UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING

Curriculum and Undergraduate Affairs Manager: Antoinette (Toni) Moore

Undergraduate Advisor: Gem Soriano

Advising is available to help current and prospective undergraduate students with course offerings, enrollment, the major, the minor, petitions, transfer courses, how to get involved with research, and more!

Scope of Advising in Physics

Please review the Physics-Advising Syllabus to understand the scope of advising typically provided by Physics staff versus advising offered by Physics faculty. The page you’re currently viewing provides guidance on seeking advising from the Physics Staff Advising team. If you would like to connect with the Physics Faculty Advising Committee, please proceed to the Physics Undergraduate Faculty Advising webpage.

Click here and read through the Physics-Advising Syllabus so that you can understand the scope of advising you will typically receive from staff in Physics as compared to advising you will typically receive from faculty in Physics. The webpage you are currently on will help you seek advising from Staff in Physics. Please click here to be redirected to the Undergraduate Faculty Advising webpage if seeking to connect with a Physics faculty advisor. 

Types of Advising in Physics

The Physics Advising team consults with students in person, via Zoom, and also uses electronic communications. Please view your category, below, for more information and follow protocols exactly as outlined. 

 

Advising for Prospective Students & Visiting Summer Students

Please email advising@physics.ucsd.edu for advice, information, and appointments.

Due to the unique schedules and work locations of our undergraduate advising staff, we are unable to meet with you on an impromptu basis. Please email us at least 1-2 weeks in advance of your planned visit to UC San Diego to schedule an appointment.

Electronic advising for incoming FA25 freshman and transfer admits begins June 18. Appointments for incoming students begins after the departmental orientation the first week of the fall term (week 0).

At this time, you are welcome to see advising information on neearly every topic in the Physics Department Handbook.

Incomng students should immediately take the following actions:

🔎 Check to see if your incoming courses and exams already have approved UCSD equivalency:

✍️ If your course or exam does NOT already have an approved equivalency, please note each department may have a unique procedure to have coursework reveiwed. Use the appropriate link below:

MATH Course or Exam

PHYSICS Course or Exam

CSE Course or Exam

CHEMISTRY Course or Exam

BIOLOGY Course or Exam

 

Advising for Current UCSD Students (FA24 admits and prior)

Sending a message to PHYSICS through the Virtual Advising Center (vac.ucsd.edu) is the exclusive way to contact our office with questions. Questions submitted via VAC typically receive a response within 1-3 business days.

During campus closures, academic departments are closed, including department VAC portals. Please submit your message once the VAC re-opens. 

We offer fifteen-minute one-on-one appointments are available to current majors. Appointments are available in weeks 1-10. Appointments must be scheduled in advance (typically at least 72 hours lead time is required) and we will begin accepting appointment requests in week 1. 

To request an appointment, please follow these three steps:

  1. Read ALL past contact records and academic notices in the VAC from any/all units (not just past PHYS messages in the VAC). Then proceed to step 2.

  2. Fill out the required Pre-Meeting Questionnaire. Then proceed to step 3.

  3. Click here to submit relevant documents for review (note: we may process your document ahead of your appointment taking place, especially if it is time-sensitive). Then proceed to step 4.

  4. Click here, log in with your @ UCSD email account, and book your appointment.

  • Note: For Zoom meetings, both your audio and video must be on for the duration of the appointment and you must be able to use the share-screen feature to share your screen during the appointment.

If you need to cancel/reschedule your appointment: 

  • It is your responsibility to alert PHYSICS through the VAC at least 24 hours in advance of your appointment and to submit a new appointment request. 

If you miss your appointment and gave no notice that you need to cancel/reschedule:

  • You may request a new appointment. In most cases, your new appointment will need to be scheduled at least one week after the missed appointment. If your missed appointment falls in the last week of appointments for the term, your new appointment will need to be scheduled in the subsequent term.

We offer 15-minute one-on-one appointments for non-majors during weeks 3 through 6 and week 10 in the fall, winter, and spring terms

Meeting Days & Format:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: Can be in-person or remote.

  • Wednesday: Must be remote.

Important:

Only complete meeting requests will be processed. You will receive confirmation of your meeting's location and format in our reply.

 

To request an appointment, please follow these three steps:

STEP 1: Review All Relevant Information:

Check your past contact records and academic notices in the VAC (not just PHYS-related messages).

Once you’ve reviewed everything, move to step 2.

STEP 2: Submit Relevant Documents:

Click here to submit any documents that need review (we may process your documents before your appointment, especially if time-sensitive).

STEP 3: Send Your Appointment Request:

Copy and paste the following text into a new VAC message to PHYSICS, and fill in the requested details before submitting:

Hi! I’d like to request an appointment with Physics Advising. Here are ALL the days and times I am available to meet Monday through Friday from 8am-3pm in the current term:

Mondays:

Tuesdays:

Wednesdays:

Thursdays:

Fridays:

Topics I want to discuss:

Topic 1:

My questions are:

Topic 2:

My questions are:

Topic 3:

My questions are:

My preferred meeting type is: (in-person or remote)

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What to Do After Submitting Your Appointment Request:

  • Monitor your VAC for our reply with your appointment details and Zoom link. Check your VAC regularly after receiving email or text notifications that we’ve posted our response.

  • If you missed any of the three steps above, you will need to start the appointment scheduling process again and complete any missing steps.

Note for Zoom Meetings:

  • Both your audio and video must be on for the entire appointment.

  • You must be able to use the share-screen feature during the meeting.

 

Upcoming Closures

Physics Advising closes in correlation with campus closures, and there are sometimes closures not related to campus closures. When the VAC closes, advising is unavailable (there are no drop-ins or appointments, and VAC messaging is also unavailable). Please take note of upcoming VAC closures:

Holiday Campus Closed VAC Closes VAC Re-Opens
Veteran’s Day November 11 November 8 at 12pm November 12 at 9am
Thanksgiving November 28-29 November 27 at 12pm December 2 at 9am
Winter Break December 24-January 1 December 20 at 12pm January 6 at 9am
Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday January 20 January 17 at 12pm January 21 at 9am
President’s Day February 17 February 14 at 12pm February 18 at 9am
Cesar Chavez Holiday March 28 March 27 at 12pm March 31 at 9am
Memorial Day May 26 May 23 at 12pm May 27 at 9am
Juneteenth June 19 June 18 at 12pm June 20 at 9am
Independence Day July 4 July 3 at 12pm July 7 at 9am
Labor Day September 1 August 29 at 12pm September 2 at 9am​​​​​​