Undergraduate Advising Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Students on academic warning or probation with OSU should immediately schedule an appointment with their advisor. Advisors can help by making referrals to campus resources and by reviewing academic standing guidelines with students. Advisors can also help students make an academic plan for students to return to good standing, including minimum grades needed in courses.

Students who have been suspended from OSU due to poor academic performance should review the rules on academic suspension and the guidelines for reinstatement. Students can be reinstated to the university after a period of 2-years or completion of a minimum of 24 credits hours of transferable work from another institution. If you have any questions about reinstatement, please schedule an appointment with an advisor or email us.

Effective Fall 2019, all students in a College of Engineering major have additional requirements to stay in good standing with the College of Engineering (COE) under the new Academic Progression Model. Under this model, all engineering students are required to earn a 2.5 OSU GPA and earn 65% of their attempted OSU credits. Students who fail to meet these standards may be placed on academic warning or academic probation with COE. Students on probation with COE can be suspended from COE if they fail to meet these standards in future terms. If you are concerned about your academic standing or have questions about this policy, please contact your advisor.

All College of Engineering students must obtain a C or better in all of their major coursework or the course will be considered missing. Some Baccalaureate Core (HHS, Perspectives, Synthesis) courses will be considered passing with a D- or better.

Taking an OSU course for a second time at OSU will replace the grade from the first attempt and permanently apply to your GPA. If a course is taken at OSU and then attempted for a second time at another institution, this course will not replace your grade in your OSU GPA calculation, but this course will count towards your degree requirements. Students can retake courses beyond two attempts to fulfill major requirements, but the second attempt will always apply to the GPA calculation. All grades will appear on transcripts. 

Only non-major and non-minor courses (HHS, Perspectives, Synthesis) can be taken S/U. Please note that some Baccalaureate Core requirements (physical and biological sciences, communications, writing, DPD) are also major requirements thus these classes must be taken for a grade. A full summary of the courses that can be taken S/U are found in the Advising Guides for each CBEE major.

Withdrawing from a course can have negative impacts on your academic standing with the College of Engineering (COE), your timeline to graduation, and financial aid status, so you should carefully consider your decision to withdraw from a course. We highly recommend you meet with the professor of the course, your advisor and talk to the Financial Aid office before withdrawing from a course. Your advisor can help you understand the impact withdrawing from a course will have on the courses you can take in future terms, your academic standing in COE, and your overall timeline to graduation. Remember, effective Fall 2019, under the COE Academic Progression Model, you must earn 65% of the OSU credits you attempt. Withdrawals will count as attempted credits not earned, meaning you could be placed on academic warning or academic probation if you have too many withdrawals.

Financial Aid can help you understand if withdrawing from a course will impact your loans, grants or scholarships. Most of these forms of financial aid require you to complete at least 67% of all attempted credits for your degree. Financial Aid can help you understand how these requirements apply to you and help you understand any additional requirements you have based on the forms of financial aid you have.

CBEE advisors are available for appointments and drop-in advising daily. Drop-in advising is intended for quick questions and meetings are generally limited to 10-15 minutes. No PINs are distributed during drop-in hours. To schedule appointments or join drop-in advising, please navigate to our Undergraduate Advising page. 

CBEE students are encouraged to meet with their advisor at least once per term. Appointments are required every term for students on academic probation and are required once per year for all students. We can assist with a variety of issues, including offering career advice, information about internships and research, referrals to campus resources, and more. Anytime you are experiencing academic difficulty or have questions about your degree program, we highly encourage you to come see us.

All CBEE advisors are trained to work with students from each of our three majors, chemical engineering, bioengineering, and environmental engineering. If your advisor is unavailable, you can reach out to our general advising email (cbee.advising@oregonstate.edu) or come in to see another advisor either through a scheduled appointment or drop-in hours.

CBEE assigns advisors to students at random to distribute student loads evenly between our advisors. Please check your MyDegrees to determine your assigned advisor. If an advisor is not listed on MyDegrees, please email us at cbee.advising@oregonstate.edu.

Class registration starts for the next term begins at the start of week 8. Your exact registration time can be found in your student account and may be later depending on your class standing and total number of credits.

There are many reasons students cannot register for courses, including lack of prerequisites, a below passing grade in a prerequisite, course limitations based on major or minor, and holds on your student account. If you encounter an error registering for a course and need help resolving this problem, please email a screenshot of the error to cbee.advising@oregonstate.edu or to your advisor.

If a course you need is closed, please contact your advisor. Depending on the course, we may be able to make space for you or offer alternatives to keep you on track for graduation.

All course substitutions or exceptions need to be approved by your academic advisor. Please schedule an appointment with your advisor to discuss these issues. Depending on the substitution, we may need to contact faculty members who assist us with curriculum decisions.

AP/IB courses can be applied to your degree requirements depending on the score you received on the exams. You will need to send in an official copy of your scores in order to receive credit. For more information on minimum scores and credits awarded, please see the Credit Opportunities page on the Office of Admissions site

Major changes must be approved by an advisor for the major you would like to add or change into. If you would like to add a CBEE major, please schedule an appointment with one of our advisors or come to our walk-in hours to discuss course requirements and fill out the paperwork required for this change. If you would like to add a non-CBEE major, you must meet with an advisor in the area of your new major.

Some minors can be added by your CBEE advisor while others require approval from the department that offers the minor. If you have any questions about adding a minor, please contact your advisor via email or by coming into our office for an appointment or walk-in advising.

To graduate, you need to complete all of your major and minor requirements. As of Spring 2019, students do not need to apply to graduate and will instead be placed in the graduation pool under institutional awarding procedures. To read more about institutional awarding, please visit the Office of the Registrar.

If you have any questions about completing your graduation requirements, please discuss this with your advisor. If you are missing requirements for graduation, please see your advisor as soon as possible.

Please see the instructions published by the Office of the Registrar.

International students are required to take a minimum of 12 credits each term to maintain full-time student status. Generally, these courses should be on-campus courses, not ecampus. Please see your international or sponsored student advisor if you have any questions about ecampus courses.

If you are trying to change your class schedule and are encountering difficulty in dropping a course in order to add another, you could be experiencing an error due to your minimum credit requirement. Try navigating to the Add/Drop Classes page in your student account and enter the CRN for the course you want to add in the same step where you drop the other course. If you continue to experience difficulty, please send your advisor an email or email cbee.advising@oregonstate.edu.