First Year Student Advising Information 2025

• There are three quarters in an academic year at UC San Diego: fall, winter, and spring.  UCSD summer sessions are optional.
• Review this webpage for a detailed explanation of the quarter system. 
• A quarter is 10 weeks with final exams Week 11.
• Midterm exams may begin as early as Week 3.
• The quarter system moves quickly, so it is important that you stay prepared and not fall behind.
• For information on summer classes, visit the Summer Session website.

• When you enroll in a course with a discussion section, you are committing to both the lecture and the discussion for the entire quarter.
• The lecture (LE) is often a large group of 200+ students. The majority of courses will have a lecture and a discussion section. Not all courses have discussion sections.
• The discussion (DI) section is a smaller group of students (40 or less), usually taught by a graduate student. This is the interactive part of the course where:
  • assignments are given and collected
  • questions are answered
  • lecture material is reviewed and discussed
• You may view your final exam schedule on TritonLink as you enter courses onto your course enrollment plan.
• Check for scheduling conflicts (e.g., conflicting final exam dates).

• Math Placement Exam (MPE):  Needed to determine proper placement in precalculus course or an introductory calculus course at UC San Diego, if not yet met.
• Writing Placement Process (WPP):  Needed if the Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR) has not been satisfied.
• See Additional Placement Exams as needed.
• Please go here to see how AP/IB scores will give you credit for College GE’s.

• Your goal is to have a preliminary schedule of classes for fall.  A typical first quarter schedule consists of three or four courses, a total of 12-16 units.

  Here is an example:

  1. Lower-Division Major Course - for undeclared majors, choose a course to explore a prospective major 
  2. Major Course - a second major course, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) course, Jane Teranes Climate Change Education (JTCCER) course, or an elective course
  3. WCWP 10A or AWP 3 or AWP 4A
  4. General-Education Course (GE) – a Program of Concentration (PofC) or Area Study course
     1. Be sure to have 1-2 back up classes that have open seats. 
     2. We do not recommend waitlisting courses however if you choose to do so please go here for more information. 
     3. You must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 units to be a full-time student, wait-list classes do not count.
     4. Most classes at UC San Diego are 4.0 quarter units.
     5. We recommend that first-year students do not enroll in upper-division courses (those numbered 100+) in their first year. 
     6. We recommend using the academic plans website to help guide you on what classes to take in fall quarter. Remember these are sample plans and do not take into consideration any AP/IB/community classes you have taken. 
     7. Please go here to see how AP/IB scores will give you credit for College GE’s.
     8. When planning your schedule, consider co-curricular activities to maintain a balance with your academic schedule.

• Review the online WebReg Tutorial to learn how to enroll in classes.
• You can complete a Course Enrollment Plan on WebReg. Your planned courses are not official until you are enrolled.
• To plan a course on WebReg, type the course name in the “Search for Classes” bar at the top left of the webpage. Select the course you wish to plan and click the “plan” button.  The course will be listed on your plan.
• Make sure you have no holds on your account prior to your enrollment time.
• To officially enroll in the course, at your enrollment time, click the “enroll” button for the course.
  • Avoid classes with time conflicts including final exams.

Undeclared majors can choose courses that they are interested in taking for a possible major. They have the freedom to choose coursework that best interests them. 

• Check out this Undeclared Majors workshop for additional assistance and information. 

Students wanting to change into a selective major will need to review the screening courses, and the application process. Entrance into all selective majors requires a formal review process. Approval is not guaranteed.