Classes can be taken for a letter grade, or on a Pass / No Pass basis. To explain how/when to use the P/NP option, we've produced a short video, available on youtube.com:
The Pass / No Pass Option (this is an external link - takes you to youtube.com)
The video is about 7 minutes long.
Below is the transcript:
Hi, this is Cassidy Raher, one of the academic advisors with the Athletic Study Center. I wanted to talk to you briefly about the Pass / No Pass deadlines.
Letter graded classes affect your GPA. Classes you take Pass / No Pass will not affect your GPA, whether you Pass them or No Pass them. Classes that you are required to take for a letter grade are classes for your major, including prerequisites. In addition, classes you have to take for a letter grade include: Quantitative Reasoning; Reading and Composition; and foreign language classes that you are allowed to take Pass/No Pass, include the American History requirement, the American Institutions requirement, the American Cultures requirement, and all seven of your Breadth requirements. Now if one of those breadth requirements is a prerequisite for your intended major, obviously you'll probably want to take that for a letter grade.
The deadline to choose whether or not you want to take a class for a letter grade or for pass/no pass is 11:59 p.m. on the Friday of the tenth week of the semester.
You have a limit of one third of your UC Berkeley units that you can take Pass/No Pass. So if you started here with 30 AP units, and you take 90 Berkeley units to get to your 120 for your diploma, then 90 is your denominator for that fraction of the 1/3. So you would be able to take 30 units Pass/No Pass. If you started here at Berkeley with zero units, and you took all 120 units at UC Berkeley (you never took a class at a junior college in the summertime or anything like that) then your denominator for that fraction is 120 units, and therefore you would get 40 units Pass/No Pass that you can take at UC Berkeley.
There is no limit in how many units you can take Pass/No Pass in any given semester. Just make sure you always take at least one class for a letter grade, because the rule on campus with Letters and Science, is that if you take all of your classes in a term Pass/No Pass, which you technically are allowed to do, Letters and Science will put you on academic probation for the following term, because you do not have a GPA. You have a null GPA and that triggers academic probation.
In order to change a class to Pass/No Pass, just log into Cal Central, go over to the right-hand side of your My Academics tab. If the opportunity to enroll in a subsequent term exists you'll see two terms there on the top right. Make sure to select the term for the class that you want to change to Pass/No Pass. Once you select that term, go down to the number-5 class adjustment, and you'll see a little link that says "change grading option". Once you select that, you'll see a screen that gives you only the classes that allow you to take it for a letter grade or for Pass/No Pass. Select the course you want. Hit next. If that class has a discussion section, a screen with discussion section options will show up. You don't need to worry about that - just go ahead and hit the next button. On the following screen, you'll see in the top-right corner, a little drop down bar that will say "graded or elective Pass/No Pass". Select "Elective Pass/No Pass" and then go ahead and hit confirm or next.
What you'll see on your class enrollment screen, is that next to that class that you changed to Pass/No Pass are the letters EPN it means Elective Pass/No Pass - you've "elected" to take that class Pass/No Pass. You may see other classes in your class enrollment that say just PNP. That means that those classes can only be taken for Pass/No Pass, and that's why they're defined as such.
Some of you might even wonder why does Pass/No Pass exist in the first place.
Pass/No Pass exists because the university wants to give you an opportunity to take a class, that you might not be doing so well in, that might be an elective or a breadth class, Pass/No Pass you may be focusing on your major prerequisites and doing really well in those but because you're taking a class that might be out of your comfort zone then sure pass no pass is a good option to sort of ensure that you don't hurt your GPA especially if you're getting a C in a class that might be counting for a breath requirement that's not associated with your major and you're getting a grades and your major prerequisites so if you're taking a class Pass/No Pass it sort of protects your GPA and allows you to secure those, let's just say two A's in the prerequisites for your major, and then if you had a C in a breadth class you took it Pass/No Pass, you'll get a pass, your GPA for that term is going to be a 4.0 because remember Pass/No Pass grades are not calculated into your GPA.
Some may ask "Will a No Pass Hurt Me?" Well in some cases some students may not do well in a class and they don't want that grade, whether it's a D or an F, to hurt their GPA. So you might have two A's and an F. Well if you took that F Pass/No Pass, then No Pass just means you're gonna lose those units, but you also protected your GPA. Two A's and a No Pass means that, in the term, you actually still get a 4.0. You'll lose those units for the No Pass and, obviously, you'll need to make up those units in a future term, but it is a way to protect your GPA long term.
When's getting a No Pass will really only affect you if you're planning on applying to potential graduate programs that may readjust your your GPA after the fact. For example, if you're applying to med school or even law school, and you apply to their programs, what the admissions committees on those programs will do is they'll go back to your transcript and they'll take any No Pass grades and they'll change those grades to an F, and then recalculate your GPA. If you don't plan on going to graduate school, a No Pass, ultimately in the long road, really won't hurt you at all. And even the most basic question, "what grade do I need to earn in a class in order to pass it" - well it's really a c-minus. Every class might have a different rubric for how to earn a C-minus. Percentage-wise a 70% is a C-minus. So if there's a curve, obviously you'd want to talk to your professors or your GSIS and find out if there is going to be a curve. But, ultimately, earning a C-minus, if you're taking a class Pass/No Pass, will trigger that you got a Pass, and that you'll earn those units, and that if it's satisfying a breadth or an elective category, you'll simply be able to count that class in that category, or for American History, American Institutions or even American Cultures.
I hope this information was useful, and if you have any questions feel free to contact your Academic Advisor on campus. You can see the academic advisors in the Athletic Study Center, or you can check in with a Letters and Science Advisor in either 206 Evans or if you're a freshman you can go over to 156 in Evans Hall.
Thank you and Go Bears.