Undergraduate Program FAQs
- I’m trying to add a lecture/lab section to my schedule, but Athena won’t let me.
- For the intro courses, the corresponding lecture and lab courses are corequisites of one another, which means you must add a lecture section and lab section together. You can do this by selecting both sections on the Athena Registration screens, or by entering both the lecture and lab Course Registration Numbers (CRNs) on the Add/Drop screen in Athena.
- I’m trying to add a lecture and lab to my schedule, but Athena won’t let me.
- Make sure that both sections are open, that you have satisfied all prerequisites/corequisites, and that you don’t have a time conflict.
- I checked everything on the list above, and Athena still won’t let me register.
- Check to see if there is a wait list for the course. If there are students on the wait list, then seats that appear to be open may actually be held for the wait list students. In that case, each student on the list, in turn, will be given a chance to register for that seat, until the seat is filled or all waitlisted students have declined it. Only if all waitlisted students decline it will the seat actually be available to other students. More info on wait lists can be found here: https://reg.uga.edu/enrollment-and-registration/registration/waitlisting/
If you’ve checked everything and you still are not able to register, then you can contact the appropriate Undergraduate Coordinator for more help.
Physics courses: Dr. Geller mgeller@uga.edu
Astronomy courses: Dr. Magnani: loris@uga.edu
- Check to see if there is a wait list for the course. If there are students on the wait list, then seats that appear to be open may actually be held for the wait list students. In that case, each student on the list, in turn, will be given a chance to register for that seat, until the seat is filled or all waitlisted students have declined it. Only if all waitlisted students decline it will the seat actually be available to other students. More info on wait lists can be found here: https://reg.uga.edu/enrollment-and-registration/registration/waitlisting/
- I want to switch my lab (lecture) section, but I don’t want to lose my lecture (lab). How do I do that?
- If/when there is an available seat, you can "Web Drop" your current lab (lecture) section in Athena, and *before clicking on Submit Changes*, add the new lab (lecture) section's CRN to the "Add Classes Worksheet" at the bottom of the web page.Then when you submit your changes, you'll switch sections without Athena complaining that you need to drop the lecture (lab) corequisite.
- I tried to switch my lab, and it dropped me from the lecture as well. Now the course is full and I can’t get back in. Can I be added to the course again?
- We cannot add people to full sections. Please make sure to follow the steps above to switch sections without losing your seat.
- The course/section I want is full. Can I get an override to register anyway?
- We cannot override enrollment limits for a section; when it's full, it's full.Course enrollment is determined by how many lab sections we can offer. If *all*sections of a course fill up, then we request additional TA support from the Dean so that we can open additional lab sections, and that allows us to increase enrollment caps for all lecture sections of the course.
- The course/section I want is full. Can I be added to a wait list?
- For courses with wait lists, you can add yourself to the wait list through Athena. Note that for courses with both lecture and lab sections, due to restrictions with Athena, we are only able to offer wait lists for the labs, not the lectures. Details of how to add yourself to the wait list can be found here: https://reg.uga.edu/enrollment-and-registration/registration/waitlisting/
Note that for courses with lecture and lab, you may need to attempt to add both lecture and lab together to avoid other errors and be given the option to get on the wait list for the lab.
- For courses with wait lists, you can add yourself to the wait list through Athena. Note that for courses with both lecture and lab sections, due to restrictions with Athena, we are only able to offer wait lists for the labs, not the lectures. Details of how to add yourself to the wait list can be found here: https://reg.uga.edu/enrollment-and-registration/registration/waitlisting/
- I would like to retake a course to improve my grade, but I did well in the lab. Can I reuse my lab grades from my previous semester?
- If you are retaking a lab course (within 5 years) and are happy with your previous lab grade, you have the option of using your previous lab grade and not attending the lab. You must register for a lab, but you do not have to attend. (PHYS 1111 and 1211 lab grades can be used interchangeably and PHYS 1112 and 1212 lab grades can be used interchangeably.) If you want to use this option, please notify the Lab Coordinator – Dan Boyd at Daniel.Boyd@uga.edu– as soon as you register or BEFORE the end of Drop/Add so that he can make your lab seat available to another student (the sooner the better).
- I want to take/have taken a lecture-only introductory physics class at another institution. Can I take a lab by itself here and have it count as PHYS 1111/1112/1211/1212?
- We cannot combine the lab grade from UGA with a "lecture-only" grade from another school, or vice versa. Moreover, a 3-credit-hour "lecture only" physics course from other schools will not correctly transfer to UGA, and will show up on your course record as "generic physics transfer hours" (e.g., PHYS 1TXX). For more information, please see our Undergraduate Transfer Policy (link).
- I’m trying to register for a course with a prerequisite. I’ve taken/will take the prerequisite at another institution, but the credit hasn’t shown up on my transcript yet. Can I register?
- If you have taken or will take (e.g. over summer) a course which is listed as a pre/corequisite of a PHYS or ASTR class, you may be able to get an override to register for the class. You must provide verification of *registration*for the prerequisite course. A screen shot of the registration website is acceptable, but it must contain the following information:
- The name of the other institution or an easily identifiable URL.
- Your name.
- Your ID number at the other institution.
- The details of the course for which you are registered.
- If you have taken or will take (e.g. over summer) a course which is listed as a pre/corequisite of a PHYS or ASTR class, you may be able to get an override to register for the class. You must provide verification of *registration*for the prerequisite course. A screen shot of the registration website is acceptable, but it must contain the following information:
Email the screen shot, along with your name, your UGA ID number (81x), and a clear description of your request to the Undergraduate Physics Coordinator (mgeller@uga.edu). Note that the prerequisite class may need to be evaluated for transfer equivalency before the override can be made. For more information about transferring PHYS or ASTR courses, please see our Undergraduate Transfer Policy (link). For other courses, you will need to contact the appropriate department.
- I want to take an introductory physics class at another University System of Georgia (USG) institution and transfer it back to UGA. Will it count as PHYS 1111/1112/1211/1212?
- As long as you take a 4-credit combination of lecture *and*lab for the course at another USG school, it should transfer properly. All the schools in the University System of Georgia have a mutual agreement for transferability of these types of courses. Note that many USG schools number their calculus-based introductory courses differently than UGA (e.g. 2211 instead of 1211). However, you may find that, after UGA receives the credit information, the course doesn't show up properly on your UGA course record. (This seems to occur frequently with these combined lecture/lab courses.) If that happens, please contact the Undergraduate Physics Coordinator (mgeller@uga.edu) to request the issue be corrected. For more information about transfer credit, please see our Undergraduate Transfer Policy (link).
- I want to take/have taken a PHYS or ASTR course at another institution outside the University System of Georgia (USG) and transfer it back to UGA. Will it count as a UGA course?
- UGA Undergraduate Admissions maintains a transfer equivalency database (https://apply.uga.edu/portal/transfer-equivalency). If a course doesn't appear in the transfer equivalency database, it's often because no one has asked to make the transfer. In that case, you can submit a request to have the course evaluated for transfer equivalency. Please see the Undergraduate Transfer Policy (link) for details. Note that if you are planning to take a course at another institution, it is better to have it evaluated *in advance*to make sure it will transfer properly.