Fall 2025 New International First-Year Students Information
School of Social Sciences | Undergraduate Student Affairs Office
Congratulations and welcome to the Anteater family!
We are so happy to welcome you to the School of Social Sciences.
ATTN INCOMING INTERNATIONAL FIRST-YEARS: A non-admissions hold will be placed on your record. Don't worry - this is normal! You will be emailed in mid-July with instructions on how to have the hold removed, you must complete your online academic advising. Regularly check your UCI email for more instructions. You do not need to contact us...we will email you.
Here is some information on things to come!
1) Register for Summer Orientation (ISPOP or SPOP)
You are required to attend an in-person orientation.
Most international students will attend ISPOP (International Student Orientation), but if you want to attend SPOP, that's also a great choice! When the orientation registration opens, be sure to reserve your spot in ISPOP or SPOP!
2) Academic Advising
Those of you who have registered for an orientation (ISPOP or SPOP) will receive academic advising information around in mid-July.
3) Enroll in Classes
After following academic advising instructions, you will enroll in classes for the Fall Quarter.
📌 Reminders & FAQs
⚠️Tuition Payment: Pay fees via Zot Account by September 15th @4pm to avoid classes being dropped!
📧Email Policy: Always use your UCI email!
🔄Changing Your Major: Most programs are not accepting changes at this time.
Changing your major Within Social Sciences:
Unfortunately, we are not accepting major changes. If you wish to change to another major within Social Sciences, you will need to complete the change of major requirements for that major: https://changeofmajor.uci.edu/school-of-social-sciences/
Changing your major OUTSIDE Social Sciences - There is a very limited number of programs that are accepting major changes at
this time:
- Some majors under the School of the Arts
- Education Sciences major
- All majors under the School of Humanities
- Undergraduate/Undeclared (U/U)
Information on requesting a change to one of these majors can be found on our Summer Change of Major website.
If your intended major is not currently accepting requests for incoming students,
you will need to complete their change of major requirements: https://changeofmajor.uci.edu/ ...or consider joining the U/U program now! As a U/U student, you may have more
access to courses that are restricted to specific majors that do not include Social
Sciences.
👥One-on-One Advising
With 300+ newly admitted international first-year students, we are unable to provide individual appointments at this time. Once the Fall Quarter begins, you can visit our office on a walk-in basis or schedule appointments.
All of our advisors will be at all SPOPs and ISPOP for you to talk to!
📅Future Planning
We are currently only advising on your Fall Quarter classes right now.
If you have questions about future courses, double majors, changing your major, adding
a minor, or planning ahead, we kindly ask you to visit our office in September to
meet with an academic advisor once the Fall Quarter begins!
👋Your Academic Advisor
In the School of Social Sciences, you are not assigned to a specific advisor! All of our advisors and peer academic advisors can assist you equally.
The best way to contact our office now until the beginning of Fall Quarter is via email here at intlfrsocsci@uci.edu. The advisors dedicated to assisting new international students are answering this email.
Once you are at UCI, you can meet with any advisor by visiting our office during our office “walk-in” hours!
Additional Resources & Information
Application Portal
You may still be receiving important information from the UCI Admissions office through your Applicant Portal, so please make sure you are checking it frequently throughout the Summer!
UCINetID and Gmail
Please make sure that you have activated your UCINetID and your UCI Gmail account! From here on out, our office will be communicating with you only through your UCI student email address, so it's important to get it activated ASAP and to check it daily!
Information on how to get all your UCI accounts set up can be found under the ”Getting Started“ section of our New Student page.
2025 Summer Change of Major Info
Thinking of changing your major? More information on each School's change of major policies for incoming students can be found on our Summer Change of Major page.
No longer coming to UCI? Please make sure you notify UCI Admissions through your Applicant Portal first, and then send an email to our office at intlfrsocsci@uci.edu to let us know that you no longer plan to attend in the Fall. Be sure to include your full name and UCI student ID number in your email!
Questions? Concerns?
Please send us an email at intlfrsocsci@uci.edu with your full name, UCI student ID, and your questions!
All emails are answered by a full-time academic advisor.