Frequently Asked Questions
- Course-By-Exam
- Change of Major to CS
- Mandatory Advising
- ECS 192/199
- Prerequisites
- University Extension
- Study Guide for CS and CSE Majors
Course-By-Exam
Q: If I am unable to enroll in a course, may I take it by exam?
In most cases taking an ECS course-by-exam will not be approved especially for courses where programming or other projects are an integral part of the learning experience and often not adequately tested on exams.
Taking a course-by-exam requires the approval of the instructor (instructors are NOT obligated to administer a course-by-exam and have the option of refusing), department and Registrar with final approval required from the dean of your college.
Approval is granted in very few cases and, if approved, you must meet the following conditions (please see the complete list of conditions on the course-by-exam petition):
- Be a registered student and in good academic standing
- Must already know the course material (knowledge may NOT be gained by attending the course, doing the work and then taking the final)
- May not duplicate any previously earned credit
- May not be used to repeat a course, regardless of the grade previously received
- The final grade results, regardless of outcome, are posted on your transcript
Mandatory Advising
Q: Why do I have an advising hold?
In a college wide effort to assist you to complete your degree in a timely manner, the department requires that you meet with an adviser. To ensure that this happens an advising hold will be placed on your registration packet once per academic year. The quarter is dependent upon how many units you have completed. You will see what holds you have when you register on SISWEB.
Q. May I pre-enroll in courses the quarter of my advising hold?
The advising hold will not prevent you from pre-enrolling for courses.
Q: How do I have my advising hold lifted?
To have the hold lifted you must follow the procedure which is posted at http://cs.ucdavis.edu/undergrad/csemajor/index.html
Advising hours are posted on-line at and on the bulletin board outside the Department's main office, 2063 Kemper Hall.
Advising Hold DirectionsQ: What is OASIS?
OASIS is an automated prerequisite/degree check program designed to relieve you and the adviser from some mundane tasks of making an academic plan and performing a degree check. It is NOT intended to replace in-person advising with faculty or staff advisers. Instead, it should make those sessions more productive.
OASIS takes as input an academic plan consisting of classes taken in previous quarters and classes planned to be taken in future quarters. Based on classes taken in previous quarters, it checks prerequisites for each planned class. OASIS also checks whether each planned class is scheduled to be offered in the indicated quarter, according to the published catalog.
OASIS then reports on how the entire academic plan meets the requirements of the CS or CSE curriculum.
Although OASIS is quite a useful tool, it has its limitations. See its output for a list of some of its limitations and your responsibilities in using its "advice".
Q: I can't run OASIS, so what should I do?
To run OASIS you need a CS computer account. If you need help with basic CSIF system commands, you should ask other students, the department's student programmers in the basement of E II (room 47) or you can email the undergraduate adviser, Josie Valdez (valdez@cs.ucdavis.edu), who can give you the name of a Computer Science Club member that will be willing to help you run OASIS. Do NOT email basic CSIF system questions to Ron Olsson, who designed OASIS, but obtain assistance from one of the above resources.
If you have done the above, and you and the individual assisting you determine that the problem is not with CSIF system commands but with the program itself, email oasis@cs.ucdavis.edu or an adviser giving detailed information about the problem.
to top of pageECS 192/199
Q: Will ECS 192/199 satisfy requirements for my CS or CSE major?
ECS 192/199 DirectionsQ: What should I include in my 192/199 proposal?
Proposal Format GuidelinesQ: I don't need the 192/199 units for my major, do I need to do a proposal?
If you do not plan to use the 192/199 units now or in the future for your major, you do not have to submit a 192/199 proposal.
To enroll, the 192/199 form must be completed. The form may be obtained from Melinda Day in 2063 E II. Once the form has been completed and all necessary signatures have been obtained, Melinda will give you a CRN so that you can add the course by the add deadline.
to top of pagePrerequisites
Q: May I enroll in an ECS course even though I have not completed the prerequisite?
It is essential that you've completed the stated prerequisite for a given ECS course before attempting the course.
When you enroll in courses SISWeb does not check to see if you have satisfied the prerequisite, but by Academic Senate policy instructors have the authority to restrict enrollment to students who have completed the prerequisites. Thus instructors have the right to check whether or not students, enrolled in the course, have satisfied the prerequisite. If you haven't satisfied the prerequisite, the instructor has the right to refuse to correct your work and will give you an enrolled-no-work- submitted (ENWS).
to top of pageUniversity Extension
Q: May University Extension students enroll in ECS courses as concurrent (Open Campus) students?
It is unlikely that concurrent students will be allowed to enroll in ECS courses due to the high enrollment demands for ECS courses. University policy requires that the Department enroll all regularly enrolled UC Davis students first; consequently, concurrent students have last enrollment priority.
Concurrent enrollment requires the department Chair's (or designee) signature and department stamp.
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