Skip to main content

Transferring courses from community college

Guidelines

(All courses must be UC transferrable and at least 3 semester or 4 quarter units.)

ERC Requirement Course Guidelines
MMW
Five course sequence for students entering as freshmen. (MMW 11- 15)
Two courses required for students entering as transfer students. (MMW 121 and 122)
No transferrable courses
(must be taken at UC San Diego)
Foreign Language
Proficiency Level required: completion of 3rd semester or 4th quarter course, placement into 5th quarter level at UCSD, or passing of Proficiency exam (administered at UCSD - limited languages available).
Look for:
At least 3rd semester in a sequence or at least 4th quarter in a sequence with "Intermediate" in course title.
Example: "Intermediate Spanish, "SPAN 3" (after 1 and 2 on semester).
Fine Arts 
Any 3-semester or 4-quarter unit fine art course
Look for:
Courses in Theatre (Drama), Art, Music, Film.
Example: Studio, Performance, Art Appreciation, History of Film.
Quantitative & Formal Skills
Two courses required
Look for:
"Math" courses: must be transferable and trigonometry, pre-calculus or higher.  Include: calculus, mathematics analysis, statistics, computer science (must include programming component), and formal logic (not composition courses).
Natural Science
Two courses required
Look for:
Biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, oceanography, physical geology.
NOTE: Lab courses alone will not fulfill requirement.
Regional Specialization
Only students entering as freshmen may take ONE lower division (of the three required) at community college.
Students entering as transfer students must take two upper division courses.
Look for:
Courses that focus primarily* on ONE of the following geographic regions:
Africa, The Americas and Multi-Ethnic United States, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East.
*more than 50% of the course must focus on one region.
Example: "HIST 120: Intro to Asian Civilizations" for Asia-Pacific, "CHIC 135: Chicano Literature" for Americas.

Things to remember:

  • All community college courses are LOWER DIVISION.
  • You can use http://assist.org to look up course approximations by department.
  • If you have any questions about a course's applicability to a major requirement, contact your major department advisor.
  • For GE course applicability, contact ERC Academic Advising using the Virtual Advising Center online.
    • Non-articulated community college courses will need to have ERC Advising approval to count towards a GE requirement (by petition). 
  • Community college course grade is not included in the UC GPA, but the course units will be added to student’s UCSD “Completed Units”.