Enroll in Courses

Regular Course Load

• 15 units is the regular course load for full-time students;

• 10 units is minimum course load for full-time students;

• 1-9 units is the course load for part-time students.

  • Application for Part-Time Status

Grades

• Graduate courses are evaluated on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) basis;

• You may elect to have your course graded A, B, C, D, F, but this is largely unnecessary unless a specific fellowship, visa, or external funding position requires it.

Incomplete "I" Grades

• Students with an Incomplete grade have 1 year to finish the coursework and receive a grade.

• Students cannot Advance to Candidacy with Incomplete grades.

Independent Study and Thesis Research Class Codes

Grad Independent Study Class Numbers

• Add Independent Study and Thesis Research courses directly to your shopping cart in MyUCSC via class number;

• PRIOR to Advancing to Candidacy select 10-15 units of PHYS 297: Independent Study;

• AFTER Advancing to Candidacy select 10-15 units of PHYS 299: Thesis Research

Physics Special Seminars

Students are encouraged to enroll in optional 2-credit specialized seminars/courses you find interesting. They are not offered every quarter:

• PHYS 291A : Cosmology

• PHYS 291B: X-rays and Magnetism

• PHYS 291C: Developments in Theoretical Particle Physics

• PHYS 291D: Experimental High-Energy Collider Physics

• PHYS 291E: Applied Physics

• PHYS 291F: Experimental High-Energy and Particle Astrophysics Seminar

• PHYS 291G: Condensed Matter Physics Research Seminar

• PHYS 291H: Physics Education and Communication Seminar

Textbooks