Spring 2020 P/NP Policy for CogSci Major Courses

April 3, 2020

As you may be aware, the UC Berkeley campus has made the default grading option for every course this term P/NP. You also have the option to select a letter grade option by May 8, 2020. The Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Programs (ISSP) which houses the Cognitive Science major, will accept P/NP grades for all lower-division and upper-division courses that count towards the major for the spring 2020 semester ONLY. This includes courses taken at UC Berkeley as well as at other universities and community colleges. Again, we want to assure you that classes taken this semester towards the current or legacy majors as mentioned above will satisfy major requirements even though you received P grades. 

You still have the option to change your grade to a letter grade if you choose but we will honor P/NP grades for all coursework for the major including the courses required to declare the major (calc, data 8, CS61A/Engin 7). All students are encouraged to keep their classes P/NP in Spring. This will allow you energy to deal with the stress of the Covid-19 pandemic and to focus on learning more than grades. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because P/NP grades do not impact your GPA, if you were counting on receiving a letter grade in any courses in order to impact your GPA, please carefully consider if you'd like to make the change to a letter grade and consult a GPA calculator to help inform your decision. 

Thank you for your resilience during this difficult and challenging time and we wish you good health.

Please refer to the Center for Teaching Learning's FAQ regarding Spring 20 grading for useful information.