Transfer Student Frequently Asked Questions

Please check the requirements for your preferred major before enrolling in classes. The following classes must be completed:

• Lower-division Requirements (see major requirements for acceptable courses)*:
  • 2 (B.A. majors) or 3 (all other majors) Natural Science courses (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Neuroanatomy)
  • 1 Research Methods course + 1 (B.A. majors), 2 (B.S. majors), or 3 (Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience majors) additional Formal Skills courses (Calculus courses for all B.S. majors, Calculus or Logic for B.A. majors)
  • 1 Programming course
  • 1 Statistics course
• Research Requirements:
  • 2 lower or upper-division research courses (for B.S. majors only; see individual major for details)
• Upper-division Requirements (an upper-division Major GPA of at least 2.0 is required for graduation):
  • 4 Psychology** Core courses (101-108; please see individual major requirements)
  • 8*** Psychology Elective courses (distributed according to individual major requirements and numbered 110-193; PSYC 195 and AIP 197 may each be used once toward Elective requirements)

*Business Psychology majors have additional lower-division Business Fundamentals courses as well as specific sets of courses from which to choose for their upper-division coursework.

**Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience majors require a mix of Psychology and Cognitive Science classes in both Core and Elective areas. Please see the major sheet for a list of accepted courses.

***Business Psychology majors must complete 3 courses from a Business Psychology course list, 3-4 courses from a Business Management course list, and 1 additional Psychology class.

We encourage you to research the major options listed on our website and compare them to your graduate school and career goals. You should also look at classes that are of interest to you. Students may change major tracks within Psychology at any time. For more help choosing a major and classes, please see our Career Guide.

You may need to declare your major on TritonLink after classes begin. You will need to first choose Psychology and then choose your degree track. You can switch between the degree tracks in the future.

We recommend that you start with 3-4 courses during your first quarter at UC San Diego. You should work on completing your lower-division (LD) requirements and Core classes first.

• If you have completed your statistics requirement and ALL of your LD major courses:
  • 2 PSYC Core Courses (#100-108)
  • 1-2 College Requirement Courses
• If you have completed your statistics requirement and SOME of your LD major courses:
  • 1-2 LD Major Courses (prioritize PSYC 70)
  • 1-2 PSYC Core Courses (#100-108)
  • 1 College Requirement Course
• If you have completed SOME of your LD major courses but NOT completed your statistics requirement:
  • PSYC 60
  • 1 LD Major Course
  • 1 PSYC Core Course (#100-108)
  • 1 College Requirement Course

If you have declared a Psychology major upon acceptance to UC San Diego, you should expect to hear from the Psychology Department via the New Student Site/Enrollment Advising Center before your enrollment date. If you have not declared a Psychology major, or have not heard from the Psychology Department by two to three days before your enrollment date, please contact us via the New Student Site for assistance.

It may be possible for you to take an elective, but we recommend that transfer students complete their lower-division (LD) and upper-division (UD) Core requirements before taking any elective classes to ensure that they are well prepared for electives.

Please put yourself on the waitlist for the full class(es) and look for alternatives. Chances are good that space will open up for you in Psychology Core classes and in lower-division classes. Talk with the Psychology Advisors for suggestions.

You may, even if you’re IGETC certified. All Psychology majors are required to take two (for B.A. students) to three (all B.S. students, including CBN) quarters of Natural Science and two (for B.A. students), three (for B.S. students), or four (for CBN students) Formal Skills courses, one Programming course, and one Statistics course. Business Psychology majors are also required to take two lower-division Management classes. If you have not completed all of these courses at your Community College, you will need to finish them during your time at UCSD. Check your Degree Audit on TritonLink to see whether you’ve completed all of your lower-division requirements.

Check your Academic History. If your course is showing up in the list of transferred courses but only has the designation “LD” in the right-hand column, your course has only transferred in as lower-division credit.

• If you believe that your course should count toward your Psychology Department requirements, check ASSIST for equivalency first. If your class is listed on ASSIST, please send the appropriate department’s advising office a message via the Virtual Advising Center or New Student Site noting the class and that it’s listed on Assist.
• If your course is not listed on Assist, you will need to fill out an Undergraduate Student Petition form (found on TritonLink or our website) and drop it off at the department corresponding to your original course.

Please contact the Admissions office for correction of your record.

This depends on two things: your math placement exam and your graduate school and career plans.

Students planning to earn a Psychology B.A. do not need to complete any calculus courses unless required by their college or indicated by their career or graduate school plans. Students planning to earn one of our Psychology B.S. degrees (including Business Psychology) must complete at least two quarters of calculus (MATH 10 or 20 series) and may be required to complete more by their college. Students planning to earn the Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience degree will need to complete one full year of Calculus.

Students are encouraged to enroll in the appropriate level of calculus for their future graduate school and career plans. See your major and college advisors, and the Career Center, for additional assistance with choosing a math series. Please contact the Math Placement office for placement information.

TritonLink is UCSD’s online enrollment and registration system. You can check your course history, enroll in classes, and find important forms here as well as take care of many critical tasks.

• Your Academic History, found on TritonLink is a list of all of your courses that have transferred in to UCSD. Later, this will also list all of the courses that you take here. Your transfer record (near the top of the page) will list any courses that approximate exactly to UCSD’s classes on the right-hand column. Classes that don’t approximate are listed as “LD.” Classes that do will have a letter-and-number course listed below the “LD,” such as “PSYC 60” or “MATH 10A.”
• Your Degree Audit can also be found on TritonLink. Click on Degree Audit on the left side of TritonLink, and then click on the “View Audit” button. This will be your guide to finishing your requirements at UCSD.
  • The left column is your major requirements – any questions you have in this column should be directed to the Psychology Department Advisors.
  • The middle column is your college requirements, and the right column is your University requirements. Any questions you have in either of these two columns should always be directed to your college (Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Warren, Roosevelt, or Sixth).
  • Outstanding requirements are listed in red. You will see a notation of the number of courses still required.
  • Completed requirements and Work in Progress are listed in blue.

Classes taken at a Community College will only count as lower-division courses. Even if you used the same book or had the same instructor, a lower division course will never count toward an upper-division Psychology requirement (Core or Elective). This is a policy throughout the UC and CSU Systems and may not be petitioned.

As a new Transfer student, it is understandable that you would have a lot of questions about what courses to take and how to navigate the university. We suggest the following approach to finding answers:

• First, review all the information in the New Transfer Students area of our website.
• Register for our online Psychology Orientation.
  • Be sure to register for our Transfer Orientation option, as it includes additional transfer-specific information. 
• Utilize New Triton Advising.
  • Our advisors will be sending out messages to registered Psychology majors transferring this Fall.
    • Look for the welcome message in late June.
    • If you have met the July 1st deadline to send your transcripts to Admissions, you should receive a more detailed message with personalized recommendations for your Fall enrollment on or before August 15th.
    • Students not currently registered as Psychology majors may send us a message in New Triton Advising to be added to our advising list.
  • Feel free to ask us clarifying questions in New Triton Advising; we'll be happy to answer. We do request that questions about Fall enrollment be held until after we're able to review your transfer history and have given you our recommendations.

Yes. We only answer advising questions during those hours. Keep in mind that incoming Transfer students may only receive advising via New Triton Advising.

You may take any* lower-division courses for Psychology major requirements for Pass/No Pass except for Statistics. Statistics must be taken for a letter grade. Upper-division courses taken for Psychology major credit must be taken for a letter grade.

*Business Psychology majors must also take MGT 16 and MGT 18 for a Letter Grade.

Yes, you may. We recommend a minimum 3.5 transfer GPA and a grade of B or better in a Statistics class (taken at UCSD or a Community College), but all students interested in research are encouraged to apply. You will need to apply during November, but you will not be officially accepted into the program until after Fall quarter grades are released.

There will be two Honors Information Sessions during early Fall quarter, and more information and the application will be available online.

You will need to petition for each course from another four-year institution that you wish to use toward your Psychology major at UCSD. A maximum of three upper-division courses (4 units each) from outside of UC San Diego may be used toward the majors within the Psychology Department, but it is possible to transfer both upper and lower-division requirements from another four-year institution. A syllabus is required for each course, as is a separate petition form. Courses from departments outside Psychology must be petitioned with their corresponding department. Undergraduate Student Petition forms can be found on TritonLink and here.