Changing into Biochem as a primary or secondary major:
Meet with one of our Academic Advisors to discuss your intention and look over the classes you will need to take as a BMB major. We will process your change of major following your meeting.
Adding a secondary major outside of Biochem and keeping Biochem as your primary major:
Meet with one of our Academic Advisors to discuss your intention, and then meet with an advisor in your new department and follow their protocol for adding a secondary major.
Changing out of Biochem as a primary major:
Meet with one of our Academic Advisors to discuss your intention, and then meet with an advisor in your new department and follow their proper departmental procedure.
Students who would like to declare a BMB minor should email @email.
Students who would like to declare a minor outside of BMB should contact the advising office in the department of the minor. Most departments won't add the minor until the last required class is completed.
You need to take 12 credits per semester to be a full-time student. Most students take 16. BMB majors are permitted to carry loads of 20 credits per semester. Students wanting a heavier credit load need to request permission by submitting a Credit Overload Petition form.
Students needing to enroll for more than 10 semesters must meet with a BMB Academic Advisor. Our office will work with the CNS Dean's Office to lift a student's 10/12-semester hold once the student has worked with us to develop a plan to graduate.
To help ensure a timely graduation, all BMB majors are required to meet with an advisor before they register for classes. The enrollment hold can be lifted by meeting with a BMB Peer Advisor during their office hours, or by scheduling an appointment with a BMB Academic Advisor.
Note: Holds will not be taken off immediately after your advising meeting, but will be lifted in time for your individual enrollment appointment.
Students can make changes to their schedules on SPIRE during the add/drop period at the start of each semester.
After add/drop, students can still withdraw from a course through the mid-semester date. However, a “W” will appear on the student’s transcript. Find more information about withdrawing from a course on the UMass Registrar's website.
No, only courses that do not satisfy any requirements can be taken pass/fail.
Students who would like to take a non-required course pass/fail must choose that option during add/drop. Find more information about electing and revoking pass/fail on the UMass Registrar's website.
All grades of incomplete (INC) are counted as F's unless/until resolved. If not resolved by the end of the following semester, they will automatically be converted to F's. Faculty wishing to extend this deadline must write to the Registrar's Office, stipulating a specific date by which the incomplete will be completed. Students are not permitted to re-register for a course in order to clear an incomplete.
To resolve the incomplete, the student should contact the faculty member, determine together a) what coursework, including exam(s), needs to be completed, and b) how and within what timeframe the work will be completed. Once the work is completed, the faculty member will submit a change of grade to the Registrar’s Office.
- Courses with grades of C-, D, D+, or F can be repeated at UMass for a grade substitution. Courses with grades above C- can be repeated at UMass but without a grade substitution.
- Permission from the Academic Dean is needed to repeat a course more than twice.
- The second grade earned (not necessarily the higher grade) in the course will substitute for a grade of C-, D, D+, or F and be used to calculate the GPA. Grade substitution is automatic only for one repeat per course. Grade substitution for the second or third repeat must be approved by the Academic Dean.
- Grade substitution is possible for courses repeated on the UMass campus only.
- Only the first 5 repeated courses will have the grade substituted.
- Credits for each course are awarded only once. Repeating a 3-credit course will earn the student only 3 credits total, not 6 credits.
- Registration is ongoing; from the start of the registration period though Add/Drop, students will be adding and dropping courses. Continuously check the status of closed courses on SPIRE and add the course immediately if a seat opens up.
- Specific procedures for getting into closed courses vary from department to department and course to course. For BMB courses, email @email to ask to be enrolled in or waitlisted for a closed course.
- If a seat doesn't become available by the start of the semester, attend the first class and speak to the professor at the end of the class. Ask to be overridden into the course, or if that’s not possible, ask to be added to the course waiting list.
- Students who are waiting to enroll in a closed course but need 12 credits to establish full time status should register for a “placeholder” course. It is best to enroll in a placeholder course that will fulfill a GenEd requirement or some other university requirement (e.g., 120 credits total, specific GenEd designations, etc.). Then, if the closed class opens up, swap the "placeholder" course with the desired course.
- For students who are only able to enroll in a section (lecture, lab, or discussion) that is at an inconvenient time of day, we recommend enrolling in that section anyway, then try to swap into another section later.
Students should submit the online BMB Independent Study Contract to request enrollment in a non-honors independent study course.
Students in Commonwealth Honors College should not submit the BMB Independent Study Contract. Instead, they must use the CHC PATHS system to register for an independent study.
Note: Students need to submit this form before add/drop each semester in order to get credit for working in the lab. Students who miss the add/drop deadline can still volunteer in the lab without earning credit.
Email @email with any questions about registering for an independent study course.
Students should submit the TA Request Form if they are interested in becoming a undergraduate TA for a Biochem course (this form will be emailed to Biochem students every semester in mid-November and mid-April). After the form submissions have been evaluated by the department, potential candidates will be contacted via email. Students who are selected for a TA position must submit the online Practicum Contract for approval.
Batch enrollment is the process we use to assemble lists of students to be added to certain upper-level Biochem courses. The Registrar’s Office enrolls these students in one big batch before registration begins (hence the name “batch enrollment”). We use batch enrollment as a tool to make sure all of our majors can graduate in a timely manner.
Read more about batch enrollment in the attachment linked below!
There are two important things to remember when asking for letters of recommendation:
- Ask professors, research mentors, and employers who know you well enough to write you a strong recommendation letter.
- Make the writing and submission process as easy as possible for your recommenders.
Find more tips about requesting letters of recommendation in the attachment linked below!