Incoming Students FAQ
Incoming Students FAQ
Welcome to UCLA! It is our pleasure to welcome you to the Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC) undergraduate program. For more information, please email the ALC Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer.
First Year Students
As an incoming first year, you may start your academic career as early as this summer by participating in our departmental summer courses, http://www.alc.ucla.edu/summer-sessions/. It is important to your success at UCLA that you consider your summers as an essential aspect in your academic career. Our department offers summer options that satisfy our major and minor requirements, and College and GE requirements. – update link
Transfer Students
As a transfer student, you may want to take advantage of summer courses to complete some major preparation courses, or required and elective upper division courses. Our department does offer a language placement exam in Fall and Winter. For more information please email the ALC Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer.
Certain requirements are sequential in nature, and advance planning is key to your success. Our department offers summer options that satisfy our major and minor requirements, and College and GE requirements, http://www.alc.ucla.edu/summer-sessions/. – add link
Continuing Language Learning and Language Placement
The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures offers language courses and placement exams click the button below to learn explore the language courses ALC offers.
For students wishing to continue learning an Asian language offered in our department, please note you must take a placement exam. If you have taken an AP exam or any amount of community college courses you need to first take a placement exam to study an Asian language within our department. Placement exams are offered during week 0 of fall quarter and week 1 of winter quarter. Placement exams are NOT offered during Transfer orientations, however a placement exam will be offered towards the end of each spring quarter for Transfer students only. After receiving your placement exam results you will then be able to register for the appropriate intensive language course during summer session or in the respective quarter the language course is offered.
ALC Major and Minor Requirements
Our department offers a range of courses. Over 40 faculty members teach 9 languages (Chinese, Filipino, Hindi-Urdu, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Sanskrit, Thai, and Vietnamese) and offer programs in 7 undergraduate majors (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Asian Humanities, Asian Languages and Linguistics, Asian Religions, and Southeast Asian Studies). They include interdisciplinary courses on Asia’s literature, film, religion, and history, grounding students in the region’s cultures and societies. Our courses also develop fundamental skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing, ones that will be crucial to your future personal, professional, and creative endeavors.
If you are pursuing an ALC major or minor we strongly encourage you to consult with ALC Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer prior to enrolling in courses this summer. For information on the summer courses, placement exam, and languages offered in our department please visit our website, https://www.alc.ucla.edu/, or submit your question(s) to alc@humnet.ucla.edu. Include the following information:
- First and Last Name
- UID
- Major and minor
- Question; (Ex: Course planning, degree petition, major/minor questions)
The INCOMING TRANSFER STUDENT GUIDE FOR SUMMER COURSES contains a list of courses available during the summer that may satisfy major requirements. This guide is intended as a quick reference tool only, and we do not recommend that you enroll in the listed courses without first consulting with the department counselor, ALC Undergraduate Student Affairs Officer Click here to view the guide. For additional information on academic courses, please visit the ACADEMIC COURSES: UCLA STUDENT page.
SIGN UP FOR A NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION SESSION. While there are several orientation sessions available, space in each New Student Orientation session is limited, and reservations are processed in the order received. Please visit the NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION website for important sign-up information on fees, deadlines, the cancellation policy, and more.
INFORMATION ON SUMMER SESSIONS fees, enrollment policies and deadlines, financial aid, payment and refund policies, and more, available here on the ACADEMIC COURSES FOR UCLA STUDENTS page. When choosing a course to enroll, be sure that your course meetings do not conflict with your New Student Orientation session.