As you prepare for upcoming course registration dates, please refer to the below guidelines for common questions about course registration. To find your course registration dates, please check your Workday account and refer to: https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/registration/registration-dates
How should I ask questions about course registration?
Unless the question is of general interest, in which case you may post on Piazza, you should send an email to registration@ece.ubc.ca. And always include your student number with your email. Students can also view the program curriculum and information on electives on our program website: https://ece.ubc.ca/undergraduates/programs/
I am having problems with Workday, where my courses are not showing up correctly. What do I do?
With the introduction of Workday, UBC is encountering some issues with courses showing up incorrectly on student records. While the workday team addresses these errors, please make sure to use your Program Checklist provided to you by our ECE department, as this guide overrides the workday academic record for planning your degree.
Students are also encouraged to visit the workday student page for further guidance and tutorials on how to navigate the new Workday system: https://workday.students.ubc.ca/. You may also write to u-advising@ece.ubc.ca if you have a challenge with your courses and our advisors can help clarify things for you.
What should I do if a course I want to register in is full?
If a class is full, register in the waitlist. We may – in some rare cases – be able to expand class capacity but it is more likely that people drop the course later and you get a spot.
I am missing the pre-requisites for a course. Can I still register for the course?
If you are missing prerequisites for a course, it is unlikely that you will be allowed to register unless you have completed a course that is equivalent to the prereq. If you believe that you may be eligible for a course, send an email to registration@ece.ubc.ca with your request. You should not email the instructors first! It is also very likely that you will be placed on a waitlist first if you do not meet the pre-reqs for a course.
I would like to take two courses that have a timetable conflict. Is this possible?
We try hard to ensure that there are limited course conflicts. Conflicts are inevitable when people select electives, and we try to break conflicts when there are two courses where many students are interested in both courses. If there are course conflicts then – historically – we have had very few students take both courses in the same term.
If you want to register for two ECE courses that have a timetable conflict, please email registration@ece.ubc.ca first and we can advise you further. If the conflict is with a non-ECE course then you will need to provide approval from the non-ECE course instructor via email to registration@ece.ubc.ca. Please note that ECE staff cannot register you when there are conflicts, and we will need to forward your request to Engineering Academic Services (EAS).
What are the rules around free electives?
Any University course as a free elective. If you have to take 6 credits of free electives then you should keep in mind that at most 3 credits can be at the 100-level and at most 3 credits can be a language course. As an example, if you take SPAN 102 as a free elective then and you have to take another 3 credits of free electives then remaining credits have to be from a 200-level or higher course that *is not* a language course. Of course, CPEN, ELEC, CPSC, MATH, or COMM courses can be taken as free electives.
Can I count a free elective towards a requirement for a Minor?
If you are also completing a minor then you may only count 3 credits of free electives towards both the ECE program requirements and the requirements of the minor. For instance, if you are completing the Commerce minor then 3 credits of a COMM course may be applicable to the free electives requirement and the minor.
Can undergraduate students register for graduate-level courses? Some of them sound interesting!
Yes! Some graduate level courses can count towards your advanced electives requirement. You should first check if a course you are interested in will count for your program (u-advising@ece.ubc.ca) and then there is a process for registering that requires multiple signatures: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/forms/enrolment-undergraduate-students-graduate-course. If you are thinking about graduate school and you think you have the necessary background then you may consider a graduate course as an elective.
I need help with registering for a non-ECE course. Can ECE Advising help with this case?
ECE Advising staff are only able to assist with ECE courses (courses with CPEN, EECE, ELEC course codes). We are not able to help with non-ECE courses even if they are required courses. You should contact the appropriate advising office for non-ECE courses. The most common contacts are:
- APSC courses: students@apsc.ubc.ca
- CPSC courses: CS Advising
- MATH courses: ugrad-coord@math.ubc.ca
- STAT courses: Statistics Advising
When should I seek help with registration?
Please wait until registration opens before sending email to registration@ece.ubc.ca. We cannot do much to help with registration until registration opens.
Please note that courses will be finalized before registration opens, but in the meantime some course details may still be changing so we recommend students be patient and check the course schedule often before their registration dates open.