MAE Undergraduate Admissions

Effective Fall 2014, admission to both majors in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) is currently restricted as described in the section “Acceptance to Departmental Majors in the Jacobs School of Engineering.” Acceptance into a selective engineering major is based on academic excellence demonstrated in community college or accredited four-year university. Acceptance will be granted to the maximum number of students in each of these selective major programs consistent with maintaining acceptable program quality and in compliance with admissions procedures and criteria approved by the Academic Senate’s Educational Policy Committee.

Admissions decisions are made by the UC San Diego Office of Admissions and not by the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE). Please contact the UC San Diego Office of Admissions directly regarding admissions related questions.

 

 

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)

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.

Transfer Admissions Guide

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. 

Selective Major Application and Requirements

As MAE is a selective major, there is an application to switch majors and there are no guarantees of admission.

See here for the complete details of the selective majors application which is now handled by the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE). 

The MAE department is not involved in the selective majors application.  For specific questions about the selective majors application process and policies, please contact the DUE at: selective-majors@ucsd.edu.

 

Academic Requirements and Application

  • Students must have completed the required screening courses for the desired major with a C- or higher in each course
  • All screening courses taken at UCSD must be taken for a letter grade
  • Students must have a minimum 2.0 UC GPA

 

Freshmen Applicants:

Freshmen have two chances to apply.

1. They can first apply in summer after their first year at UC San Diego.

To be eligible to apply, they need to complete the following 6 screening courses:

  • MATH 20A, 20B and 20C/31BH
  • PHYS 2A and 2B (or 4A and 4C)
  • CHEM 6A/6AH

2. Freshmen can apply again in the summer after their second year at UC San  Diego. There will be no more chances to apply after this second application period in the summer. 

To be eligible to apply, they need to complete the following 11 screening courses:

  • MATH 20A, 20B, 20C/31BH, 20D, 20E/31CH and MATH 18/31AH
  • PHYS 2A, 2B, and 2C* (or 4A, 4B, and 4C)
  • CHEM 6A/6AH
  • MAE 8 (or CENG/NANO 15/15R or SE 9)

*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.

Application

  • Students will only be allowed to apply for one engineering major per application cycle. 
  • Students can choose a specialization now or they can choose a specialization later if they are accepted into the major.

The 2026 application period will open August 1 and close on September 1. 

Apply Here

Students will be contacted via the Virtual Advising Center (VAC) with the selection decision around September 15. Students MUST accept or decline their offer via the VAC by September 21. Missing the deadline is considered a decline.

There are no guarantees of admission.

 

Transfer Applicants:

Transfer students have only one chance to apply.

Transfer students can apply in the winter quarter, after the first quarter at UCSD. There will be no more chances to apply after this application period in the winter. 

To be eligible to apply, they need to complete the following 11 screening courses:

  • MATH 20A, 20B, 20C/31BH, 20D, 20E/31CH and MATH 18/31AH
  • PHYS 2A, 2B, and 2C* (or 4A, 4B, and 4C)
  • CHEM 6A/6AH
  • MAE 8 (or CENG/NANO 15/15R or SE 9)

*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.

Application

  • Students will only be allowed to apply for one engineering major per application cycle. 
  • Students can choose a specialization now or they can choose a specialization later if they are accepted into the major.

Please see here for the application dates.

Apply Here

Students will be contacted via the Virtual Advising Center (VAC) with the selection decision. Students MUST accept or decline their offer via the VAC. Missing the deadline is considered a decline.

There are no guarantees of admission.

 

Selection Process

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.

Students must have completed the required screening courses for the desired major with a C- or higher in each course.

Students must have a minimum 2.0 UC GPA.

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.

There are no guarantees of admission.

 

Statistics

Here are the statistics from the past application cycle.

 

Note:

  • Jacobs School of Engineering students are unable to double major or minor in the School of Engineering.
  • Behind in MATH? Please contact the MATH department directly with questions on the options for getting caught up.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Beyond completion of the screening courses, the MAE department does not offer academic planning services for non-majors. If accepted into the major, then a MAE advisor will reach out to assist with academic planning.
  • There are no guarantees of admission.

 

Questions

For questions about screening courses and the timeline for planning courses, students should contact the department advisors via the Virtual Advising Center.
 

For questions about the selective major application process and policies, students should contact selective-majors@ucsd.edu.

Interdepartmental Transfer Students

Effective Winter 2025, there will be a new process for requesting to switch within the MAE major. Note that students are only allowed one opportunity to switch majors within the department.

[Aerospace major (AE) switching to Mechanical (ME); Mechanical major (ME) switching to Aerospace(AE)]

1) Apply via the Major and Minor tool

2) Deadline to apply: Friday of Week 3 during academic year (FA, WI, SP); Summer quarter deadline: July 15th

3) Students will receive a response during Week 4

4) If you do not apply by the deadline, then you MUST wait until the next quarter to apply - NO EXCEPTIONS.

5) Freshmen can switch between quarters 1-6 but not after their 6th quarter at UCSD. Transfers can switch between quarters 1-3 but not after their 3rd quarter at UCSD.

Note: For students switching:

  • MAE 2 and MAE 3 are not equivalent and cannot be petitioned.
  • MAE 21 can be petitioned to be substituted for MAE 20.
  • MAE 20 cannot be petitioned to be substituted for MAE 21.
Useful Info. for Admitted Students

Information coming soon.