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Academic Re-Entry

School of Natural Sciences Criteria:

Academic Re-Entry is the act of restoring active-student status to former students who have:

  • Formally withdrawn from the university;
  • Had a lapse of their student status for failure to pay fees, failure to satisfy the entry level writing requirement, failure to enroll in future semesters, or failure to graduate; or
  • Left the university in academic difficulty (academic probation, special probation, subject to disqualification, or academically dismissed).

Academic Re-Entry Criteria for Students Who Left in Good Standing

Students who left in good standing must meet the following and apply by the deadline:

  1. must meet the Early Progress Policy requirements either prior to or since leaving UC Merced
  2. a minimum cumulative transfer GPA of at least 2.0, if courses were taken at another institution

Academic Re-Entry Criteria for Students Who Left in Poor Standing

All academically dismissed students are strongly encouraged to pursue academic re-entry. Please read the following expectations carefully, and understand that your time away from UC Merced should be approached as an opportunity to prepare to return to your studies here with the confidence, energy, and focus necessary for you to successfully complete your degree.  No further applications for reinstatement will be considered if you are academically dismissed or administratively withdrawn for a second time.

To be considered for academic re-entry to the School of Natural Sciences, after leaving the University in poor standing, a student must at minimum meet the following conditions during their absence:

Please Note: Courses taken while attending a community college might not meet major requirements. The purpose of taking engineering and science coursework while away is to prove that you have refocused and are taking your studies seriously. How well you do in your science and math courses is a good indicator of whether or not a student is ready to return to UC Merced. 

  1. Complete at least 24 semester-equivalent units, at least 16 units of which must be in courses that are directly related to the major, with no grade less than a "C-" for those units. All courses must be taken for a letter grade.  You should not repeat courses for which you have already passed and earned credit.  These are considered illegal repeats and will not be considered towards meeting the requirements for reinstatement.  For a complete list of lower division preparatory courses please visit: http://www.assist.org
  2. Must meet the Early Progress Policy requirements either prior to or since leaving UC Merced
  3. Earn at least a 2.7 cumulative transfer GPA.
  4. Maintain two semesters (or three quarters) of full-time enrollment in a solid academic program consisting of UC transferable courses related to your major or general education requirements. Failure to enroll full-time must be justified in the reinstatement petition.

Depending on your class level at the time of leaving UC Merced, please consider the following guidelines in selecting community college courses:

Freshmen and Sophomores          Juniors and Seniors
Consider taking lower division courses required for your major.  This will help you make progress towards your degree requirements, while demonstrating to the School that you can handle a rigorous courseload of science courses.  You may repeat courses you previously failed, however this will not exclude the grade earned at UC Merced.  The purpose in doing so is for you to demonstrate success in the sciences.  Please refer to the articulation agreement for your local community college and UC Merced at http://assist.org.   Consider repeating any lower division courses you previously failed or need to attempt a 3rd time.  If all lower division course requirements have been met, we suggest taking other science courses.  Strong performance in science courses will demonstrate your readiness to return to the University.

Academic Re-Entry Advising

Students seeking academic re-entry are encouraged to contact an academic advisor to discuss strategies for re-entry.  Please contact the academic advisor for your intended major.

Chelsea Flannery cflannery@ucmerced.edu Biological Sciences Majors A-L 
Cynthia Granados cgranados10@ucmerced.edu Biological Sciences Majors M-Z
Jenn Souza jsouza5@ucmerced.edu Applied Mathematics, Chemistry, Environmental System Sciences, and Physics

Academic Re-Entry into another UCM School

If you wish to return to UC Merced and wish to be considered for a different major, you will be required to satisfy the academic re-entry criteria established by the school you wish to major. For information on criteria for schools other than Natural Sciences, please see their respective websites:
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
School of Engineering

Academic Re-Entry Application and Process

The Office of the Registrar facilitates the reinstatement process.  For more information please visit https://registrar.ucmerced.edu/policies/academicreentry.