Thanks for sharing that. I saw it before, but I didn’t really understand it at the time. The low acceptance numbers of continuing student transfers is a little worrisome. But I also think that if my son had to stay in aero, he wouldn’t be terribly unhappy. (I also don’t know how all these 17 YO kids can possibly know with certainty which engineering speciality is right for them before they even start college.)
I would also suggest talking directly to the department, just in case there is an easier way to switch between Aero and MechE.
As far as I understand it, the process appears to be non-holistic. They compute a GPA in the screening courses for the target major, and then admit the students with the highest screening GPA. If several students have the same screening GPA and they don’t have enough space for all, they select between those students by lottery. (If someone here has different information about this process, please speak up! 
)
This is an old document from 2017 when they eliminated the ability to change majors into CS. It sounds similar to the scenario you are looking at.
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I hope it’s not strictly GPA based to transfer, as I’ve promised my son that he no longer has to get all As once he gets to college. 
There’s a virtual event next week with the MAE department, so I’m hoping he gets a chance to ask there.
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@Teacher-mom I am also a U of A grad (in the 80’s) and my college experience was very different than my sons. My oldest is a UCSD grad and he was over last night and I asked him if he had regrets and he said he loved college and had the best time. He was not looking for the big football rah rah school so it was perfect for him. And he said there were always opportunities to party when they wanted to.
The only UC’s which are big sports schools are UCLA and Berkeley(although even that is only partially true for Berkeley That being said, my middle who is at UCLA loves the school because he wanted the whole frat scene and sports/rah rah. My third is one is on the fence between Davis and UCSD. I wish these stupid reputations would change - UCSB is University of Casual Sex and Beer and many think all the students do is party there. All of us on this thread know how hard students have worked to get into UCSB. And for UCSD, calling it socially dead is so frustrating as our kids decide which college to attend. I hate for them to pass up such an incredible school. And an FYI, my son who graduated three years ago had no issues with getting a job. Having UCSD on his resume was a real bonus.
College is what the students make of it. The best thing about college is there are no cliques and the kids will find their peeps. I know we are all agonizing with our kiddos right now, but once May 1 comes and they commit, it will all come together. It is not where you go, but what you do with it!
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I do believe it’s strictly GPA based at this time, but please do come back and let us know what he finds out!!
As an example (and this may be slightly different from MAE, I don’t know), here is the capped major application process explained for the Data Science major: https://datascience.ucsd.edu/capped-major-application/
Selection Process:
- Students will be ranked based on their GPA in the 3 screening courses: (MATH 18 or MATH 31AH), (MATH 20C or MATH 31BH), and DSC 10.
- Grades from transfer credit will be used in calculating the GPA for the screening courses, but not overall GPA.
- Students with the same GPA in the screening courses will be ranked by their overall GPA.
- Students will be admitted according to their ranking based on the number of available seats. If there are more students at a given rank than available seats, random selection will be made from among the students at that rank to fill in the remaining seats.
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We are going to miss the Triton day. Any tips on how to self tour the campus? On a weekday vs the weekend. Thanks
San Diego is a biotech hub city. Opportunity for internship is tremendous.
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Great points. My S23 is also on the fence between Davis and UCSD. I have been trying to explain the benefits of having a UCSD degree especially in a biotech hub city such as San Diego. I’m hoping Triton Day alleviates some of his hesitancy about the social atmosphere…
He would be studying Human Biology at UCSD if he picks there, with possibly a pre-med pathway. Could anyone speak to the potential opportunities for someone that graduates with a Human Bio degree at UCSD, if let’s say by their junior or senior year decide they don’t want to pursue medical school? Meaning, finding employment after graduating with a Biotech company, or in research, or grad school, or other transferable career? (Stories to share with him would be helpful)
He has a lot of what-if’s, and I am trying to help him see the value of a UCSD bio degree overall, worse case scenario. Wanting him to keep an open mind with positivity in making his decision. 
Thanks
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It’s one of the UCs our daughter is strongly considering, so much so that we’ve prioritized going to Triton Day over other admitted student days because we can’t be everywhere all at once in different parts of California. She’s not a big party kid anyway, but she did raise the fact that there is a reputation along those lines, and my sense is that it could be related to a few things: 1) not really a Greek scene right there on campus (which I think is a good thing! and she’s not going to care about being in a sorority); 2) not a big rah rah sports team school with a football program (but I reminded her that she couldn’t care less about sports! this would have been an issue for her brother, but not really for her)…plus they have just gone D1 for sports (in 2020?), so for sure there will be some great events to attend; 3) it’s such a good STEM school, perhaps a lot of students are serious about their studies. That’s ok! She’s also serious about academics. At a school that large (30,000+ undergraduates!), with the beach and San Diego nearby and lots of cultural events on campus, there will always be fun things happening! I think they also run buses/shuttles into San Diego.
I also heard that the trolley will also take students downtown and UTC mall (free for students)?
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Looks like they can get lots of places, including to the border with Mexico (lol) UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley Extension | San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
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Hi
My daughter has just admitted to UW Seattle (biochemistry direct major admission) and UCSD biochemistry, and she is very confused as UCSD is one of her dream school and UW Seattle direct admission is a rare thing for international students/
Anyone have any suggestion on this ?
Thank you
In the portal, students can sign up for admitted students tours on weekdays. My kid went on Wednesday.
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Yes, trolley is free for UCSD students (via Pronto app). The station is on campus near Price Center (off the new Amphitheater). Only two stops to strip mall off La Jolla Village Dr (Ralph’s Whole Foods, restaurants), a few stop to UTC mall and minutes to downtown San Diego. Very easy to go to airport now (trolley ride to Old Town stop and free shuttle to airport from Old Town).
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I work in the biotech community in San Diego and you are right - there are MANY biotech/pharma opportunities in this area… Everything from big pharma (Pfizer, BMS), to large diagnostic companies (Illumina, ThermoFisher), to mid-size companies and start-ups. It’s a fantastic place to be for cutting edge biology and research. My D23 will be attending UCSD this fall, majoring in Molecular Biology.
UCSD and UW , both are good schools. They are both near the body of water. UCSD is next to the ocean, and UW is next to the lake. Climate wise San Diego enjoys warm dry weather throughout the year, mostly sunny, hardly rains. Not much change of season. Desert like climate, so as soon as sun sets it gets colder. Seattle also has unique climate. Winter is cooler and wet, and summer is warm and dry. From October to May, 1/3〜 1/2 of months are rainy.
Internship opportunities for Biotech around UCSD is abundant as some posts mentioned here. San Diego is famous for the biotech and pharmaceutical.
Does anyone know about the ”Experience UC San Diego” (formerly overnight program)? How is it different from triton day?
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Does anyone know about the Wilderness Orientation through on campus rec services?
DD was accepted for virtual arts, and is interested in ICAM. Her first love is writing, but she also has a strong interest in CS, loves her coding class so ICAM seems like a great fit. She also got accepted to BU, which has a great communications program which includes film and writing. She can also double in CS, but at $83K/year, it will be painful, if at all possible. Would it be better to try for a CS minor at UCSD? Or would that be unrealistic given how impacted CS classes are at SD?
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