University of California (UC)
Please do not contact this university directly.
For all enquiries please contact the Exchange Office at exchange@otago.ac.nz.
Last updated May, 2012
Academic Information
Important Notes if you are considering applying to the University of California (UC)
- When completing the Student Exchange Programme Application Form, the University of California (comprising of nine campuses) will count as one single destination.
- Students wishing to attend the University of California on exchange will be required to apply to three different UC campuses and be prepared to attend any one of them. Admission to your first choice of campus is not guaranteed. The University of California Education Abroad Program (UC EAP) office will decide which campus you will attend based on your academic record, your study plan for each campus and other information supplied in your UC EAP application.
Course Information
A Student Exchange is available only at Undergraduate level.
Each University of California Campus has different course offerings and different requirements.
- Course catalogues (Select a campus)
- List of majors
- List of prerequisites
- Undergraduate impacted majors - If you are applying in any of these majors, your application will be reviewed on a competitive, case-by-case basis. Your acceptance depends on available space as determined by the host UC campus
- UC Campus Spotlight - Merced
Commerce students:
- Students who wish to take courses in Business, Economics, Management or Accounting at any campus at the University of California must have completed 1 semester at university level in Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Statistics and Calculus before they will be considered.
- Suitable Otago papers to meet UC's requirements: BSNS 102 + BSNS 104 + ECON 112 (Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Statistics); MATH 102 or MATH 160 (Calculus).
- Marketing - UC does not have a major in Marketing and the few classes offered at UC in this subject can be found under Econ or Business Econ. Student should look into UCR (Business Administration), UCSD (Econ) or UCD (classes are listed under Econ or Agricultural and Resources Economics). Some flexibility is required because UC cannot guarantee that courses in Marketing will be offered or that students will get a space in class.
- Finance - Classes may be found under the Economics department.
Semester Dates
UC Berkeley (UCB) operates on the semester system, 15 weeks of instruction per semester.
- Spring semester (January - May)
- Fall semester (August - December)
Other UC campuses operate on the quarter system, 10 weeks of instruction per quarter.
- Winter quarter (January - March)
- Spring quarter (April - June)
- Fall quarter (September - December)
Course Load and Minimum Unit Requirements
To comply with U.S. immigration policy, foreign students are required to be enrolled full time (at least 13 semester units at most Berkeley colleges, at least 12 quarter units at all other UC campuses). Most UC students enrol in 14-17 units per term. Some Reciprocal Exchange students may consider limiting their first-term enrolment to the minimum number of course units required by their UC college or department.
Accommodation & the Cost of Living
Accommodation
The University of California will assist students in organizing accommodation for the duration of their exchange. Accommodation is however not guaranteed and students are encouraged to apply for their accommodation as soon as possible.
Campus specific accommodation information
Estimated Cost of Living
Additional Information
Student Visa & Insurance
Information on Student Visas & Insurance for students going on exchange can be found elsewhere on this website.
Exchange Experiences
- UCB 2011 S1 BSc Hons MATH PHSI SS (525k PDF format)
- UCSD 2011 S1 BSc NEUR LH (290k PDF format)
- UCB 2010 S2 and 2011 S1 BA THEA AP (581k (PDF format)
- UCI 2010 FY BA FIME KG (63K PDF format)
- UCB 2010 S2 BA Hons ARTH CS (422K PDF format)
- UCSB 2010 S2 BA ARTH COMS GD (40K PDF format)
- UCLA 2010 S2 BA POLS HIST KS (216K PDF format)
- UCSB 2010 S1 BCom FINC INTB RH (224K PDF format)
- UCSB 2010 S1 BSc ECON GEOG KM (401K PDF format)
- UCB 2009 S2 BA POLS PHIL ECON LF (46K PDF format)
- UCB 2009 FY BSc Hons PHSI MP (519K PDF format)
- UCD 2009 FY BSc FOSC MC (427K PDF format)
Other student evaluation reports are available in the Student Resource room (room B07, Archway West building).
The University, City & Region
The University
The University of California family includes more than 220,000 students, more than 170,000 faculty and staff, 37,000 retirees and more than 1.5 million living alumni.
University of California Campuses
- UC Berkeley
- UC Davis
- UC Irvine
- UC Los Angeles
- UC Merced
- UC Riverside
- UC Santa Barbara
- UC Santa Cruz
- UC San Diego
The Cities and Regions
Please refer to each individual campus’s website for information.
Further Information
For further information about Otago Global Student Exchange please email exchange@otago.ac.nz
