<p>I'm currently a high school student living overseas but I will be living in Los Angeles County after graduating next year and I'm not sure as to which college I should apply to. I want to get an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from either UC Berkley or UCLA. The problem is, my parents told me that if I want to go to college in the US, it has to be a community college, preferably around that area. I plan to apply to Santa Monica College, Pasadena City College and Mt. San Antonio College but I'm not sure that they have a strong chemistry program that will allow me to transfer easily. Can anyone please suggest some community colleges I should apply to? </p>
<p>Thank you for taking the time to read this. I really appreciate it :) Please help!</p>
<p>PS. Anyone has tips on how to get into UC Berkley? I heard it's hard... :S</p>
<p>Use [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to see which CC has best coverage of the lower division prerequisites for your major at your target UCs and CSUs.</p>
<p>Be warned that the standard curriculum for Berkeley chemical engineering has key upper division courses in sophomore year. The Berkeley College of Chemistry announcement’s sample schedule for transfer students indicates that 5 (not 4) semesters after transfer is expected for chemical engineering majors, due to not being able to take the upper division courses as a sophomore at a CC.</p>
<p>[UC</a> Berkeley, College of Chemistry – The Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering](<a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/degree_programs/cheme_major/index.php]UC”>http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/degree_programs/cheme_major/index.php)
[Alternative</a> Program for Chemical Engineering Transfer Students](<a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/policies/alternative.php]Alternative”>http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/policies/alternative.php)
[UC</a> Berkeley, College of Chemistry](<a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/prospective_undergrad/admission/transfer_students.php]UC”>http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/prospective_undergrad/admission/transfer_students.php)</p>
<p>For example, Diablo Valley College has all recommended and required preparation courses for Berkeley chemical engineering except for EE 40:
[ASSIST</a> Report](<a href=“Welcome to ASSIST”>Welcome to ASSIST)</p>
<p>College of San Mateo has everything listed:
[ASSIST</a> Report](<a href=“Welcome to ASSIST”>Welcome to ASSIST)</p>
<p>But Santa Monica College is missing EE 40, E 45, and E 7:
[ASSIST</a> Report](<a href=“Welcome to ASSIST”>Welcome to ASSIST)</p>
<p>Missing prerequisites may not prevent you from getting admitted, but you would then have to take them as catch-up courses after transfer, possibly graduating a semester later than if you were able to take them before transfer.</p>
<p>Mount San Antonio College is missing EE 40 and E 7, but does have E 45. However, it looks like you need to take more biology and English courses to gain coverage of the Berkeley courses.
[ASSIST</a> Report](<a href=“Welcome to ASSIST”>Welcome to ASSIST)</p>
<p>Thank you!! You’ve been very helpful 
I would like to go to San Mateo but unfortunately, it’s too far from where I’ll be living.</p>
<p>While not listed in the ASSIST reports, you may also want to take courses to complete all of the lower division breadth requirements (check ASSIST for articulation of specific courses): [UC</a> Berkeley, College of Chemistry – The Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering – Lower Division Courses](<a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/degree_programs/cheme_major/lower_division_courses.php]UC”>http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/degree_programs/cheme_major/lower_division_courses.php)</p>
<p>Choose breadth courses in areas where you would want to take an upper division breadth course after transfer (to fulfill the “series” requirement).</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip! if the CC that I apply to doesn’t have the required class, is it possible to take the class in another CC? (Sorry for all the questions, I’m really blank about all of this)</p>
<p>Yes, you can take courses at other CCs besides your primary CC.</p>
<p>Just for fun I googled the above institutions and as a Midwest resident was promptly blown away - I’m not familiar with the California CC system but by looking at their class offerings and the like, this ain’t your typical CC’s either, some of them have 10,000 students on one campus. Tuition seems affordable enough, $50/credit hour (sigh, what i was paying 30 years ago :))… </p>
<p>Is it relatively straightforward to transfer to a UC/CSU after two years, and what would be the chances of someone from a good CC and good grades to get into a top state school? (say, UCB, Davis, SLO, etc?).</p>
<p>Back when UC Statfinder was up, assessing transfer admission chances using GPA at CC was fairly straightforward.</p>
<p>UCLA provides fairly detailed information on incoming transfer students, including average prior college GPA by major: [Profile</a> of Admitted Transfer Students - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/Tr_Prof.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/Tr_Prof.htm)</p>
<p>However, most other UCs and CSUs are less selective than UCLA. To transfer to the least selective CSUs, you just need a 2.0 college GPA (presumably passing all of the prerequisites for your major).</p>
<p>The California CCs’ good offerings of transfer preparation courses is by design. It is intended that UCs and CSUs have undergraduate enrollment that is 60% upper division and 40% lower division, with the upper division numbers bulked up by transfers from the CCs. The CCs are an integral part of the California higher education mission of making higher education more accessible to residents of the state.</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) provides CC students with listings of courses they need to take to prepare for transfer to their target UC or CSU in their target major. So in that sense, it is straightforward to figure out what courses you need to take. However, budget cuts have resulted in some CCs not having enough spaces in the courses, which can make it more difficult to complete the transfer preparation courses in two years. Many take longer for other reasons as well, such as attending part time while working (the CC and transfer route is a common non-traditional student route).</p>