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Single Most Important Factor When Ranking UCSD Colleges

September 24, 2022
Freshman Applicants, Transfer Applicants

Confused about the college system at UCSD? You are not alone! Each of the 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 colleges in descending order of preference.

UCSD Freshman General Education Requirements

Although the new Eighth College will welcome its inaugural class in Fall 2023, UCSD has not yet (as of 9/24/2022) updated any of its resources with information regarding the college. All resources referenced below only include the existing seven colleges (as of 9/24/2022).

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 the existing 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 the colleges.

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UCSD Transfer General Education Requirements

UCSD has clarified at the UC Ensuring Transfer Success conference (9/13/2022) that the new Eighth College will welcome its first transfer class in Fall 2025 (although Eighth College appears in the Fall 2023 UC Application for transfer applicants).

All 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.

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!

Questions or Comments?