Enrollment FAQ

Please refer to this enrollment guide: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/academics/regis trar/registration/ If you still have questions after reviewing, please contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar@law.berkeley.edu

During Phase I, you can enroll in eight units total (including waitlisted units) so you should prioritize the courses you want to take most. For spring enrollment, 1Ls should enroll in their electives in Phase I. Check CalCentral for your appointment times and unit limits.

Phase I lasts from your appointment time until 11:59pm the night before your Phase II appointment. You can change your eight units at any time during that period.

During your 1L year, you cannot take any non-law courses. 2Ls, 3Ls, and LLMs may use Phase I to enroll in a non-law course but it is important to keep in mind that using those units for a non-law course will reduce the number of law courses you can enroll in during Phase I. It may be helpful for students to meet with an advisor to discuss whether to

enroll in these units in Phase I or Phase II. JD students should reach out to Student Services to discuss your schedule. LLM and JSD students should schedule an appointment with an ADP advisor through the Make An Appointment link on your ADP bCourses site.

If you’d like to set up an advising appointment to discuss your schedule, please make an appointment with an advisor. JD students should schedule an appointment with someone in Student Services. LLM and JSD students should schedule an appointment with an ADP advisor through the Make An Appointment link on your ADP bCourses site.

No. The system will not allow you to enroll in two sections of the same course. One of the following three things will happen (depending on the order of your enrollment): 

1. If you are waitlisted for one section and then enroll in another section, you will be dropped from the original section’s waitlist. 
2. If you are already enrolled in one section and then you join the waitlist for another section, you will be moved up the waitlist but then your enrollment will be stuck because the system won’t allow you to enroll in both.
3. If you are on the waitlist for two sections, you will be moved up until you’re enrolled in one section and then dropped from the waitlist of the other section.

If you are waitlisted for one section of a course and enroll in another section of the course as backup, the system will automatically drop you from the waitlisted section of the course. Do not enroll in another section of the same course if you want to stay on the waitlist. Remember, if you try to enroll in two sections of the same class, one of the following three things will happen (depending on the order of your enrollment):

1. If you are waitlisted for one section and then enroll in another section, you will be dropped from the original section’s waitlist. 
2. If you are already enrolled in one section and then you join the waitlist for another section, you will be moved up the waitlist but then your enrollment will be stuck because the system won’t allow you to enroll in both.
3. If you are on the waitlist for two sections, you will be moved up until you’re enrolled in one section and then dropped from the waitlist of the other section.

Waitlists run automatically in chronological order. As long as a student doesn’t have a time conflict or is not enrolled in another section of the class, the system enrolls everyone in the waitlisted order. If a student has a time conflict, the waitlist will enroll everyone in order until the time conflicted person reaches #1. Since that person cannot enroll into the class because of the conflict, that student will stay at #1 and the students next on the waitlist will be enrolled into the class.

Waitlists run automatically in chronological order; however, if you are enrolled in a course that has a time conflict with your waitlisted course, or are enrolled in another section of the class, you will get stuck at #1 and not move into the class. If you do not have a time conflict and see the waitlist number decreasing without your spot on the waitlist moving up, it means students lower down on the waitlist have decided to drop from the waitlist.

You can check your waitlist position in CalCentral. In CalCentral, on your My Academics page, click on the current semester. This will give you a list of all of the courses you’re enrolled in as well as your waitlist positions.

Yes. Units from waitlisted classes count towards your total unit limit during each enrollment phase. You are limited to eight total units in Phase I and sixteen total units in Phase II.

Not necessarily. Only courses designated as Option 1, Option 2, or Option 2A in the Schedule of Classes can fulfill the writing requirement. You can search for courses that fulfill the writing requirement by clicking on ‘Special Notes’ and selecting the requirement.

Option 2A classes require that every student in the class write a 30 page paper. Only students who submit drafts for comment and revision will satisfy the writing requirement. If you want writing requirement credit, talk to your professor early to find out if you can satisfy the requirement and if so, to agree on a schedule for submitting your draft, receiving comments, and submitting your revised final paper for credit. Once you’ve completed the work, your professor must sign the writing requirement completion form to attest that you have satisfied the requirement. Here is the link to our DocuSign Enabled Writing Requirement Completion Form, which allows both you and your professor to digitally sign, and will go directly to the Registrar’s Office for processing.

No. Due to ABA rules about attendance, you cannot enroll in two courses that have any sort of overlap. The system will prevent you from having any time conflicts in your schedule.

You will move up to position one on the waitlist but not be enrolled until you drop the conflicting course. See above for more information on waitlists.

JD students can earn credit towards their degrees by doing a research project (Law 297), a group research project (Law 298), or independent research and writing project (Law 299) with a faculty member. You will need to work directly with the faculty to arrange such units. To officially enroll in these units, you’ll need to submit a JD 297-299 petition to the Registrar’s Office.

2L/3L JD students and LLM students can receive credit for taking non-law classes. JD students are limited to 18

non-law/non-classroom units (https://www.law.berkeley.edu/wp-content/upl oads/2020/06/JD_Units_Restriction_Summar y2020.pdf), and LLM students are limited to 4 units. Students must submit academic rules petitions to have non-law classes count towards their degrees.

There are many opportunities for students to earn credit through clinics and field placements. Students should attend the information sessions or contact the clinic or field placement program directly. Most require an application and enrollment in both a seminar and in clinic or placement units: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/field

-placement-program/ https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/clini cs/

If you are a 2L, 3L, or LLM interested in enrolling in a journal, please reach out to the journal’s Editor in Chief. The Editor in Chief will provide you with the journal’s five digit class number so you can add the course through CalCentral.

You can add and drop classes during your enrollment appointments which are listed on your ‘My Academics’ page in CalCentral.

Your enrollment card on the right will list the start of your appointment(s) and how many units you will be limited to. The appointment will end at 11:59pm if you have a second appointment and on the listed add/drop deadline

First, please check your appointment in CalCentral to make sure that you have an enrollment appointment and are enrolling at the right time (all appointments are Pacific time) for the correct amount of units. Also, make sure you are not trying to enroll in overlapping classes. If you are still stuck, please email the registrar’s office staff at: registrar@law.berkeley.edu If there is a systemic problem, we will email you with information on the problem.

Generally, a student should enroll in 10-16 units per semester in order to be considered full time. Other restrictions apply to the different degree programs. JD students should schedule an appointment with someone in Student Services. LLM and JSD students should schedule an appointment with an ADP advisor through the Make An Appointment link on your ADP bCourses site.