Mt. San Antonio College to UCSD
Psychology Transfer Plan
Semester-by-semester courses, IGETC requirements, and major prerequisites — verified from real articulation data.
From
Mt. San Antonio College
To
UC San Diego
PsychologyGPA Reality Check
UCSD sets a 3.0 minimum GPA for transfer eligibility, but admitted students for Fall 2025 came in with a mid-50% GPA range of 3.55–3.94 — that's a significant gap from the floor. The good news is that Psychology is not a capped or impacted major at UCSD, so you won't be competing for a fixed number of seats the way engineering students are. Still, your science and math courses matter most: reviewers will look closely at how you performed in BIOL 1, MATH 150, and your statistics sequence, since those directly mirror the quantitative rigor UCSD expects from its Psychology majors.
UC Transfer Admission Planner (UC TAP)
UC TAP (UC Transfer Admission Planner) is the free online tool every Mt. San Antonio College student targeting a UC should be using from day one. You log in, build your coursework plan, and track your progress toward IGETC completion and major prep requirements — all in one place. UCSD does not participate in the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program, so UC TAP won't lock in your admission the way a TAG would at UC Davis or UC Santa Barbara, but keeping an active, updated TAP account demonstrates intentionality to advisors and keeps you from missing a required course.
Major Requirements
Psychology B.S. (Division of Social Sciences) Major Preparation
Psychology B.S. (Division of Social Sciences) at UC San Diego
Courses at Mt. San Antonio College that satisfy UC San Diego's Psychology major preparation, verified via ASSIST.org.
UCSD offers several programs that overlap with Psychology but are distinct degrees: Cognitive Science B.S. (also in Social Sciences, focuses on mind and computation), Human Developmental Sciences B.S./B.A. (life-span development focus), and Neuroscience B.S. (in Biological Sciences, heavily pre-med oriented). If your interest leans toward brain biology rather than behavioral research, Neuroscience may be the better fit — but it has more demanding science prerequisites and is considered more competitive.
| Course at Mt. San Antonio College | Satisfies at UCSD | Units |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 110 — Statistics | UCSD Statistics requirement (e.g., MATH 11 or PSYC 60) | 4 |
| PSYC 10 — Statistics for Behavioral Sciences | UCSD Statistics requirement (PSYC 60 — Introduction to Statistics) | 4 |
| BIOL 1 — General Biology I | UCSD Natural Science requirement — Biological Sciences | 4 |
| MATH 150 — Calculus with Analytic Geometry I | UCSD Formal Skills requirement — MATH 10A or MATH 20A | 5 |
| No equivalent at Mt. SAC | UCSD Computer Programming requirement — CSE 3 (Fluency with Information Technology) or CSE 6R (Introduction to Programming and Computational Problem Solving) | — |
Courses with no equivalent must be taken at UC San Diego after transfer. Factor this into your first-year course plan.
General Education
Foundation GE at Mt. San Antonio College
Complete these five courses at Mt. San Antonio College to start your UCSD GE pattern. Finishing full IGETC/Cal-GETC at the CC is ideal — these five give you the broadest head start, and CCN-tagged courses stay portable if you switch community colleges.
BIOL 1
General Biology
CHEM 10
Chemistry for Allied Health Majors
HIST 1
History of the United States
ENGL C1000
Academic Reading and Writing
ENGL C1001
Critical Thinking and Writing
| Area | Course at Mt. San Antonio College | Units |
|---|---|---|
Life Science | BIOL 1 — General Biology | 4 |
Physical Science | CHEM 10 — Chemistry for Allied Health Majors | 5 |
Humanities | HIST 1 — History of the United States | 3 |
English CompositionCCN | ENGL C1000 — Academic Reading and Writing | 4 |
Critical ThinkingCCN | ENGL C1001 — Critical Thinking and Writing | 4 |
Statistics → Research Methods
PSYC 2 (Research Methods in Psychology) at Mt. San Antonio College requires both PSYC C1000 (Introduction to Psychology) and a statistics course — either MATH 110 or PSYC 10 — as prerequisites. If you don't take statistics in your first semester, you'll push Research Methods into a later semester and arrive at UCSD without one of the most valued lower-division prep courses on your transcript.
Mt. SAC runs on semesters — UCSD runs on quarters
You'll go from two 18-week semesters per year to three 10-week quarters, so expect courses to move faster and deadlines to hit sooner — build strong time-management habits at Mt. SAC before you arrive.
Preview
Your First Semester
A preview of what Pipeline generates — exact courses, in the right order, every semester.
Watch Out
Common Mistakes for This Transfer Path
UC TAP Isn't TAG — Know the Difference
Many Mt. San Antonio College students assume that using UC TAP gives them a guaranteed admission offer to UCSD — it doesn't. UCSD does not participate in the Transfer Admission Guarantee program; the six TAG-participating campuses are UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz. If UCSD is your top choice, use UC TAP to organize your plan, but build a balanced school list that includes at least one TAG-eligible campus as a stronger safety.
Computer Programming Has No Mt. SAC Equivalent
UCSD's Psychology B.S. requires a computer programming course — typically satisfied by CSE 3 or CSE 6R at UCSD — and as of the current ASSIST agreement, Mt. San Antonio College has no articulated equivalent for this requirement. That means you'll need to complete this course after you arrive on campus, which can affect your first-quarter unit load if you haven't planned for it. Factor this into your four-year plan at UCSD from the moment you accept your offer.
Finish IGETC, But Don't Skip Major Prep
IGETC is accepted for Psychology at UCSD and will satisfy your lower-division general education requirements — but completing IGETC does not satisfy your major prep obligations. UCSD's Psychology department is explicit: if you finish IGETC without completing the required coursework in statistics, natural science, and formal skills, you'll still have to finish those lower-division courses before you can graduate. Prioritize PSYC 10 or MATH 110 and BIOL 1 alongside your IGETC courses, not after them.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What GPA do I need to transfer from Mt. San Antonio College to UCSD for Psychology?
UCSD requires a minimum 3.0 GPA in all UC-transferable coursework, but that's just the floor to be eligible. Admitted transfer students for Fall 2025 had a mid-50% GPA range of 3.55–3.94. Since Psychology at UCSD is not a capped or impacted major, your odds are better than in engineering or data science, but you should still aim for a 3.6 or above — especially in quantitative courses like MATH 110 or PSYC 10.
Does UCSD have a TAG for community college students transferring into Psychology?
No — UCSD does not participate in the UC Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program. You can and should use UC TAP (UC Transfer Admission Planner) to track your Mt. San Antonio College coursework, but it won't guarantee you a spot at UCSD. If you want a guaranteed admission pathway, look at TAG-eligible campuses like UC Santa Barbara or UC Davis.
What classes should I take at Mt. San Antonio College to prepare for the Psychology major at UCSD?
UCSD's Psychology B.S. requires coursework in statistics, natural science, formal skills (calculus or logic), and computer programming — not a general intro to psychology course. At Mt. SAC, that means courses like PSYC 10 (Statistics for Behavioral Sciences), BIOL 1 (General Biology I), and MATH 150 (Calculus with Analytic Geometry I) are your priority major prep courses. Note that there is currently no Mt. SAC articulated equivalent for UCSD's computer programming requirement, which you'll complete after transfer.
Does IGETC count for the Psychology major at UC San Diego?
Yes, IGETC is accepted for the Psychology B.S. at UCSD and will clear your lower-division general education requirements. However, UCSD's Psychology department makes clear that completing IGETC does not substitute for major prep — you must still complete the required statistics, natural science, and formal skills courses before you can graduate. Don't treat IGETC as a shortcut around courses like PSYC 10 or BIOL 1.
How many units do I need to transfer from Mt. San Antonio College to UC San Diego?
You need a minimum of 60 UC-transferable semester units to be eligible to transfer to UCSD as a junior-level student. Mt. SAC operates on the semester system, so 60 semester units is your target — that's typically achievable in two full years of coursework. Use UC TAP to track exactly which of your Mt. SAC units are UC-transferable as you go.
Explore More
Related Transfer Plans
Students planning to transfer from Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) to UC San Diego (UCSD) as Psychology majors have a genuinely accessible pathway — but it requires careful planning well before you submit your application. UCSD's overall transfer acceptance rate was 52.7% for Fall 2025, with admitted students coming in at a mid-50% GPA range of 3.55–3.94, and the Psychology B.S. in the Division of Social Sciences is notably not a capped or impacted major, meaning you won't be competing against a fixed enrollment cap the way engineering applicants are. That said, transfer planning from Mt. SAC to UCSD Psychology is more nuanced than it looks: unlike most Psychology programs at other UCs, UCSD does not require an introductory psychology course as part of your major prerequisites. Instead, the lower-division major prep focuses on statistics, natural science, formal skills like calculus, and computer programming. At Mt. SAC, that means prioritizing courses like PSYC 10 (Statistics for Behavioral Sciences) and BIOL 1 (General Biology I) alongside IGETC completion. It's worth noting that Mt. San Antonio College currently has no articulated equivalent for UCSD's computer programming requirement, a gap that distinguishes this pathway from students transferring from other community colleges. Students should also use UC TAP — the UC Transfer Admission Planner — to track their major prerequisites and IGETC progress in one place. Tools like Pipeline help students build personalized semester-by-semester plans that account for prerequisite chains, unit requirements, and articulation gaps specific to the Mt. SAC to UCSD pathway, so nothing falls through the cracks before application season.
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