Frequently Asked Questions

What majors/minors does the Institute offer?

Please visit our Academics Page to view a full list of all our majors and minors.

If you are interested in majoring/minoring in any of our programs, contact the relevant program coordinator and schedule an advising appointment via the Virtual Advising Center (VAC).

How do I declare or change my major?

If you want to declare or change your major, follow these steps.

How can I declare a double major?

If you want to declare a double major, follow these steps.

How do I declare a minor?

If you want to declare a minor, follow these steps.

I just transferred from another college/university. How do I know which courses will count towards my major/minor?

Please visit this page for information on identifying courses that you can transfer to UC San Diego. We also advise that you set up an advising appointment with your academic advisor to discuss what other courses may count toward your major/minor.

I took a course that isn't listed on my academic program's course catalog, but I studied/researched content that is related to my major/minor. Can the course count towards my major/minor?

Courses not listed on the official UC San Diego General Catalog will need to be petitioned. Follow these instructions on how to petition courses.

Approval of the petition is up to the Program Director’s discretion.

How can I petition a course to count towards my major or minor?

Follow these instructions on how to petition courses.

Approval of the petition is up to the Program Director’s discretion.

How many courses can I overlap between my major and minor?

You can only overlap a maximum of 2 courses (8 units) between your major and minor.

I need to fulfill my language requirement for my college, what languages does the Institute offer?

The Institute offers language courses in Japanese, Chinese, and Hebrew. All other languages are offered through the Literature or Linguistics Department.