1 year transfer... Help!

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>I'm trying to transfer into UCLA or UC Berkeley in a year. I was accepted into schools such as UC Davis, UCSD, UCSB, etc., but ultimately decided to just go to community college to transfer to one of my top two schools. I will be applying as an economics major.</p>

<p>This entire process is awfully confusing for me, and I was hoping some of you guys here would have answers to my questions.</p>

<p>I currently have ~25 units at my community college (4.0 GPA), and so far, I passed AP Biology, AP Calculus, and AP English Lang. I got a 3 on Calculus, so that actually does not give me any credit, but at the same time, I got a 5 on English, which gives me credit for all required english classes to transfer at my community college.
I signed up for a few classes over this summer including: Art History & Philosophy (to fill the art & humanity requirement for the IGETC) and Calculus. I was told by some people that I shouldn't take Art History & Philosophy over the summer as my summer GPA is pretty much all admissions officers will see before admitting me, and should rather take more major related classes. However, the thing is, I do not have any major related classes to take. I either took them or am waiting for AP exam results to come out. My parents encouraged me to take an accounting class over the summer despite it pretty much being an elective class for me. What would be the most beneficial path?</p>

<p>Also, do you guys have any extracurricular recommendations you could give me to help me the most in my applications? I read somewhere that community college GPA isn't as important as extracurriculars such as internships... Assuming that my extracurriculars from high school are not factored into my application, I have no extracurriculars in community college. </p>

<p>I am also gratefully taking any advice you fellow transfers could give me!</p>

<p>Thanks you guys!</p>

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<p>Hello! I also did the 1 year plan/transfer, and I was accepted to UCI, but I wanted to aim for UCB/UCLA. I am heading to UCB this Fall, and I was admitted to UCLA!</p>

<p>Basically, for my summer, I took GE classes such as (Art History, Cultural Anthro, etc.) and I took 15 units for the summer and maintained my 4.0. You were misinformed as Admission officers DO see your Fall grades once you submit the Fall update in January, and they do not review transfer applications realistically until February. I would take easier Major classes in the Fall, and the harder ones listed as in-progress for Spring. In my opinion, your summer should consist of very easy GE classes since it is only about 8 weeks. While you can put in more classes in the Fall, I did 21 units for the Fall and kept my 4.0.</p>

<p>You CAN list extracurriculars from high school to show that you did not just join all of them in your 1st year at college. Some good ones would be Circle K, and Economics Club (Math Club if there is one, etc.). Explain in your application that you are a 1 year transfer and did not have enough time to get even more involved.</p>

<p>If you need anymore help, send me a PM. Remember to use all your resources. See your counselor and DO NOT let them discourage from 1 year. Get them to help you plan your IGETC.</p>

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<p>The majority of transfer students transfer after taking 60 units worth of classes.
If you go to a CA CC, take a look at assist.org and look for your required classes for your major.
Some schools do not accept IGETC so you want to make sure wherever you’re aiming for accepts it.
imaplealot is correct; they do look at your fall grades after doing the fall update.
I highly suggest you do all your general education classes at a CC; that way, you won’t end up wasting money taking them at university. UCs only accept a limited amount of lower-division transfers as they accept more junior-level transfers.</p>

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<p>Wow, @imaplealot‌, I’m impressed with your fast transition to UCB! :slight_smile: obvioulsy, you’re the go-to person for this, although I will tell @motivate14‌ that whoever told him GPA doesn’t matter that much at a CC is dead wrong. It’s still basically the #1 factor (although the other things are important, too).</p>

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<p>Thanks for the help everybody!</p>

<p>@imaplealot Wow! It’s such a relief to hear that there are 1 year transfer success stories out there… So you’re saying that my summer class lineup is okay right now? They don’t look at Spring grades until you’re admitted though, right? Also, were you a part of the TAP program when you transferred?</p>

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<p>I had a somewhat similar story to you. Accepted to all uc’s except LA/B so i went to CC for a year.
Going to UCB this fall.
I had around 30 ap creds (straight 4s &5s luckily).
Just to let you know, you have to take an english class no matter if you took AP English. I took both AP Language and Lit and got a 5 and 4, but I had to take a semester of english, because its a mandatory for CC transfers to take one at a CC.
Just complete your IGETC this summer. BUT if havent done a lot of your major prereqs (check ASSIST.org), then you should start on those. For UCLA i checked rn. you need 7 prereqs. And seeing how you got a 3 on the AP for calc you won’t be able to cover Calculus 1 or 2. But unless you did those pre-reqs in those 25units you did over your hs life, you should really get those started.
If you live near LA, UCLA expects you to go to concurrent enroll in two schools if your school doesnt offer the class. You are expected to complete almost, if not all these prereqs.
For berkeley, check ASSIST for what you need to take for them. Most of the classes overlap tho. I feel like berkeley is much more lenient on missing pre-reqs, depending on the major. I don’t think Economics is capped, for the College of L&S, so its not super tough I think.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars honestly, IMO don’t matter one bit. It’s a whole different admissions process it feels like. So long as you get High GPA and finish all Major Prereqs, it seems like these two UCs don’t really care all too much about your extracurriculars. Although, it appears UCB cares a little bit. From what ive seen, feels like UCLA doesn’t care at all, but its easier to get into since they have a larger amount of apps coming in and thus allow more students in based on your stats. List your HS stats though for Extracurricular and awards. I was class pres, etc and received some awards, so it didnt hurt to list that. Join atleast one club, just in case if you have time, but working is probably more important IMO. We’re expected to be more mature because a lot of transfers are both our age and much older.</p>

<p>I took 3 summer classes at CC after HS, 4 in fall, and 4 in spring (4.0 overall). They only saw my 7 classes and 8 AP scores nd I got into Berk. LA i didnt because my major is Cognitive science, and they have 10 prereqs, and different CC near me offered it but I didnt take it so I only had 6/10 prereqs. So from my example, pre-reqs really matter for UCLA from what I seen. Some kids get in with only a couple done, it all really depends.</p>

<p>Anyways. CC is honestly a joke for me. No offense to those struggling in CC, just it was such a breeze, and felt like huge waste of time. I learned a lot personally from this year, and I am glad I went on this journey. I really hope your 1 year plan works out, because I decided not to settle and I got out into UCB finally. Do a lot of planning on your own ahead of time so you dont suddenly realize you forgot to take a certain class. A lot of advisors won’t know a lot based on my experience, so I just planned it all by myself. </p>

<p>If you decide to take 2 years tho, its your choice. I feel a little rushed being a junior and being ahead of my classmates. Do what feels right.</p>

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<p>UCLA and UCB Hollistic Admission rates you on a scale of 1-5 with ECs making up 1 FULL POINT. Most majors–like Cognitive Science–aren’t competitive enough so this does now matter but Economics is COMPETITIVE so I highly recommend filling out all the EC slots with anything you can think off. Internships / work tho aren’t a strong EC for UCs; I would still list them if you have them but from what I saw the UCLA/Cal were looking for the exact samething in transfer apps as freshman candidates. Furthermore because econ is competitive major having a lot of major pre-reqs IP will hurt your chances. Finish your schools honor / scholar’s program to apply for TAP at UCLA because it does noticeably improves your chances. </p>

<p>@elmermmhmm
For me foreign language has been a TON of work. English 1 & 2 along with accounting 1 & 2 have been challenging and a lot of work. Calculus 1 & 2 difficult because of the professors. </p>

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<p>actually @bomerr is correct. my bad. Economics is extremely competitive, I didnt look deeply into it but yeah i checked again and hes right. I had a lot of ecs/awards so I didnt think much eitherway, but for nursing, haas, fine art, etc, he’s definitely right about being more competitive. But i still do believe major prereqs + GPA will always matter first, and to boost your chances (everyone will have good gpa/prereqs, youll need ECs or job exp)</p>

<p>Econ at UCLA was like 16% in 2013 for acceptance, which pretty competitive and much lower than a lot of other majors. But hey atleast youre not applying to compsci, they accepted 6/501 (1%) lol.
<a href=“https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof13.htm”>https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof13.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I heard Honors TAP helps, but youre not much disadvantaged without it ive read, tons of people get in w/o it. I would do TAP if I stayed two years tho, why not since it boosts your chances!
And hes definitely right about major pre-reqs IP (spring) to hurt you. They would rather see that you have it done and know for sure you did well, rather than have to guess youll do fine.</p>

<p>I took the second year of english, bio, calc 2 (for fun), two asian languages (chinese, jap), cultural anthropology, political science, sociology, gender studies, music appreciation, photography , and critical thinking. These were all the classes I took at CC. Maybe its the classes i took, but each one including Calc 2 was pretty darn easy. Calc 2 was the most challenging but still not even close to my AP calc bc class from HS. Maybe its my cc or my classes idk, either way for me personally, thats just how it was.</p>

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<p>From my personal experience the bulk of students from my school who got into UCLA Biz-Econ had TAP completed, one with a low 3.5-6ish GPA w/o TAG got in somehow too for regular econ. </p>

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<p>UCB is very random with admissions, and a 4.0 does not guarantee you admission. UCB cares more about ECs, whereas UCLA seems like they accept all, if not most 4.0’s or 3.9+, with some ECs. I was not in TAP as my school did not offer it, but I was still accepted to both UCLA/UCB. </p>

<p>To be honest, I don’t recommend Honors Courses because they are harder, and for transfers, we are all a statistic, GPA wise and EC wise. If you took tons of Honors Courses but have a 3.7, you will fall behind someone who took none with a 4.0.</p>

<p>And yes! They do not see your Spring grades, until you are admitted. It is basically equivalent to Senior Year/Senior Spring in HS. I actually got a B, and a 3.78 this Spring Semester but all they ask for is a “3.0+” for Spring haha.</p>

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<p>Interesting observation @imaplealot… My daughter did not do TAP as her CC didn’t offer it, and she still got into UCB and UCLA. An advisor told her it’s a nice cushion but you don’t need it - and it proved true. So, honors just would have meant more work and a possible hit on her GPA. </p>

<p>And I agree that ECs will elevate you and show leadership. They also look a lot at ECs when it comes to alumni scholarships. </p>

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<p>I just got into UCLA as a one year transfer. Luckily your an economics major, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finishing the pre-reqs. For me, I’m an engineering major so I had to take a ton of math and science classes in a short period of time. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting in if you keep that 4.0 average and finish all required classes. I suggest you complete your igetc, calc 1 and 2, Econ courses, complete 60+ units and whatever else is required. Also you can use your EC’s from high school. I only had 1 college EC and the rest were from high school. Go see a counselor though and make sure your on the right track. Good luck!</p>

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<p>So I went on UCLA and UC Berkeley’s assist.org for the economics major, and I saw that I’m missing 1 major prerequisite for Berkeley, which is Statistics. Assist.org says
“Most community colleges do not offer an equivalent Statistics course.
Transfer students must take this course during their first semester at UC
Berkeley.”
In addition, I’m missing Microeconomic Theory and Statistics for Economists for UCLA… I checked all the Community colleges in my area, and none of them offer equivalent classes for these classes, and I’m pretty concerned. If I do not finish these classes, will it completely shut off my chances at UCLA?</p>

<p>@bomerr so are you saying I should finish all of my major prerequisites by Fall??
@elmermmhmm for my community college, I need to take one English Composition class, which is English 100, and one Critical Thinking class, which is either English 110 or 165. My community college also gives credit for English 100 and 110 if one gets a 5 on the AP exam… I STILL have to take an English class at communty college?</p>

<p>So over the summer. I’m enrolled for Art History (IGETC), Philosophy (IGETC), and Calculus I (Major Prerequisite).
The reason I didn’t take any more major prerequisites over the summer is because I’m waiting for my AP Exams to come out. I already took Macroeconomics and received an A at my community college, and I could pass/fail my Microeconomics exam. I am enrolled to take Calculus II during fall, but are there other classes you guys suggest I take during the fall?</p>

<p>So far, I’m signed up for Calculus II (Honors), International Relations (In case I fail AP Gov), Astronomy (In case I fail AP Physics or AP Chemistry), and Music Appreciation (Honors). My fall schedule is subject to many changes due to my upcoming AP scores, but I am open to suggestions.</p>

<p>Also, does that mean that no one really has a problem with my summer class lineup? I’m concerned that I might be not doing something in the best way possible…</p>

<p>Thank you for all the help everyone! I really appreciate it.</p>

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<p>Stats is a pretty common course, keep searching for it. What city are you in? I’m taking stats at UCLA Extension. Not sure if you’re in LA or not, but that’s an option too. It’s 500 bucks, but if you can’t find it at a CC, it’s there. But, in LA, stats is available at most CC’s. I’m real surprised you can’t find it anywhere. You’re looking for Stats 10 (ucla), right?</p>

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<p>@fullload oh actually, I’m talking about Econ 41 (Statistics for Economists) at UCLA…
and other classes I’m missing at my CC are: Econ 11 (Microeconomic Theory) for UCLA, and Stat 20, Stat 21, or Stat 25 for Berkeley</p>

<p>Oh also, I’m turning down UCSD, Davis, SB, Irvine, and SC… Do I actually have to do anything right now, or can I just leave it the way it is? Like on the admission portal, I didn’t sign the SIR or anything</p>

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<p>It should not affect your chances @motivate14. If your CC does not have it, they will let you do it at the UC. If not, you can appeal, as that is the rule, but it is unlikely they will hold that against you.</p>

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<p>You may be initially rejected from missing the pre-reqs, unless you explain it in your application directly. I would try to branch out to other CCCs that may offer it online. However, if not, you can explain that no CC in a 10 mile radius (or even more) from you offers the missing courses that was required of you. </p>

<p>If you were rejected on that sole basis, you can appeal.</p>

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<p>Probably that could happen, but my daughter was told by Davis when her CC did not have a pre-requisite that she did not have to take it, and did not have to drive anywhere outside of her district to take it, even though another CC in another district did offer it. We made sure to get it in writing. </p>

<p>She was also missing two pre-requisites for an impacted major for two other UC campuses (courses not offered at her CC) and got in both, with no one asking any questions and my daughter not contacting anyone about it - or mentioning it, as it said on assist.org that her CC did not have matching classes. </p>

<p>However, I guess the moral is it could not necessarily fall out that way. This is what I suggest: Find out from the campus you are interested in what the fall-out is if your CC does not offer that pre-requisite. If the UC counselor says no problem, just make sure you have it in writing via an email. </p>

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<p>Lindy, will you be my mom, please?</p>

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<p>I’m everyone’s mom here @fullload. You just don’t know it yet. [-X </p>