Permits and Registration

The information on this page is designed to help you with:

 

Major Restrictions on BIOS courses

BIOS courses are major-restricted during Phase 1 registration; the major restrictions will lift 1 week after the last time ticket opens. The restrictions allow enrollment by students in majors that require the course to complete their degree requirements.

For Spring 2024 Phase I registration, major restrictions for most BIOS courses will lift on 11/22 by 9am.

Restrictions will not be lifted for BIOS 1207/1207L, 1208/1208L, 4440, 4460, 4590, or 4690.

 

Permit-only courses and prerequisite overrides:

Some courses always require permission of the instructor. For these “permit-only” courses, or to request a pre-requisite override, email the instructor to request a permit. Your email should have subject line "Permit Request" and include: course prefix and number (e.g. BIOS 4699), the course CRN, your name, and your GTID. Explain which permit you are requesting and why you believe you qualify for that specific permit. Request that professor copy bio-registration@lists.gatech.edu on their response. 

See important instructions below for registering for research courses.

Once a permit is issued, you must still register for the course to be enrolled.

 

 

Waitlisting and Overload requests:

Please use the Waitlist feature for the opportunity to enroll in a course which is full. Overloads are not issued for BIOS courses.

 

 

Introductory Biology lecture or lab stand-alone

For BIOS 1107, 1108, 1207, 1208 and their associated labs, if you need to take or retake: 
•    Intro lab but not lecture
•    Intro lecture but not lab
and you already have credit for the co-requisite course, please complete the Permits for Unlinked Intro Bio Lecture or Lab form. Requests will be reviewed every 2-3 business days during Phase 1 and Phase 2 registration.

 

 

BIOS 2610/2611 (Integrative Genetics) and BIOS 2310/2311 (Problem-Based Ecology)

These courses are smaller, discussion-based classes with project-based laboratories. These courses are highly recommended for any student interested in research. The prerequisite is a grade of A or B in BIOS 1207 and 1207L. You may request a permit if your GPA is at least 3.0 and you have the prerequisite by emailing your GT ID# and the appropriate CRNs to the professor teaching the course. Ask the instructor to cc bio-registration@lists.gatech.edu in their response. The email subject should be "2310 permit request" or "2610 permit request." You must also co-register for BIOS 2311 and 2611.

 

BIOS 4015 (Cancer Biology and Technology) and other class-restricted Biology courses

Some biology courses, such as BIOS 4015 (Cancer Biology and Technology) are restricted to Seniors. Juniors whose record shows that they will be seniors by the term in question may request a permit by emailing their GT ID# and the appropriate CRNs to bio-registration@lists.gatech.edu.  The email subject line should be "[Course number] rising senior permit request." (For example, "4015 rising senior permit request")

 

BIOS 4590 (Research Project Lab) and BIOS 4460 (Communicating Biological Research)

 

BIOS 4590 (Research Project Lab) must be taken as a co-requisite with BIOS 4460. Permits for all Senior Research courses should be requested by completing the Senior Research Permit Request form. BIOS 4590 and 4690 are permit-only. You will not be able to register for BIOS 4460 unless you are concurrently registered with either BIOS 4590 or 4690, or have already taken BIOS 4690. 

More information about the Senior Research Experience

 

BIOS 4690 (Independent Research Project):

Permits for all Senior Research courses should be requested by completing the Senior Research Permit Request form. BIOS 4590 and 4690 are permit-only. BIOS 4690 may either be taken as a prerequisite or co-requisite course with BIOS 4460. You will not be able to register for BIOS 4460 unless you are concurrently registered with either BIOS 4590 or 4690, or have already taken BIOS 4690. 

Before requesting the permit, confirm with your PI that they will support you completing your senior research experience in their lab. 

More information about the Senior Research Experience

 

 

BIOS 4699 or 4698 Biology undergraduate research (credit or pay):

Research for credit: Register for BIOS 4699; up to six of these hours can count as Biology electives; the rest will count as free electives.

Research for pay: Register for BIOS 4698; this is a non-credit, audit-only course.

To enroll in research with a Biological Sciences faculty member: Your email should have subject line "Permit Request" and include: course prefix and number (e.g. BIOS 4699), the course CRN, your name, and your GTID. Explain which permit you are requesting and why you believe you qualify for that specific permit. Request that professor copy bio-registration@lists.gatech.edu on their response.

To enroll in BIOS research with faculty outside of the School of Biological Sciences: See link to instructions for a registration permit. This option only available to Biology majors.

Adjust the number of hours after you register: These are variable-hour courses, meaning you must adjust the number of hours after you register; you will only be registered for 1 credit hour by default. After registering for the course, follow these instructions to change the default from one hour. You and your professor must agree upon the number of hours for which you'll register; 1 credit hour equals 45 hours of work over the course of the semester, which works out to 3 hours per week per credit hour during the fall and spring semesters, or 4.5 hours per week per credit hour in the summer semester. Most students enroll in 3 credits for a semester, or 9 hours/week in a Fall or Spring semester.

 

 

 

Permits for courses in other departments:

The Registrar's Office has a centralized resource for Permits and Overloads in other departments. Consult this information and follow the instructions for that program. Each program has its own system. It is up to each school to decide on a case-by-case basis if you are to be allowed into a restricted course. Most restrictions are indicated in OSCAR beneath each course title. Most "permit-required" courses are those that require a professor's personal approval because they involve working in their lab. Other courses may be restricted to specific majors or class levels such as freshmen only, or no freshmen allowed. If you feel that your circumstances warrant being allowed into a course regardless of restrictions, you must request a permit from the professor or school that is offering the course. Keep in mind that course permits are a request not an expectation, and permission may or may not be given..

 

General registration help:

During Phase 1 and Phase 2 registration, you may begin registering for classes as soon as your time-ticket opens. To confirm how your courses fit into your degree requirements, check DegreeWorks after you register. If you have concerns about how your courses are attributed in DegreeWorks, please contact your academic advisor. The B.S. Biology degree can be completed in 8 semesters if you complete approximately 15 hours in each semester. This will often include one or two lab courses per semester.

Other registration-related information:
  • CLASS RESTRICTION: Enrollment in this course is restricted by class (Freshman, Sophomore, etc.). You can ask for a class restriction permit.
  • COURSE CLOSED: If a waitlist is attached to the course and there is space, place your name on the waitlist and you will receive an automated email if a space becomes available.  You will have 12 hours to register for the course.  If you do not register within the allotted time, you will lose your spot and will have to add your name back on the waitlist.  **Overloads are not given for Biology courses**
  • COURSE RESTRICTED: See Permits.
  • HOLDS, REGISTRATION HOLDS: You will not be able to register if you have a registration hold on your account. A hold can only be removed by the department that placed the hold. The Registrar's office provides instructions on how to see if you have any holds.
  • LINK ERROR, LINKED COURSES: Courses composed of one or more lecture sections and multiple recitation or lab sections may be "linked" in the Banner computer system to allow flexibility in scheduling and registration. Linking allows a student to register for one of many different permutations of lecture and lab. In the printed OSCAR and on OSCAR Web, a notation appears beneath the lecture section of a course stating, "You must also register for one of the following...," showing you which labs are available with this lecture section. When you register for such a linked course, you MUST submit the computer reference numbers (CRNs) for the lecture section and the lab section AT THE SAME TIME. Otherwise, Banner will think that you are trying to register for only half of a course, and it will give you a Link Error.
  • OVERLOADS: Overloads are NOT given for Biology courses. Biology uses the Waitlist feature to assist our majors with course registration (see Waitlists below).
  • PERMITS: See the information at the top of this page for requesting permits.  Important: You must still register for the course if you receive a permit.
  • PREREQUISITES: Many biology courses require that you have already taken other lower-level courses so that you will have the knowledge necessary to understand the concepts presented in the course. There are some rare situations when a professor will allow you to take a course without having had the prerequisite course(s). You can request a permit as described above. If you have taken all prerequisite courses and Banner is not recognizing them, contact bio-registration@lists.gatech.edu with all of the information requested on the permit request form above. A professor’s signature or email is not required in this case.
  • VARIABLE HOUR COURSES: Variable hour courses are indicated in OSCAR under the CR HRS (credit hours) column as a range of hours, usually one to twenty-one, or one to nine. Generally, the professor with whom you will be working determines the number of hours for which you will be registered. You should consult with him/her before registering. When you register online for a variable hour course, the default number of credit hours is one. At the bottom of the Add/Drop Classes page, click on the "Change Class Options" link to change the number of credit hours.
  • WAITLISTS: Biology uses the Waitlist feature to assist our majors with course registration. The waitlist allows students who want to enroll in a full course to sign up on a virtual waitlist and sequentially offers a seat when another student drops. Because of this feature, we do not allow students to overload into our courses. If a section has no available seats, students will be able to register for the waitlist. Registering on a waitlist does not guarantee that you will receive a seat in the section. If seats become available, the system will automatically issue an email notification with permission to register to the next student on the waitlist. Notifications are only valid for a short time period (usually 12 hrs); after that time, the permission to register expires and the seat will be given to the next person on the waitlist. If you require a course in a specific semester for an on-time degree completion, you should waitlist and then contact your advisor for assistance. The waitlist notifications will start once all time tickets are open in either Phase I or Phase II. If a section has a waitlist, the open seats are reserved for the people on top of the waitlist. Do not drop your current section unless you want to be waitlisted. The waitlists will not be purged between registration phases, i.e. students that register on the waitlist for a section in Phase I will retain their spot on the list for Phase II. Check on the registrar’s website for details of waitlist timing; typically, the last round of waitlist notifications will be issued at 5pm ET the day before registration closes. After 5pm ET, the waitlist is no longer functioning and all remaining open seats are first-come, first-served.
  • Refer to the Registrar's page on Common Registration Errors and Solutions for more registration help