Hello everyone!
I am currently a sophomore at Penn State studying aerospace engineering. I do like Penn State, but in a lot of ways I don’t feel like this is the right place for me. So, over the past month, I’ve been considering applying as a transfer to a list of UC schools for junior year that may include:
University of California Berkeley
University of California Los Angeles
University of California Santa Barbara
From what I’ve seen on their websites, these colleges have relatively high acceptance rates in relation to their prestige. As a high school senior, I was interested in all of these schools due to their highly respected academics and college communities. I am aware that some of these colleges do not offer aerospace engineering, but I would also be interested in studying mechanical (very similar in terms of course load).
My relevant credentials/extracurriculars so far in college are:
GPA: 3.70 (haven’t received a grade less than a B)
Credits: 63 by junior fall semester
Co-Founder of a mobile application that will launch this spring
Community service chair of a fraternity here
I would list my SAT scores/high school GPA, but I heard that these numbers aren’t relevant for transferring colleges. Also, if anyone has any information about transferring into the UC schools from out-of-state, please let me know! I’ve heard on other forums that students that attend California Community College have priority. Does anyone know if transferring to a CCC spring semester would help for admission?
Overall, can anyone provide insight into my chances of gaining admission to these 3 schools? I really appreciate any responses in advance!
You need to fulfill the requirements for your intended major as listed at each of the UCs to which you are applying.
Go to assist.org, plug in any CCC and the UC, and then the major. Fulfill whatever is required by this spring (if you plan to apply now).
Next, you need to have as many GE courses fulfilled as possible.
Engineering has a very high admitted GPA, so you may have difficulty, but not necessarily as you have good credentials. The overall admit rate for non-CCC, domestic is about 10%. Of course, this may vary by department.
Check out the profile of admitted transfer students at UCLA to see the avg admitted GPA by major. No other UC does this, so use it as a guide for other UCs. Add about .1 for Berkeley and lower the GPA a bit lower for UCSB.
https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof.htm
You could transfer to a CCC, but at this point, I would just stay where you are and apply that way.
You could also apply next year. Just make sure you don’t take more than a couple upper division courses if you add more units, as UD courses can mess you up. Just 2-3 total UD, approx.
Thanks for the advice, lindyk8!
@crew2332 I forgot to add: they don’t want SAT/ACT if transferring. You’re correct.
Also, engineering has a lower OOS transfer rate. I’m not exactly sure what it is.
If you do decide to go to a CCC, you need 30 semester units from a CCC by the end of spring before enrollment to get the priority consideration.
@lindyk8 It sounds like staying at Penn State next semester is the best/only option for transferring for next fall since I won’t be able to complete that many credits in one semester. Berkeley is definitely a reach, as I’d go there in a heartbeat. However, I would still love to go to UCLA, which has a much higher acceptance rate. I feel fairly confident to get into UCSB, but there’s only one way to find out. Thanks for you’re input!