Writing Requirements FAQs

All incoming frosh are required to complete the Directed Self-Placement (DSP) process as part of summer orientation, regardless of test scores or any college credits.

Transfer students do NOT complete the Directed Self-Placement process. If you are a transfer student, you can use Assist to see if a course you took elsewhere transfers, and contact undergraduate advising with questions. Also review Transfer & Returning Students FAQs below.

Returning students do NOT complete the Directed Self Placement process upon their return. If you began at UCSC in 2018 or later, refer to your UCSC student portal to see which courses you need to take. If you began at UCSC prior to 2018, contact a Writing Program advisor to determine what you need to do to satisfy undergraduate writing requirements.

To see your placement, check your UCSC student portal. Go to My Academics>Test Scores. Your DSP course placement will be provided (For example, DSP Enroll WRIT 1 or WRIT 1E or WRIT 2 or WRIT 26 or WRIT 25).

After you complete DSP, your placement is final and cannot be changed in fall quarter or any other time. Remember that your placement was based on your responses to the survey.

The one exception to this is if you have ELWR-satisfying test scores that have not been processed by UCSC. In this case, once official scores are processed, your placement will automatically update to WRIT 2 as these test scores supersede DSP.

This question is answered here.

This information is provided in your UCSC student portal. Go to My Academics>Degree Progress Report>University of California Requirements>UC ELWR: Entry Level Writing.

More information about ELWR Status is available here.

Writing 1 or Writing 1E.

Contact admissions@ucsc.edu to make sure any tests that meet ELWR were received. The Writing Program does not request or process such tests, so we can’t help you obtain these scores. 

Yes. If you fail Writing 1 or Writing 1E once, you should take the class again in the next quarter. If you fail it twice, speak with your college advisor as soon as possible to request a double-repeat petition/triple-take.

For more information on enrolling to repeat WRIT 1/1E, view the Enrollment FAQ here.

If you have any questions about retaking a Writing Course, please reach out to Writing Program Advisor (readizon@ucsc.edu).  

Writing 1 is offered in the Fall and Winter quarters and should be taken in the first year. Whether Writing 1 is offered in the summer varies from year to year. Writing 1 will NOT be offered in Summer 2025.

Visit Summer Session’s website for more information.

Students can take ELWR-satisfying courses at California community colleges while not enrolled at UCSC. This includes the summer session, if you’re not taking summer classes. 

To view the full requirements and process to get ELWR credit transfer courses, refer to Meeting ELWR outside of UCSC.

To view the full requirements and process to get ELWR credit transfer courses, refer to Meeting ELWR outside of UCSC.

In general, you have your first year at UCSC. But more specifically, there are two answers to this question: 

1. If the first required writing course you take is Writing 1 or 1E, you have until the beginning of your fourth quarter of enrollment to pass Writing 1 or 1E. (So if you start in fall, you have until the beginning of fall quarter in your sophomore year. If you start in winter, you have until the beginning of winter quarter of your sophomore year.)
2. If the first course you take in the Writing Program is Writing 26, you have until the beginning of your fifth quarter of enrollment to pass Writing 1 or 1E.

This means that you did not meet the ELWR requirement by passing Writing 1 or Writing 1E by the deadline. This hold will prevent you from enrolling in classes until you have satisfied ELWR outside of UCSC.

Many local students choose to go to Cabrillo College, and if you are an international student, you can reach out to International Student Services at Cabrillo.

Please reach out to the Writing Program with questions—we want you to succeed and stay at UCSC if you can.

Please see this information about meeting ELWR outside of UCSC.

This question is answered here.

Writing 2 is the only UCSC course that satisfies UCSC’s Composition (“C”) requirement, which is required of all students.

Almost all incoming frosh enter UCSC needing to take Writing 2. Most transfer students enter UCSC having met their Writing 2/Composition Requirement.

Learn how to verify your Composition (C) Status here.

It is required that students complete and pass Writing 2 prior to the start of their 7th quarter of enrollment.  Summer is not counted in the quarter count.

Writing 2 is a prerequisite for many upper-division major courses. Please consult with your major advisor on the best time to plan to take WRIT 2.

Yes, you can. Writing 2 is offered at UCSC in the summer, typically online. You can find more information on Summer Session’s website.

Yes. You can take a California community college transfer course, provided that ALL of the following criteria is met:

I. The transfer course is articulated to satisfy the General Education Composition requirement. Find articulated courses on assist.org:

1. Go to articulation agreements Search.
2. Complete the “Institution” section information. Select University of CA Santa Cruz.
3. Complete the “Agreement with Other Institutions” section. Select the CA community college where you would like to take the transfer course, and click “View Agreements”
4. At the top of the sidebar, set “View Agreement by:” to “General Ed/Breadth”.
5. Select “General Education Requirements” as the filter.
6. In the main window, scroll down (to almost the bottom of the page) to view the courses that are articulated to Composition (C). Any courses listed here are articulated to satisfy UCSC’s Composition requirement.

II. You pass the class (C or better)

III. Your official transcript is received and processed by the UCSC Registrar

Most transfer students enter UCSC having met the ELWR/Writing 1 and Composition/Writing 2 requirements. Your status will be indicated in your UCSC student portal.

If your portal shows you have not meet these requirements, you’ll need to enroll in the appropriate course.

If you believe a course you took at another university that meets these writing requirements that is not reflected in your portal, you can use Assist to see if the course you took transfers, and contact undergraduate advising with questions.

If you began at UCSC in 2018 or later, head to your UCSC student portal. Here you can view the status of your ELWR/Writing 1 and Composition/Writing 2 requirements.

If you began at UCSC prior to 2018, begin by checking your UCSC student portal. Prior to 2018, the writing requirements were different, so you may have additional/different options in terms of the courses you can/should take. Contact the Writing Program to discuss options.

You cannot enroll in Writing 1, 1E, or 2 if you already have credit for these courses or are a graduate student. Also, these courses aren’t what you’re looking for in terms of writing development. The Writing Program hopes it will soon be able to offer upper-division courses to meet your needs. 

DC courses are Disciplinary Communication courses, and they are required in each undergraduate major. Here’s a list of them. The Writing Program is not responsible for these courses. Contact your major advisor about your DC course. 

Contact the Writing Program.