Pre-requisites and Co-requisites
Non-ECE majors taking undergraduate ECE courses
Graduate Students taking undergraduate ECE courses
Undergraduate ECE students taking Graduate courses
Undergraduate Exchange Students
Substituting Tech Core Electives
The Advanced Technical Elective
Q-drops
Students in the state of Texas are allowed to drop up to a total of 6 classes before the mid-semester deadline during their academic career. To initiate a drop, students must obtain the approval of the Dean (Engineering Student Services Office).
Students will receive a Q on their transcript in the place of a letter grade. If the drop is determined to be for academic reasons, it will count toward the six-drop limit. Students who are experiencing non-academic circumstances may also talk to an ESS advisor for a non-academic exception.
The last day to Q-drop a course is the mid-semester deadline each semester. Check the long session calendar to find the mid-semester deadline for your current semester.
To start the process, students should meet with an Engineering Student Services advisor: utengineering.navigate.eab.com/app
Or visit https://students.engr.utexas.edu/academics-advising/advising to view their drop-in hours.
One Time Exception (OTE)
Undergraduate students will be allowed to drop a single class or withdraw from the University after the deadline to drop or withdraw for academic reasons under the provisions of the One-Time-Exception (OTE). The OTE may be invoked only once during the student's entire undergraduate career regardless of college the student was enrolled in at the time the exception was allowed. A student must request the OTE from Engineering Student Services office by the last class day, and forms must be returned to Engineering Student Services Office on the last class day. For information about the specific deadlines as well as advising for OTE’s, visit ESS’s info page here.
To start the process, students should meet with an Engineering Student Services advisor: utengineering.navigate.eab.com/app
Or visit https://students.engr.utexas.edu/academics-advising/advising to view their drop-in hours.
Provisions for Drops
- A student may not drop a class in which a final grade has been assigned. This will be verified by the student’s dean’s office (ESS).
- A student may not drop a class if there are any pending investigations of scholastic dishonesty for the class in question. Any drop assigned will not be considered final until any investigations of scholastic dishonesty for the class in question are resolved.
- Drops allowed under the provisions of the OTE will be considered academic drops and will count toward the six-drop limit. Students who have reached the six-drop limit are not eligible to use the OTE to drop a course.
Q-dropping a Co-requisite course
Sometimes students need to Q-drop a course that is a required co-requisite to ECE coursework. Because our co-requisite policies are strict, the ECE department requires students to first complete the below DocuSign form before initiating a Q-drop with Engineering Student Services. This form allows students to confirm their status in the ECE co-req so they can make an informed decision about their class standing.
If a student plans to also drop the ECE co-requisite course at the same time, they do not need to complete the form.
Q-dropping M 408C/K while enrolled in ECE 302/ ECE 306
Q-dropping PHY 303L/105M and/or M 427J while enrolled in ECE 411
Q-dropping M 340L while enrolled in ECE 313
Pass/Fail
ECE students are not permitted to Pass/Fail coursework that counts towards their degree.
If a student will need to retake the course for a letter grade to proceed in their degree the application will be denied. We recommend students who need to repeat a course plan to Q-drop.
PED courses will be approved because they do not count towards the ECE degree.
(From January 6, 2021 through May 28, 2021, The University of Texas had a pass/fail exemption policy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These courses are the exception and will count towards ECE degrees).
Withdrawing
If a student wishes to drop all of their courses for the semester, they may request a withdrawal. A “W” will be listed on their transcript for all classes in the semester that they withdraw.
The ECE department does not penalize students for taking a break from their studies. Students will be expected to make up any coursework (including prerequisites) that they do not complete from a dropped semester.
To start the process, students should meet with an Engineering Student Services advisor:
utengineering.navigate.eab.com/app
Provisions for Withdrawals
- Students who are requesting to use the OTE for a withdrawal will be allowed to withdraw regardless of current grades in classes.
- No instructors' signatures will be required on the form.
- Pending scholastic dishonesty will be verified by the student's dean's office with the Dean of Students Office. Withdrawal will not be approved if there is a pending scholastic dishonesty case.
Registration Times
Student’s individual registration times are determined near the beginning of each semester. Registration times cannot be altered once they are posted. Find your registration times at your Registration Information Sheet (RIS).
Course Waitlists
If a student cannot register for a required course they must attempt to add themselves to the course waitlist. Unfortunately, sometimes waitlists fill up, if this occurs, students should add themselves to another waitlist or rearrange their schedule for another section.
Academic advisors cannot add, remove, or adjust a student’s status in a waitlist.
If a student needs to enroll in a course to progress their degree or in order to graduate, students should reach out to their academic advisor for guidance.
Students who find difficulty in registering for required technical electives should email their tech core faculty mentor to discuss a course substitution (find the info in tech core SAN: “Assigned tech core and faculty mentor”). Access your SAN’s via my.utexas.edu (right hand column).
Please note that if there is an open section of the course in question, the above policy still stands, students will be directed to rearrange their schedule to fit with the open section.
Academic Advisors do not add students to full or waitlisted courses during course registration. (With some exceptions after the 4th class day, see the Closed Course request form on our Resources page)
Pre-requisites and Co-requisites
Pre-requisite and co-requisite course requirements are strictly upheld in the ECE department. Pre-reqs and co-reqs are listed on the ECE curriculum documents. Exceptions are given on a case-by-case basis and are only granted in rare, dire circumstances. Students may email their ECE advisor for guidance on requesting a pre-requisite waiver.
Failure to pass a pre-requisite course
If a student fails to pass a pre-requisite course (grade of C- or better), the student must attempt to pass the course the following semester. This may delay the student’s progress towards degree. The ECE department does not allow students to enroll in the requisite course while repeating the pre-requisite.
ECE 379K pre-requisites
As ECE 379K courses are topics courses offered on an as-needed basis, pre-requisite requirements for ECE 379K sections can change before the semester begins. To find the pre-requisite course for an ECE 379K course, students may check the syllabus repository (to see if the professor listed has offered the course before), the Tech Core Packet, or check the announcements on the ECE Canvas page for new course information (all ECE undergraduates are in a Canvas page per their year in the program). The ECE Advising staff will post an announcement with syllabus information/ pre-requisite information before the registration period opens.
Time Conflict Policy
Students can request to take non-ECE courses that are offered at conflicting times by contacting their academic advisor. This process involves getting permission from the instructors of both courses, as well as ESS approval.
Students are not permitted to take two ECE courses that are offered at the same time.
The only ECE specific course that students are allowed to request via the Time Conflict form is ECE 464. This course is offered asynchronously.
Non-ECE Majors Taking Undergraduate ECE Courses
The ECE department allows students outside of the major to request to take courses starting on the third class day of each semester.
Undergraduate Students
For ECE 302 and ECE 306:
ECE 302 and ECE 306 are available to non-ECE students during the Spring semester ONLY, depending on seat availability and students meeting the prerequisite course of M 408C.
Students who meet the prerequisites will be able to directly register for open sections beginning on the 3rd class day at 8:00am and do NOT need to visit the ECE Advising office to be added.
For ECE 333T:
ECE 333T is available to other UT Engineering majors during BOTH the Fall & Spring semesters, depending on seat availability and students meeting the prerequisite of upper division status. Engineering students who meet the prerequisite will be able to directly register for open sections beginning on the 3rd class day at 8:00am and do NOT need to visit the ECE Advising office to be added.
Successful internal transfer students who have already completed a 333T other than EE or ECE 333T must complete this appeal form to request permission from the department. Please note that once you are transferred into ECE, you are expected to complete the ECE version of 333T if you have not already taken the course.
For all other ECE courses:
Undergraduate students must complete the Non-ECE Major Course Request Form located on the Advising Resources Page to request a seat in OPEN classes. This form will open up on the third class day.
Students must fully fill out the form and must have completed required pre-requisites (or enrolled in required co-requisites) to be considered to be added to the requested ECE course. Requests will be granted on a first-come, first-serve, seat-available basis. Once a student’s request form has been processed by the department, the student will be able to add themselves to the class until the end of the fourth class day.
Please note: The ECE department does not evaluate internal transfer applications, and such, enrollment in an ECE course as a non-major does not impact your internal transfer status, nor does it provide you a guarantee of changing your major to ECE.
Graduate Students taking undergraduate ECE courses
Graduate students must complete the Graduate request for Undergraduate Course Form located on the Advising Resources Page. This form will open up on the first class day, and the ECE advising office will begin reviewing forms on the third class day. Graduate students must fully complete the form in order to be reviewed for the ECE course. Requests will be granted on a first-come, first-serve, seat-available basis. Once a student’s request form has been processed by the department, the student will be able to add themselves to the class until the end of the fourth class day if space is available.
Undergraduate ECE students taking Graduate courses
Undergraduates are permitted to enroll in graduate courses if they meet the requirements of the Dean of Engineering. Specific policies and requirements to qualify to enroll in graduate courses can be found here.
Undergraduate ECE students need to first determine if they wish to take a graduate course for undergraduate credit or graduate credit.
Undergraduate credit means that the course will count towards a BSE degree.
Graduate credit means that the course will NOT count towards a BSE degree, and the student could use it towards a future MSE or PHD at UT Austin. If you are interested in using the course towards the Integrated Masters program, you want to take the course for graduate credit.
Once a student has determined how they will use the course credit, they will need to contact the instructor of the undergraduate course to discuss if the instructor will allow the student to enroll. Once the student has discussed enrollment with the instructor, they will need to initiate a DocuSign Form. DO NOT send a DocuSign form to an instructor without FIRST meeting or discussing enrollment via email.
For Undergraduate Credit:
- Students who would like undergraduate credit for a grad course must complete the DocuSign “Reserving Graduate Courses for Undergraduate Credit”
- The form will automatically route to your ECE undergraduate advisor, (Brittney Outlaw, b.outlaw@austin.utexas.edu), the ECE Graduate Advisor (Leonard F. Register, register@austin.utexas.edu ), and Engineering Student Services.
- This form is due on or before the 12th class day of a semester and takes many days (sometimes weeks) to process. It is best to initiate the form well before the 1st class day of the semester. After the above signers review and approve the document, Engineering Student Services must finalize the request, which can take additional time as well. Please submit requests well in advance and understand that it may be some time until the form is completed. Students should NOT submit multiple requests unless there has been some technical error.
For Graduate Credit:
- Students who would like graduate credit for a grad course must complete the DocuSign “Reservation of Course for Graduate Credit"
- The form will automatically route to your ECE undergraduate advisor, (Brittney Outlaw, b.outlaw@austin.utexas.edu), the ECE Graduate Advisor (Leonard F. Register, register@austin.utexas.edu ), and Engineering Student Services.
- If you have a 2nd undergraduate major, your 2nd major will also need to approve the request, either by email or via DocuSign. Please forward your 2nd major’s permission to b.outlaw@austin.utexas.edu.
- This form is due on or before the 12th class day of a semester and takes many days (sometimes weeks) to process. It is best to initiate the form well before the 1st class day of the semester. After the above signers review and approve, Engineering Student Services must finalize the request, which can take additional time as well. Please submit requests well in advance and understand that it may be some time until the form is completed. Students should NOT submit multiple requests unless there has been a technical error.
- PLEASE NOTE: The completed form must be filed with the Graduate School in order for your credit to be applied to your record as a graduate course. After the document has been finalized by Engineering Student Services, it is your responsibility to then download and forward the document to GradStudentSvcs@austin.utexas.edu.
- For Integrated BSE/MSE students: Students in the Integrated BSE/MSE program are required to complete two DocuSign forms in order to register for graduate courses while in Stage I. Please review the Program Guide linked on the Integrated Master’s webpage for more details.
Undergraduate Exchange Students
Non- ECE Exchange students may request a seat in an open; reserved ECE course before the first class day as long as they provide adequate documentation of fulfilling required course pre-requisites. Interested exchange students may email the professor of the class with their pre-requisite information and cc Stacy Pederson (Stacy.pederson@austin.utexas.edu). If faculty approve pre-requisites and a seat remains in the course, you will be added to the course.
ECE Exchange students should work with Stacy Pederson (stacy.pederson@austin.utexas.edu) regarding their schedule.
Substituting Technical Electives
While the list of electives for each technical core is listed on the tech core packet, undergraduate students are permitted to request to substitute any ECE upper division course as a technical component elective.
Students must email or meet with their faculty advisor to discuss the substitution and receive permission, and then the department faculty advisor (Jon Valvano) and Academic Advising Coordinator will review and process the substitution.
Students requesting substitutions should complete the ABET Advising worksheet (see below) to help facilitate the discussion of course suitability with their faculty advisor.
ABET Advising Worksheet
The ABET advising worksheet acts as a guideline for students and faculty discussing substitutions. Per our accreditation rules, a student must complete 48 hours of engineering credits and 30 hours of math & basic science credits.
Students following the proscribed E E, C E or ECE degree plans (not seeking course substitutions) do not need to complete this worksheet.
View the ABET Advising worksheet here.
The Advanced Technical Elective
All ECE students must complete an advanced technical elective course in addition to the 8 advanced technical component courses. This elective can be ECE 316 (if your tech core does not require it) or any other upper division ECE elective course. This course can be an additional elective in your tech area or a course outside of your tech area.
We recommend you view the tech core packet, upcoming schedule of courses, and past course schedules to help choose an advanced technical elective.
Specific Course Policies
ECE 125S: Internship in Electrical & Computer Engineering
ECE students may register themselves for ECE 125S, they do not need to seek advising permission to enroll in the course.
This course is for students who have completed or are currently undertaking an internship in Electrical & Computer Engineering. The internship MUST have an ECE component or it will not count. Coursework consists of a technical report detailing your internship project(s) as well as detailing what you learned in the internship and how it relates to your area of study.
Students may complete ECE 125S up to 3 times for credit, however you can only take ECE 125S once per 3 month, full-time internship. Students may complete ECE 125S in the Fall, Spring, or Summer semesters. ECE 125S may count as a 1-hour Free Elective credit or 3 credits of ECE 125S may fulfill your advanced technical elective requirement.
Please note: part of this course requires you receive two documents from your internship supervisor/location: a permission form from the company and an evaluation of your technical report from your supervisor. It is your responsibility to request that information over the course of the class. If you register for the course and ultimately decide to not complete it, it is your responsibility to drop the course before the 12th class day, or you will need to use a Q-drop for this course.
ECE 333T: Engineering Communications
Starting in Fall 2021, The ECE department will no longer accept other department’s versions of Engineering Communications. All ECE students must anticipate and plan to take ECE 333T to fulfill their communications requirement, with a few exceptions:
- New internal transfer students who have already completed 333T before transferring to ECE will be approved. Please complete the appeal so advising staff can correctly code your degree.
- ECE students are also allowed to take any section of 333T during a study-abroad excursion through International Engineering Education. Please complete the appeal so advising staff can correctly code your degree.
Students who have already completed 333T or who anticipate needing to take another section of 333T must first complete this appeal form to request permission from the department. Please note that there is no guarantee that any such request will be approved.
ECE 364D Intro to Engineering Design/ECE 464(K/S/H) Senior Design Project a.k.a. “Senior Design Sequence”
ECE 364D and ECE 464 is a required 2 semester design sequence that must be taken consecutively due to group project assignments.
Students may take ECE 364 spring semester and ECE 464 the following fall semester, OR ECE 364 fall semester and ECE 464 the following spring semester.
Students cannot take a gap between the two courses, nor can they be taken at the same time. Students must have completed all required pre-requisite courses with a C- or better in order to be eligible to enroll in the ECE 364/ ECE 464 design sequence.
ECE 464(H/K/R/S) and Time Conflicts
The only ECE specific course that students are allowed to request via the Time Conflict form is ECE 464(H/K/R/S). This course is offered asynchronously. Students are not permitted to take two ECE courses that are offered at the same time.
Students can request to take ECE 464H/K/R/S and another, non-ECE course that are offered at conflicting times (or two non-ECE courses) by contacting their academic advisor. This process involves getting permission from the instructors of both courses, as well as ESS approval.
ECE 464H Honors Senior Design Project
Students who have completed honors projects in ECE 364D and who have a GPA of a 3.5 or higher may be allowed to enroll in ECE 464H Honors Senior Design Project.
Students who have completed honors projects in ECE 364D and who do not have a GPA of 3.5 or higher will enroll in ECE 464R Research Senior Design Project.
ECE 364E Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship and ECE 464S Start-Up Senior Design Project
Students who wish to enroll in ECE 364E must discuss enrollment with their instructor. Students may not take ECE 464S without first completing ECE 364E.
ECE 109K: First Year Design
First Year Design is offered in the spring semester for first year ECE students. This is a project-based class designed to give students the opportunity to connect theory and practice in a flexible, self-directed environment. Students will be provided the necessary tools and guidance to build a real world project. Students will be exposed to CAD, schematic/software design/debugging, soldering, PCB design, laser cutting, 3D printing, and more.
Students who are interested in participating in First Year Design must let their ECE 302/306 instructors know they are interested in taking the course. ECE 302/306 instructors will refer students to the First Year Design instructor. Of the referred list, 50-60 students will be invited to participate in the course and have the opportunity to register prior to the first class day in spring.
ECE x60: Special Problems in Electrical Engineering
ECE x60, Special Problems in Electrical Engineering, offers ECE upperclassman the opportunity to pursue an original investigation under the guidance of an ECE faculty member. The purpose of ECE x60 is to facilitate undergraduate participation in research.
Students interested must contact the faculty member they wish to research with and discuss that research project before they request to enroll in the x60 course. To request to register, students must fill out the ECE x60 Special Problems Course Request form, found on our resources page, implicating their project details. The DocuSign must then be signed by the participating faculty member, the faculty advisor, and an academic advisor before the student is allowed to register for the course.
Students participating in research can register for 1-4 credit hours. One credit hour is equivalent to 3 hours per week the student will engage in research.
Honors Level Coursework
For more info about ECE Honors, including application information, please visit the Honors webpage.
Registration for Honors Courses
Seats in Honors Courses (except for ECE 302H and ECE 107H) will be prioritized for admitted ECE Honors students. Remaining seats in Honors will be open on a first-come, first-serve basis for students with a B or better in their pre-requisite courses.
ECE 302H
Starting Fall 2022, ECE 302H is restricted to admitted ECE Honors students only.
ECE 107H
Starting Fall 2022, ECE 107H is restricted to admitted ECE Honors students only.
ECE 319H / ECE 312H
ECE 319H and ECE 312H are co-requisites (ECE 319K is no longer a pre-requisite for ECE 312H). There are no exceptions.
Electrical & Computer Engineering and Canfield Business Program Courses
Canfield Honors courses are closed to current ECB program students. There are no exceptions.
