Undergraduates
- How to Get Credit
- Potential Faculty Advisors
- Courses That Use the NRS
Special Studies courses are ways to earn credit other than enrolling in a regularly scheduled class. Special Studies 97, 98, and 99 are for lower division (>30 units) students and Special Studies 197, 198, and 199 are for upper division (> 90 units) students. Most students that work with NRS do research under the course number Special Studies 199, the credit given for students doing independent projects.
For the Special Studies 199, most departments* require a 2.5 or better GPA. Students work with a faculty advisor, which the student arranges. There is paperwork to be filled out and turned in to the students’ major department. All these arrangements are typically made well in advance of the quarter, but the absolute deadline for most departments* is the add deadline – the end of the second week of the quarter.
*Note: The Division of Biology handles Special Studies courses differently. You must have a 3.0 GPA and you must submit your paperwork by week 8 of the preceding quarter. (For fall, this is week 8 of spring quarter.) See the Division of Biological Sciences Research for Academic Credit page for more details.