Major and GE Progress Checks

Your Major and GE Progress Check is one of the most valuable tools for keeping track of your degree progress at UCSB. It is used to track your progress within your major, with your general education courses, and with your overall university requirements. Please read below for more information and FAQ’s on progress checks.

How do I run a progress check? 

Your progress check can be accessed through GOLD. Follow these step-by-step instructions for running one.

  • Log into your GOLD account, and navigate to the “Progress” tab in the yellow bar at the top of the screen. In the drop-down menu, select “Major and GE Progress Checks”

  • Select your major from the drop-down list. Read all messages regarding using in-progress courses, What-If Major Progress Checks, and Double Major Progress Checks. Click the blue “Run This Progress Check” button at the bottom of the page

How do I read my progress check?

In short, any requirement with a green check mark next to it has been completed, and any requirement with a red X next to it has not (there may be exceptions to this – if you have questions please contact your major or college advisor). To expand the requirements, click the small + sign just to the left of them. You will then be able to see which courses are applying to these requirements, and how many courses you may still need to take for an incomplete requirement. If you have any questions regarding how your major courses are appearing in your progress check, please contact the History Undergraduate Advisor. If you have questions about your GE or university requirements within your progress check (i.e. anything not directly related to your major), contact either the College of Letters and Science Advisors, or the Transfer Student Center Advisors. *It is very important to remember that you have requirements to fulfill beyond your major and minor requirements. Things like overall unit requirements, academic residency requirements, and letter grade requirements can all be easily tracked through your major progress check, but are often forgotten about by many students. Not keeping track of these requirements can lead to a delay in graduation, so be sure to run and review your progress check at least once per quarter!

I’m a History of Public Policy and Law major, and none of my upper division history courses are appearing in my progress check. What do I do?

Because History of Public Policy and Law majors have the ability to choose their areas of concentration for the B-1 and B-2 sections of the major, their upper division courses will not automatically appear in their major progress check. Email the Undergraduate Advisor detailing where you would like each of your courses to apply to the upper division major so that she can manually update your progress check. Please do not do this until you have completed or are enrolled in all of your Area B1 and B2 courses

I’m taking a history course that should apply to either the pre-1800 breadth requirement, or the regional breadth requirement for the history major, but it doesn’t currently appear there in my progress check. What do I do?

When any department creates a new course that is not yet listed on their major sheets, the course may not appear in the correct areas of students major progress checks. Let’s say for example you are taking an upper division African history course, but it does not appear to satisfy the Africa/Middle East regional breadth requirement in your major progress check. This course is likely just new, and the proper coding has not yet been added to the progress check system. Please contact the history Undergraduate Advisor for help fixing this. 

I took my required sequence courses at a semester-system community college, and my progress check only shows that I have credit for two out of three required classes. What do I do?

It is very common for students to complete the required sequence courses (HIST 2A/B/C, 4A/B/C, 17A/B/C) at a semester-system community college. At these institutions, two semester courses often are equivalent to three quarter courses at UCSB. Let’s say you took the equivalent of HIST 17A/B/C at community college and had your transcripts transferred to UCSB, but your progress check only shows you have credit for HIST 17A and 17C (not 17B). This is a very common mistake that happens in the progress check system. If you are in this situation, please email the history Undergraduate Advisor to review your courses and manually fix this. 

I’ve taken several sequence courses, but from different series. Can I apply any of them towards the “4.0 lower-division units selected from any field in the history department” requirement of the History major?

Yes. If you have excess sequence courses, they can apply to the requirement mentioned above, but you must complete one full sequence. For example, if you have taken history 2A, 2B, and 4C, your progress check may look a little funky. Once you complete the 2 series by taking history 2C, history 4C will move down in your progress check to cover the requirement mentioned above.