A Guide to the Eight Colleges at UC San Diego
UC San Diego divides its undergraduate experience into eight residential colleges, each with its own philosophy, general education requirements and campus culture. Applicants rank the colleges by preference, and the university places each student in one based on availability and those preferences. The choice of college does not limit the choice of major: every major is open to students of every college.
How the College System Works
General education
Every college requires courses in writing, math, science, social sciences and the humanities, but the number differs from college to college. Most also have a thematic sequence every student in that college takes, whatever the major, and some require a foreign language while others do not.
Residential life
Each college has its own residence halls, dining hall, library and common areas. First-year students are generally required to live on campus in their assigned college.
Academic advising
Each college advises its own students on both general education and major requirements.
Events and traditions
Each college runs its own social and cultural events, traditions and leadership opportunities.
The Eight Colleges Compared
Sorted by the fewest general education courses. Muir is the most popular choice, and you must rank it first to be admitted to it.
| College | GE courses | Foreign language | Recommended for |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Muir College | 11–14 | Not required | Most students, given the minimal number of GE requirements |
| Warren College | Engineering majors: 12; Non-engineering majors: 18 | Not required | Engineering and Computer Science majors |
| Roosevelt College | 13–17 | Can be required | Students interested in multiculturalism outside the United States |
| Seventh College | 14 | Not required | Students interested in climate change and racial justice (focus of Synthesis GE requirement) |
| Eighth College | 14 | Not required | Students who want to live in the newest dorms or near the Theater District and/or the School of Medicine |
| Marshall College | 15 | Not required | Students interested in multiculturalism in the United States |
| Revelle College | 16–20 | Can be required | Premed and science majors |
| Sixth College | 16 | Not required | Students interested in art and computer/data science |
Each College in Detail
College 1 of 8
Revelle College
General education: 16–20 courses
Requirements
- Humanities: 5 courses
- Foundations of Western Civilization: Israel and Greece (intensive writing)
- Rome, Christianity, and the Middle Ages (intensive writing)
- Renaissance, Reformation, and Early Modern Europe
- Enlightenment, Romanticism, Revolution (1660–1848)
- Modern Culture (1848–present)
- Mathematics: 3 courses
- 3 courses in mathematics, which include two courses in calculus and one additional course chosen from an approved list
- Natural Sciences: 5 courses
- 1 course in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics
- 2 courses from Biology, Chemistry, and Physics above or an approved list
- Social Science: 2 courses
- 2 lower-division courses in the social sciences chosen from an approved list
- Fine Arts: 1 course
- Art, Music, Theatre
- Foreign Language: 0–4 courses
- May be satisfied by passing language proficiency exam or appropriate AP or IB score
- Housing
- Cluster of 8 multistory residence hall buildings overlooking Revelle Plaza. Mostly triple rooms.
- Location
- Southwest part of the campus. Facing the Pacific Ocean.
- Nearby departments
- Natural Sciences; Theater, Dance, La Jolla Playhouse; Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine
- Recommended for
- Premed and science majors
- Toughest GE requirements: heavy on math and science
College 2 of 8
John Muir College
General education: 11–14 courses
Requirements
- Writing Program: 2 courses
- Math or Natural Science: 3 courses from one of the following themes (cannot mix and match themes)
- Math and Statistics
- Computing and Logic
- Biological Sciences
- Chemistry, Physics, and the Environment
- Social Sciences: 3 courses from one of the following themes (cannot mix and match themes)
- Culture, Society and Social Justice
- Language and Communication
- Mind and Cognition
- Government and Economics
- Fine Arts, Humanities or Foreign Language: 6 courses (must choose 2 of the following topics)
- Fine Arts (3 courses): Music, Theatre and Dance, Visual Arts (cannot mix and match themes)
- Humanities (3 courses): Historical Narratives, Literary Narratives, Philosophical Perspectives (cannot mix and match themes)
- Foreign Language (3 courses in the same language): may be satisfied by appropriate AP or IB score; may NOT be cleared through a language proficiency exam
- Housing
- 2 high-rise residence halls for first-year students: Tioga & Tenaya. Primarily triple rooms and some singles.
- Location
- Southwest part of the campus. North of Revelle College. Facing the Pacific Ocean. Close to Geisel Library.
- Nearby departments
- Humanities and Social Sciences, Biology, Applied Physics and Mathematics
- Recommended for
- Most students, given the minimal number of GE requirements
- Most popular college choice; you MUST select Muir as your first choice to be admitted to Muir
College 3 of 8
Marshall College
General education: 15 courses
Requirements
- Dimensions of Culture: 3 courses (three-course sequence includes two six-unit courses with intensive instruction in university-level writing)
- DOC 1: Reading Diversity
- DOC 2: Arguing Justice
- DOC 3: Imagination
- Mathematics, Statistics, or Logic: 2 courses
- Either 2 courses in mathematics or one course in mathematics and 1 course in computing
- Natural Sciences: 3 courses
- One course each in biology, chemistry, and physics
- Humanities: 2 courses
- Two courses selected from a prescribed list of courses in domestic and global cultures
- Fine Art: 1 course
- One course selected from a list of approved courses in Music, Theatre & Dance, or Visual Arts
- Disciplinary Breadth: 4 courses
- Noncontiguous to the major. Two must be upper-division; one must include writing. A four-unit public service option may be used to fulfill one course in disciplinary breadth.
- Foreign Language: Not required
- Housing
- Marshall’s new Ridge Walk North Living and Learning Neighborhood, opened in Fall 2025, features modern apartment-style housing in three new residential buildings, along with study and community spaces, rooftop amenities, a community kitchen, wellness and recreation spaces, and a market/café.
- Location
- West part of the campus. North of Sixth College. Facing the Pacific Ocean. Close to Geisel Library and RIMAC sports complex.
- Nearby departments
- Economics, Social Sciences, Supercomputer Center, School of Global Policy
- Recommended for
- Students interested in multiculturalism in the United States
College 4 of 8
Warren College
General education: Engineering majors: 12; Non-engineering majors: 18 courses
Requirements
- Writing: 2 courses
- Ethics and Society: 2 courses
- PHIL or POLI 27 and PHIL or POLI 28: learn how to make moral decisions, engage in moral reasoning, and understand the positions of others in the great moral conflicts of our time
- Formal Skills: 2 courses
- Calculus, Symbolic Logic, Computer Programming, and/or Statistics
- Programs of Concentration (for Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Science in Arts/Sciences): 12 courses
- Two programs of concentration, each containing six courses, and each unrelated to the major and to each other: Humanities and Fine Arts; Natural Sciences, Math, and Engineering; Social Sciences
- Area Studies (for Bachelor of Science in Engineering): 6 courses
- Two area studies, one in humanities/fine arts and one in social sciences, each containing three courses: Humanities and Fine Arts; Natural Sciences, Math, and Engineering; Social Sciences
- Foreign Language: Not required
- Housing
- Residence halls feature suites of single and triple rooms overlooking the UC San Diego Ecological Reserve. First-year students may also be housed in two-bedroom apartments with four to five students in double and triple rooms.
- Location
- Northeast part of the campus. Facing Interstate 5. Close to Geisel Library. Very far from most of the other residence halls.
- Nearby departments
- Computer Science and Engineering, Bioengineering, Structural and Materials Engineering, Physics
- Recommended for
- Engineering and Computer Science majors
College 5 of 8
Roosevelt College
General education: 13–17 courses
Requirements
- Making of the Modern World: 5 courses (includes two quarters of intensive instruction in university-level writing)
- MMW 11: Pre-history and Ancient Foundations
- MMW 12: Transforming Traditions & Emerging World Communities, ca. 100 BCE–1200 CE
- MMW 13: A Globalizing World: Exchanges, Entanglements, and Exploitation, 13th–18th Century
- MMW 14: Divergent Paths to the Modern World, 18th–20th Century
- MMW 15: The Contemporary Era: Conflict and Aspirations in a Globalized World, 20th–21st Century
- Fine Arts: 1 course
- Natural Sciences: 2 courses
- Quantitative Methods/Formal Skills: 2 courses
- Regional Specialization: 3 courses
- Must include two upper-division courses
- Choose from: Africa, Multiculturalism in North America, Latin America, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East
- Foreign Language: 0–4 courses
- May be satisfied by passing language proficiency exam or appropriate AP or IB score
- Upper-Division Writing: 1 course
- One upper-division course that includes a significant writing component (4,500–5,000 words or 18–20 double-spaced pages)
- Housing
- Residence hall suites primarily consist of triple rooms and some single rooms. Considered to have the best dorms and dining halls.
- Location
- Northwest part of the campus. Facing the Pacific Ocean. Close to RIMAC sports complex.
- Nearby departments
- School of Global Policy, Institute of the Americas, Latin American Studies, Social Sciences
- Recommended for
- Students interested in multiculturalism outside the United States
- Considered to have one of the toughest writing requirements compared to the other colleges
College 6 of 8
Sixth College
General education: 16 courses
Requirements
- Culture, Art, and Technology: 4 courses
- The CAT lower-division sequence includes two quarters of intensive instruction in university-level writing for academic audiences with coverage of research methods, collaboration, and media. CAT 125 is a four-unit course in upper-division writing for public audiences.
- Information Technology Fluency: 1 course
- One computing course; may be satisfied with courses from a variety of departments
- Modes of Inquiry: 7 courses
- Two courses in the social sciences, two courses in the humanities, two courses in the natural sciences, one course in math/logic
- Exploring Data: 1 course
- One course in statistical methods
- Art Making: 2 courses
- Two courses in literature, music, theatre and dance, or visual arts
- Experiential Learning: 1 course
- Capstone project in which students apply theory to practice in local and global communities through departmental courses, internships, research opportunities, or study abroad programs
- Foreign Language: Not required
- Housing
- North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood. Opened in fall 2020 — one of the newer residence halls.
- Location
- West part of the campus. North of Muir College. Facing the Pacific Ocean. Close to Geisel Library.
- Nearby departments
- Arts and Social Sciences, Humanities, Cognitive Science, Communication
- Recommended for
- Students interested in art and computer/data science
College 7 of 8
Seventh College
General education: 14 courses
Requirements
- Synthesis: 3 courses
- The synthesis lower-division sequence includes two quarters of intensive instruction in university-level writing. SYN 100 is a four-unit project-based course.
- Arts: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Humanities: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Natural Sciences and Engineering: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Quantitative Reasoning: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Social Sciences: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- High Impact: 1 course
- Selected from a variety of approved experiential learning options, including a departmental capstone, internship, practicum, mentored research, or study abroad
- Foreign Language: Not required
- Housing
- Residents live in a single, double, or triple room within an apartment with a full kitchen.
- Location
- Most northwest part of the campus. North of Roosevelt College. Facing the Pacific Ocean. Close to sports facilities (track, soccer, baseball, RIMAC sports complex).
- Nearby departments
- Rady School of Management
- Recommended for
- Students interested in climate change and racial justice (focus of Synthesis GE requirement)
- Students who want to live near the athletic facilities on campus
College 8 of 8
Eighth College
General education: 14 courses
Requirements
- Critical Community Engagement: 4 courses
- The lower-division sequence includes three lower-division courses (two of which involve intense instruction in university-level writing) and one upper-division project-based course. All four courses provide training in interdisciplinary inquiry and community engagement.
- Arts: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Humanities: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Natural Sciences: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Quantitative Reasoning and Engineering: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Social Sciences: 2 courses
- Selected from an approved list
- Foreign Language: Not required
- Housing
- Opened in Fall 2023, Eighth College offers relatively new, modern housing across five residential halls ranging from nine to twenty-one stories. Housing includes both apartment- and residence hall-style options, including larger apartments designed for 9 to 12 residents.
- Location
- Most southwest part of the campus. South of Revelle College. Facing the Pacific Ocean.
- Nearby departments
- Theater, Dance, La Jolla Playhouse
- Recommended for
- Students who want to live in the newest dorms or near the Theater District and/or the School of Medicine
Ranking the Colleges on Your Application
Requirements and housing change from year to year. This guide follows the 2026 edition of Elite Prep's handout, last checked October 8, 2026; confirm the details on UC San Diego's website before you rank. An Elite Prep counselor can help you weigh the colleges against your major and plans.