Honors and Opportunities

First Year Experience (FYE) Program

The First Year Experience Program offers 2-unit courses designed to help new students make the most of their UC San Diego education.

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Honors

At Seventh, we provide many opportunities for talented and intellectually ambitious students to maximize their educational experience and distinguish themselves academically and professionally.

Seventh College First-Year Honors Seminar

Seventh College's First-Year Honors Seminar (SEV 20), offered in Winter and Spring Quarter, sponsors activities and events designed to introduce students to the pioneering research and innovative scholarship at UC San Diego and in the surrounding community.

A subset of students with Provost’s Honors (typically those in the top 15 percent of the first-year class) will receive an email invitation to enroll in SEV 20 from the Office of the Provost at the end of Fall Quarter for Winter enrollment and Winter Quarter for Spring enrollment.

For more information about the First-Year Honors Seminar (SEV 20) contact seventhprovost@ucsd.edu.

Provost's Honors

Provost’s Honors are awarded quarterly based upon the completion of twelve graded units with a GPA of 3.5 or higher with no grade of D, F, or NP recorded for the quarter.

College Honors at Graduation

The Academic Senate has established the following standards for award of college Honors at graduation:

No more than 14 percent of the graduating seniors on campus shall be eligible for college Honors
Normally, no more than the top 2 percent shall be eligible for summa cum laude and no more than the next 4 percent for magna cum laude, although minor variations from year to year shall be permitted
The remaining 8 percent are eligible for cum laude

Eligibility is based upon the cumulative grade point average and completion of at least seventy-two units of coursework at the University of California. Refer to Latin Honors for GPA cut-offs.

Department Honors

Each department or program may award Honors at graduation. Check with your department or program for details.

Phi Beta Kappa

Phi Beta Kappa, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary, is the most prestigious undergraduate honor society in the liberal arts and sciences in the United States.

UC San Diego students are elected and invited to membership by the Sigma Chapter based on the excellence of their academic record, the breadth and quality of courses taken, and evidence that they have pursued a serious line of work and are of good character. Refer to the Phi Beta Kappa website for eligibility criteria and election procedures.

Individual Studies Major

The Seventh College Individual Studies major allows students to pursue a coherent course of study that is not formally recognized as a major at UC San Diego, but would otherwise meet all the standards established by the College and by the Academic Senate.

Student Qualifications

Completion of at least one full-time quarter at UC San Diego
Good academic standing and a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA

Major Requirements

A minimum of twelve 4-unit upper-division courses from two academic departments, with a minimum of four courses from one department
A minimum grade of C- for each course
A major grade point average of 2.0 or higher
At least nine of the twelve upper-division courses completed at UC San Diego

Application Instructions

Complete the Individual Studies Major Proposal
Attach a statement explaining the purpose of the proposed major, including the reasons why your educational goals cannot be met by an existing major or minor
Create a quarter by quarter plan including all proposed courses; consult department/program websites and advisors to determine when courses will be offered
Obtain faculty advisor’s signature and statement of support verifying that the proposed Individual Studies major is comparable in depth and quality to a traditional major at UC San Diego
Submit all materials to Seventh College Academic Advising at least three quarters prior to your projected term of graduation

The proposal must be approved by the Seventh College Executive Committee. Official notification of the committee’s decision will be sent via the Virtual Advising Center.