Major Qualification Policy and Declaration Process
Petition to declare your major as soon as you have met qualification requirements and/or reach your declaration deadline quarter, whichever comes first.
Major Qualification
Transfer students should consult the Transfer and Information Policy section for information about major qualification.
Students are expected to complete the academic planning and online petition by the campus declaration deadline.
Students who satisfy the major qualification requirements and who petition to declare the major by the campus major declaration deadline (i.e., before enrolling in their third year or the equivalent) will be admitted to the major.
To qualify for the environmental sciences major, a student must have an academic planning form signed and approved by an adviser. All major qualification courses must be taken for a letter grade and passed with a grade of C or higher.
Complete one of the following options:
| Either these courses | ||
| CHEM 3A | General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHEM 3B | General Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 3BL | General Chemistry Lab | 2 |
| CHEM 3C | General Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 3CL | General Chemistry Lab | 2 |
| or these courses | ||
| CHEM 4A | Advanced General Chemistry: Molecular Structure and Reactivity | 5 |
| CHEM 4AL | Advanced General Chemistry Lab | 2 |
| CHEM 4B | Advanced General Chemistry: Molecular Structure and Reactivity | 5 |
| CHEM 4BL | Advanced General Chemistry Lab | 2 |
Note: This requirement may also be satisfied with prior completion of CHEM 1A, CHEM 1C, and CHEM 1N or equivalent.
Previous to July 1, 2023, the General Chemistry series, offered by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was listed in the General Catalog as CHEM 1A, CHEM 1B and CHEM 1C, with associated laboratories CHEM 1M and CHEM 1N. As of academic year 2023-24, this series was replaced with two distinct series: CHEM 3A, CHEM 3B and CHEM 3C, with labs CHEM 3BL and CHEM 3CL; or CHEM 4A and CHEM 4B with labs CHEM 4AL and CHEM 4BL. Descriptions of these two series are given here.
Plus the following courses:
| MATH 11A | Calculus with Applications | 5 |
| MATH 11B | Calculus with Applications | 5 |
| PHYS 6A | Introductory Physics I | 5 |
| PHYS 6L | Introductory Physics I Laboratory | 1 |
Appeal Process
Students who do not satisfy the major qualification requirements by the campus major declaration deadline and are notified that they are not eligible to declare the major may submit a major declaration appeal. Students must submit their major declaration appeal within 15 days from the date the notification was sent. Within 15 days of receipt of the appeal, the department will notify the student and their affiliated college of the decision. Appeals will be considered on a case-by-case basis and decisions are final. Students may not appeal more than one time.
How to Declare a Major
Students who qualify start the declaration process by creating an academic plan and then scheduling an appointment with the department staff adviser. You must consult with the department’s undergraduate staff adviser to have your academic plan reviewed and approved prior to being able to declare the environmental sciences major. Students should petition to declare the major as soon as they have met qualification requirements and/or reached their declaration deadline quarter, whichever comes first.
Letter Grade Policy
All courses used to satisfy requirements for the environmental sciences major must be taken for a letter grade, with the exception of the following courses, which may be taken pass/no pass: ESCI 195, EART 198 and EART 199 and OCEA 199.
Course Substitution Policy
Relevant courses taken at UC Santa Cruz or other institutions may be substituted for degree requirements by approved petition. Please see the undergraduate adviser for the substitution petition form and more information about this process.
Once a student has passed all five of these courses (or equivalent), they are eligible to declare Environmental Science as their major. These courses are all pre-requisites for core classes, ESCI 160 and ESCI 100A and students must be declared prior to enrolling in these core classes. Students who qualify, have completed the five introductory courses AND have an up to date academic planning form on file with the EPS advising office, start the declaration process by submitting the Petition for Major/Minor form in MyUCSC under the Undergraduate Student eForms tile. Detailed instructions on how to submit the petition can be found here.