Declaration requires that you have an official department-approved and signed academic plan.

Policy on Major Declaration Process & Deadlines: "Students must submit a petition to declare when the campus declaration deadline is imminent (i.e. in their sixth quarter, for students admitted as frosh); programs have to either allow them into the major, deny them admission, or set conditions (e.g. completion of some courses with certain grades) that will be resolved within at most one more enrolled quarter, even if they have not completed major qualification (MQ) courses."

UCSC screens students for admission into the EEB majors. Transfer applicants are held to completion of major preparation criteria (qualification courses) for admission to UCSC. The major preparation criteria or their equivalents are required prior to transfer, by the end of the spring term for students planning to enter in the fall, to be eligible to declare an EEB major.

• Transfer students admitted to an EEB Department major must declare their major once their official transcripts have arrived and official credits have been posted to their MyUCSC portal in their first quarter, but no later than the posted deadline in their second quarter on campus. The major declaration deadlines for each quarter can be found in the academic calendar. 

• Transfer students admitted to UCSC in a major other than an EEB-sponsored major must have also met major preparation/qualification requirements prior to transfer to be eligible to declare an EEB-sponsored major.  If you believe you meet this criteria and are interested in switching to an EEB-sponsored major,  you may petition to do so by completing this form.

  • New transfer students wishing to petition to change to an EEB-sponsored major must do so NO LATER than their assigned appointment for second quarter enrollment (during their first enrolled quarter) at UCSC.

  • Students who were denied admission to their original screening major within the EEB Department and accepted admission to an alternate non-screening major are ineligible to pursue, or to petition to change to, an EEB-sponsored majors once admitted.

• If you were admitted as a Junior Transfer student: Submit your petition to declare as soon as you wish, but no later than the second week of your second quarter of enrollment at UCSC.  You cannot be declared in your major until all official transfer credits have posted to your account, and you must be declared by the posted deadline in your second quarter of enrollment.

• Once you have an official department-approved academic plan.

Policy on Major Declaration Process & Deadlines: "Students must submit a petition to declare when the campus declaration deadline is imminent (i.e. in their sixth quarter, for students admitted as frosh); programs have to either allow them into the major, deny them admission, or set conditions (e.g. completion of some courses with certain grades) that will be resolved within at most one more enrolled quarter, even if they have not completed major qualification (MQ) courses."

• Transfer students admitted to UCSC in a major other than an EEB-sponsored major must have also met major preparation/qualification requirements prior to transfer to be eligible to declare an EEB-sponsored major.  If you believe you meet this criteria and are interested in switching to an EEB-sponsored major,  you may petition to do so by completing this form.

  1. New transfer students wishing to petition to change to an EEB-sponsored major must do so NO LATER than their assigned enrollment appointment for second quarter enrollment (during their first enrolled quarter) at UCSC.

  2. Students who were denied admission to their original screening major within the EEB Department and accepted admission to an alternate non-screening major are ineligible to pursue, or to petition to change to, an EEB-sponsored majors once admitted.

Petition to declare a major as soon as you complete major qualification requirements, or reach your declaration deadline quarter, whichever comes first. Students who enter UCSC as frosh or sophomores are expected to meet the declaration deadline in their sixth quarter of enrollment; and must be formally declared in a major before enrolling in their third year (or equivalent) of courses. 

Junior transfer students must be declared in a major by the deadline in their second quarter at UCSC.

Step 1: Log into MyUCSC and navigate to your Student Homepage; select the Undergraduate Student eForms tile > Petition for Major/Minor to access the form.

Step 2: Follow the instructions provided in the links below for the major you're trying to declare. If you have questions, contact your major advising office about the other steps in the declaration process. Petitioning is only one part of major/minor declaration.  It is expected that you will meet with a department advisors and have an offical academic plan on file prior to your petition being processed.