Hey guys, so UCSD processed all of our AP credit and I accumulated over 50 credits, which means I’m official at “sophomore standing”. Can anyone explain to me the advantages and possible disadvantages of this?
Your “standing” (i.e. freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior standing) is determined by the number of units you have completed (either at UCSD or through transfer/AP credits). There are some classes that are only available to students with upper-class standing (junior or senior standing), and other students need department approval to get in. So if you come in as a sophomore, you will likely reach junior standing later this school year or next school year so could theoretically take these classes in your first or second year (although they will likely have other prerequisites). Some classes require freshman standing (like freshman seminars), so if you want to take a freshman seminar, you have to get pre-approved (just requires an email, not a big deal since first years are allowed in these classes). Students also get their enrollment times based on number of credits. So those with “senior standing” enroll before juniors, etc. If you come in with more credits, you enroll before students who come in with less credits (except for fall quarter of your first year).
But, really, it’s not that big of a deal what “standing” you are. I came in with sophomore standing and was junior standing by winter or spring quarter of my first year. The only time it ever affected me was when I wanted to take freshman seminars (I had to send an email to someone to get permission to enroll–the website says who to contact). It’s just a category based on the number of units you have completed. Since UCSD accepts so many AP credits, a lot of first years come in with sophomore standing. It’s one of the reasons why a lot of people may refer to people as first, second, etc years, rather than freshmen or sophomores. You can be a first year and technically have sophomore standing. It really doesn’t matter that much. If you come in with more units, you enroll earlier so that’s nice.
EDIT: Maybe it might affect declaring a major? I don’t have that much experience with that because I came in with my major declared. You have to declare a major by the time you get 90 units, but really, it takes a couple of clicks to declare or change a major so it doesn’t really matter. If you are still undecided, you could declare anything and then just change it when you decide what you want to do (as long as none of the majors are impacted).