Single Most Important Factor When Ranking UCSD’s Seven Colleges
Confused about the seven-college system at UCSD? You are not alone! Each of the seven colleges has its own theme, general education requirements, traditions, and student body. How do you make order out of chaos? Focus on the general education requirements because that directly affect the number and the type of courses you have to complete at UCSD (and, to some extent, the flexibility you have to take other classes you may be interested in)!
Keep in mind that you may not get your first (or second, or third) choice, so make sure you rank all seven colleges in descending order of preference.
UCSD Freshman General Education Requirements
You may find a comparison chart from UCSD here (compares up to three colleges at a time) to see the composition of different courses (by subject/discipline) required at each college (most colleges let you “double dip” between your general education and major preparation requirements). I also recommend looking at the requirements of each college for specific course information (below).
Prefer a shortcut? Purchase a side-by-side comparison chart of all seven colleges here for $10 (on the PayPal payment confirmation page, scroll down and click “Return to Merchant” button to access download – please note, purchase of a digital product is NONREFUNDABLE) that will show you the number of math/science courses (seems to be the deciding factor between STEM and non-STEM students), as well as the total number of general education courses, required at each college.
- Marshall College
- Muir College
- Revelle College
- Roosevelt College
- Seventh College
- Sixth College
- Warren College
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UCSD Transfer General Education Requirements
All seven colleges require you to complete additional general education requirements after you transfer to UCSD. I recommend looking at the general education policy for each college (below) to figure out the required coursework in addition to IGETC (there is also information for students without IGETC).
Prefer a shortcut? Purchase my resource guide here for $10 (on the PayPal payment confirmation page, scroll down and click “Return to Merchant” button to access download – please note, purchase of a digital product is NONREFUNDABLE) that will show you the number of additional general education courses required at each college.
- Marshall College
- Muir College
- Revelle College
- Roosevelt College
- Seventh College
- Sixth College
- Warren College
Know someone who can benefit from this information? Share the page with family and friends using a button below!
Help support this blog by making a contribution today! Any amount is greatly appreciated!
4 Comments
Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.
The Gen Ed requirements are one concern – the other is housing. Some of the freshman or transfer housing is newer or nicer – some is further away from different majors. Currently, there is only a one year guarantee – some students are in overflow housing so it might not be as important but it probably should be a consideration since it could make a difference for at least the first year there if you are not planning to commute.
The only reason why I even advise students on the UCSD colleges now is because I have met people who were stuck in UCSD and couldn’t graduate for a long time because they couldn’t pass some of the required general education courses. One specific example is a young man I met who told me he was at UCSD for almost four years (he was a transfer student so his normal time to graduation should have been around two years) because he had a lot of trouble passing all of general education courses Revelle required. I have worked with a lot of humanities kids who really struggle with math and would likely get stuck because they couldn’t get passing grades in calculus (or any of the prerequisites leading up to calculus) in some of the UCSD colleges that require those courses. This can be financially catastrophic since every year a student is stuck will cost another $30,000+ (in-state) or $60,000+ (out-of-state).
All of this information is available for free if you connect with the admissions office…
Most of the links in this post direct students to the UCSD website, where the information is available. I’m all for DIY, but the only reason I even have a business is because parents and students came to me and asked to pay for my advice (what am I going to do, say no to people who want to give me money?). I only provide a supply when there is a demand, and there was a specific demand for help on ranking UCSD colleges. My sincerest apologies if this offends you (out of curiosity, are you also offended by food/grocery delivery services, since we can all go to the restaurant/supermarket ourselves?).