First-Year Checklist

To log into your UC Irvine Applicant Portal, you must first activate your UCInetID. You received an email in December with the information required to activate your UCInetID, which is your key to many online services at UC Irvine. Activate yours now. 

Your admission status update will be available on your UC Irvine Applicant Portal homepage when it's released.

Your admission to UC Irvine for fall 2025 is provisional and subject to your admission conditions. Please access and read your contract in your Admitted Student Portal before submitting your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR). Submitting a positive SIR and accepting your offer of admission certifies that you understand and comply with all of the conditions of your provisional admission contract.

Log into ZotAid to view and accept any financial aid or UC Irvine scholarship offers you may have received if you completed the Federal Student Aid FAFSA or California Dream Act application by the March 3 deadline.

You will need to have an activated UCInetID to access ZotAid.

Please note, ZotAid may currently take up to 3 days to become available.

We encourage you to join us for an in-person, live stream, self-guided, or virtual tour to get a sense for our campus environment. You can find all options here.

Accept your offer of admission by submitting your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) in your Applicant Portal by May 1 for fall 2025.

Your SIR and a nonrefundable $250 deposit (if requested) is the key to reserving your space at UC Irvine. If you don’t see a request for a deposit fee, then you qualify for a deposit waiver based on the information submitted with your UC application.

If you plan to live on campus, you must submit your housing application by May 2. Your SIR must be submitted prior to your housing application. Please be advised, the housing application can take 24 hours to become available after submitting your positive SIR.

First-year students enrolling for fall 2025 will be guaranteed two years of on-campus housing if the Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) is submitted by May 1, 2025 and a housing application is completed by May 2, 2025. The fall 2025 housing application opens on March 1, 2025. Housing contracts must be completed by the stated deadline, and students must live on campus the first year to qualify for guaranteed housing in the second year.

Learn more about applying for housing and the options available to you here.

Make sure to stay up to date with your personalized pending tasks on your Applicant Portal homepage.

• All transcripts must be received by July 1, 2025
• All AP/IB test scores must be received by July 15, 2025.

  • AP Exams Note: Each summer, College Board closes for several weeks and delays sending AP scores paid for during that time. Please send your AP scores before July 1 to avoid a delay in UC Irvine receiving your scores.

• Your final official transcript must have a date of graduation.
• If you are attending summer session, an official transcript is still required by July 1 showing all coursework through spring 2025.
• Official college transcripts for any courses taken during summer 2025 must be sent to the UC Irvine Office of Undergraduate Admissions and received by September 15, 2025.

UC Irvine's Office of Undergraduate Admissions will be accepting documents in an online format. Please find a list of vendors and methods here.

International students are encouraged to request official transcripts early because it may take some time for schools outside of the U.S. to send your official transcripts to UC Irvine. Failure to submit official documents may result in the cancellation of your offer of admission.

(Note: students who did not attend three years at a high school in which the language of instruction is English must submit official test scores for an exam that clears the English Language Proficiency requirement by July 15, 2025. Find means to clear this requirement under "English proficiency requirements" here.)

UC Irvine admission decisions are based on the information submitted on your UC application, including coursework and exam scores reported as planned.

Admitted students are responsible for reporting any changes to the class schedule you listed on your application. Admitted students planning to drop a course should review their Admitted Provisional Contract under the "Conditions" tab in the Admitted Student Portal.

Notify our office about any course changes or withdrawals by submitting the “Report Change to Course Schedule Form” found under the “Reporting Changes” section of your portal.

Many important courses require placement test results to register. In particular, writing courses often require a writing assessment. Many placement exams take place during the mandatory first-year summer orientation, but please visit the Academic Testing Center website to obtain information about tests, testing dates, and a guide to which placement tests you may need.

The CFS form will be submitted through your Applicant Portal.

You will need an F-1/J-1 student visa to study in the U.S. If you do not have a visa status that allows you to attend school in the U.S., a visa document will enable you to apply for an F-1/J-1 student visa. If you are already in the U.S. with a student visa status, you must request a visa document from UC Irvine.

Go to your Applicant Portal account to access the CFS. Follow the instructions to complete the CFS form as soon as possible. Obtain required signatures with dates, and upload the signed financial documents, including current bank letter/proof of funding at: http://admissions.uci.edu/portal.

If you live outside of the U.S. and need to obtain a F-1 or J-1 student visa, you must also: 

1. Know that once your CFS, financial documents, and passport biographical page have been received and verified as complete, the International Center will process and electronically send you your F-1/J-1 visa document via Docusign.
2. Apply for the F-1/J-1 student visa. Students without an F-1/J-1 visa need to apply for one. After you receive your I-20/ DS-2019 visa document, you may apply for an F-1/J-1 visa. Visit the U.S. Department of State website.

If you are currently in the U.S. and have an F-1 or J-1 visa, you must also: 

1. Transfer your SEVIS record to UC Irvine for your new program. If you hold an active SEVIS record, request its release from your current school to UCI using the SEVIS Record Transfer to UCI form. Follow instructions carefully to avoid processing delays.
2. Once your CFS, financial documents, and passport biographical page have been received and verified as complete and your SEVIS record has been released to UC Irvine from your current school, the International Center will process and electronically send you your F-1/J-1 visa document via Docusign.

If you live in the U.S. and plan to change to F-1/J-1 visa status, you must also:  

• Plan to travel outside of the U.S. for an F-1/J-1 visa, or you must file a change of status application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

As a new F-1/J-1 international student, you must complete the International Center Visa Check-In process within 5 days of the fall quarter start date. iNavigateUCI, the International Center’s electronic visa check-in process, is mandatory for all new international students. It reports your arrival to the Department of Homeland Security and 'activates' your SEVIS record. For more information, click here.

Learn more about the International Center and the programs it offers at the International Center website.

Student Parent Orientation Program, or SPOP, is the mandatory orientation program for first-year students offered several times July through August. Visit the orientation website to access your reservation site and see when your reservation window opens.

During SPOP, you will register for classes through academic advising, learn more about UC Irvine and important campus resources, and meet other new students and start building your Anteater network.

While SPOP is mandatory, there are additional opportunities to get acclimated to college life, connect with other students and campus resources, and start earning credits before fall quarter.

• Freshman Summer Success Program: Housed within the UC Irvine Student Success Initiatives (SSI), the Freshman Summer Success Program (FSSP) is crafted to facilitate a seamless academic and social transition for incoming UC Irvine students with four different pathways to meet student’s needs. This initiative offers students a unique opportunity to earn UC Irvine credits, jump start their progress towards their degrees, and forge meaningful connections with peers, staff and faculty members. Moreover, participants will have exclusive access to tailored workshops aimed at fostering academic excellence and authentic relationships with faculty members.
  
  
• Summer Session: Summer is a great time to learn! UC Irvine Summer Session makes it possible for students to make progress toward their degree year-round. Choose from over 800 courses across 70 academic disciplines, including an extensive selection of online classes, general education requirement classes, and coursework for your major or minor. For Summer Session 2025, all UC students who enroll in 8 or more units will pay for only 8 units in per unit course fees.

If you took courses at a college or university, official transcripts from those schools are required even if the courses appear on your high school transcript. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have enrolled at a college or university not originally listed in your application. If you completed college coursework in the summer 2025 term you must send us an official transcript with your summer grades by September 15, 2025.

Your ZOT account is the portal for fees and credits assessed to your school account. Check your account to see your registration fees and other charges, as well as any financial aid, waivers, or payments credited to your account.

Payments can be made:

• Electronically via e-check or Credit Card (non-refundable fee will apply when using a credit card), *Payments made online through CashNet, credit to your ZOT account immediately*, or
• By check or money order/cashier’s check
• International Student payments can be made through Flywire or Western Union, the UCI portal for each can be reached at fs.uci.edu/payments/international-payments.php

Newly admitted students must adhere to the University of California’s immunization requirement. Review and learn more about completing the immunization requirements before submitting your Statement of Intent to Register (SIR).

Applicants who submit their SIR must complete the UC Immunization Requirement by October 22 or an academic hold may be placed on your account by the Student Health Center.

UC Irvine uses digital student IDs and you will need to create yours before beginning your first quarter using the ZotKey app. More information will be emailed to you over the summer.

To log into your UC Irvine Applicant Portal, you must activate your UCInetID. 

Visit the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships website to access your financial aid files through ZotAid. This is where you’ll find and accept any financial aid or UC Irvine scholarship awards.

The ZOT Account system is a smart way to check your tuition and fees payment status. This is also where you’ll access CASHNet to pay your UC Irvine tuition and fees.

PACE is a payment plan that lets you spread the costs of your registration fees over the quarter, in three monthly installments. Just remember to apply for a new PACE Plan Agreement each quarter and activate it by paying your entire first installment.