2010 UC Berkeley Transfer Student: Ask me!

<p>hey college confidential. my name's Will and I transfered to UCB at the fall of 2010 from De Anza College. In between my time here, I've decided to create a thread for all those that may have some general questions for someone that transfered recently. I'm here to help any way I can, however do not possess answers for everything. Hope I can be of service for you guys and gals! Let's start with some general and basic information about MY situation:</p>

<ul>
<li>transfered from De Anza College after 2 years, 2 summers w/ 3.55 gpa</li>
<li>accepted and enrolled in fall 2010 with college letters of science

<ul>
<li>economics was on my application and will soon be on my degree! (because economics is an impacted major here at UCB, you must reapply for the major which consists of attaining nothing lower than a B- from your two major related courses in the Fall at UCB)</li>
</ul></li>
<li>phi theta kappa member</li>
<li>sports: bowling (state ranked), golf (hs captain for 2 undefeated jv seasons)</li>
<li>extra curr.: dj, photography, cycling, cars, sneaker collector (all with heavy interest)</li>
<li>all that good ish with employment, community service, etc.</li>
<li>3rd year transfer apartment housing (i have a video of my housing on my iphone that i use to share with family and friends but i haven't gotten a chance to upload it elsewhere online to share on the internet) includes a living room, kitchen, bathroom(s), and roommate</li>
</ul>

<p>if you want to come to berkeley, you've got to have the character. each individual i've met out here has either published a book, created a hundred thousand dollar non-profit, takes shots will studying, or some other amazing feat with a relative experience overcoming a hell-bent adversity. all in all, if i got into berkeley, so can all of you.</p>

<p>more will be added as I figure what else to share on the first post. please recognize that these are statistics that reflect ME and no one else. i'm currently typing this from berkeley, a land where i never bothered to venture not find myself in the future. well, i'm here. my friend with her 3.95 gpa isn't. neither is my other friend with a 3.82. why i'm here i don't know. but i am and i have a couple papers due thursday so i'm out. let me know if you guys have any questions and i love to answer transfer questions.. especially in regards to my personal experience.</p>

<p>COOL… I have questions.</p>

<p>1) Are you taking the 100 A and B or 101A and B econ track? How are the classes and competition?</p>

<p>2) What DID you go through? (if you are comfortable telling)</p>

<p>3) Were you or your friends in Berkeley TAP?</p>

<p>4) How good are/were you in math? Are you having much trouble math-wise?</p>

<p>5) What’d you take your first semester and how was the first year experience academically?</p>

<p>Thats it for now ;)</p>

<p>Are you Willabee of ISS??</p>

<p>How many units did you take your first semester there? Also, how challenging did you find the courses compared to CC and registering for classes that you need?</p>

<p>■■■■■! ISS members be on here? i thought we just thought about kicks all day long, HA.</p>

<p>I have a question as well, what are my chances?</p>

<p>Major: Psychology, Human Development (UC Davis)
College American River college in sacramento
UC GPA: 3.84 (upward trend, non-stop 4.0 semesters since fall of 2008)</p>

<p>Fall 2007 - 3.50
Spring 2008 - 3.50
Fall 2008 - 4.00
Spring 2009 - 4.00
Summer 2009- 4.00
Fall 2009- 4.00
Spring 2010 - 4.00
Fall 2010 - 4.00</p>

<p>Major GPA: 4.00
Applying to: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis
Prereqs: All but one which will be done by the spring of 11’ for Davis and Berkeley. Done for UCLA.
IGETC: Done
TAG/TAP: UC Davis TAG</p>

<p>EC’s:

  1. Volunteer at a adult day care center and at a mental care facility, helped Alzheimer patients with mental exercises like playing board games, helping them do art work, assisted the physical therapist in leading exercises with patients with all kinds of mental difficiencies, assisted in walking and physical therapy with patients.
  2. Volunteer at a telephone reassurance program, talking to isolated older adults who need someone to talk to and provide emotional support.
  3. General and Social Psychology tutor in the summer of 08’. Chemistry tutor during the spring of 09’ led beacon tutoring in an integrated organic/biochem class. Helped out fellow students mentally raise their grades from failing to passing grades. </p>

<p>Essays: 9/10. For prompt 1 talked about how I got interested with my major by talking to a man with Alzheimers who died a few days after we started talking. Talked about what I gained from my experiences in my ec’s. Prompt 2 talked about my dedication to my academics and how it will lead me to achieving my goals as a psychologist.</p>

<p>@Pinoiako916</p>

<p>You already asked this in the “Chance Me” thread LOL.</p>

<p>Pinoiako wants chances all day everyday. </p>

<p>Some advice- none of us work in admissions, we don’t know whether or not you’re going to get in.</p>

<p>Question:</p>

<p>Do I have a shot at getting in (applied for econ elso)</p>

<p>GPA - 3.73
Pre-reqs - Will be done
IGETC - Will be done
EC - Intern Assistant to the Chief Scientist for Exploration Technology at NASA Ames</p>

<p>etc. etc.</p>

<p>depends on where you are after your Pre-reqs/IGETC “will be done” in terms of GPA. if you maintain an upward hill, you obviously look to be in great shape.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Living up to the stereotype that Flips are “mah-ku-lit.”</p>

<p>How bad is the workload there? What is your GPA? (You insisted on personal questions) :)</p>

<p>yeah id also like to know how you’re doing academically compared to cc! I’m from de anza too :]
also if you could say more specifically where you’re living? how did you decide you wanted to live where you are now?</p>

<p>Somewhat of a random question, but what did your provisional contract say? Just that you needed above a 3.0 in the Winter/Spring terms, or did they require specific grades from individual classes?</p>

<p>why did you make this thread if you’re not gonna monitor and reply to the questions?</p>

<p>“if you want to come to berkeley, you’ve got to have the character. each individual i’ve met out here has either published a book, created a hundred thousand dollar non-profit, takes shots will studying, or some other amazing feat with a relative experience overcoming a hell-bent adversity”</p>

<p>lol</p>

<p>nah</p>

<p>It’s so stupid how people over-glamorize something so undeserving. It’s just a goddamn school with people who at one point had an above average academic performance. Recognize the situation for what it is and stop putting these people on a pedestal, because if you truly wanted to do something with your life, there would be nothing from stopping you from being “one of them” (whatever the hell that means).</p>

<p>Furthermore, “you’ve got to have the character” is a completely ******** piece of advice.</p>

<p>Are you going to school because you want to make some sort of academic contribution or because you’re trying to impress others and fit in? If the latter, then you’re doing life wrong.</p>

<p>first and foremost, these responses are all based on personal experience to help gain insight for those of you that care to hear</p>

<p>@ Billionaire

  1. i’m taking the 100A/100B track. the classes aren’t bad but the competition is (atleast compared to my experiences). your grade is curved and dependent on how others do so many people out here tend to stray away from “group work” or discussing results and some out here even share wrong answers to hurt others. econ100a/b are prerequisites for many majors other than econ but haas business, political economics and are even taken by students outside the major for whatever reason</p>

<p>2) could you elaborate on this question?</p>

<p>3) no. i believe de anza doesn’t offer the agreement but foothill does. it supposedly consists of 6 honors courses? i don’t believe it guarantees you like an agreement you would have with the other uc’s (other than la) but just puts you on a higher priority</p>

<p>4) i’m alright. i took cal ab and bc in highschool and passed my ap exams with 4. i retook calc bc then ab (scheduling conflict) and then stats the semester before i left. all my math courses ended up with an A or B. </p>

<p>5) my first semester consisted of econ 100a (intermediate microeconomics), stat 21 (statistics for business), soc 150 (social psychology) and ugba 96 (introduction to entrepreneurship). when i transfered here (for orientation), econ majors were given a designated 100A or 100B course code to add and a list of options for stat21 or 20. i suggest you take 21 because it’s more general statistics (soemthing you might encounter in highschool ap or cc stats) where as stats 20 was like computer programming stuff.
my first year was alright, i ended up with an A and rest Bs. a lot more difficult, competitive and strenuous than cc (obvious) and definitely a change of pace so the transitioning took some time. there is also a class that berkeley offers to help with transfer students integrating themselves to the new berkeley/college lifestyle</p>

<p>@ pyoro1
yeah, i’m on about two dozen websites so chances are it’s me. i took 13 units (which was the minimum amount for letters and science majors.
courses here make me miss cc courses because no one there besides yourself really gave much concern to school (at least that’s how de anza seemed). berkeley courses are definitely more difficult but aside from what i told Billionaire, you’ve really just gotta experience it to describe it accurately (not trying to be curt, rather honest). registering for classes isn’t all that difficult. all my de anza classes were 30 or so student rooms aside from one where as it’s the complete opposite here. unless you’re taking upper division specific classes, you’re okay with registering for your prereqs and whatnot. </p>

<p>@ mypinkfriday
yeap. you’d be surprised what other forums i’m on</p>

<p>@Pinoiako910
i’m not admissions officer but i believe you’re pretty qualified. the progress on your gpa and ec’s and whatnot. there’s not much more i can say. keep in mind, psychology is impacted</p>

<p>@ Ella89
true which is why i can’t say very much for pinoiak but i believe sharing my experience and comparing what you have going for yourself compared to others does setup a framework for how you’re looking</p>

<p>@ isus39
very much so. keep in mind my econ majors that you must obtain nothing lower than a B- or 2.7 in your major related courses during your first semester here and you must apply for the major within the first week (think it was sept 17th for me)</p>

<p>@ xcaliberse
like i’ve mentioned before, the workload is definitely more difficult. i wish there were some way for me to describe it to you more accurately. hmm… well. i believe lectures are an hour up to 2 or so and go over the basic framework of the text or material. the discussion classes are led by a gsi (graduate student instructor) and they basically go over the reading (which supplements the lectures with thorough explanation) and lecture. in terms of work load, not difficult but just a lot. for example, i was given a weeks time to complete 10 100 work definitions and samples of relevance and two 800 work papers on the history of economics in the 20th century. not bad but still work. you typically read about a chapter a day each lecture and 1-4 articles. these readings are necessary for your success in the class
my gpa at cc was 3.55 applying and 3.2 or something here. i don’t mind the personal questions </p>

<p>@ redoplease
hmm, my gpa at cc was 3.55 applying and i can honestly say i didn’t work that hard at all. my gpa first semester at cal was roughly 3.2 or something and i worked (though not optimal cause i had other stuff outside of school to worry about)
i am living in wada in unit 2. it’s a campus provide housing unit for transfer students. there are either 2-3 rooms with two people each, 1-2 bathrooms/showers, a kitchen, living room, and dining table. pretty legit. i decided to live here because it woujld’ve allowed me to kinda experience the “dorm” life but at the same time provide me with the perks fo an apartment style housing. everyone here transfered from a cc, another state or uc, navy , army reserve, etc. or something so you kinda have the same background in terms of the experience that the others around you are feeling as a transfer which is cool. i woujld suggest living here if you find chill roommates that’re down to drink and smoke despite being at berkeley. that’s just my preference though</p>

<p>@ aoeuid
my provisional contract said i had to obtain a 3.0 during my last quarter (spring) there. my friend that got into ucla had to maintain her gpa (3.95) which was a little more to ask for. they sometimes require specific grades for certain classes but that’s if you’re in some sort of conflict in terms of your prereqs and blah blah blah that they want from you, i think</p>

<p>@ mypinkfriday
i made this thread to share my experience and help others because i thought i’d have been very helpful for me going through the process. i’m not obligated in any way to do so but felt, why not? i apologize for not being on top of answering these questions the minute they’re posted but i’m absolutely honest when i say that responding to these questions are of a priority to me compared to the schoolwork i have to do. soo, i just answer these during my chill/break time</p>

<p>@ goingmeta
i’m speaking from experience and about the individuals i’ve come across. i can honestly say that each person here deserves to be here after some insight in their shoes. my academic performance was never above average. course anyone can do whatever they’d like but given the right resources it’d make the process so much faster. anyone can become a millionaire if they pickup a million pennys but if they’re got the skills, home address, transportation resources and etc to get a job that’ll pay them a significant amount more than a penny or two a day… then getting that million would be so much easier. </p>

<p>care to elaborate on why berkeley doesn’t encompass a certain character in their students?
i have my personal reasons of why i’m in school which i’ll choose to not dwell into right now. you can’t always control what you run into in life but you can control how you perceive it. to me, you’re just another person sitting behind their screen verbally bashing at me with no credibility behind you so i’m not sure who you think you are being able to judge whether or not i’m doing right in life. but if my “academic contributions” have impressed you, then thanks. i’m flattered</p>

<p>

um</p>

<p>what?</p>

<p>If you’re speaking from experience, then why are you claiming “each person here deserves to be here”? “the individuals [you’ve] come across” is not the same thing as “each person [there].” Anyway, we’re not really in a disagreement about that. UCB, at some point, somehow deemed that these individuals were “deserving” to be part of the student body based on some limited information (the application). There’s nothing you can possibly infer about the entire student body beyond that (their academic qualifications). </p>

<p>

Have you ever met somebody who was ambitious and hard working who wasn’t “good” at what they do? I think you completely missed my point.</p>

<p>

No, because that wasn’t what I was arguing to begin with.</p>

<p>

uhhh what?</p>

<p>All I said earlier is “if you’re ambitious, hard working, and you like doing what you do, then you won’t have to put on a show.” You’ve got this backwards mentality where you believe the appearance is more important than the goal/ effort/ work. You’ve confused the two, or maybe you have no end goal because you’re just so caught up with trying to fit in. Why else would you bring up “the character”? Why the hell would that matter to <em>anybody</em>?</p>

<p>OP sounds like a complete tool.</p>

<p>OP - yay thanks for answering!</p>

<p>i think its great the OP is taking time to share their experiences.</p>