If you are a prospective major or minor in linguistics or language studies, your first step should be to meet with a peer advisor, or the Undergraduate Advisor, to create an academic plan. Once you have qualified for the major, you should attend one of the declaration information sessions for information on major requirements and departmental policies.
If you are a current major in linguistics or language studies, the Undergraduate Advisor is your best source of information and advice about the logistics of satisfying the requirements for the major. The peer advisors provide an additional advising resource for undergraduate majors.
You should feel free to reach out and speak with faculty. They are your best source of advice for intellectual matters, and for preparing for graduate school and beyond. They will not be able to advise you on how to satisfy degree requirements or make progress in your major or minor. If you are considering the option of a senior thesis, it is essential to speak with a faculty member as early as possible in the process, to get guidance and begin developing your ideas.
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Getting Advice and Guidance
Undergraduate Advisor
The Undergraduate Advisor (Gwyn Vandevere, pictured) can advise you about requirements for the majors, about prerequisites, and about many other aspects of your academic progress. During the academic year, there are regular drop-in office hours available:
If none of the drop-in office hours work for you, email the Undergraduate Advisor for an appointment. The Undergraduate Advisor’s office is in the Stevenson Academic Building, Room 241.
Remote advising is available by email or Zoom during regular drop-in hours, or by appointment. Please email ling@ucsc.edu to set up an appointment.
Zoom link: http://bit.ly/LINGadvising
Resources for Academic Planning
- Drop-in Advising Hours
- Current Academic Year Curriculum
- Current MATH/CSE Courses (for Linguistics)
- Current Cultural Context Electives (for Language Studies)
- Current Outside Electives
- Sample Academic Plans: Linguistics
- Sample Academic Plans: Language Studies
- Degree Checklist: Linguistics major
- Degree Checklist: Linguistics minor
- Degree Checklist: Language Studies major
- Degree Checklist: Languages Studies minor
Peer Advisors
2025-26 peer advisors (left to right): Quinn, Lena, Grace, Carolyn
During the academic year, the department has a peer advising program to provide an additional advising resource for undergraduate majors. The peer advisors are advanced students in the two majors who offer their time and expertise to provide guidance and advice to other students.
Peer advisors do not have signature authority on forms (i.e., Declaration of Major Petitions and study abroad planning forms). Students must see the Undergraduate Advisor for any forms requiring a department signature.
We encourage any prospective and current linguistics or language studies majors to stop by during the peer advisors’ office hours if they have questions about either field of study.
The peer advisor office is in the Stevenson Academic Building, Room 245.
Remote advising is available by email or Zoom during regular drop-in hours.
Have a question? Email the peer advisors at lingpeer@ucsc.edu.
Career Advising
Students with a major or minor in the Humanities Division can sign up for 1:1 career advising appointments with the Humanities Career Engagement Specialist, Meredith Pelrine. Topics can include career exploration, job and internship searches, resumes and cover letters, interview prep, job offer evaluation and negotiation, and more. Appointments are available virtually and in person. To schedule, go to the Humanities Division’s website for career advising.
Declaring a Major/Minor
You should formally declare your major as early as possible in your academic career. Why? Doing so will mean you get helpful advising. It will require you to plan out all the courses of the major. This means you will know you have time to meet all the necessary requirements for Linguistics or Language Studies before you graduate.
Qualification Policy:
To qualify for the Linguistics or Language Studies major, a student must pass two gateway courses with a grade of C+ or better in each:
- Gateway Course 1: LING 50 Introduction to Linguistics
- Gateway Course 2: One from LING 53, LING 101, LING 112, LING 171
To declare the majors:
Once you have successfully completed the two gateway courses, and/or you have reached your declaration deadline, you should do the following:
- Please meet with the department advisor or a peer advisor, to complete or update your academic plan. If you are declaring a second major, please first complete an academic planning form with the advisor for your declared major. Major Degree Checklists are useful resources, which you may want to look over prior to the declaration session. You can find them in the “Major Requirements” section for either the Language Studies or Linguistics major on this website.
- Petition to declare your major. Log into MyUCSC and navigate to the Student Homepage. Select the Undergraduate Student eForms tile > Petition for Major/Minor. If you are already logged in to MyUCSC, you can simply use this link: Petition for Major/Minor via MyUCSC. The petition will automatically be routed to the department.
- Attend one of the department’s Declaration Information Sessions. These sessions are held in the first month of each quarter. Invitations to sign up for a declaration session are sent out by the first week of the quarter to all proposed majors through the Navigate/Slug Success system. If you have completed the gateway courses, and you do not receive an invitation by Week 2, please contact the department advisor for assistance. Please sign up well in advance, as these meetings tend to fill quickly.
The campus undergraduate advising website has further helpful information about declaring a major.
To declare the minors:
- Meet individually with the department advisor. You must first have declared your major in another department. Have that department sign off on your remaining major coursework, using the academic planning form. Please share this document with the linguistics advisor, or bring it to the meeting for the minor declaration.
- Petition to declare your minor. Log into MyUCSC and navigate to the Student Homepage. Select the Undergraduate Student eForms tile > Petition for Major/Minor. If you are already logged in to MyUCSC, you can simply use this link: Petition for Major/Minor via MyUCSC. The petition will automatically be routed to the department.
Tips for Planning Your Program
Here are four tips to keep in mind when embarking on your major in Linguistics or Language Studies:
- Meet with a Peer Advisor to create your academic plan and get questions answered about your major.
- Determine how many language courses you need in order to fulfill your language requirement. (Linguistics majors can opt to satisfy the math/computer science requirement instead.) Begin any necessary language instruction as soon as possible.
- Take at least one introductory linguistics course in your first year, and plan to take at least syntax and phonology in your second year. (Junior transfers: take all of these courses in your first year.) If linguistics is not for you, you should find this out early, in order to consider a change in your plans.
- Plan to complete the bulk of your general education requirements early on. The sophomore, junior, and senior years can fill up quickly with major requirements (even more so if you are planning to study abroad). Also, as GEs are often lower-division courses, it can be frustrating to have to take them in the final quarters of your career, when you would like to take more advanced courses.
Language Placement Exams
All foreign languages and language placement tests at UCSC are administered by a separate department, the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics. You can learn more on their website: