Prospective Students
The Jacobs School of Engineering is comprised of the Departments of Bioengineering, Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), NanoEngineering (NANO), and Structural Engineering (SE).
Due to high demand, many engineering majors have been granted selective major status except NanoEngineering and Structural Engineering.
Unfortunately, this means that many qualified, exceptional students will not receive admission into an engineering major.
Prospective Student Handbook for students interested in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Note:
- Admission decisions are done at the campus level by the Office of Admissions and Relations with Schools and not with the MAE department. For all questions related to general admission to UC San Diego, please contact the UCSD Admissions Office directly.
- Students who already hold a bachelor's degree are not eligible for a second bachelor's degree at UC San Diego.
- The MAE department does not offer tours of the building and/or labs for prospective students
Incoming Freshmen and Transfer Students
Acceptance into a selective engineering major is based on academic excellence demonstrated in high school. Acceptance will be granted to the maximum number of students in each of the selective majors consistent with maintaining acceptable program quality and in compliance with admissions procedures and criteria approved by the Academic Senate's Committee on Educational Policy.
Note:
- Admission decisions are made at the campus level by the Office of Admissions and Relations with Schools, not the MAE department.
- The MAE department has had selective major status since 2009.
- Unfortunately, this means that many qualified, exceptional students will not receive admission into an engineering major. Furthermore, to ensure fairness and integrity of the admissions process, we cannot make independent decisions for individual cases.
Welcome Week Orientation. It is very important that all incoming students attend the MAE Orientation for new students held each fall. This will give students an overview of the department and the college system at UCSD. New students will hear about the dates and times for the MAE Orientation in the Welcome letter they receive from us in August.
Q&A Triton Day 2020 (may also answer questions for any interested students)
- General Education / College Requirements
- General Catalog
- 2024-2025 MAE Student Handbook
- Campus Student Code of Conduct
Freshmen Student Admissions
Your application and admission to UC San Diego is handled by the Office of Admissions and not the department. You will be admitted to UC San Diego before you will be admitted into the Jacobs School of Engineering and the MAE department. Be sure to indicate on your application that your first choice of major is within our department.
Transfer Student Admissions
Your application and admission to UC San Diego is handled by the Office of Admissions and not the department. You will be admitted to UCSD before you will be admitted into the Jacobs School of Engineering and the MAE department. Be sure to indicate on your application that your first choice of major is within our department.
Following California's Master Plan for Higher Education, the Jacobs School of Engineering gives high priority to students transferring from California community colleges.
It is highly recommended that transfer students complete the following courses for engineering majors.
- Calculus I (Math 20A)
- Calculus II (Math 20B)
- Calculus and Analytic Geometry (Math 20C)
- Differential Equations (Math 20D)
- Linear Algebra (Math 18)
- Calculus-based physics series with lab experience (Physics 2ABC)
- General Chemistry (Chemistry 6A)
- Highest level of introductory computer programming language course offered at the community college
Double Majors
It is the policy of the Jacobs School of Engineering not to approve double majors within engineering.
Applying to a Selective Major as a Continuing UC San Diego Student
Continuing students who wish to apply to an MAE major must complete at least one year of academic study at UC San Diego. The application for continuing undergraduate students to change their major to Mechanical or Aerospace opens once per year in June. Students will only be allowed to apply to one engineering major per application period. NOTE: All screening courses must be completed before the application period.
- Students can choose a specialization now or they can choose a specialization later if they are accepted into the major.
The 2025 application period will open in mid-late July 2025 and close on September 1, 2025.
Decisions are typically emailed to students approximately 2 weeks after the application deadline via the VAC. Students MUST accept or decline their offer via the VAC. Missing the deadline is considered a decline.
New Selection Process Starting Summer 2025
See here for details.
The selection criteria for entry to the major will consider academic achievement in the specified screening courses and will also be aligned with UC San Diego’s priorities of serving California residents, first-generation college students, and students from low-income families.
Continuing students who apply to switch to a selective major must have completed the required screening courses for that major and be in good academic standing.
They will then be considered for the major using a point system that awards one point each for:
- having a 3.0 GPA or higher in the major screening courses
- California residency
- Pell Grant eligibility
- first-generation college status (as determined by information received at the time of initial admission to UC San Diego).
Students with the highest number of points will be admitted until all available spaces within the major have been filled. Ties will be broken using random selection.
Application Requirements
Freshmen Applicants:
Freshmen have two chances to apply. They can first apply in summer after their first year at UC San Diego. To be eligible to apply, they need to have completed the following 6 courses:
- MATH 20A, 20B and 20C
- PHYS 2A and 2B (or 4A and 4C)
- CHEM 6A
Freshmen can apply again in summer after their second year at UC San Diego. There will be no more chances to apply after this second application period. To be eligible to apply, they need to have completed the following 11 courses:
- MATH 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E and MATH 18
- PHYS 2A, 2B, and 2C* (or 4A, 4B, and 4C)
- CHEM 6A
- MAE 8 (or CENG/NANO 15 or SE 9)
Transfer Applicants:
Transfer students have one chance to apply: summer after their first year at UC San Diego. To be eligible to apply, they need to have completed the following 11 courses:
- MATH 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E and MATH 18
- PHYS 2A, 2B, and 2C* (or 4A, 4B, and 4C)
- CHEM 6A
- MAE 8 (or CENG/NANO 15 or SE 9)
*Behind in MATH? Please contact the MATH department directly with questions on the options for getting caught up.
*Freshmen applying after their second year and transfer students should be aware that without careful course planning, switching into the department may extend the time to degree by one year due to the courses that majors take in the second year which are not part of the screening courses. Please contact a MAE advisor to discuss your academic plan.
*We recommend that students applying to Aerospace Engineering take PHYS 2CL concurrently with PHYS 2C. 2CL is not required for admission to the major, but it is required for the degree, and it is a prerequisite for upper division courses in the major.
Students who have credit for one or more screening courses through AP credit do not need to retake these courses at UC San Diego. The application will show that the student has AP credit for that screening course and no letter grade will be associated with that course on the application.
Students considering applying to one of our majors should take all screening courses for a letter grade.
SWITCHING WITHIN THE MAE MAJOR [new process effective Winter 2025]
Effective Winter 2025, there will be a new process for requesting to switch within the MAE major
[Aerospace major (AE) switching to Mechanical (ME); Mechanical major (ME) switching to Aerospace(AE)]
1) Apply via the major/minor tool
2) Deadline to apply: Friday of Week 3 during academic year (FA, WI, SP); Summer quarter deadline: July 15th
3) If you do not apply by the deadline, then you MUST wait until the next quarter to apply - NO EXCEPTIONS