Most students will find that they have satisfied UCSB's writing requirements. Students who transfer to UCSB must satisfy Area A, the university's General Education Composition Requirement. Area A requires the completion of two courses, UCSB Writing 2 (or 2E or 2LK) and one course from the following: Writing 50, 105A-Z, 107A-Z, or 109AA-ZZ. In many cases, transfer work will fulfill these requirements.

The College of Engineering Area A requirements are significantly different from those outlined above. Please refer to the General Education Academic Requirement book (GEAR) for details, or visit the Undergraduate studies office in HFH 1006, if you have questions. Copies of the GEAR are also available in HFH 1006 or on the web: https://engineering.ucsb.edu/undergraduate/academic-advising/gear-publications

• Talk with the advisor at your previous school to find out which courses transfer to UCSB. UCSB has articulation agreements with many California colleges that specify which of the classes that you take there will count at UCSB.
• Contact the UCSB Admissions office for Advisement. Prospective transfer student services provide information and advisement for students prior to their application at UCSB.
• Check the transferability of your coursework at ASSIST.org. ASSIST (Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer) is California's official statewide repository of transfer information, offering easy access to a single database. ASSIST can help you determine if you will receive credit for courses you've already taken, and how those courses will apply to specific academic goals.
• Contact the Writing Program's Undergraduate Advisor.
• In addition to advising students about taking writing courses at UCSB, the Undergraduate Advisor can also enter student's transfer information into UCSB's data system, clearing the student's writing prerequisites. Students cannot enroll in upper division Writing Program courses, or other courses with writing prerequisites, until they are manually cleared by the Undergraduate Advisor. (Note: Official transcripts must still be sent to and received by the UCSB Admissions Office.)

If it is an upper division course (Courses numbered 100 to 199), 

Go to the registration tab in Gold and check your class level. If it is says freshman or sophomore class level you have not met the required units to have upper division standing. Upper division standing is required for the Upper Division Writing Courses.

If you are a transfer student,

you may be blocked because a course equivalent to Writing 2 needs to be manually cleared. If the Writing Program block is not removed after the quarter begins, or if a student receives a Writing Program block three quarters in a row, it will become a more serious block from the College of Letters and Science. Email the Writing Program at wpinfo@writing.ucsb.edu to have the block removed.

If your progress checks shows you met the requirements but Gold will not let you register,

Please email wpinfo@writing.ucsb.edu. 

Writing Program classes are impacted. If you are not able to enroll on GOLD, you are welcome to crash courses on the first day of class. In order to increase your chance of getting into a Writing Program class, crash any and all sections that will fit in your schedule. Writing Program courses cannot be over enrolled so students should not count on successfully crashing. Writing Program instructors have add codes they can give at their discretion if space becomes available after the first day of class, but the Writing Program office does not distribute add codes.

It is possible to fulfill Area A-1 and Area A-2 with credit received from Advanced Placement Exams or International Baccalaureate Exams.  In fact, depending on the scores students have received on these exams, they may not be able to enroll in Writing 2 for credit.  For details, students should meet with an College of Letters and Science advisor in 1117 Cheadle Hall and/or consult the General Catalog:

Advanced Placement
International Baccalaureate

It is not possible to test out of Writing 2, Writing 50 or an upper division (105, 107,109) Writing Program course once a student has matriculated at UCSB.

No, students cannot take Writing Program classes P/NP.

Applicants need to complete any combination of courses from from Writing 105AA-ZZ, Writing 107AA-ZZ, or Writing 109AA-ZZ.* So you can take three Writing 105 courses or one course from each category for example. 

You could also complete two courses from Writing 105AA-ZZ, 107AA-ZZ, or 109AA-ZZ along with one of the following courses. 

*Writing 124 (four units) will also apply as one pre-requisite course toward the minor.

*Writing 131 (must be completed prior to applying to the minor) will also count as one pre-requisite course toward the minor.

*Writing 160 (for a letter grade) will also apply as one pre-requisite course toward the minor.

Students must take three courses from Writing 105AA-ZZ, Writing 107AA-ZZ, or Writing 109AA-ZZ before the application is due at the beginning of Fall quarter of senior year.

The best resource will be the track director. You can find their contact information under their track page. 

Each tracks has connections to different internship opportunities and help connect their students.  We also offer Writing 161: Digital Storytelling or Writing 162: Advanced Public Speaking as an alternative to the internship portion. Students who already have full year internships that are related to their minor track may seek approval from the track director to use that internship for Writing 150.