Frequently Asked Questions: Prospective Students

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT UCSD?

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WHAT DISTINGUISHES REVELLE?

Revelle College, the oldest at UCSD, has tightly structured curriculum requirements, an internationally recognized faculty and students with unusually successful records of admittance to graduate and professional schools. The College's general education requirements are partitioned into roughly one third each of: Mathematics and Natural Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; and Fine Arts and Foreign Languages. Students usually concentrate their upper-division course work on professional studies in their major.

Explore and compare the six colleges by visiting the Undergraduate College System page

WHAT MAJORS ARE AVAILABLE AT UCSD?

UCSD’s twenty-five academic departments and twenty-two programs offer over one hundred and twenty majors. Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Bioengineering accept students into their program only at the time of admission to the University.

Students graduating in almost every major can enroll in Medical, Law and business schools. For example, the most common undergraduate majors for medical students are biology, chemistry, bioengineering and psychology, but increasing numbers of premedical students are electing non-science majors.

Undergraduate Majors at UCSD

WHEN IS PLACEMENT TESTING?

Students will be enrolled in UCSD introductory chemistry, language (French, Spanish, Italian, German) and mathematics courses in accordance with their scores on U.C. Administered placement examinations, AP Exam scores (not just an AP course), or U.C. Transferred course credit.

The placement exams should be taken before enrollment. Students admitted for the winter quarter should also take these tests. The results of these exams are not recorded on a student’s transcript.

The chemistry and language exams will be available as part of the online academic advising process, which begins in late July. Each exam is 30 minutes long. The Online Placement questions will lead you through exemptions and determine which (if any) exams you are required to complete. Students should review material and prepare for the exams. Students can not enroll in a course higher than his or her placement score merits.

Mathematics placement testing will be offered as a written test (90 minutes) in May and June at sites throughout California. You are strongly encouraged to take this placement exam; those without it may have trouble enrolling in their classes for the Fall quarter.  The Math Testing Web Site lists times, places and maps. For those who live far from the sites, math placement testing will also available the evening prior to and after orientation. We urge you to take one of the May/June tests.

HOW AND WHEN WILL I ENROLL IN CLASSES?

Students will receive information concerning online enrollment through the summer orientation sessions and through the New Student Web Site.

HOW WILL THE AP AND IB EXAMS I HAVE TAKEN AFFECT MY SCHEDULE FOR 1st QUARTER AT UCSD?

Students will receive 4 to 8 units of university credit for AP examinations in which they earn a score of 3, 4, or 5; 8 units of credit for a score of 5, 6, or 7 on the Higher Level IB exams (no credit granted for Standard Level exams). These credits can exempt students from placement testing and count toward the total units required for graduation. Most can be used to meet college or department requirements other than humanities/writing. Refer to the AP chart or theIB chart for Revelle if you have any questions.

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT REGISTRATION FEES AND ESTIMATED COSTS FOR UCSD?

View the UCSD Undergraduate Basic Budget.

WHEN WILL I HEAR ABOUT MY FINANCIAL AID AND/OR SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION?

All admitted students can view their financial aid status by accessing TritonLink

All on-campus housing facilities are equipped with data service through cable data modems. The cost of the data connection is included in the housing payment. For students living off campus please view our Connedting From Off Campus information, for on-campus accounts see ResNet. All students are assigned E-mail accounts.

The newly renovated Center for Library and Instructional Computing Services, CLICS, is adjacent to the Revelle residence halls, and has one hundred eighty computer terminals, study rooms, a reference collection, popular reading materials and a popular computing collection, as well as magazines and newspapers.

WHAT KINDS OF STUDENT ACTIVITIES ARE AVAILABLE?

A wide variety of student activities and programs are available at UCSD. Many are college-based; others offer the opportunity for campus-wide involvement. Events in the Revelle Plaza, commuter breakfasts, community service projects and programs focusing on student leadership, increasing cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity, and campus pride and spirit are but a few of the hundreds of activities available within Revelle College. Committee positions and leadership opportunities abound for both resident and commuter students. The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) gives students the opportunity to further develop their leadership skills and the One-on-One Program matches new students with current Revelle students for the first year. In addition to college programs and activities, there are many opportunities available for involvement campus-wide with over 450 student organizations, including student publications, student government, intercollegiate athletics, state of the art campus recreation facilities, a dance studio, and fraternities and sororities. Check out our Revelle student committee web pages.

WHEN MAY I VISIT THE CAMPUS?

A) Attend Freshman Admit Day and for a college session, a tour of the residence halls, and department presentations.
B) Attend Transfer Admit Day and for a college session and department presentation.
C) Attend an Admitted Student Information Session.
D) Student-led campus tours are also available Monday through Saturday beginning at 11:00 a.m. For more information, see Campus Tours.