Alright so I’m kind of in a pickle. Long story short: didn’t do so hot at CSU. I have accumulated a total of 77 GPA units at a CSU and I was hoping to start over with a new major that I’m actually interested in (Public Health) by attending CC for a bit and raise my GPA and aim higher and apply to a UC.
My questions are:
I know that 60 units is the minimum to transfer, but is there a MAXIMUM amount of units I'm only allowed to have to transfer to a UC, or do I have the freedom to take a bunch of random classes just for fun? (If so, are the units measured a collection of all the classes I have taken at both CSU and CC or do they only count the transferable units for the possible unit cap)
CAL has this spring admission thing for applicants and I was wondering if there was a separate application process for applicants that would prefer to start during the spring? Or is it all just one application and CAL just grants spring admission to those who they see fit?
Lastly, I'm planning on taking a full-time course at a private nursing school while taking full time classes at the CC and work a part time job. Do you guys think that taking a full time vocational course (LVN) will give me an edge with my admission, or would the UCs deem my impending nursing degree unnecessary. (The reason I'm taking the vocational course is for financial independence while I try to further a university education- I'd rather juggle working and school than having to take massive loans. My stint at the CSU gave me more than enough of that lol-)
Someone please help a brother out. Xx
“It’s never too late to be who you might have been”
UCs will cap your lower division units at 70 and then add any upper division units on top. If you exceed the limit set in that PDF then you will be rejected to most majors at UC
Cal offers spring admission to students they could not place into fall; luck of the draw
UC will not count nontransferable courses into your application. So taking nursing classes will offer no benefit.
On a personal-note. Working a job while trying to goto school is very difficult and usually results in a really long and dragged out education.
For the lower divs, does that include the IGTEC/breadth stuff? Super confused about the whole unit cap thing.
Is the unit cap just for lower divs(plus added upper divs) or is the unit cap include the classes I took at CSU and CC, even the random classes I took?
Unit cap includes all transferable courses you have taken at all institution. CC will list which courses transfer where. CSU will require a little bit more work to find out. Generally speaking all academic subjects transfer. IGETC/Breadth is lower division.
So UC will take all the lower division units you have received and cap that at 70 units. E.G. I have ~90 lower division units so I am capped at 70 transferable. Then they will add any upper division units you took (at CSU) and if those units cause you to exceed the limit set by each UC in the pdf then you will not be allowed to enroll.
Wait okay so even if I take way more than 70 transferable lower div units, I can only get 70 units when I transfer to a UC? And if I don’t have any upper div units to add I should be fine right?
meet with the UC counselors the next time they visit your CC and ask whether the LVN classes will help in admissions. Also there are limits on undergrad loans so if you are taking them out for the LVN program be sure to consider how this might affect your qualifying for loans when you enroll at a UC.
Take a look at the average accepted GPA to help you decide which UCs are realistic choices and which are longshots. Not that you shouldn’t apply everywhere if you can afford it, but your GPA is going to be calculated for all classes you have taken (CSU and CC).
Only transferable courses are factored into your UC-GPA. Non-transferable courses you take are counted as 0 units with a grade of “NC” (No Credit) in the evaluation.
Since you’re at a CSU and CC, you can repeat courses that you have earned a C-, D, or F in your CSU at the CC and they will use the unit/gpa you have earned a C (2.0) or better in your evaluation. You cannot repeat Out-of-Sequence courses. You cannot repeat a class with similar content (duplication).
And as @bomerr said, you can pretty much take as many lower-division classes you want at CC and they will cap your transfer units toward graduation at 70. Again, non-transferable courses don’t count. The only thing that you should be worried about is if you’ve taken a bunch of upper-division courses because that adds on.
Take advantage of http://assist.org/ and Remember to check TCA footnotes for limitations.
Watch out for Out-Of-Sequence classes. You can’t take Chem 1B, 1C, and then 1A. You will get no credit for 1A.
Same for Physics. There are two Physics sequences, but you can only get credit for one sequence.
Physical Ed. Exercise courses are limited to 4 semester units.
Thanks @Virilux ! Totally didn’t know about the out of sequence classes. Any idea why they’re strict about the out of sequence courses?
The courses I took at CSU are mostly GEs so I don’t think I have to worry much about upper divs. I only have like 12 upper div units, if UCs even count those classes as transferable.
What are TCA footnotes? Also, for GPA calculations, do UCs only look at the UC-transferable GPA I’ve accumulated or do they look at my over all GPA for admission?
It’s not that they’re strict; it’s just not pragmatic. If someone can pass Spanish 2, obviously they can’t take Spanish 1 for a GPA boost.
UCs usually do transfer upper-division units from an accredited university. So you’re possibly looking at 82 units being transferred which is above Merced’s and Davis’s 80 semester unit limitation. I did call Davis yesterday and they said you be ineligible for admission if you have 10 or more upper-division units.
-Check: [This Link](University of California Counselors)
UCLA has updated theirs to 85 semester units/129 quarter units. That means you can’t take 15 or more semester units of upper-division courses.
TCA footnotes in assist.org show you the limitations of certain classes. For instance, it says for Math 119 and Math 151, only credit for one course will be granted. If you took both of those courses, evaluators will give you the benefit of the doubt as award you credit for the class which will advantage your admission decision the most.
For admission, they only look at the UC-transferable GPA. However, they will still see all the classes you have taken since you have to input those.
Generally, you can get a good idea by looking at the UC’s Catalog and checking the course descriptions (that’s what the evaluators will be doing anyways). Do that with cross-checking CSU --> CC <-- UC in assist and you can almost be certain.
In your application just input the data just as you see in your transcript. If it uses semester, then use semester. If it uses quarter, then use quarter.
