The UCSD College System

The University of California, San Diego comprises six colleges. Part of the academic life of each undergraduate is in the College and part is in the general University. The requirements to complete a major are determined by the academic department and most courses are open to the entire University. For example, the Political Science Department (and not the College) determines the course requirements for a major in Political Science/International Relations, and a Calculus course will enroll students from all the Colleges (and the instructor could be from any College). On the other hand, the Colleges have distinct graduation requirements, and most Colleges have a core course required of all its students (e.g., The Humanities Sequence at Revelle). Each College administers its own advising unit, student affairs unit, student government, student publications (and TV station) and housing & dining program

College administrators are fond of saying that a student can graduate with any major from any of the six colleges, and that is true. Indeed, students graduate from each College with most every major the University offers. But it is also true that the General Education requirements and the philosophy of a College suit some students and some academic disciplines better than others.

Why Come to Revelle College

Academic Heritage: Revelle College, the first college at UCSD, was founded in the early 1960's when nationally the Great Books Programs, piloted by The University of Chicago and Columbia University, influenced Humanities curricula; and a post-Sputnik resurgence of Science and Mathematics shaped Universities' technical programs. The original Revelle College faculty believed that the educated American should be acquainted with the specific and fundamental disciplines: all graduates should know some of the literature, art, science and social issues that define our culture.

As the first College, Revelle College has a dedicated cadre of senior faculty loyal to the Colleges classical education. For example, the College's core course, the Humanities sequence, has the highest percentage of senior faculty instructors of all the University’s core courses, and the Revelle faculty has included Nobel Prize winners such as Harold Urey and Francis Crick.

Academics Disciplines and Courses at Revelle College: The standards of the faculty are reflected in the College’s high quality, specific and exacting Revelle College General Education Requirements. The required curriculum comprises a serious introduction to Mathematics, Science, writing, Humanities and a foreign language. Truly students with interests in all academic disciplines do well at Revelle, but all students should be prepared to take a year of Calculus (there are two tracks —the Math 20 series for those who will use Mathematics professionally in their careers, and the Math 10 series that provides an overview of Calculus), the five quarter Humanities sequence with an integrated intensive writing program, and the equivalent of a fourth quarter of a foreign language.

Usually 65-70% of Revelle students graduate with a science or engineering major; 20-30%, with Social Science majors, and 10%, with Arts and Humanities majors.

A high percentages of Revelle College students enroll in graduate or professional schools (Law, Medical, management etc.), graduate with double majors, design individualized interdisciplinary majors, work on a research project and graduate with University honors,

Revelle College student life: The ample residence hall rooms (the most of any College at UCSD) are located between the meeting area of the Revelle Plaza, the grass field of the LaJolla Project (AKA Stonehenge), the outdoor basketball courts, and CLICS, the student computer service that is also the most popular late evening study area at UCSD. We are a two minute walk to the professional theater district (that includes the LaJolla Playhouse Theater), a ten minutes to the Scripps Aquarium, fifteen minutes to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and 20 minutes to the Pacific. We hold the oldest traditions on the campus (Revelle’s Birthday party, and the watermelon drop), and for the last two years Revelle students have won the annual intra-college “unolympics” competition. The College Student Affairs Unit administers student government, a one-on-one student mentoring program, psychological services, a writing tutoring program, a public speaking program, the free loaner “yellow bike” program, and a leadership program. The Academic Advising Unit is the most experienced on campus and provides the opportunity for individual advising with a personal advisor.

Academic Preparation: New First Year New Freshmen should be prepared to take Calculus (there are two Calculus tracks), and the equivalent of four quarters of a foreign language,

Transfer students are not automatically excused from all Revelle College General Education Requirements. Transfer students will need to satisfy the Science (five quarters), language (four quarters) and Calculus (three quarters) requirements. Most (but not all) transfer students who completed the TAG program will have completed these requirements in their community college; many who completed the IGETC program will not.