Frequently Asked Questions

You are allowed to take a course for the experiential learning requirement as pass/no pass as long as you are not also using the class for any of your major requirements, as departments typically require that all major coursework be taken for a letter grade. You must also make sure that taking the class as pass/no pass will not cause you to exceed the 25% pass/no pass unit maximum, since no more than a quarter of your UC San Diego units can be taken as pass/no pass.

You are allowed to overlap the experiential learning requirement with your major, minor, or university requirements, but not with other general education requirements for Sixth College. Any class included on the approved course list will automatically clear your experiential learning requirement as well as any other requirements it satisfies, as long as your major or minor department also allows you to overlap your coursework with other requirements.

When choosing a class to fulfill the experiential learning requirement you are not restricted to your own field. You can take any class from the approved course list that you meet the prerequisites for, even if it is not from your major department or part of your major coursework.

You can request permission to register for CAT 124 through the Enrollment Authorization System. It is not necessary to include a justification or any supporting documentation, but you may be sent an eligibility form to complete so that it can be verified that you qualify to enroll. After your registration request is approved, you can enroll in the course on WebReg.

You can use an internship to fulfill the experiential learning requirement if you are able to receive academic credit for it. The Academic Internship Program allows students to enroll in AIP 197 in order to receive course credit for work experiences that meet their eligibility criteria. One of these criteria is that the opportunity must be an internship rather than a job, meaning that it must take place over a predetermined period instead of an indefinite length of time. If your work experience meets these criteria and you take AIP 197 for at least four units, it will automatically satisfy the experiential learning requirement.

Special study 198 or 199 courses can be used to satisfy the experiential learning requirement if they meet all of the eligibility criteria. You will need to have a special study course contract signed by your faculty mentor and submit it with a course proposal by Friday of Week 8 of the quarter before you participate in your special study.

Most study abroad programs can be used to satisfy the experiential learning requirement, but the method of fulfillment will depend on the kind of program. All Global Seminar courses and certain classes also offered by UC San Diego are included on the approved course list for Global Experience and will automatically fulfill the requirement. For other types of programs—including Global Exchange and other programs taken while enrolled at UC San Diego, UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) and programs hosted by the UC system or other UC campuses, and third-party providers—your study abroad coursework must be approved via the course proposal.

To be approved to satisfy the experiential learning requirement, your study abroad coursework must be UC-transferable and transfer back to UC San Diego as at least four units of upper-division credit. You will need to complete the online UCEAP Navigating Reentry module and submit your course proposal by Friday of Week 8 of the quarter after you return from studying abroad.

In order to fulfill the experiential learning requirement with a special study 198 or 199 course or any class not included on the approved course list, you must submit a course proposal by Friday of Week 8 of the quarter before you take the class being proposed. We are unfortunately not able to accept coursework for which a proposal was not submitted in advance as we do not allow any retroactive credit.

If you are taking a class from the approved course list, you do not need to submit a course proposal for it as it will automatically fulfill the experiential learning requirement.

Course proposals for the experiential learning requirement are reviewed after the submission deadline at the end of Week 8. You will receive a notification in the Virtual Advising Center about the status of your proposal by the end of Week 10.

If you submitted a course proposal for the experiential learning requirement and your proposal was approved, your degree audit will be manually updated to reflect fulfillment of the requirement after you receive a passing grade in the class you proposed. You can expect to see this change on your degree audit during the week after final exams.

You can browse the list of Experiential Learning Opportunities to find projects to participate in while fulfilling your experiential learning requirement, or to simply gain a valuable educational experience.