Department Policies
3AC (Princples of Sociology) Policy. If a student has taken two or more upper division sociology courses without completing Sociology 1 first, or has already taken Sociology 3AC, they should not take Sociology 1. *STUDENTS WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT FOR TAKING SOC 1 AFTER TAKING SOC 3AC AND VICE VERSA* Instead, they are required to take an additional (third) Survey course as a substitute for this prerequisite, to be completed sometime before graduation (see list of Survey courses below). The three surveys must be taken from three different substantive areas, distinguished by distinct second digits -- e.g. Soc 110, Soc 180E, and Soc 120, but not Soc 110, Soc 180C, and Soc 180E.
Academic Probation in the Major. All Sociology majors must a) maintain a 2.0 GPA in all upper and lower-division courses taken for the major, and b) satisfactorily complete all prerequisites. Students whose GPA calculation falls below a 2.0 and/or who do not satisfactorily complete all prerequisites will be placed on departmental academic probation for the following semester. A student on probation will be subject to dismissal from the major if the major GPA is not brought up to a 2.0, and/or if they fail to satisfactorily complete all prerequisites by the end of the following term. Questions concerning the probation and dismissal policy may be directed to the undergraduate advisors. Once dismissed from the major, students are expected to work with an L & S advisor in order to pursue an alternate major.
Declaring With the Last Prerequisite(s) In Progress. We allow students to declare the Sociology major as soon as they have enrolled in their last prerequisite(s). Students must have at least one of the Sociology prerequisites completed, and a minimum 2.0 major and cumulative GPA. Once a student has enrolled in the necessary prerequisite they are NOT allowed to drop it. Newly declared majors’ schedules will be reviewed periodically. If we find that a student has dropped a prerequisite after declaring the Sociology major, that student will be officially dropped from the major through L&S. They will not be allowed to re-apply to the major until all of their prerequisites are successfully completed. Bottom line: Once you declare, you must complete your prerequisites as scheduled, or you will be dropped from the major, and barred from declared status for registration until you have satisfactory grades posted in all of your prerequisites.
Final Exams. Most of the Sociology instructors leave graded final papers and exams for you to pick up in 410 Barrows Hall. These materials are kept by the department for thirteen months. After that time all unclaimed exams and papers are disposed of.
Pass/No Pass Policy. With the exception of the Statistics/Logic prerequisite, all Sociology major requirements must be taken for a letter grade. If a class is taken or changed to P/NP, the class will NOT count towards your major requirements.
Minimum Grades Earned. All major requirements must be passed with a letter grade of D- or better, with the exception of Sociology 5, Sociology 101, and Sociology 102, which need to be passed with a C- or better.
Residency Requirement in the Major. Out of the 11 required courses for the major, no more than 5 transfer courses may be used for major requirements. The remaining 6 courses must be taken in residence at UCB.
Transferring Coursework from a Berkeley Study Abroad Program. Upper division Sociology courses taken through Berkeley Study Abroad, that transfer back to UCB at 3 semester units will automatically count as Sociology Electives, with the letter grade earned computed into your major g.p.a. The course must be an academic course, not an internship or research course, and must be listed as an upper division Sociology course on the Berkeley transcript and passed with a letter grade. If you are taking an upper division Sociology course through Berkeley Study Abroad, you do not need to fill a Request for Coursework Evaluation. You only need to fill out this form if 1) you would like your upper division Sociology course to count for a major requirement other than Elective (ex. Survey or Seminar) or 2) You would like a course taken through a department other than Sociology to count for one of your Sociology requirements (ex. Nordic Studies).
Transferring Coursework from an Outside Institution. If you would like a course taken at an outside institution or a non-Berkeley Study Abroad Program to count for a Sociology major requirement, you must fill out a Request for Coursework Evaluation. Only those courses that are similar and deemed "equivalent" to courses in the UC Berkeley Sociology Department are accepted for major credit. Therefore, it is possible for a student to earn University credit for a sociology course taken at another institution, but not have that course satisfy Sociology major requirements. A current syllabus for all courses to be evaluated MUST be included with this form upon submission to an Sociology Undergraduate Advisor. If in another language, it must be translated. If a current syllabus is not available prior to departure, students may submit a course description and have it be determined if the course is likely to count for the major. If in another language, it must be translated. If seeking approval prior to completing the course, the student must submit a copy of his or her final transcript for the class to a Sociology Undergraduate Advisor at the beginning of the following term. The course will not be entered on the student's Sociology record until we receive the final transcript. In many cases the student will be asked to provide additional supporting materials such as a reading list, major papers and/or exams, etc., in order to gain a more thorough understanding of the course substance. In accordance with the Residency Requirement of the Major, 5 of the 11 required courses for the major, no more than 5 transfer courses may be used for major requirements. The remaining 6 courses must be taken in residence at UCB.
When a transfer course is accepted for major credit, the grade earned is not computed in the major g.p.a. unless it is from another UC campus. If a transfer course has been accepted for major credit, a student may not use its equivalent course in this department to satisfy major requirements.