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Structural Engineering

Aerospace ∙ Biological ∙ Civil ∙ Geotechnical ∙ Mechanical

SE Important Updates

Please review this page for important updates to SE courses, curriculum, and academic plans and policies.  Information is also emailed to current SE undergraduate students and listed here for future reference.

  • SE Update on SE 9 and SE 150A Prerequisites (Fall 2022)

    • Effective in Spring 2023, the prerequisites for SE 9 will be Math 20A and Math 20B.

    • Effective in Spring 2023, the prerequisites for SE 150A will be SE 110B and SE 130A.

  • SE Update on SE 105 and SE 131A Prerequisites (Spring 2022)

    • Effective in Spring 2022, SE 105 will have a co-requisite of SE 110A or MAE 131A. Since SE 110A is not being offered in Spring 2022, students will need to petition to take MAE 131A. 

    • Effective in Spring 2022, SE 131A will have a prerequisite of Math 20E, SE 3, and SE 110B.

  • SE Update on SE 110A/B and MAE 131A/B Equivalencies (Spring 2022)

    • Effective Spring 2022, MAE 131B is NO LONGER equivalent to SE 110B. Students who have taken MAE 131A will be allowed to take SE 110B.

    • Moving forward, petitions to take MAE 131A in lieu of SE 110A will be approved on a case-by-case basis. All SE students should plan to take SE 110A and SE 110B.
       

  • SE policy on P/NP grades for Winter 2021 and Spring 2021: The Structural Engineering department has decided on the following for Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 Structural Engineering major requirements:
    • Lower division requirements (math, chem, phys, SE 1, SE 3, and SE 9) can be taken P/NP in Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 AND
    • Students can have ONE upper division SE requirement be P/NP per quarter in Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 (including SE core requirements, focus sequence courses, and technical electives)
    • Important notes:
      • A Pass grade is a C- or higher.  Grades below a C- are non-passing.
      • While D grades may allow you to continue along in subsequent courses they do not count towards meeting major requirements for graduation. A few classes require a C- or higher in prereqs. Check the catalog if you are unsure.
      • If a class is also counting towards a general education requirement be sure to contact your college to find out if they are allowing P grades in gen ed requirements.
      • University policy states no more than 25% of your total UC San Diego units may be taken P/NP when you graduate. This does not include Spring 2020, Winter 2021, or Spring 2021 courses.
      • The deadline to change your grading option in Winter 2021 and Spring 2021 has been extended to the end of week 10.
      • You can change your grading option via WebReg.

    • Additional considerations:

      • Employment recruiters may prefer to know what grade you earned in important classes.  Being assigned a P grade, which only indicates a C- or higher, may not fully highlight your skills compared to a letter grade.

      • Graduate schools often look at GPA and we don’t know how they would view or factor in Pass/No Pass grades.

      • Please take the time to think this through carefully and make an informed decision.

 

  • Fall 2020 Message about P/NP option: The Structural Engineering department has decided to allow Pass/No Pass grades in fall 2020 SE major requirements. A Pass grade is a C- or higher.  Grades below a C- are non-passing.  

    • This pertains to your major requirements including:

      • Lower division math, physics, and chemistry courses

      • SE major courses

      • SE technical electives

    • If a class is also counting towards a general education requirement be sure to contact your college to find out if they are allowing P grades in gen ed requirements.

    • University policy states no more than 25% of your total UC San Diego units may be taken P/NP when you graduate. This does not include Spring 2020 courses.

    • Additional considerations:

      • Employment recruiters may prefer to know what grade you earned in important classes.  Being assigned a P grade, which only indicates a C- or higher, may not fully highlight your skills compared to a letter grade.

      • Graduate schools often look at GPA and we don’t know how they would view or factor in Pass/No Pass grades.

      • Please take the time to think this through carefully and make an informed decision.  

      • Campus will send out details on the process for requesting retroactive grading option changes by Jan 4, 2021. The option will be accessible to you during the first four weeks of Winter 2021: January 4 - January 29, 2021.

  • SE 168 will not be offered during the 20-21 school year.  Additional updates to come for SHM students.

  • SE 132 Machine Learning for SE is a new technical elective and will be offered in Spring 2021.

  • SE 150B Design of Steel Structures II is a new technical electives and will be offered in Spring 2021.

  • SE 150 will be renumbered to SE 150A effective Winter 2021.

  • SE 164 will be offered in Winter 2021 instead of Fall 2020. SE 167 will not be offered during the 2020-2021 school year.  Students completing the SHM/NDE focus sequence that need SE 167 to graduate in 2021 should take MAE 170 in place of SE 167 and contact the SE major advisor regarding updating their degree audit report with this adjustment.  MAE 170 prereqs are Phys 2C & Phys 2CL and it is major restricted so SE students will need to submit an EASY request to get approved by MAE to enroll.

  • For Spring 2020 AND Summer 2020 ONLY: All major requirements, including math, chem, physics, SE courses, and TEs may be taken Pass/No Pass.  (P/NP allowed in Summer 2020 with the following notes: students retaking a class that previously had a final grade of D or F must retake the class for a letter grade.  Classes taken P/NP in Summer 2020 WILL count towards the 25% P/NP graduation limit.)

  • Effective Spring 2020: All department petitions should be submitted via the VAC in this format:

    • Request for department exception

    • Request: (write in what you are requesting)

    • Reason: (writing in why you are requesting this exception)

  • SE 104/104L have been combined and renumbered to SE 105 (effective Spring 2020).  Spring 2020 will be the final offering of SE 104L for students that had previously completed SE 104 but still needed to complete SE 104L.  This materials class is a prereq for SE 103 (first civil class) and SE 160A (first aerospace class).

  • SE 125 is now meant to be taken in Fall junior year (2nd year for transfers on 3 year plan) (effective Fall 2020)  Math 20D and Math 18 have been added as prereqs effective Fall 2020.

  • SE 121A has been renumbered to SE 102 and moved to Winter (effective Winter 2021)

  • SE 131 has been renumbered to SE 131A and moved to Spring junior year (2nd year for transfers on 3 year plan) (effective Spring 2021) (Please also note we are in the process of removing SE 101C as the prereq for this class; website will be updated once approved by Academic Senate.)

  • SE 121B has been renumbered to SE 131B and moved to Fall senior year (effective Fall 2020)

  • For this academic year of 2019-2020 SE 131A is in winter and SE 131B is in spring.  Students that have questions about their academic plans should contact the SE Undergrad Advisor via the VAC.

  • Students who petition to take MAE 131A in place of SE 110A must also take MAE 131B in place of SE 110B.  The MAE versions may not be completed in summer session. Students must stick with one department (SE or MAE) to complete both of their solid mechanics courses.  In general SE recommends taking SE classes whenever possible but will review petitions for MAE alternatives on a case by case basis.  Students need to petition prior to taking a course.

  • Changes to preapproved TE list effective Fall 2019: 

    • Removed MAE 131C and MAE 143C since these classes have been discontinued by the MAE department

    • Updated MAE 110A-B to list MAE 110 (no longer offered as A and B, just one class)

    • Added MAE 124 and MAE 184

    • Student may also petition classes not on the preapproved TE list and should do so prior to taking them.

  • Effective Fall 2019 these classes are no longer crosslisted and they cannot be taken in place of SE courses:

    • MAE 30A (new version of MAE 130A) does NOT equal SE 101A

    • MAE 30B (new version of MAE 130B) does NOT equal SE 101B

    • MAE 130 (new version of MAE 130C) does NOT equal SE 101C 

  • UCSD Quarter limit policy update for students who started at UCSD in Fall 2019 or after:  
    You should have received communication from your college regarding the term limits in place for freshmen/transfer students who started in Fall 2019 (or after). We would like to follow-up on that message to explain that the policy is meant to help students plan and graduate in an efficient manner, but it does not mean that students will be prevented from graduating if they're on track to exceed 6/12 quarters. Here's our understanding of the process:

  1. All students should complete a degree completion plan (this is a long term quarter by quarter plan) and then meet with their major department advisors to review for any potential issues. 

  2. For students whose plan is longer than the prescribed 2/4 years, department advisors will review and approve their degree completion plan to verify that this plan is the most efficient path to graduation (or help them revise it and review it).   It is recommended that students do this step as soon as they realize their plan will exceed 2/4 years.

  3. Students will then take their department-approved degree completion plan to their college for approval (or modification and approval) in their 5th/11th quarter if extended time past the 6th/12th term will be needed.  More information on this process will be provided closer to the relevant quarter.

  4. Students should monitor their plan. If at any time they appear to be off track for their approved department completion plan, students should revise their plan and return to step 2. 


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