Transfer FAQs

An advising hold is automatically placed on your student account when you deposit, and will remain there until you've met with your academic advisor. Once you've met with your academic advisor, they will lift the hold from your account so you can register for classes. Follow these steps to be cleared to meet with your academic advisor.

Make sure to check your student account for any other holds that might impact your ability to register for classes.

School of Business and School of Engineering Students

You’ll declare your major by submitting the Transfer Student Questionnaire. You’ll only be able to select one major in your questionnaire, so select the major you feel most passionate about. If you would like to declare a second major or a minor, let your academic advisor know when you meet with them. 

College of Arts and Sciences Students

You’ll declare your major when you meet with your academic advisor. You’ll still need to submit the Transfer Student Questionnaire, as your responses will help us connect you with the right advisor. Until you meet with your academic advisor and officially declare your major, your major will be listed as “undeclared” in your student portals.

You'll find the link to the Transfer Student Questionnaire in your New Student Checklist, located in your MySanDiego portal under the "Admissions" tab and "Announcements" subtab.

Yes. You will need to retake the questionnaire for the upcoming semester, as your previous questionnaire is out-of-date. If your New Student Checklist won’t allow you to access the new questionnaire, please email us at transfer@sandiego.edu.

Change for new Spring 2021 students: If you deferred your admission from Fall 2020 to Spring 2021 and submitted your questionnaire this past summer, you do not need to re-take the questionnaire. We will use your prior submission to get your major declared for Spring 2021. 

If you recently claimed your USDOne account, that might explain why you are having trouble inputting your personal information at the top. Hang tight for a bit - it can take a full day for your account to be active in all of our systems. Once your USDOne account has been fully processed, the personal information at the top of your questionnaire will auto-populate.

If a course you had taken at a previous institution is listed as an elective on Degree Works, and you would like to request an additional evaluation to see if it may fulfill a core curriculum, major, or minor requirement, you’ll need to fill out the Petition for Pre-USD Transfer Course Credit form in consultation with your academic advisor. A Companion Guide is available to guide you through this process.

Prior to your advising meeting, you’ll want to do your best to collect syllabi for the courses you’ll be petitioning.

All transfer students participate in a Transfer Learning Community (TLC) in their first semester at USD. While in a TLC, you will make connections with peers, faculty, and Transfer Scholastic Assistants (TSAs) to create your own community within USD. You will participate in curricular and co-curricular activities related to the Engage theme and your TLC class. You will share interests, knowledge, and experiences with others, and enrich your own experience at USD. All this — learning in a small group, getting to know your professors, making connections with classmates, and sharing ideas and experiences — will help you integrate into USD.

In successfully completing your TLC class and actively participating in the required curricular activities, you will fulfill the First Year Integration competency of the core curriculum. For more information on the TLC program, check out our Learning Communities website.