Student sitting on the step in the Taylor Learning Centre

Science Student Handbook: Know Science Registration

Specific Science Registration Information

Everything you need to know before you register

Academic Terms

There are 2 academic terms and 2 “intersessions”. Fall and Winter are the 2 academic terms, Spring and Summer are the 2 academic “intersessions”.

Fall: September to December
Winter: January to April
Spring: May to June
Summer: July to August

First Come First Served registration

Registration is first-come, first-served and based on your enrollment appointment.

Courses are reserved for a period of time each year at the beginning of the registration period for you. Make sure to be on top of your registration and register for both Fall and Winter in March. How to find the reservation end-date.

Enrollment appointments

Enrollment Appointments are the exact day and time you can begin registering in courses. Every student is assigned an Enrollment Appointment by the Registrar’s office. You can view your Enrollment Appointment in your student centre a few weeks before course registration begins.

Course Reservations

Courses are reserved for specific students for a period of time each year, commonly called “reserve caps”. Even if a course is reserved for you, it will only be until the reservation lifts.  Once it lifts, anyone can register in the course.

Make sure you know these dates and register early!

Waitlists

Not all classes have a waitlist!

Whether or not a class will have a wait list is determined by the department that runs the class. If a class does not have a wait list and you want to register in it, you will need to keep checking to see if a spot opens up. 

How to Register in a class

The Registrar’s team has a guide to course registration on their website.

Our top How To guides

Ask for a Letter of Permission (LOP) anytime you decide to take a course at a post-secondary school other than UCalgary. You need an LOP even if the courses you take won’t transfer back.

Where do I start?

  • Research the other school’s admission criteria and courses. UCalgary advisors won’t have comprehensive lists of courses at other schools.
  • Once you have picked the course(s), come in for a quick science advising appointment. The USC can confirm if the course(s) you want to take transfer to UCalgary.

How do you apply for a letter of permission?

  • Log into your Student Centre (my.ucalgary.ca)
  • Click the Academics and Advising tab
  • Click Letter of Permission
  • Fill in the form and submit. You need one LOP per each term you go to another school.
  • NOTE:  There is a non-refundable $25.00 fee to apply for the LOP

Do you need to know what you want to take?

  • Yes. In the LOP application you will need to list which classes you are hoping to take.

How do I know if my LOP has been approved?

  • You can check the status of your LOP in your Student Centre.
  • Letters of Permission will be approved if you are in good academic standing and you are in your second year and up. If you are a first year student or a student on academic probation, your LOP will be declined.

How do I get my transfer credit?

Sometimes navigating situations is confusing. Hopefully these how to guides help

  • Log into your Student Centre (my.ucalgary.ca)
  • Click ‘Search for Classes’, located beside the button for Schedule Builder
  • Fill in the following and click ‘Search’
    • Subject:  Leave blank
    • Course number:  Greater than or equal to 300 or 350; Less than or equal to 300
    • Course Career:  Undergraduate Programs
    • Show Open Classes Only:  Make sure this is checked off
    • Course Component: Lecture:  Leave blank to include courses with open labs but closed lectures
    • Campus: University of Calgary
    • Location:  Main UofC Campus

Every student in the Faculty of Science must take options outside of the Faculty of Science. Some of them must be from the Faculty of Arts. You’ll see this noted as Breadth, which means ‘a wide range.’

There is no such thing as “easy options.” What’s easy for one student can be hard for another. No course is an easy A.

What options should I take? USC Advisors recommend you do the following:

  • Look inwards, not outwards. Think about what you enjoy and review your options in the calendar.
  • Look at all your choice of topics: there are so many topics in University you’ve never heard of and would enjoy.
  • Confirm that the courses you find aren’t secret science courses. If it is, it won’t count towards the Breadth requirement.

Since the pre-requisite grade you need is normally C-, there may be a time when you need to retake a course.

First Time: registering or withdrawing from a course

  • Easy as pie!

Second Time:

  • Registering for a class: go ahead and register! Nothing will stop you unless the course is an anti-requisite to something else you’ve done.
  • Students are not allowed to withdraw from the same course twice.

Third Time:

  • Registering in a course for the third time? This is called a third attempt and requires permission. You must discuss the third attempt process with a program advisor.
  • Students are not allowed to drop a course for a third time.

Dealing with Registration error messages

Do they happen? Absolutely! Do they happen for a reason? Definitely.

When you start registering for courses you may see an error message that looks like:

You’re missing the prerequisite or have the anti-requisite The class is restricted An error occurred when  you tried to register


If you see any error message you don’t understand, follow these steps:
 

Does it make sense?

If you see an error, double check if the message makes sense.

Is it a pre-requisite issue?

Ask yourself:

Is the HS pre-requisite in your transfer credit report? Do you have a C- or better in each of the pre-requisite classes? Is there a restriction on the course? Is there a time conflict with another class? Are you registered in too many courses? Do you have too many courses in one subject? Did you already take this class?

Is it a campus-wide error?

Check the Registrar’s website to see if it may be an error somewhere else

 

If Steps 2 and 3 fail: See a program advisor in the USC for help.