Freshman Summer Engineering Institute

All SEI participants take ENG 15: Engineer Your Success (2 credits) where you create an individualized plan about your goals as an engineering student and future professional engineer, and how you will apply what you learned from the class to achieve those goals. 

Participants also select one 4-credit course from their Engineering major:

Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Electrical Engineering & Society majors:

• ECE 5: Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering 

Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering; Bioengineering, Bioengineering (Biotechnology), Bioengineering: BioSystems majors:

• MAE 8: MATLAB Programming for Engineering Analysis 

Chemical Engineering majors:

• CENG 15/NANO 15: Engineering Computation Using MATLAB

Nanoengineering majors: 

• NANO 11: Introduction to Nanoengineering

Structural Engineering majors:

• SE 9: Algorithms and Programming for Structural Engineering

Computer Science, Computer Engineering majors*:

• CSE 8A: Introduction to Programming and Computational Problem-Solving I
• CSE 11 (remote): Introduction to Programming and Computational Problem-Solving Accelerated Pace​​
  • (For the following majors: Bioengineering: Bioinformatics; Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Science: Bioinformatics) 
• CSE 20: Discrete Mathematics

*Please visit this website to identify the course that best fits your previous course experience.

All incoming freshmen students admitted to an engineering major at UC San Diego who have accepted their Offer of Admission.

For engineering students placed in MATH 2, please know that Summer Bridge offers Math 2 as a part of their program. If you are placed in Math 3C or below, we recommend you apply to Summer Bridge to move your trajectory forward.

SEI Application Opens: Mid-March

IDEA Scholars priority application deadline: May 1, 2025

SEI Application Deadline: May 22, 2025

Program Dates: Saturday, August 2 - Saturday, September 6, 2024

Direct Cost to Participate in Summer Engineering Institute 2024**

**This is the estimated cost as of 5/7/2024 and subject to change.
​​​​​

*Students can opt in for an early start UC SHIP (Student Health Insurance Plan) at $413.15 (covers 7/29/24-9/22/24) or opt out and pay a $70 Summer Health Access Fee if they choose to waive out of UC SHIP for the summer. The $70 access fee will be posted to student accounts in July, and students who opt in for early start UC SHIP will get fees posted to their student accounts with Fall billing in August.-

Notes:

• Students who enroll in ECE 5 will be charged a $100 lab fee which will be assessed with registration fees.
• Summer fees are subject to change.
• All students in SEI are expected to reside on campus for the duration of the program.

Learn when and how UC San Diego applies Summer Session financial aid to your student account.

Summer financial aid and scholarships are available.

• Check the Financial Aid and Scholarships website for information on how to apply for Summer Financial Aid.
• We strongly encourage all SEI applicants to apply for summer financial aid by filling out the 2024-2025 FAFSA or CA Dream Act Application. You may have already completed the 2025-2026 FAFSA or CA Dream Act Application, but that support starts in the fall and doesn't help with the upcoming summer, so it is important to fill out the 2024-2025 application as well.

Become an IDEA Scholar and receive scholarship towards SEI!

• The IDEA Scholars program fosters community building and academic excellence among our top incoming freshman engineering students from diverse backgrounds, and may provide financial assistance for attending SEI. Learn more about becoming an IDEA Scholar.

Application coming soon!

Student Feedback:

SEI was the best decision I ever made, and I feel very ready to start fall quarter knowing I am coming in with friendships I know will last a very long time. I learned a lot of the campus very well, and I learned about many resources I probably would have never heard about. It was an amazing five weeks.  

SEI was very worthwhile for me as I met new people with similar interests as me, and made connections before the school year even started. The classes were very helpful for me, and the events that were put on fostered bonding of participants, which was very good.

SEI was a good program. It helped me get used to the university life and made me realize some of the habits I have to change to fully take advantage of resources.

I really enjoyed my time here and bonded well with my suitemates. I like how it eased me more gradually into college life and how we were able to have easy access to older UCSD students to ask them questions.

Questions about Summer Engineering Institute: idea@ucsd.edu 

Questions about becoming an IDEA Scholar: ideascholars@ucsd.edu

Office for Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability (physical, chronic health, learning, mental health, ADHD, etc.) who may need accommodations in classrooms (lecture and/or examination), labs, housing and/or dining, recreational activities such as hiking, ropes, field sports, etc., please contact the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) at 858.534.4382 as soon as you become aware that the condition may impact your ability to participate in our programs. Click here for additional information.

Veteran/CalVet Education Benefits
If you are a Military Affiliated student receiving Federal Veteran Affairs (VA) or Cal Vet assistance during the summer, you may want to verify your benefits and how your participation may be affected. Please contact the Student Veteran Benefits Coordinator, Lisa Linares at (858) 534-0477 or by email at llinares@ucsd.edu.
For more information, click here.