Business Minor

An engaging and interactive curriculum in finance, marketing, operations, and organizational behavior principles in real-world contexts.

The Business Minor at the Rady School of Management provides students with a broad understanding of business theory, practices, and applications. Because of the wide range of academic interests and majors among the UC San Diego undergraduate population, each course covers the application of business principles to a broad variety of fields. Rady School business courses are application-oriented, exploring theoretical approaches and emphasizing the implementation of those theories across a wide range of real-world contexts.

Declaring the minor

The business minor is open to registered UCSD students pursuing a bachelor's degree. There is no separate admissions process. While you may declare a minor throughout your first few years, we strongly reccommend you do it at your earliest convenience. Rady sends important information regarding class offerings and policy changes to our minors through our minor list.

You may declare a minor through Tritonlink. For a step-by-step video tutorial on how to declare please visit our main FAQ page.

Students majoring in International Studies - International Business cannot earn a minor in business. You may not pursue both an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor and Business. 

Before declaring a minor, please contact your college advisor in order to ensure that you will not exceed the maximum unit limitation by pursuing a minor.

Minor Requirements

Business Minor Coursemap

Required coursework focuses on business operation fundamentals, project management, business ethics, and entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Many of Business Minor courses are also team focused, encouraging the development of skills in team interaction, consensus building, conflict resolution, group presentations and organizational leadership. Additionally, Rady School courses provide learning opportunities for undergraduate students that are unique to the UC San Diego campus. Students who complete the minor will bring a much-valued perspective to their initial employment.

Students must complete a total of 20 upper-division units to satisfy the requirements of the business minor. Only two lower-div classes may be taken for business minor credit.

Find a forecasted course calendar on the undergraduate homepage.

Ethics (4 units)

Choose between

Accounting (4 or 8 units)

Choose between:

Core (12 units)

All courses are required.
All core classes require upper division standing

Elective Courses (8 units required)

Because business principles are applicable to a broad range of fields, we accept business-related electives completed either at the Rady School or from other departments. Please consult with the appropriate department for enrollment and prerequisite inquiries.

Rady Courses:

Other departments

 

1 You must have fulfilled the ethics requirement prior to using MGT 16 or MGT 166 as an elective 
 2You must complete 2-2 unit courses to complete one elective requirement 
 3Subject to department approval.
*Students must contact Rady Advising to have class manually applied as a business 
minor elective to their degree audit.

 



To earn an business minor, you must :

Take all business minor classes for a  letter grade.
(the math prerequisite may be taken for P/NP for minor purposes)
 At least 20 units must be upper division units (courses numbered 100+)
At least 5 classes for the minor must be taken at UCSD.
Earn at least a C- in each course used for the minor
Finish the minor with an overall minor GPA of 2.0

Minor Concentrations

While not required, students may take two electives in the same functional area and thus have a "mini-concentration" in that subject.  Mini-concentrations will not show up in your diploma or your degree audit. These mini-concentrations are:

Operations:

MGT 172
MGT 174
MGT 153
COMM 162 
ENG 100L
ENG 100B
ENG 100D

Marketing:

MGT 105
MGT 106
COMM 109D
COMM 106I

Organizational
Behavior:

MGT 18
MGT 162
MGT 164
COMM 106F
COMM 110G
SOCI 121
SOCI 132
SOCI 140F
SOCI 148E
PSYC 178

Finance:

MGT 12
MGT 183
MGT 184
MGT 185
MATH 193A
MATH 193B
MATH 194

Frequently Asked Questions - Business 

How many electives do I need for the business minor?

You need 8 elective units for the business minor. In most cases that will be 2 courses however, some electives, such as ENG100B and L, are only worth 2 units. Since the minor requires a total of 28 units for the minor, a 2 unit elective will not satisfy a full elective requirement.  For anyone that takes a 2 unit course they must take two 2 unit electives for a full elective credit.

Both MGT 12 and MGT 18 show in your list of allowable electives. May I take both to fulfill the minor electives?

A maximum of two lower division classes may be applied toward the minor (MGT4 and MGT5 taken together count as one lower division class that substitutes for MGT45 when applied toward the Business Minor). After this class is taken into account, this will only allow you to take 1 more lower division class. You can pick between MGT 12, MGT 16 or MGT 18 as your elective.

How many lower division classes can I take toward my minor?

A maximum of two lower division classes can be applied toward the minor. For the business minor, MGT4/ECON4 and MGT5 can count together as one lower division class in lieu of MGT45: Principles of Accounting. You can watch a video about the lower division rule below.

What is a mini-concentration?

A mini-concentration is an unnoficial designation for students that take 2 courses in one same area of business. It is meant to be a guideline for people interested in a major area of business to take courses that are relevant to that area. There are four mini-concentrations: Marketing, Finance, Operations and Organizational Behavior. You need not to notify us of your intention to pursue these mini-concetrations. If courses are not offered for a mini concentration we encourage you to seek other business elective to make sure that you finish your program in time.

I've decided to change the minor electives that I declared in my minor. Should I petition this to you?

You do not have to contact us if you decide to change your mind about the electives that you will take, as long as the electives are in the list of approved courses. Please make sure however that you adhere to the 2-lower division rule and you do not take multiple lower division electives.

What courses should I choose to fulfill my accounting requirement?

Students can fulfill their accounting minor by either taking one course or two courses. Most students will receive adequate preparation for the business minor with just MGT 45. The option to take two courses is mostly given for students who have completed the courses separately at a community college. Since MGT 45 is a combination class, students would have had to cover 2 courses to learn the topics that MGT 45 teaches. Likewise, there may be students who are required to take MGT 4 as part of their major, so instead of taking 45, and duplicate topics covered, a student has the alternative of learning new topics

Can I take prerequisites for core courses at the same time as I take the next level course?

Pre-requisites for core courses may not be taken together. If you earned a D in the prerequisite, you will be allowed to move on to the next course, even though the failed course will have to be repeated at some other point in your undergraduate career.

Can I overlap courses between my major and my minor?

You may overlap courses between your major and your minor as long as the course that you are trying to overlap can be used for both. For example, you can overlap COM 106F between your minor and your major if you were a communication major, but you wouldn't be able to overlap any MGT 112 with your Econ major. Generally, all approved courses automatically will appear in both your minor and your minor section. If your approved courses are not overlapped automatically please contact us.

 

What is the process to receive departmental approval to use my AIP 197 as a business elective?

For department approval, submit your AIP Learning Agreement Form to the advising office or to undergrad@rady.ucsd.edu for approval after your faculty advisor has signed it. A maximum of 1 AIP197 class can be applied toward the business minor..

Find more information about the AIP program here: http://aip.ucsd.edu/ and you can read more about AIP197 classes for business minor credit here

Can business minors take entrepreneurship courses for business minor credit?

Generally, courses designed specifically for the E&I minor will not fulfill your Business electives. These courses include MGT 187, MGT 127, MGT 128 and MGT 167. In the descriptions of these courses in our tentative schedule, you will only see it listed as Entrepreneuship and Innovation.

Please note however that the topics of some courses are broad enough that they are relevant to both business and entrepreneurship. For example, MGT 121A and MGT 121B as well as MGT 105 can serve as for both minors so students that have not yet decided what minor to pursue are encouraged to explore these courses before choosing. The course descriptions on our Tentative course schedule will list clearly what classes are used in both minors. Students are not allowed to do both minors and would thesefore have to pick between one and the other.Additionally, upper division accounting classes cannot count for business minor credit.

Can I transfer courses from another institutiton towards my business minor

Yes, couse credits for courses that are clearly equivalent in scope and content to lower division Rady School courses required for the Business minor will be accepted from regionally accredited United States institutions and from foreign institutions recognized by the Rady School of Managemen. You can transfer up to 2 courses total from Study Abroad, Community College and other 4 year institutions.

For California Community Colleges: All preapproved courses taken a California Community College will be listed in assist.org.

Other  4 year Institututions and Colleges outside of Califonia: please fill out a petition for the course and submit it alongside the syllabus for the course. You may email this petition to undergrad@rady.ucsd.edu or drop it off in person to 2E112

Study Abroad: Before studying abroad, submit your Academic Planning form to Rady's advising department along with course descriptions or syllabus of the courses you would like to apply toward your minor. Allow approximately one to two weeks for review and approval.

What is the process to petition my abroad courses to Rady?

Students may take classes abroad and apply them toward their minor, so long as they are deemed equivalent to Rady classes. Before studying abroad, submit your Academic Planning form to Rady's advising department along with course descriptions or syllabi from the courses you would like to apply toward your minor. Allow approximately one to two weeks for review and approval.

Upon return, and once your coursework appears on your Academic History on Tritonlink, you will need to submit an Undergraduate Student Petition ( http://registrar.ucsd.edu/StudentLink/Undergrad_Petition.pdf) and course syllabus for each class you want to apply toward your minor for approval. Additional documentation such as papers or exams may be requested.

Note that Rady accepts a maximum of two transfer courses to be applied toward a minor (this includes lower division courses transferred from a community college).

How can file a petition?

Exceptions to our departmental policies are approved only in extraodinary cases. To file for an exception, please submit the Undergraduate Petition Form

Is your question not here? Please feel free to contact us or visit us during our walk-in hours! 

Current UCSD students: Please submit your questions via the VAC and an advisor will respond in 1-3 business days.

Non-UCSD students: Email us at undergrad@rady.ucsd.edu.