BIOLOGY 1A & 1AL
FALL & SPRING SEMESTERS
To acquire the Course Control Numbers (CCNs) for enrollment in Biology 1A/1AL, read through the information on this site follow the relevant links. It is assumed by enrolling in the courses using the CCNs you have read the enrollment information contained on this site.
Important Prerequisite Change Starting Fall 2013:
The prerequiste requirements for Biology 1A and 1AL have been changed pertaining to enrollment in the Fall 2013 and future terms (note this affect does not include Summer Session 2013). The new prerequisite requirements will not show in the Online General Catalog listing for the courses until the beginning of the Fall 2013 semester in August. The new prerequisites are as follows:
To be enrolled in Biology 1A and/or 1AL, students must have completed both Chemistry 1A and Chemistry 1AL with a C- or better grade. Any equivalent courses are acceptable (such as Chemistry 4A or other course from another school) as is a 4 or 5 score on the Chemistry AP test. Chemistry 3A or 112A are recommended.
For equivalent courses from other schools, documentation of grades in those courses must be provided. The equivalent courses must fulfill the requirements to enroll in Chemistry 3A and 3AL to apply (both the lecture component and lab component must be completed)
Students who do not (or will not) fulfill the prerequisites should not enroll. Students who have not completed the minimum chemistry prerequisites by the beginning of the semester may be dropped from enrollment at any time.
Students must have already received a passing grade in the prerequisite classes prior to the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in Chemistry 1A/1AL (or 4A) at the time of enrollment (during the previous term) will have their grade confirmed after their current class ends for enrollment in the following term.
It is not sufficient to be enrolled in Chem 1A/1AL (or 4A) in the same semester along with Biology 1A/1AL.
AP Biology Exam credit does not provide an exemption from the prerequisites.
Most students are required to be enrolled in both Bio 1A and Bio 1AL simultaneously. Any student needing to enroll in both Bio 1A and Bio 1AL to fulfill major requirements or for application to post graduate programs are included in this category and must enroll to take both Bio 1A/1AL simultaneously in the same term. Enrollment in the courses can occur at any time and any order prior to the deadline set before the start of classes.
The only students who are permitted to enroll in only one or the other class alone are those students who have declared majors that do not require 1AL, those students who are repeating one or both of the courses, or those students who have completed coursework at other schools corresponding to 1A or 1AL.
Students required to be simultaneously enrolled in 1A and 1AL must be enrolled in both courses before the beginning of instruction or be dropped from enrollment in the one course they are enrolled.
Students not able to enroll in both courses (because one course is full) should only add to the wait lists for BOTH courses for a chance to be enrolled. In this case, being enrolled in 1AL is the determining factor, and therefore, the 1AL waiting list position is what really matters.
Students who have enrolled in 1AL are guaranteed a seat in 1A provided that they are able to enroll in one of the discussion sections with open seats .
Majors which we do not require to be simultaneously enrolled in 1AL are:
Chemical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Psychology
While students in these majors are not required to be enrolled in 1AL simultaneously with 1A, if they are planning to take 1AL, they should take the classes smultaneously. Students in this category who attempt to enroll in 1AL at a later time will have lowest priority for enrollment since they do not require the class for graduation and were exempted from simultaneous enrollment earlier.
Any 1AL lab section may be chosen in combination with any 1A discussion section except where the Tuesday lab sections conflict with the Tuesday discussion sections. Make sure you do not enroll in conflicting sections.
Exams scheduled in the evening for other courses could conflict with the Tuesday 6:30-9:30pm lab sections. Students enrolling in the Tuesday night lab sections are responsible for avoiding conflicts with scheduled exams in other classes (typically noted in the Schedule of Classes listing). Students whose enrollment selections result in these types of conflicts will not automatically be approved to reschedule lab sections during the weeks of the scheduled exams.
FALL 2013 EXAMS
Biology 1A has two midterm exams scheduled in the evening.
Midterm Exam 1: Thursday October 3rd from 7:30 to 9:30 PM.
Midterm Exam 2: Thursday November 7th from 7:30 to 9:30 PM. (This time conflicts with the Chem 3B midterm which we hope to resolve)
Final Exam: Monday December 16th from 7:00-10:00 PM.
Biology 1AL has two midterm exams scheduled in the evening.
Lab Exam 1: Thursday October 23rd from 7:30 to 9:30 PM.
Lab Exam 2: Wednesday December 4th from 7:30 to 9:30 PM.
Students must ensure no scheduled conflicts are created for these exam times as they must be present to take the exams at the scheduled times. No make-up exams will be given.
Priority for enrollment on a first-come first-served basis. No speical priority is given based upon major or class level (except as given by TeleBears appointment time and if special enrollment restrictions are in place as expained later). Higher level students should not have problems enrolling as long as they attempt to enroll at their first possible time. Students repeating enrollment may be given lower priority than students enrolling for the first time (see below).
Students are classified as "Repeating Enrollment" if :
1) They have a previous grade in either Bio 1A or 1AL or
2) They were enrolled in Bio 1A/1AL after the Early Drop Deadline in Fall/Spring or the end of the first week of classes in Summer Session and dropped one or both classes. The only exception would be if there were special circumstances which were explained to the Bio 1A/1AL Academic Coordinator or Enrollment Coordinator at the time of the drop.
More instructions for Repeating Enrollment
The Schedule of Classes listing currently has no CCN listed for the lecture sections. The CCNs to enroll in the courses will not be shown there.
To find out if you are qualified to be enrolled, how the enrollment process will work, and to acquire the Course Control Numbers for enrollment, you must navigate through the following series of questions.
Questions about Enrollment:
For any questions about enrollment that are not answered in the information above or in related/linked sources, please send email to Erol Kepkep, the Biology 1A/1AL Enrollment Coordinator, at bio1a-enrollment@berkeley.edu.