Skip to main content
Undergraduate Education Undergraduate Education
  1. Undergraduate Education
  2. Academics
  3. Selective Major Process
  4. Selective Majors at UC San Diego

Selective Major Guidance

Beginning summer 2025, selective majors allow students to apply to switch in once per year.  Selection will be based on a point system that considers academic performance and other factors: California residency, first-generation status and Pell eligibility. Only students who have completed the required screening courses and have a minimum 2.0 UC GPA are eligible to apply.

The Application is open for Public Health majors (Transfer students only). 
Deadline: December 8, 2025. 
Apply here. 

 

 

Future Cycles:

  • Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (only Transfer students in their first year)- will open during the Winter 2026 quarter, with a deadline at the end of Winter 2026.
  • All selective majors for first-year-admitted students - will open again in Summer 2026. The application will be open by August 1 with a deadline of September 1, 2026. Decisions will be made after Summer Session 2 grades are final.

Current Selective Majors

Application & Eligibility

We use a student's admissions admit type (first-year or transfer) based on how they originally entered UC San Diego in order to determine eligibility.

All applicants

  • Students must have completed the required screening courses for the desired major with a C- or higher in each course. Students who do not complete all screening courses are ineligible.
    • Screening courses are set by individual departments to ensure students have foundational knowledge for success. See linked department pages above for a list of the screening course requirements for each major.
  • Students must have a minimum 2.0 UC GPA.
  • Must be a continuing student at UC San Diego (e.g., a new incoming student cannot submit the selective major application the summer before they enter UCSD in the Fall)

First-time First-Year-admitted students

These are students who were originally admitted to UC San Diego as First-Year students.

  • New Freshman Admits (NFRS): Students who have been enrolled for 1-6 quarters at UC San Diego (not including summer) may apply, typically after their first or second year.  
    • Note about counting quarters: Eligibility extends to students who are full-time or part-time during Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. Summer quarters are not counted. Quarters with full withdrawal or non-enrollment do not count.
  • When to apply: Applications for students originally admitted to UC San Diego as first-year students will be open once per year between summer and fall quarters.
    • Available: by August 1 - will be posted on this page.
    • Deadline: September 1 each year.  
  • When to expect final decisions: Decisions will be made after UC San Diego Summer Session grades are finalized.  
    • Students will be notified of their selection status shortly before the Fall quarter begins. If offered a spot, students will need to accept the offer by a given deadline.

Transfer-admitted students 

Transfer Students (TRAN): Transfer students do not typically change their majors after matriculation because of the impact on their time to degree.  For Fall 2025 and after: Transfer students admitted to UC San Diego Fall 2025 and after will no longer be allowed to apply to selective majors in the Summer application cycle after their first year. Selective majors may opt to admit Transfer students after the Fall or Winter in their first year at UC San Diego but are not required to do so.

Currently, only Public Health and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering have application cycles for continuing students originally admitted to UCSD as Transfer students. All other selective majors will not allow continuing Transfer students to apply for selective majors.

  • Public Health will have a cycle for Transfer-admitted students between Fall and Winter quarter for Transfer students who have been enrolled at UCSD for 1 quarter (e.g., at the end of Fall 2025 for Fall 2025 admitted transfer students).
  • Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering will have a a cycle for Transfer-admitted students between Winter and Spring quarters for Transfer students who have been enrolled at UCSD for 2 quarters  (e.g., at the end of Winter 2026 for Fall 2025 admitted transfer students). 

Selection Process

Selection into the selective major will be based on a point system. Students with the highest number of points will be selected into the major until the number of slots available is reached.  Points are awarded based on the following:

  • 3.0 GPA or Higher average for major screening courses taken at UC San Diego: 1 point
  • California Residency: 1 point
  • Pell Grant Eligibility: 1 point
  • First-Generation College Status: 1 point (Based on initial UC San Diego application information)

Tiebreaker: When students at the cutoff boundary have the same number of points, students will be selected from this group via a uniform random process.

See the FAQ page for questions about how points are determined.

To see previous year's selection statistics, see here.

Alternative Major Options for Selective Majors

If you are not selected into a selective major, please consider one of these alternative options.

Not sure yet which major to choose? Explore your options.

Review the full list of UCSD majors.

Questions?

Start with our FAQ page for answers to many common questions.

For questions about screening courses and the timeline to plan courses, students should contact the department advisors via the Virtual Advising Center.

For questions about the selective major application process and policies not answered on this page or the FAQ page, students should contact selective-majors@ucsd.edu.