Hey everyone! So I have admitted to myself that I chose the wrong university…I think I would have loved to go to UC Berkeley much better than my decision of UCLA. UC Berkeley has a specific program that I am interested in, and I just like the vibe much better. I was just wondering if anyone knows the soonest time I can transfer; if it’s even possible to do so in the spring semester (and what I would do to make that happen). Thank you so much!
You can only transfer as a junior transfer. You must have >90 units at UCLA, a high GPA, a letter of reciprocity to clear your GEs (better to have it than not), and prerequisites completed.
Seems like a fairly daunting task. The best route would probably be to go to a CC and transfer, if you’re absolutely sure you want to go to Berkeley. UCLA is a great school - I saw some of your earlier posts suggesting tthat you are sort of back-and-forth between LA and Cal.
You need to ask yourself (1): do the ends justify the means? (as it is rather difficult to transfer from a UC to UCB, although not impossible). (2): am I absolutely certain that I want to go to Cal and not UCLA? (mull it over - UCLA is a great school, and you can definitely enjoy your stay there, so long as you allow yourself to).
The transfer path is difficult, and I’m not convinced that it is your best option. Both schools are comparable (yes, the vibe is different, but at least allow yourself to acclimate to UCLA - I’m assuming you are a freshman).
Why don’t you wait and decide after you start at UCLA. It’s a little early to be deciding you hate UCLA when classes haven’t even started. Personally, at this point I would make peace with UCLA.
Since Berkeley is the only school that you want to go to, your best choice would be to stay at UCLA and transfer as a junior, rather than go to a CCC. This means you won’t have to apply to UCLA again or any safety schools.
Didn’t OP get accepted as a transfer already? I thought he was regretting his transfer choice.
@lindyk8
OP appears to be accepted as a freshman since his/her SIR deadline was May 1st, the deadline for all accepted high school applicants to SIR.
@college4424
I hate to break it to you, but it seems Berkeley doesn’t accept too many transfers from other UCs. If you’re that committed to transferring out of UCLA, you’ll have to do it in your junior year with 90+ quarter units and the completion of whatever requirements Berkeley has for the major in which you’re interested. Assist.org can help you with finding what those requirements are and their equivalents at UCLA. Good luck.
Drop out of UCLA, enroll in a community college, and transfer to Berkeley as a junior. You probably have a low chance of transferring from UCLA to Berkeley cause why would Berkeley want you anyways when you’re already at a top-tier university.
I would not drop out of UCLA unless you are pressed on cash. I’ve seen too many students leave a good school to try to get into their first choice, like UCLA to Cal or to Cal Poly, and they end up not doing as well in CCC as they thought OR they just don’t get in b/c we all know how weird Cal’s and (esp.) Cal Poly’s admissions can be.
Going to a CCC would be a good choice if you were going to a CSU, but there is so little to gain from going to Cal instead of UCLA that it would be too great a risk for little reward, in my opinion.
I tend to agree with @anikom15. Actually, ppl do successfully transfer UC-UCB, not just as often as UC-UCLA. There were several people here this year and last who transferred to Berkeley from a UC. I would stick with UCLA and try to transfer as a junior. Perhaps you have family in this area and want to be closer. There could be any number of reasons you might want to jump from SoCal to NorCal. But the big thing is the point anikom made: Don’t drop out of UCLA in case everything goes south.