How many courses must be completed in residence at UT Austin?
UT policy stipulates that at least half of the certificate courses (9 hours) must be taken in residence.
And, most professional schools prefer for your prerequisite courses to be taken at your four-year institution.
Please refer to this handout from the Health Professions Office for general guidelines on taking prerequisite courses outside of UT.
What is a catalog and how do I know which catalog applies to me?
Catalogs span 2 full academic years.
For example the 2014-2016 catalog covers Fall 2014 through Summer 2016.
Catalogs are released every two even years. Each new catalog contains new degrees and updates to existing degrees, policies, and procedures.
This is why it is very important to know and be familiar with the catalog under which you are pursuing your degree.
Your catalog eligibility depends on your mode of admission and whether you attended another college after graduating from high school:
1. If you attend UT Austin directly after completing high school then you would fall under the catalog that is in affect during your first semester of attendance here.
2. If you transfer into UT Austin after having attended a non-public Texas junior or senior college* or out of state college after graduating high school then you would be eligible for the catalog that is in affect when you attend your first semester at UT.
3. If you transfer to UT Austin from a Texas public junior or senior college* you would be eligible for the catalog that was in effect when you first attended the previous Texas public institution after graduating high school.
Note: If you are a student who attended more than one college after completing high school and/or have taken breaks during your academic career, determining your catalog eligibility may not be as clear-cut.
Speak with your Academic Advisor to discuss your catalog options.
* Examples of Texas public colleges include Dallas County Community College, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and University of Houston. Examples of Texas private colleges include Baylor University, Southern Methodist University, and Trinity University.
Will a pass/fail grade apply to the certificate course requirements?
No.
As the certificate requirements state, a C- or better must be earned in an approved course in order for it to count towards the certificate. Since the assigned final grade would be P, there is no way to verify that a student earned a C- or better as passing can include grades below a C-.
When must the certificate coursework be completed after I graduate?
UT policy stipulates that students may complete a maximum of 9 hours toward a transcripted certificate after earning an undergraduate degree, and these hours must be completed within one year of earning the degree.
If you completed your degree under the 2014-2016 or earlier catalog you must be sure to complete the application for transcripting which can be found certificate program website for those catalogs.
If you completed your degree under a later catalog, send an email to the certificate email account requesting your certificate be transcripted.
Be sure to include your Name, EID, Semester you earned your degree, and Catalog you completed your degree under.
Can I pursue multiple certificate credentials in addition to my major?
Taking on multiple certificates will require detailed planning to stay on track for four-year graduation. The sooner you can devise your graduation plan, the better.
Work closely with your major advisor to review and plan your remaining major requirements so you can see clearly how much space you have to add in certificate requirements.
Then work closely with each certificate office to find out all of the certificate requirements and whether there are any options for overlap. Review the certificate requirements in conjunction with your major requirements and map a plan to graduation.
Work with your major advisor if you need help planning once you know the requirements for each certificate of interest to you.
Major specific frequently asked questions
Please review the additional FAQ information below that pertains to your academic status:
You must take a minimum of 9 hours of theme courses, but you may use up to 18 hours of theme courses to fulfill the Certificate requirements. Theme courses may be transferred in as long as they are direct equivalents, though there are only a handful of courses that will work since the majority of theme courses are upper-division and/or UT specific. Options you may be able to find elsewhere include lower-division, general introductory courses like PSY 301 and SOC 302. Before taking any coursework at another institution that you hope to apply toward the certificate requirements, be sure to check the ATE site for course equivalency. Keep in mind a minimum of 9 hours of the certificate requirements must be taken here at UT Austin to meet the residency hours. Note: UT Extension does not qualify as in residence. The course being listed as an option on the certificate does not guarantee enrollment. You will need to work directly with the restricting department to see if you can add the course you want. Always have backup options that are unrestricted and be prepared to be flexible with your schedule in order to complete the certificate in a timely manner (i.e. don’t wait several semesters for a specific course to be offered, there are no guarantees that it will be offered or available; prioritize accessible courses). And remember that you can mix and match themes, so if you are trying to focus in one theme only, you may need to branch out to a different theme to stay on track with your completion plan. Remember, you can mix and match themes, so if there is a course offered in any of the themes you should take that course to fulfill the certificate requirements. Just like your typical semester registration at UT, you may not always get into your first choice course. If you are entering your graduating semester, and there is not one theme course offered that you have not already taken, please send an email to hpcertificate@austin.utexas.edu to discuss your options.
The admissions process has allowed us the abilty to provide the Biology & Chemistry departments with information about how many non-CNS students are purusing the Pre-Health Professions Certificate. You will need access to the upper division courses in these departments, they are better able to manage their enrollment to include enough seats for students outside of CNS in these pre-health classes. Without an ability to track non-CNS students who are pursuing pre-health, the departments would not be able to accurately manage enrollment and they could become restricted again. The certificate also gives us a chance to track health professions progress and prerequisite completion so we can provide stronger data for prospective health professions students. University policy stipulates that students who earn a grade of at least C- in a course may not repeat that course in the College of Natural Sciences. Each department handles its own enrollment management and determines enforcement of this policy. Please contact the department for the course you would like to retake to see if they will allow you to repeat. If you earned a C or C-, be prepared for the possibility of having to take that course elsewhere and transfer it back to UT. If you earned a D or F you may enroll for one more attempt at passing the course. Please note that Qs (drops) and Ws (withdrawals) count as attempts. If you were unable to meet the B- requirement, you may want to consider the following: Third time repeats may only be approved with documented non-academics. An appeal to take a course for the third time must be filed online for permission. If approved, you may proceed. If denied, please discuss your options to complete your prerequisites with your advisor. While the Health Professions Office does not determine your eligibility to repeat courses, if you are repeating a course for the third time you may want to meet with a coach to help you to assess your competitiveness and discuss whether you are on the right track for your health profession. For non-science majors, the application grade threshold applies. If you take a direct equivalent of M 408K/C/N or CH 301 elsewhere, you must meet the B- requirement to gain admission to the certificate. A statistics course that transfers in as M 316 may be used for your application to the Certficiate with at least a B- grade (2014-2016 catalog only), and may fulfill a health professions prerequisite for you as well. Please review your health profession's prerequisite details here: https://cns.utexas.edu/health-professions/health-profession-pathways. However, please note that CH 301 at UT has specific pre-requisites that you will need to meet: Completion of the Chemistry ALEKS with an 85% or higher. Review the readiness website for more details. Be sure to check with your UT college advisor to discuss concurrent enrollment policies in your college before taking any courses outside of UT. You may substitute your upper-division BIO and/or CH requirements for the Physics requirements. Upon successful completion of your lower-division BIO and CH requirements, you may progress to your upper-division BIO and CH. After successful completion of 18 hours of science coursework a substitution petition will be processed to count these courses in place of Physics. With satisfactory grades of at least C- in your lower-division (BIO 311C, 311D, 206L) and Chemistry (CH 302, 204) courses those departments will allow you to progress to Genetics and the Organic Chemistry sequence even if you have not yet completed Physics. Please note the CH 301 requires a B- or better grade for admission to the Certificate. Credit by exam will be accepted for admission to the Certificate for M 408C/K/N, CH 301, and M 316. Please note that if you have statistics as an option to claim, you must select M 316 if you are using it for admission to the Certificate. EDP 371 and STA 309 will not be accepted. M 316 is only an option for admissions under the 2014-2016 or earlier catalog. Before claiming credit, please review the Health Professions Office recommendations here: https://cns.utexas.edu/images/CNS/Health_Professions/PDFs/What_About_AP_IB_Credit_-_Final.pdf Usually during the first week of the initial registration access period in Fall and Spring, the Biology Separtment will restrict their upper division courses in order to ensure that their Biology major students are able to register for the courses they need. Registration restrictions for the pre-health profession related upper division courses usually become available to all students on the Thursday or Friday of the first week of registration granted there are still seats available. If you find that the restriction has not been lifted by that time, contact the Biology Department at (512) 471-4920. Summer may also be a good time to consider taking other upper-division BIO courses at UT. There are typically many offered, and more space for non-science students. Yes! Summer is a great time to fit in some additional science courses if you want to go above and beyond your prescribed prerequisites. The summer course schedule is usually published very early in April so you can see what your options are and plan ahead.
The admissions process has allowed us the abilty to provide the Biology & Chemistry departments with information about how many non-CNS students are pursuing the Pre-Health Professions Certificate and thus will need access to the upper division courses in these departments, they are better able to manage their enrollment to include enough seats for students outside of CNS in these pre-health classes. Without an ability to track non-CNS students who are pursuing pre-health, the departments would not be able to accurately manage enrollment and they could become restricted again. This also give Non-Degree seeking students an opportunity to have an Academic Advisor that can advise them course selection and help guide them department policies. University policy stipulates that students who earn a grade of at least C- in a course may not repeat that course in the College of Natural Sciences. Each department handles its own enrollment management and determines enforcement of this policy. Please contact the department for the course you would like to retake to see if they will allow you to repeat. If you earned a C or C-, be prepared for the possibility of having to take that course elsewhere and transfer it back to UT. If you earned a D or F you may enroll for one more attempt at passing the course. Please note that Qs (drops) and Ws (withdrawals) count as attempts. If you were unable to meet the B- requirement, you may want to consider the following: Third time repeats may only be approved with documented non-academics. An appeal to take a course for the third time must be filed online for permission. If approved, you may proceed. If denied, please discuss your options to complete your prerequisites with your advisor. While the Health Professions Office does not determine your eligibility to repeat courses, if you are repeating a course for the third time you may want to meet with a coach to help you to assess your competitiveness and discuss whether you are on the right track for your health profession. No. As a Non-Degree Seeker who has earned an undergraduate degree from a different institution or a former UT Austin student who completed their undergraduate degree more than 1 year ago you would not be eligible to earn the certificate. The certificate transcripting must coincide with the awarding of an undergraduate degree at UT Austin. For Non-Degree Seekers, the application grade threshold applies. If you take a direct equivalent of M 408K/C/N or CH 301 elsewhere, you must meet the B- requirement to gain admission to the certificate. A statistics course that transfers in as M 316 may be used for your application to the Certficiate (for the14-16 catalog only) with at least a B- grade, and may fulfill a health professions prerequisite for you as well. Please review your health profession's prerequisite details here: https://cns.utexas.edu/health-professions/health-profession-pathways. However, please note that CH 301 at UT has specific pre-requisites that you will need to meet: Completion of the Chemistry ALEKS with an 85% or higher. Review the readiness website for more details. Credit by exam will be accepted for admission to the Certificate for M 408C/K/N, or M 316 (for the14-16 catalog only) andCH 301. Please note that if you have statistics as an option to claim, you must select M 316(for the14-16 catalog only) if you are using it for admission to the Certificate. EDP 371 and STA 309 will not be accepted. Before claiming credit, please review the Health Professions Office recommendations here: https://cns.utexas.edu/images/CNS/Health_Professions/PDFs/What_About_AP_IB_Credit_-_Final.pdf {sliderI have completed Genetics (BIO 325). How do I register for a reserved upper division BIO course?} Usually during the first week of the initial registration access period in Fall and Spring, the Biology Department will restrict their upper division courses in order to ensure that their Biology major students are able to register for the courses they need. They will typically lift the restrictions for specifically the pre-health profession related upper division courses on the Thursday or Friday of the first week of registration granted there are still seats available. If you find that the restriction has not been lifted by that time, contact the Biology department at (512) 471-4920. Summer may also be a good time to consider taking other upper-division BIO courses at UT. There are typically many offered, and more space for non-science students. Yes! Summer is a great time to fit in some additional science courses if you want to go above and beyond your prescribed prerequisites. The summer course schedule is usually published very early in April so you can see what your options are and plan ahead. College of Natural Sciences Majors
How many hours of theme courses can I take toward the Certificate?
Is transfer credit accepted for theme courses?
How do I register for a course that is reserved?
I only need one more theme course to complete the certificate and I am graduating this semester. The course I want isn’t open or offered, what do I do?
Majors in another college
Why are non-CNS students encouraged to gain admission to pursue the Certificate?
I didn’t make the B- required in one of the qualifying admissions courses for non-science majors. Can I take the course again?
I haven’t been able to meet the grade requirement for one of the required application courses in two attempts at UT. Can I take the course a third time?
Is transfer credit eligible for the admissions requirements?
My health profession doesn’t require Physics or only requires one semester of Physics (pre-PA, pre-Pharmacy, pre-Occupational Therapy). How can I earn this certificate and ensure my access to the upper-division courses I need to finish my prerequisites?
I am not planning to take Physics until my Junior year. Can I progress with my Biology and Chemistry requirements before taking Physics?
I have AP/IB credit to claim or other credit by exam, can I count this credit toward the certificate?
I have completed Genetics (BIO 325). How do I register for a reserved upper division BIO course?
Can I exceed the minimum science course requirements for my health profession certificate?
Non-Degree Seekers
Why are Non-Degree Seeking students encouraged to gain admission to pursue the Certificate?
I didn’t make the B- required in one of the qualifying admissions courses for non-science majors. Can I take the course again?
I haven’t been able to meet the grade requirement for one of the required application courses in two attempts at UT. Can I take the course a third time?
Will I be able to earn the Pre-Health Professions Certificate as something to show professional schools I apply to?
I took a certificate course at another institution, can it count?
I have AP/IB credit to claim or other credit by exam, can I count this credit toward the certificate?
Can I exceed the minimum science course requirements for my health profession certificate?
