Berkeley Accepting First Year Transfers

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hi everyone, </p>

<p>When I begin my journey at Santa Barbara City College, I will already have 35.8 college credits. These credits were attained through AP courses and three college courses at my local CC. I will be attending SBCC due to financial reasons.</p>

<p>Anyway, I know that as long as I keep a 3.0 average in my courses, I'll be eligible to TAG into Davis after my first year (because I have >30 units); but what about Berkeley, my dream school? Does Berkeley accept first year transfers?</p>

<p>These are my AP scores
(4) United States History
(5) United States Government and Politics
(4) Macroeconomics
(3) Physics
(4) Environmental Science
(3) Psychology
(4) Human Geography
(3) English Language <em>sbcc says that I'll still get 5.3 UC units; but it sounds too good to be true</em></p>

<p>Introduction to Philosophy (3 units) A
American Sign Language II (3 units) A
Introduction to Sociology (3 units) A</p>

<p>As shown, upon entering my first year as a full-time CC student, I'll already have a 4.0 and 35.8 units. If I apply with straight As, what would be my chances of entrance into their Political Science program?</p>

<p>Also, how does this course load look?</p>

<p>Freshman Year (15.8, 16)
3-Comparative Politics
3-Political Thinking <em>will this be easy because of AP US Govt?
4-Elementary Statistics, Honors</em> *I took AP Statistics and got a 4, but I won't report it. Will this be easy?
4-Marine Biology
1.8-Skin and Scuba Diving</p>

<p>3-Modern Europe
3-Argumentation and Debate
3-International Politics* <em>after taking comparative politics first semester, will his be easy?
3-American Literature</em> <em>I took AP English Language, will it make this course easy? Reading the same books?
4-Conceptual Physics</em> *will this be easy after AP Physics?</p>

<p>Last thing, how much easier are college classes after taking AP equivalents? And are my classes looking okay? I know they check out as being UC transferable and fit my requirements, but will ~16 units both semester as a freshman be too challenging? Given that I already took AP Statistics and AP Physics and did well in them, would it feel like I'm taking ~12 units both semester?</p>

<p>Since I'll be applying soon, what are my chances for UCSD, Berkeley, and UCLA?</p>

<p>College GPA: 4.0 in 35.8 units (only 9 units graded, rest AP)
Desired Major: Political Science
Residence: Southern California
Extra Curricular Activities:
-Camp Counselor for Sleep-away Camp (9 weeks)
-Breaking $15,000 this summer as an executive for a large Tattoo distributor/corporation.
-Will most likely start a club.</p>

<p>(that's about it, since I haven't really "started" college)</p>

2

<p>I think Cal wants you to have at least 60 units prior to transfer. It doesnt matter how many years it takes you to do this.</p>

3

<p>I know, and I’ll have 67.6! But most of them come from APs, and they won’t see my experience as a full-time student; only in a 6 unit semester and a 3 unit semester while juggling 4 APs. Also, I won’t have a list of extra-curricular activities.</p>

4

<p>You’re probably close to 100% in for UCSD. For UCLA and UCB, you have a good chance but nothing is guaranteed. UCB and UCLA love ECs, the former more than the latter. </p>

5

<p>Berkeley doesn’t care about how much time you’ve spent in college. What matters to them are the grades, ECs, and preparation for your major. In all of these areas, I think you’re doing well.</p>

<p>With regards to some of your questions about course difficulty:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Since you got a good score on an AP test for your government class, you should be able to handle political science classes at community college. In general, lower-division political science classes tend not to be very difficult. You’ll be fine if you study.</p></li>
<li><p>You got a decent AP score for a physics class. Conceptual physics classes in college tend not to use as much math as you’d find in AP physics classes. You should be alright here, too.</p></li>
<li><p>Since you got a 4 on your AP stats test, a class in the subject at the college level shouldn’t be too hard for you. Again, I believe you’ll be fine.</p></li>
<li><p>The descriptions of the courseloads that you’ve given us don’t seem to be unmanageable. ~16 units isn’t crazy or anything, and your classes shouldn’t be too challenging if taken together. Still, you should try to manage your time well and study hard, regardless of how challenging your courseload is. Again, I think you’ll be alright with this schedule of classes. In fact, it should be a little easier since you’ve taken AP classes in some of these subject areas.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Personally, I think that if you maintain a GPA of 3.8 or more, and are relatively involved in ECs in your community college(You can list some from high school if you wish on your application), you have an excellent shot at Berkeley. </p>

<p>Good luck, and don’t hesitate to ask us any more questions.</p>

6

<p>Yeah, you can successfully transfer to Cal in one year. It’s not a difficult feat if your major doesn’t require a lot of prerequisites. </p>

<p>Anyways, you can’t transfer any AP credits to substitute major prereqs for the Political Science major at Berkeley. So even if you do take Political Theory, Comparative Politics, and International Relations at community college, you’re AP U.S. Government score will not give you credit for American Politics at Cal. </p>

<p>It’s hard to chance you for Berkeley, because you said you haven’t actually started college yet. Keep up a high GPA, have some good extracurriculars, and write stellar personal statements. </p>

7

<p>Thanks everyone! The information is great! :)</p>

<p>High school ECs, </p>

<p>11th grade: captain of debate team
12th grade: used to work in the marketing sections of a lot of small businesses. What I’d do, is I’d go into small businesses and pitch myself. For most of the year, I was managing Facebook pages/Facebook ads/ Google ads of 4-5 businesses.
I was also on football, peer counseling, and a lot of little things as an underclassmen.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if I’ll have to take a third year of language? On UC Doorways, “ASL 2” in college counts as three years of language. It’s said that for two years, so it’s probably not a typo. It used to also work with high school, but now only colleges. So basically, will my 2 years of ASL excuse me from ASL 3?</p>

8

<p>Also, I can’t TAP into UCLA because I won’t have 30 units of honors before applying, so is there any legitimate use for honors courses? Also, how will Law schools view my three year of completing college with a year of CC? Especially the Ivy Leagues? Is it necessarily a bad thing?</p>

9

<p>@solostish</p>

<p>Unless you want the personal challenge, honors classes aren’t any more beneficial than regular classes if you aren’t getting TAP certification for them.</p>

<p>I don’t think law schools care(Perhaps not even the Ivy leagues) about completing college in three years or that you’ve gone to community college. Still, you should double-check this.</p>

10

<p>you’re on the right track, I’m really confident you’ll get into Cal</p>

11

<p>

After the end of the fall semester you will report your grades to the UC portal. This will be your GPA, plus the other 9 units you mentioned.</p>

<p>The UC system sends counselors around to the CC’s. I suggest you find out when they visit SBCC and talk to them. Also, since you will be so close to UCSB, you could make an appt there to talk with somebody.

I suggest you check with a Davis counselor. TAG requirements differ slightly among UCs, and at Davis they require you have have been enrolled full-time at a CC in Spring 2014 (which is right now) in order to be eligible for TAG for Fall 2015. Maybe that can be waived in your circumstance, you should ask. See <a href=“TAG Requirements”>https://tag.ucdavis.edu/counselors/criteria.cfm&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>One other thing you may not have been aware of is that if you xfer after 1 year you can ignore all the AP units in terms of deadlines for declaring a major or graduating. It really is the best of both worlds; you can count the units when you want them, but they can’t force you to graduate after 2 years at the UC. You can find more info online about AP credit.</p>

12

<p>Just make sure all your APs transfer. They have limits and requirements. Assuming a certain unit count based on AP credit is one of the leading reasons ppl don’t make it in. The student count vs the UC official count don’t always match. </p>