Course Substitution Petitions

A Course Substitution Petition may be used to:

1. Apply a transferred course from a community college or other university toward a requirement on the Philosophy major or Philosophy minor

2. Apply a course within UCLA but outside of the Philosophy department toward the Philosophy major or minor

Information

• Substitutions are considered by faculty on the basis of content, demonstrated engagement of original texts, and the level of rigor of the course. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

• If you are a Philosophy major or minor, none of your group requirements can be fully satisfied by courses outside of the UCLA Philosophy department. Majors must take at least one course from each of the four groups at UCLA, and minors must take all three group requirements at UCLA.

• We look at substitution requests for Phil 7, 21, 22, and 31 very closely, but are more flexible with the “one additional lower division” requirement.

• We very rarely approve substitutions for Phil 100A, 100B, or 100C, but certainly try!

• Substitutions using a lower division course to fulfill an upper division requirement are typically not approved. If approved by the Philosophy Department, the decision will be subject to additional approval by the College.

• Decisions on courses that have not yet been posted to the degree audit are tentative pending evaluation of transferrability and course level designation (upper vs. lower division) by the admissions office.

  • If the course is articulated on assist.org, please contact the Staff Undergraduate Advisor in Dodd 329 or at philcounselor@humnet.ucla.edu with a printout or screen capture from assist.org. The course will be automatically approved—no further action is needed.
Instructions

To submit a course substitution petition please follow the instructions below:

  • Self-enroll in the BruinLearn “Course” here – https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/enroll/RFTWFC
  • Log in using your UCLA Logon ID.
  • Go to the upper right-hand corner of the page, and select “Enroll in Course”
  • On the next page, select “Go to the Course”
  • Please read the Petition Use, Instructions, and Other Information sections before proceeding to the Undergraduate Course Petition link.
  • Click the Undergraduate Course Petition link once you have read all information.
  • Download the Course Substitution Petition, available in PDF or Word document formats.
  • After completing your petition(s) and collecting the required syllabi, click Start Assignment to submit your petition materials.
  • Select “Choose File” to upload a document, and “Add Another File” to upload multiple documents.
    • Multiple petitions/syllabuses must be submitted at once. Once you have completed your submission you will not be able to submit any additional petitions.
  • Please make sure to complete and attach a completed course substitution petition and the course syllabus for each course you are petitioning.
    • Written work and other materials may also be included if the syllabus is sparse.
    • If you are petitioning a course to as equivalent to Philosophy 22, make sure a list of works read is included in the syllabus. If not, you must submit a reading list with your petition.
    • If you are petitioning a course for Philosophy 31, please be sure to include the final exam and/or other coursework.
  • When you have finished uploading all of your materials and making modifications and/or comments, select Submit Assignment.

*Please allow for 4–6 weeks for a decision from faculty. You will receive a BruinLearn notification with a decision. If approved, please check that the substitution is properly listed on your degree audit report.