The Quarter System

Hello everyone =]

As many of you should have found out by now, UCSD runs of the quarter system and not on semesters like most other colleges and universities. The quarter system is very unique and is similar to the semester system but it goes by quicker. An academic year is broken up into 3 quarters: Fall, Winter, and Spring. Each quarter is a total of 10 weeks with an additional week for finals. Between the quarters you get a break. First comes winter break after Fall Quarter which is a total of 3 weeks. Then there is spring break after Winter Quarter but that is only a week long. After Spring Quarter there is summer break which is 3 months! However, some of you might decide to do summer school so your break will be shorter.

The quarter system affects how classes work at UCSD as well. Most classes are just one quarter but there are others that are divided into three quarters as part of a sequence. However, this doesn't mean you have to take the three classes in the same year. You can take the first class in the sequence during winter or spring quarter and not necessarily fall. Check with the department that is offering the class and you can see when it will be offered and plan out your next quarter/year.

Since each quarter is only 10 weeks, you definitely don't want to fall behind. Depending on the class, you will have one, two, or maybe even three midterms. Perhaps you won't have any midterms but will instead have papers or other assignments due throughout the quarter. Either way, you should keep up with your schoolwork since the quarter seems to go by pretty fast and by the time you decide to catch up it could be too late.

I'm sure grades are something very important to all of us. At UCSD you can take classes with the pass/no pass grading option instead of receiving a letter grade. This is helpful for classes you want to take but don't really want to put a lot of effort into. Unfortunately, all of the classes for your major must be taken for a letter grade. Also, if a class seems too hard or you just don't think you want to take it anymore, you have the option of dropping it. It can either be before the end of second week, fourth week, or ninth week. If you do it before second week, you can still add another class. However, after fourth week and ninth week you can only drop it. Dropping a class before fourth week is better since it won't show up on your transcript that you dropped it. If you drop a class after fourth week then it will show a "W" (withdrawal) on your transcript meaning the next time you take the class you can't drop it. Just keep in mind that ninth week is the absolute last time that you can drop a class.

Some important deadlines to keep in mind for each quarter are the following:
- Week 2: Deadline to add/enroll in classes
- Week 4: Deadline to change grading option or drop without a "W"
- Week 9: Deadline to drop without the penalty of an F grade

I hope this helps and I wish you all a great first quarter/year at UCSD!

- Jesus Romero
Warren College Transfer Orientation Leader (Group #16)