Undergraduate Advising

Please review the following to help you register as efficiently as possible.

Enroll early!!  In order to ensure you can register in the sections you want, make sure to enroll in June at your assigned appointment time. Leaving it late may mean you can't get into a course or section you want, which might result in having to deal with conflicts in your timetable.

Sections must match: Always enroll in a matching pair of Lecture and Tutorial sections - i.e. C01 with T01, or C02 with T02. 

Sections:  There may be additional sections not showing on the first page you see, so always click "Next Page" or "View All" in Mosaic to see all of the offerings.  Keep in mind that not everyone will look at those higher numbered sections, so you may find a lab that isn't crowded, therefore giving you more hands-on time and attention!

"Create My Timetable": This is an excellent tool in Mosaic to help you come up with the best timetable!  It can be used prior to the system opening for enrollment.  If using it closer to the beginning of classes, uncheck "Closed Classes" to find only the available courses/sections. Warning - conflicts (a yellow warning shield) won't show on a course if there are only SOME sections conflicting - so refer to the normal timetable in Mosaic.

Closed course: If you find that a Required course is full, contact the ECE Department immediately.  If you are supposed to take it, then we will get you into it.  If an Elective course is full, choose another Elective - you can keep watch on the system to see if a seat becomes available.  We do not have Wait Lists.

Error Messages: If you receive an error message when registering you need to take care of it before Mosaic will accept your enrollment.  Every conflict requires a completed Conflict Request Form, and every permission (consent or prerequisite waiver) needs a completed Permission Form. (See the relative section for further information and forms.)

Requests: Sometimes more than one request has to be submitted at the same time.  For example, an Overload Request does not include either a permission or conflict approval, and a Conflict approval does not include a prerequisite waiver. Obtain all the authorizations that you need as soon as possible.

Processing Time: Requests pass through the hands of several people, some of whom may be at a conference or on vacation in the summer months, so please allow time for processing. Your request will be processed as soon as possible, and you will be notified of it's completion.

Changing sections OR courses:  "Swap" don't "Drop"!  If you wish to change either a course OR a section you are in, use the "Swap" feature in the Enroll function.  That will hold the section/course you intend to drop until you are enrolled in an alternate.  It will also hold any Permission you may have been granted, whereas that will be lost if you Drop the course and you will have to request that the Permission be re-applied.

Labs: Labs scheduled for Every Other Week may not appear on your schedule's "Weekly View", but they will show on the "Monthly View".  Do not enroll in more than 1 lab per day (do not choose labs that conflict even though they are alternating weeks, because instructors may change the schedule).  Look for the lab sections with the higher number - they are often less full, which gives you more hands-on time with the equipment and more help from instructors.

BioMed students: You must enroll in "HlthSci 1BS0" first, to be able to enroll in "HlthSci 2L03".

ElecEng 4OI6 & 4BI6 capstone course: enroll in the Fall Term first (ElecEng 4OI6A / 4BI6A), then it will automatically enroll you in the Winter Term (ElecEng 4OI6B / 4BI6B).

4th year individual research project courses (4OH4 and 4OJ4): Please refer to the page for Final Year Students

Schedule Problems: We schedule courses according to each program path / layout.  With the large number of courses that we offer and the limited number of timeslots in a week, this means that if a student takes an alternate path, including failing a course, there will likely be some schedule conflict (and possibly exam schedule conflict), and it may mean that an extra term is required to catch up.  You are welcome to submit a Conflict Request if you choose to accept the responsibility of managing the conflicting schedule.

Other help: If you meet the requirements for a course but you can't enroll in it (and it's not a Closed course), or if you have any concerns about credits towards your degree, please contact the ECE Advisor in the Engineering Student Services office (Sally Williams - willsal@mcmaster.ca).  Make sure you include your full name and student number whenever communicating with us.  Please note that the ECE Department has specific Program Advisors to help you with program or course concerns (refer to the "Advisors" tab).

 For any other questions, contact the ECE UG Administrative Assistant - ugadmin@mail.ece.mcmaster.ca

Prerequisites: If you do not have a prerequisite for a course, you may request Permission to take the course without the prerequisite (waive the prerequisite). You must justify why you should be allowed to take that course without the required prior knowledge. Your academic history will be considered.  Your request may or may not be approved.

Permission: When registering for a course, if you see an Error Message saying that you need permission, it could be because you don't have the prerequisite course/s, or that the course is restricted to students in a certain program and/or level. When permission is required to enroll in a course outside of your own department, you must submit your request to the department that offers the course (please refer to their website for their process).

When requesting Permission/Waiver to take a course offered by the ECE Department, please complete & follow the ECE Permission form (below).

If you encounter a conflict in your schedule, first check the possibility of getting into a different section to eliminate the conflict. Make sure you are viewing all of the possible sections in Mosaic by clicking on View All or Next Page.

If you have a schedule conflict with two required courses, please contact the ECE Department.

If you have a conflict that involves an elective, find an elective that fits into your schedule.

If you have a conflict that cannot be resolved by the above, complete the ECE Conflict form and follow the ECE process.

If you wish to take more than 21 units in a term , you need to request an overload. To request an overload you must submit an ECE Overload request form along with your unofficial Transcript and Advising Report. Our programs are very demanding, so overloading is not always allowed - it may be denied if it is not in your best interest. Generally, for students with a GPA of 9.4 or lower, overload requests of more than 2 units per term are assessed with great consideration. Whatever the GPA, students are welcome to submit a request for overload.

Follow your program plan: The ECE Department is huge!  We offer a lot of courses in our 3 programs!  That means that scheduling them all in the week is difficult.  We can not possibly schedule everything without conflicting with something else.  But we do schedule the required courses conflict-free for each program and level.  If you veer off the normal program path (by failing a course or don't take a course when you should for some reason), you may experience conflicts in the scheduling of the course, and the scheduling of their exams.  

Program Advisors: The ECE Department has a Program Advisor for each individual program.  You are welcome to email your Program Advisor to set up a meeting with them to discuss your program or course concerns. 

Be familiar with our department website - it covers so much information you'll need from Level 2 through to graduation.

Always provide your McMaster Student ID number in all correspondence within the university.  We can't fully understand your situation without looking at your record, and we can't look that up without your ID number.  

Always use your McMaster email account for communications within the university.  We respect that your education is private and confidential, so we can not give information to a personal email address.

Like us on Facebook so you keep connected with our exciting department and the clubs/teams that you can get involved with, and find some inspiration to start the week each Monday morning!  @ecemcmaster

Please make sure that emails from "ugadmin@mail.ece.mcmaster.ca" are not going to your Spam folder, as lots of important information and opportunities are sent out by email.

Any student can request to see his/her final exam. Viewing it is free of charge, and is to be arranged between the student & instructor. If you want your exam to be re-marked:

• Be aware that the grade could go either up or down
• Go to the Engineering Student Services office (3rd floor of the Hatch Centre)
• Complete an "Examination Re-Read" form
• Take it to the Registrar's Office (GH-108) and pay $50
• Take the receipt back to the Engineering Student Services office
• The Engineering Student Services office then sends the request to the department, and we have a couple of weeks to re-grade and respond
• If the grade increases by 3% or more, the $50 fee is refunded to the student

The Re-instatement application process is handled by the Engineering Student Services office. The policy is as follows:

• FIRST WITHDRAWAL: A student who has been withdrawn once may be be reinstated once, by writing a convincing letter stating how the student has taken special steps to improve their performance in the future. Special steps may include consulting with the Center for Student Development and Learning, terminating any part-time job, consulting with a student counsellor, taking summer courses, etc. It is expected that by taking these special steps, the student's performance will improve significantly.
• SECOND WITHDRAWAL: A student who has been withdrawn twice will not be reinstated a second time based upon a convincing letter. The reason is that the first withdrawal and reinstatement did not have the desired effect, as the student was subsequently withdrawn a second time.
• If a student has been withdrawn twice, the student will now need to 'prove' conclusively that they deserve other chance. For example, a student can enroll in a community college engineering program, and get a near A average, and then re-apply to McMaster. Alternatively, a student can consult with a UG-Advisor, identify and take 3 challenging technical courses (i.e. Math, Science, Physics) at some university, and get a C- average or higher, and then re-apply to McMaster. The student is not guaranteed reinstatement, but at least the student can supply some conclusive evidence that they have overcome their difficulties. A capable student can meet the latter requirement in one term, enrolling as a special student in a university, and the latter requirement is not an onerous task. Basically, if a student has been withdrawn twice, the student needs to do much more than write a letter to get reinstated.

For more information, please contact the Engineering Student Services office.

If your question is not answered on this page, please direct your inquiry to ECE's UG Administrative Assistant. Email is the most efficient method of service.

Please provide:

Your Full Name
Your Student/Person ID number
Your Level and Program (include "CoOp", "Mgmt" or "Society" if applicable)
Relative Subject Line (i.e. "Conflict between * and * "), along with your name
Details of your question (oftentimes a problem is the result of a failed course, so please inform us if that is the case).
Attaching a copy of your Academic Advisement Report or Unofficial Transcript will assist a quick answer.

And use the complete course code (CompEng 3DR4 or ElecEng 2EI5...).