The Fall 2025 Schedule of Classes is Live!

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Enrollment Prep Week for Fall quarter is May 12-16. This is the time to review the schedule, select your classes (with some backup options), and get your shopping cart ready in MyUCSC. Enrollment appointments begin May May 19, starting with priority groups, and continues over the next two weeks. Here are some helpful details and resources to get you ready for enrollment:

In this Newsletter:

• Sociology Advising

• Enrollment Appointments

• Approved Elective Course Substitutions Offered Fall Quarter

• Supplemental SOCY Course Information for:

  • SOCY 1, Intro to Sociology

  • SOCY 15, World Society

  • SOCY 105A, Classical Social Theory

  • SOCY 196S, Senior Seminars

  • SOCY 178T, Special Topics in Sociology

• Waitlist Best Practices

• Non-SOCY Course Options & Academic Planning

• Declare Your Major

• Summer Session Enrollment Continues

Sociology Advising

Enrollment Prep Week has begun! Students can enroll on their own through MyUCSC during their enrollment appointments, you are not required to meet with an advisor. However, if you do need assistance with sociology course selection or reviewing your major progress, please check-in with the Sociology Advising Team.

Important Note: Appointments fill up quickly during enrollment time! We encourage you to use our drop-in advising calendar to connect with us sooner. 

Enrollment Appointments

Enrollment appointments have posted!

On May 12th your enrollment appointments will be posted in MyUCSC. 

To view your enrollment appointments go to MyUCSC > Enrollment > Enrollment Dates. 

Students have two enrollment appointments

"First pass and second pass" enrollment. Enrollment appointments are assigned by the office of Registrar and are determined by the number of units you will have completed by the end of Fall quarter, as well as whether you have priority enrollment:

• Juniors (90-134 units), sophomores (45-89 units) and frosh (0-44 units) can enroll in no more than 14 units during their first pass enrollment. During the second pass, they may enroll in up to 19 units, and waitlist up to 14 units.

• Seniors (135+ units) may enroll in up to 19 units during their first pass, and waitlist up to 14 units during their second pass.

• Priority enrollment students can enroll in up to 19 units during their first pass enrollment, and waitlist up to 14 units during their second pass. 

Students can enroll through MyUCSC. You do not need to meet with an advisor in order to enroll. 

Approved Elective Course Substitutions in Spring

Elective course substitutions are upper-division, 5-unit courses related to sociology but offered through other departments. Review policies, processes, and approved courses by selecting the program you are pursuing:

Supplemental SOCY Course Information

SOCY, 1 Intro to Sociology

SOCY 1 is gated, meaning we open a certain number of seats each day of First Pass enrollment. While there will be some seats open for priority, seniors, and juniors, the majority of the seats will open on the sophomore enrollment day. If you are a junior or senior sociology student who still needs to take SOCY 1 to qualify to declare the sociology major but are having trouble enrolling into the course, please contact socyadvising@ucsc.edu

SOCY 15 World Society

SOCY 15 is gated, meaning we open a certain number of seats each day of First Pass enrollment. While there will be some seats open for priority, seniors, and juniors, the majority of the seats will open on the sophomore enrollment day. If you are a junior or senior sociology student who still needs to take SOCY 15 to qualify to declare the sociology major but are having trouble enrolling into the course, please contact socyadvising@ucsc.edu

SOCY 105A, Classical Social Theory

SOCY 105A is offered in Fall, Winter, and Summer. It is open to junior and senior students who are declared or proposed in sociology, and have completed or are in progress with their ELWR and Composition requirement. Junior standing is having 90 units, including your Spring and Summer courses.

• If Fall quarter is the last chance you have to take SOCY 105A before graduation but you have trouble enrolling into the course, please contact socyadvising@ucsc.edu for help.

• If you have met all the requirements of enrollment, except being a junior, we may be able to assist eligible sophomores with early enrollment. Exceptions will only be considered after Two Pass enrollment has ended. Contact socyadvising@ucsc.edu after Two Pass enrollment to discuss an exception.

SOCY 196S, Senior Seminars

Senior Seminars are enrollment by application and permission code. Senior sociology majors were emailed directly with this information on April 25th and have a priority deadline of May 14th to apply, however applications will still be accepted on a rolling basis after this deadline. Please be sure to apply as soon as possible if you need/want to take a senior seminar in Fall quarter. Course information and the application can be found on our website.

The Everett Program and Digital Justice Studies

Get hands-on with theory and make change. Enroll in SOCY 30A in Fall quarter! 

The Everett Program

The Everett Program for Technology and Social Change empowers students to use digital tools for social good. It reimagines long-standing institutional models of learning and activism by using the university as a site for student-led governance, co-learning, and a starting point for community-engaged collaboration with organizations across the globe. In our year-long course series, students embark on a technology-based project with nonprofits, social enterprises, and community organizations. Students move on to implement these projects during Spring and Summer with funds received through grants, while also working directly with project NGO partners. Recent NGO partners include Barrios Unidos, Regeneracion Pajaro Valley, Refugee and Immigrant Transitions, and the Monteverde Institute. Learn more about our projects!

Four Quarter Course Series

Through a four quarter course series, students learn and practice community-engaged activism on issues of social justice and sustainability. In addition, students will learn various digital technology tools, tech activism, project development, grant writing, and leadership skills. The following courses must be taken in sequence, starting with SOCY 30A in Fall quarter. We recommend students start the series by Fall of their Junior/3rd year in order to complete the series by their expected graduation term.

• SOCY 30A, Intro to Digital Justice Studies (PE-T GE): In our Fall quarter introductory course, students are introduced to social justice and sustainability projects using social-enterprise methodologies.

• SOCY 107A, Designing Digital Justice Projects: In Winter, students move on to design projects to support Everett’s partners and get more fluent with the technology used to help implement their projects.

• SOCY 107B, Project Implementation for Digital Justice: During the Spring, students begin implementing their projects in collaboration with their assigned Everett partners. Classes consist of semi-structured hands-on workshops designed to help students learn various practical skills, including project management, collaboration, project evaluation, documentation, and field notes. Students also have the opportunity to apply for the Everett Fellowship in this course.

• SOCY 196G, Project Practicum for Digital Justice Studies: Our final course the following Fall quarter will have students reflect on their project experiences. Students will articulate their reflections and experiences through writing workshops and learn how to communicate their project’s achievements to a variety of audiences in different presentation formats (keynote presentation, webpage, etc.)

Digital Justice Studies (DJS) Concentration or Minor

The Sociology Department's Global Information and Social Enterprise Studies (GISES) Concentration and GISES Minor are relaunching under a new title starting Fall 2025:

Digital Justice Studies (DJS)

DJS is developed in collaboration with the Everett Program. Students who participate in the Everett Program complete the four quarter course series described above, which are also requirements in the DJS concentration in the Sociology BA, and DJS minor. Students pursuing the Sociology BA can add the Digital Justice Studies concentration which entails 12 courses for the Sociology BA + the four course series described above. Students majoring in a program outside of Sociology can pursue the Digital Justice Studies Minor which entails three upper division electives + the four course series described above. 

Any student who is already declared in the Sociology BA with GISES concentration or GISES minor, will be able to update to the new DJS concentration or minor starting Fall 2025. 

Wait List Best Practices

Office of Registrar Waitlist FAQs

Waitlists open on your second enrollment appointment. The waitlist appointment is listed along with your other enrollment appointment(s) and has a "14.00" listed under "Max WaitList Units" column. "14.00" indicates the number of units you can waitlist under.

Always enroll into your backup course first! Then waitlist for your desired course and indicate the course you want to drop if you are able to get into the waitlisted course. This is done in the drop down menu "If Enrolled Drop This Class”. The system will make a 1-to-1 switch for you. This will help you avoid time conflicts and exceed the 19 unit enrollment limit.

You must meet the prerequisite and restrictions. Enrollment prerequisites and restrictions apply to course enrollment and to the waitlist. If you do not meet the restriction/prerequisite your only option is to crash the course.

Students may be ineligible for enrollment from the waitlist if: they have a time conflict with another course, they are exceeding the 19 unit enrollment limit, or if their selected section is already full. Students who are ineligible to be enrolled into a course will be skipped over on the waitlist and the next eligible student will be enrolled. Because of this, your waitlist position number may not be the order in which students are enrolled. Review the waitlist error messages for solutions.

Starting on the first day of instruction, most SOCY courses are enrollment by permission code only. Waitlists for SOCY courses will stop enrolling students, and instead the professors will begin using their permission codes to admit waitlisted and/or crashing students. Instructors have their own processes and may not follow the waitlist position numbers.

Waitlists are deleted on the eighth day of instruction. This is a campus wide policy. If you are still attempting to enroll into a course, please continue working with the instructor.

Non-SOCY Course Options and Academic Planning

Students are encouraged to think about their plan early and often in their academic career. The Sociology requirements alone are not enough to fulfill your graduation requirements. What courses will you be taking outside of Sociology? Below are some suggestions and best practices when considering your plan each quarter:

Back-up options: Before your enrollment appointment determine your desired schedule as well as a set of backup options, both SOCY and non-SOCY courses. If you are not able to get your first choice, enroll in your backup course(s) and then waitlist for your first choice using the waitlist directions above.

Are you considering a double major or minor?: Explore those interests now by taking one of their requirements. Explore programs in the catalog.

Summer Session: A variety of courses, SOCY and non-SOCY, are offered in the summer.

General Education: Check your MyUCSC > My Academics > Degree Progress Report to see if you have GE requirements remaining.

Learn a new language: Not only are you fulfilling units, but you're learning a skill that will be very valuable for Sociology majors in the job market.

Satisfy a minimum of 180 quarter units: Outside of your major requirements, students are welcome to take lower-division or upper-division courses to satisfy their unit requirement. It is ok to take a course that just goes towards unit completion

Balance your schedule: If you’ve planned ahead, there is no need to take three SOCY courses in the same quarter. At the minimum, one course each quarter should be outside of Sociology. Here are some examples of courses to balance your schedule:

• Search for courses numbered in the 80's (such as 80A, 80L, 80M) in various departments, including Art, Film, HAVC, HISC, Literature, Music, Theater, and more. Courses numbered in the 80's are open to all students, have no prerequisites, and are often fun subjects.

• Check courses offered under the College you are affiliated with. They will often have great course options, especially in Winter and Spring.

• Explore new or related topics by taking the intro courses in various departments. Explore departments that are similar to sociology, such as ANTH, CMMU, CRES, EDUC, FMST, LALS, LGST, POLI, or PSYC. Or venture into new subjects such as Arts or Arts and Playable Media, Biology, Computer Science, Econ, Film, Linguistics, Literature, Theater, or learn a new language.

Do you need an academic plan?: If you don’t have an academic plan for Sociology yet, we’re happy to help! There are several options to create a plan. 

Declare Your Major

Summer Session Enrollment Continues