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Undergraduate Academic Advising Advising
  1. Undergraduate Academic Advising
  2. Students
  3. Courses and Enrollment
  4. Quarter System

Quarter System and Units

UC San Diego's academic calendar operates on the quarter system. Each quarter is 10 weeks. The quarter system moves fast!

  • Fall quarter: Late September – December (Continuing students enroll in May for Fall classes. New incoming students enroll in mid-August.)
  • Winter quarter: Early January – March (students enroll for Winter classes in November)
  • Spring quarter: Late March – June (students enroll for Spring classes in February)
  • Summer quarter (optional): two sessions that are each five weeks long. Session 1 is July – August, and Session 2 is August – September. Continuing students can enroll in April.

Full time enrollment is 12 units each Fall, Winter, and Spring quarter. Most students take 12-16 units each quarter. To graduate in 4 years, students would need an average of 15 units each quarter. Full-time enrollment in Summer is 6 units total.

One unit equals one hour per week of in-class instruction. Most UC San Diego classes are 4 units. For each unit, expect to spend 2-3 hours each week outside of class doing homework and studying. This means for a 12-unit full time course load, most students have 3 classes. They spend 12 hours each week in class and should be studying 24-36 hours per week outside of class. This workload can change, depending upon course content and the professor’s requirements.