Thank you for your interest in the Global Health Program at UC San Diego!
We welcome talented prospective students from across the nation and around the world to apply. If you're interested in how the disciplines of medicine, biology, anthropology, sociology, political science, and economics (among others) come together to understand the complex nature of health problems and how to solve them on a local and global scale, this is definitely the field for you.
UC San Diego’s Admissions Office handles all undergraduate admissions for both freshmen and transfer students. Students interested in majoring in Global Health must first be admitted to UC San Diego as an undergraduate student.
- UC Application opens in August – get started on your application, submit it during the filing period.
- The filing period is November 1 through November 30.
- UC San Diego only accepts Fall Applicants.
For more information visit: UCSD Admissions Information
- Freshmen Admission Requirements
- Transfer Admission Requirements
- International Student Admissions
- Follow @UCSDAdmissions on Twitter for events, deadlines, and fun facts
Tips for visiting campus:
- Sign up for a Triton Tour to see the campus.
- Check out our facebook page and events calendar to see if there are any upcoming activities.
- Reach out to a current student.
- Contact an advisor.
When students apply, they select one of the six colleges. Click here for an overview of the college requirements.
Please note:
The Global Health major has no pre-requisite courses required. All coursework is designed to be taken at UC San Diego, however we accept UC transferable coursework to fulfill lower division major requirements. You can find acceptable courses at assist.org if transferring from a California community college.
Transfer Preparation
IGETC Certification: Completion of the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) is strongly recommended for all students transferring from a California community college. This curriculum will serve to clear most general education requirements for incoming transfer students, leaving one to eight (1-8) general education courses depending on which of the six UCSD colleges the student is admitted into.
The Global Health Program will accept UC transferable transfer coursework towards major requirements.
Please note, all courses taken at community college are articulated as lower division courses.
Current Lower Division BA Major Requirements:
- HILD 30: History of Public Health or GLBH 20: Introduction to Global Health
- SOCI 40: Sociology of Health Care Issues or SOCI 30: Science, Technology, and Society
- Statistics Course: equivalent to PSYCH 60 or POLI 30 or MATH 11/11L
- Students may take 1-2 additional lower division biology courses (that are approved for the major) to fulfill the biological science elective requirement (e.g. nutrition).
Current Lower Division BS Major Requirements:
-
- TWO of the following courses:
- GLBH 20. Introduction to Global Health OR
- HILD 30. History of Public Health OR
- SOCI 30. Science, Technology & Society OR
- SOCI 40. Sociology of Healthcare Issues OR
- SOCI 70. Sociology for Pre-Meds (*recommended for pre-med students taking the MCAT) OR
- PHIL 26. Science, Society & Values OR
- PSYC 1. Psychology
- Accepted by petition: *FMPH 40. Intro to Public Health
- ONE year of Biology (3 courses): BILD 1, BILD 2, and BILD 3
- ONE year of Chemistry (4 courses): CHEM 6A, CHEM B, CHEM C and CHEM 7L
- ONE year of Mathematics (3 courses):
- MATH 10A and B or MATH 20A and B and
- Stats Course: PSYC 60. Introduction to Statistics or MATH 11/11L.Calculus-Based Introductory Probability and Statistics (MATH 10B pre-req)
- TWO of the following courses:
If you are a transfer student looking to complete coursework to apply towards your major, you can search for equivalent courses at your university.
California institutions can visit assist.org to find courses at your college that:
- are transferable to UC San Diego
- meet lower-division major and GE requirements
Once admitted, students can petition non pre-approved global health coursework to fulfill major requirements by submitting an online petition.
Incoming Student Programs
Summer Success Programs are offered to enhance and bolster UC San Diego students' success.
Limits on Transfer Units
LIMITS ON TRANSFER UNITS: Transfer students will be granted up to 70 semester/ 105 quarter units of credit for lower-division coursework completed at any institution (or combination of institutions).
For units beyond the maximum, subject credit for appropriate coursework will be granted and may be used to satisfy requirements:
- Units earned through AP, IB, and/or A-Level examinations are not included in the limitation. These units will not put you at risk of being denied admission.
- Units earned at any UC campus in Extension, summer, cross/concurrent and regular academic year enrollment are not included in the limitation but are added to the maximum transfer credit allowed. These units may put you at risk of being denied admission due to excessive units.
UC San Diego accepts transfer students at the junior (third year) level only.
A transfer applicant may be considered in senior standing if they have completed:
- 70 semester units (or more) of lower-division coursework; and
- 20 semester units (or more) of upper-division coursework.
If you have questions about the number of transferrable units, please call the Office of Admissions at 858-534-4831.
AP coursework
The following AP courses will be accepted for the Global Health major:
Course |
Score |
Units |
Major Requirement |
AP Statistics |
3, 4, or 5 |
4 units |
Statistics requirement |
AP Biology |
Score of 4 or 5 Exempts BILD 1, 2, and 3 |
4 units |
BILD 3 accepted for biological science elective |
UC Summer Session + Online Courses
If you are a current UCSD student, you can enroll in a class at another UC campus without additional fees or applying for admission (during the academic year), subject to available space and campus approval. This process is known as "simultaneous enrollment."
University of California (UC) Cross-Campus Enrollment offers exceptional, flexible and innovative online learning.
Cross-Campus Enrollment Information for UC San Diego students Global Health students:
- Students may petition online courses to fulfill up to two Global Health major or minor requirements.
- You may request pre-approval here.
- UCSD students cannot use “cross-campus enrollment” course units to reach “full-time” status.
- Courtesy transcript sent to home campus, student does not need to request a transcript.
- See additional details on how to enroll in classes at other UC's.
You must:
- Complete one quarter at UCSD as a matriculated student.
- Maintain 12 units at UCSD in the current term.
- Be in good academic standing.
- Be prepared academically (e.g. complete course prerequisites, etc.) as determined by the host campus.
- Students may only enroll in one cross-campus course per quarter (excluding summer).
Pre-approved courses:
Restrictions:
- Global Health majors may complete a maximum of two online courses and minors may complete a maximum of one course to counts towards their Global Health degree requirements.
- Online courses cannot be taken if a comparable in-person course is being offered the same quarter at UC San Diego.
Campus | Course | Requirement |
UCI
|
PUBHLTH 1. Principles of Public Health | Major/Minor: Introduction Course |
PUBHLTH 2. Case Studies in Public Health Practice | Major: Medical Social Science Elective Minor: Elective |
|
PUBHLTH 90. Natural Disasters | Minor: Elective | |
PUBHLTH 100. Global Health Ethics |
Major: Medical Humanities Elective |
|
PUBHLTH 120. Nutrition and Global Health |
Major: Medical Social Science Elective or Biology |
|
PUBHLTH 170. Introduction to Global Health |
Major/Minor: Introduction Course |
|
PPD 115. Global Poverty and Inequality in the 21st Century | Major: Global Processes Elective Fulfills no minor electives |
|
PSY BEH 101D. Lifespan Developmental Psychology | Major: Medical Social Science Elective Minor: Elective |
|
ANSC 148A. Medical Anthropology | Major: Medical Social Science Elective Minor: Elective |
|
PUBHLTH 101. Introduction to Epidemiology |
Major/Minor: Biological Science Elective |
|
UCLA
|
Introduction to Health Policy and Management | Major: Policy Analysis requirement Minor: Elective |
GLBH HLTH 100. Global Health and Development | Major: Medical Social Science Elective Minor: Elective |
|
Public Health 150. Introduction to Public Health | Major/Minor: Introduction Course | |
GLB HLT 150. Migration and Health | Major: Medical Social Science Elective or Global Processes Minor: Elective |
|
COM HLT 48. Nutrition and Food Studies: Principles and Practice |
Major: Biological Science Elective |
|
UC Santa Barbara | SOC 130SG. Social Globalization | Major: Global Processes Course |
UC Berkeley | ANTH 115. Introduction to Medical Anthropology | Major: Medical Social Science Elective Minor: Elective |
GHS 151. Poverty, Development and Global Health | Major: Medical Social Science Elective Minor: Elective |
|
UC Davis | VME 057V. Global Population, Health, and Environment | Major: Medical Social Science Elective or Global Processes Minor: Elective |
UC Riverside | BIOL 116. Ecology and Conservation Biology | Major: Biological Science Elective Minor: Elective |
Upon completion of course:
Once the course appears on your UCSD academic transcript, please submit a petition request to have the course count towards your global health major or minor requirements.
Petitioning courses once accepted
Have your transcripts sent to:
UCSD Admissions Office
Attn: Transcript evaluation
9500 Gilman Drive 0021
La Jolla, CA 90293-0021
Attn: Transcript evaluation
9500 Gilman Drive 0021
La Jolla, CA 90293-0021
Once the courses appear on your UCSD academic history, you can submit a petition request, following instructions below, for transfer coursework. If the course has already articulated as a UCSD approximation and that course is accepted for your major/minor, it will automatically show on your degree audit.
Submitting Course Petitions
These instructions pertain to your Global Health requirements only. Your college will assist you with general education and specific college requirements.
1. Submit an online petition request OR
2. Submit an Undergraduate Student Petition (paper form)
- Include the course # (as it appears on TritonLink), course title, # of units, grade received, quarter/semester the course was taken, the University in which you were enrolled and specify the requirement you want to apply the course toward (e.g. Fulfill Global Health Major Elective Requirement). Please also sign and date the petition.Submit completed petition(s) & syllabus to the Global Health Advisor (The paper form can be scanned and sent via email (ghpadvising@ucsd.edu) or dropped off in the GHP Office).
If you are a current student and would like to complete transfer coursework while a UCSD student, request pre-approval using the online petition request.
Contact:
Prospective Transfer Students: For any questions related to the Global Health, please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office.