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Clubs for first-year students at UCLA

Cluster courses, Living Learning Communities, residence hall councils and clubs that teach beginners. What a first-year can join without applying, and how to pace the first quarter.

Updated

In your first fall at UCLA, the activities fair, Greek recruitment, club sports tryouts and the selective clubs' deadlines all land in about three weeks, while you are still learning your way around campus. You do not have to do all of it. Most clubs take beginners at any point in the year, several programs exist only for first-years, and the selective clubs that turn you down in October often recruit again in January. This guide is about what to do first and how much to take on. For the mechanics, see how to join a club, the activities fair and the first weeks and applying to selective clubs.

Programs that exist only for first-years

A few of the best communities are not clubs. The UCLA Cluster Program is a set of year-long general education courses open only to entering first-year students. Each one is team-taught and interdisciplinary, so you spend all year with the same classmates, TAs and faculty, which is why UCLA calls each Cluster a learning community. Fiat Lux seminars are smaller and shorter: UCLA offers up to 100 a year, each worth one unit, Pass/No Pass, in a small group with a faculty member. The First Year Experience office lists both among its resources for freshmen.

If you live on the Hill, Residential Life runs Living Learning Communities, floors organized around a theme or identity. Examples include First to Go for first-generation students in Hedrick Hall, Global Health in Dykstra, Sustainability in Rieber and Technology & Innovation in Olympic. You choose one on your housing application, and your roommates have to list the same preference or you may not be placed there. Residential Life says applying does not improve your chances of getting housing, which is assigned by random lottery. It also says there are no mandatory LLC events, and it holds a welcome reception for LLC residents during week 0.

Getting involved where you live

Each Hill building has a Resident Government Council. Residential Life says applications for open seats become available at move-in, at the start of fall quarter. A council seat is a real job. Members are expected to give 8 to 10 hours a week, attend meetings Monday nights from 6 to 9 and Tuesday nights from 5 to 8, and complete September training, and they receive a $400 stipend each quarter. If that is too much, each floor also has a volunteer community representative. Ask your building's Assistant Resident Director about either. The Hill-wide On-Campus Housing Council asks for more time still and recruits from late winter into spring, so it is a second-year goal for most people.

Clubs that take beginners without an application

541 undergraduate groups in this directory have no selection step. You go to a meeting or fill out a form and you are in. The ones worth seeking out in your first quarter say plainly that they teach newcomers.

In sports, men's ultimate has a developmental team and needs no experience. Men's rowing takes walk-ons through a Learn to Row program, Archery teaches beginners and lets you set your own practice schedule, and Kickboxing lets you try a practice after signing a waiver. In the arts, Cirque de 'LA teaches aerial silks with no strength or flexibility required, Line Dancing holds free drop-in lessons with no dues, and Grupo Folklórico needs no experience. Film & Photography Society meets weekly for people who have never used a camera as well as those who have.

For lower-key hobbies, Go Club gives lessons to beginners, and Jogging Club meets Sunday mornings for a short run and a treat. In tech, Hack at UCLA aims its coding workshops at absolute beginners. ACM Teach LA meets every Tuesday and takes all majors with no experience required.

Groups built for first-years

Some groups exist to help with the first year itself. MentorSEAS, the School of Engineering's mentorship program, pairs every incoming first-year and transfer engineering student with a peer mentor automatically, with no application. PUPPIES is a mentorship community for pre-health first-years that meets Wednesday evenings in La Kretz Hall. Life Sciences Student Association keeps a fellowship for first-years, separate from its open general meeting. Pilipino Recruitment and Enrichment Program runs an internship for first-years by application.

One honor is not something you apply for. Alpha Lambda Delta Phi Eta Sigma invites students with at least a 3.5 GPA over 12 or more graded units in their first quarter or first year. Letters come from the Dean of Students in winter.

First-years and selective clubs

You can apply to selective clubs as a first-year, and some say they want you. Bruin Alpha Investment says first-year applicants need no finance experience, and Ascend Consulting Group pitches itself to underclassmen. The process is still fast and competitive. If an application is due in week 1 and you are unsure, waiting a quarter usually costs little. 180 Degrees Consulting, The Bruin Group and Bruin Microfinance all recruit in winter too. The consulting and business and finance guides cover their cycles.

Winter is also when UniCamp, UCLA's official student charity, opens applications for summer camp counselors and activity specialists, with no experience required. Its interest form puts you on the list now.

Pacing your first quarter

The First Year Experience office suggests joining organizations, club sports or intramurals in fall. It also warns that classes may take more time by winter, and suggests setting limits on how long you stay at things. In practice:

  1. Before week 0, save five to eight clubs in the directory across at least two areas: one tied to your major or career, one for fun, and one community or identity group.
  2. In weeks 1 to 3, go to a first meeting of each. Return to any you liked once more, since the first meeting is a pitch and the second shows you a normal week.
  3. Apply to no more than two or three selective clubs, and only ones whose work you can describe. Keep an open club going while you wait.
  4. By week 5, settle on two or three groups you actually attend. Drop the rest without guilt; most open clubs will still take you in winter or spring.
  5. In winter, revisit the selective clubs that recruit again, and the ones you heard about too late.

If the first weeks get away from you, joining after week three lists clubs that keep taking members. Transfer students face a shorter version of all this; see clubs for transfer students.

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