New Students
SDMC's application period for the 2022-2023 season has closed.
We will next open to new applicatons for the 2023-2024 season on August 1, 2023.
Returning students should proceed according to a separate process HERE and new students should continue as explained below.
In Person or Online?
A major question on everyone's mind at this time is whether SDMC will resume our traditional in-person approach based on physical space at UCSD - or - whether we will have to again be online only - or - whether there may be some hybrid approach including a mix of both approaches. The truth at this time is that we don't yet know. The answer depends on UCSD policies which may still evolve as we transition from summer into fall, as the university makes final decisions for its own purposes.
At this time, policies in place do allow for off-campus visitors to join in-person on-campus. Since the Spring of 2022, SDMC has successfully staged some in-person on-campus events in compliance with UCSD's "Return to Learn" policies. We hope to be able to extend that experience into ongoing, regular SDMC activities as in the past. As we gain greater clarity on this, we will update this statement and proactively message our applicants to keep you informed.
Hybrid?
Since the whole world has experienced huge transitions to video conferencing for many purposes, it is likely that our future SDMC will include online elements as well as in-person. There will be some events or strands of activity that are a good fit to the online mode even as others are better in person. How these things may develop in a post-Covid world is something yet to be attempted, but it is to be expected that the future will be mixed. Under Covid, we have had occasional classes taught by instructors on the other side of the planet, and have had "local" classes joined by some special-circumstance students just as far away. This kind of thing is likely to continue in some way. It is likely that in-person students will sometimes have online events. Students usually only online may have the chance to join some in-person events.
Anything in person requries planning for facilities, staffing (volunteers), materials, etc. Online activities require planning for session leaders, video capacity, moderators, etc. To help us understand our population for such practical needs, we ask applicants to indicate whether their participation preference would be for in-person or online style. This should not be viewed as a rigid sorting into disjoint groups, but as a practical matter to facilitate our planning.
START YOUR APPLICATION
Like many other aspects of SDMC, application is a family matter. To assist both students and parents in understanding and completing this process, we provide two PowerPoint/PDF presentations immediately below. We recommend that parents especially take time to review both of these presentations before beginning.
You may notice that these PowerPoint/PDF links are the only registration-specific links for new students now on the website. This is not an error. Please follow the directions as spelled out in "How to Apply".
SDMC Background (*.pptx version)
SDMC Background (*.pdf version)
How to Apply (*.pptx version)
How to Apply (*.pdf version)
In brief, application is based on
submission of the required Liability Waiver,
the development of a Student Profile document,
providing a student Headshot Photo.
We ask that you be patient and diligent in following directions as closely and completely as possible, as following up on errors and omissions in hundreds of applications is simply impossible.
Thank you!