Academic Advising for New Students

Review Academic Advising Services by Units to see what your College has planned for advising this summer.

To prepare for enrollment in mid-August, new students must attend a pre-enrollment webinar/part 1 of orientation with their College’s academic advising team. 

Learning Outcomes

Regardless of your College, you can expect to learn these things through new student advising:

• Meet College advising staff
• Learn about College-specific websites and resources
• Learn how to access the VAC
• Learn how to contact advisors 
• Learn the importance of checking email
• Understand the advising model at UC San Diego 
• Understand what advisors do
• Understand what a unit is and what full time enrollment means
• Understand what the quarter system is and the importance of Weeks
• Identify College general education (GE) requirements
• Understand overall degree components (major, GEs, electives)
• Transfers: understand your transfer status (IGETC, Reciprocity, or General) and its impact on GEs
• Understand university requirements (ELWR, AHI, DEI, JTCCER)
• Understand the 180 unit rule
• Choose appropriate courses to register for the subsequent term
• Know how to enroll using WebReg 
• Understand placement options (ELWR, Math) to take needed exams
• Understand first pass and second pass enrollment
• Understand how AP/IB/transfer credit applies to you
• Understand how to use Academic Plans
• Understand how to view enrollment times and holds
• Use the Schedule of Classes
• Use the University Catalog, including course descriptions and prerequisites
• And more!

New Student College Orientation is required for all incoming first-year and transfer students. Your College orientation ensures a smooth transition to your undergraduate academic career. This includes preparing for the undergraduate experience at UC San Diego by fostering connections with peers and College staff, overviewing your general education requirements and academics options, and providing key College and campus information to support you throughout your years at UC San Diego.

These in-person sessions are held in September. Registration begins in June at cor.ucsd.edu. Many Colleges also host pre-enrollment webinars as orientation part 1, typically in August. 

Colleges also have online modules through the learning management system Canvas. Students must complete these before attending in-person orientation. 

Contact your College orientation team with any questions.

• Revelle College 
• Muir College 
• Marshall College 
• Warren College 
• Eleanor Roosevelt College 
• Sixth College 
• Seventh College 
• Eighth College 

Learning Outcomes

• Students will develop an awareness of the values and culture of their College and UC San Diego community and what it means to be responsible members of their communities.

• Students will feel excitement and pride for their College through the knowledge of upcoming College events and invitations to participate in various onboarding activities, such as UnOlympics, Welcome Week, etc.

• Students will have an awareness of the academic support, co-curricular, and wellbeing resources available to them; and utilize the tools to access their resources. 

• Students will feel a sense of belonging and community developed through authentic interactions with fellow incoming students, returning students, staff, and faculty.

• Students will understand the transitional issues (social and academic) they may encounter during their years at UC San Diego and how to manage them.

• Students will understand how to physically navigate the campus and learn necessary acronyms and tools utilized by the College and UC San Diego.

At UC San Diego, students have both a College advisor and a major advisor. [What is the difference? ] Major advisors in the department/program help incoming students with major-specific requirements and answer questions about course petitions, prerequisites and sequencing, and all major or minor requirements.

Major Orientation

Orientation and enrollment guidance varies by major. To see what you need to do for your major, review Academic Advising Services by Units.

Students can submit questions to their advisors via the Virtual Advising Center (VAC) after completing New Triton Advising (available June 18).

Learning Outcomes

Regardless of your major, you can expect to learn the following topics from your department/program advisor through new student advising and orientation.

• Meet department advising staff
• Direct to major-specific websites and resources
• Understand UC San Diego's advising model
• Understand what major advisors do
• Know how to contact major advisors based on their availability
• Understand how to use Academic Plans
• Learn to submit petitions for transfer coursework
• Use the University Catalog, including course descriptions to determine and follow prerequisites
• Choose appropriate courses to register for the next term
• Identify major requirements (lower and upper division)
• Understand how to create a long-term plan
• Understand Pass/Not Pass
• And more! (Content varies by department)