I know it’s a bit early for a thread but better sooner than later.
Tell us where you are in preparation and what problems or questions you have. Hopefully we can all start supporting each other now so there’s no snags later this Fall when we start applying for next year. Good luck!
" I know it’s a bit early for a thread but better sooner than later."
seriously … lol what the heck. if you have questions about the preparation, the current 2015 thread, the one with the decisions that just came out like less than a week ago, has many answers mate 
Never too early! Glad you started this. Good luck to all of you and keep supporting each other.
Though, I would edit the all caps title, it’s a little annoying. 
“the current 2015 thread, the one with the decisions that just came out like less than a week ago, has many answers mate”
that thread was made on May 2nd. today is April 22nd. that means this thread is being made only a few weeks before that thread was made last year.
Well im on the other side of the fence, so good luck to the prospect students! Remember, maintain a good GPA, have ECs, start your application EARLY, start your essays early and have teachers check them. Good luck guys!! cheers
This is awesome. Only a “little bit” early!
I’ll bite, CSU>CC>UCLA hopeful here.
I am freaking out. My first semester I did poorly in CC because of the fact that I was working 40+ hours to afford school. I quit my job to start the spring semester and took out loans. I am desperately trying to revive my GPA. It will be at a 3.2 by fall and hopefully 3.5 by the end of fall going into spring. I will be TAP certified as I will have finished an adequate amount of honors courses at my CC. However, how will a low 3.2 GPA play when I am applying as an Econ/Math major in the fall? I already counted myself out of BizEcon and Econ. But do i still have a chance at Econ math?
@mcdrx2 I’d say you do. If you take a few easy A type courses in the summer, I would say a 3.5-3.6 is okay for math/econ. Especially if you pull As for the Calc series and LinAl and DifEq.
UCLA is my second choice - it’s safe to say I’m really frightened. Planning on starting my personal statement over the summer.
@goldencub, I thought you were starting berkeley this fall. So, now my third revision: the three planned philosophy courses are at your CCC, not Berkeley.
@mcdrx2 I guess you can’t repeat any of those previous courses (meaning they’re C or better)? If any are C- you may be able to repeat.
@lindyk8 No, actually! I go to Berkeley City College, and none of the three prerequisites for the Philosophy major at Cal are available at my CC (nor are they at any other CC that I’m aware of), so I’m taking PHILOS 12A over the summer at Cal through UCB’s Summer Session, which is open to anyone so long as they pay for it. I am able to take two classes at UCB, CSUEB or some other school through a concurrent enrollment program at my CC. So, I plan to take those courses over the course of my sophomore year, with one in the Fall, and one in the Spring, so that I will have all of my prereq’s completed before I hopefully transfer to Cal. Sorry if it was confusing, all of those courses are actually going to be Cal courses. I’m dead-set on Berkeley, so I’m making sure I’m as competitive as I can possibly be. Of course I’m still considering UCLA, I know a decision between the two will be difficult.
That’s a great plan @goldencub, you’re close to the campus and doing one a semester will really let you ease in and get a sense of the workload needed.
@lindyk8 Thank you, I had the same rationale regarding course load. I also figured going the extra mile to be able to take the classes I need would be factored into admissions.
Anyway… UCLA 2016! If anyone would like me to read their personal statement, I’m happy to do so, as long as you do the same! 
anyone know how to contact UCLA’s admission staff to ask them a question?
thank you for making this thread and I’m currently trying to do tap for ucla as a biochem student, but I’m not sure if this college is right for me. Like this is my dream school but not sure. My other choices are UCSD and tag with uc davis. I heard a lot of people got admitted into ucsd, especially the impacted majors… Like my friend is bioengineering and got in with a 3.5… and the others who had 3.3 or something were waitlisted, but eventually got in. My question is: is it really that simple to be transferred in? I thought SD would be realllly hard to get into
@lindyk8 I passed all my classes my first semester with C’s and 1 B-. This semester I have a 3.7.
@naregian I am taking calc 1 this summer and calc 2 in the fall and linear alg and calc 3 in the spring. Hopefully I can find a way to manage to get straight A’s with the heavy workload.
@mcdrx2 If you show that upward trend in grades, I’m sure it’ll look good, but it’s not going to happen magically. You need to assess what happened your first semester, and what worked during this semester to ensure your GPA trend.
Well he said it was working 40 hours a week.
That sounds like a plan @mcdrx2. If the GPA stays high all you can do is explain the reason for the first semester slump. It could all work out. Just keep your eye on the prize.
Thank you for making this thread. I’m an anthro ba major, estimated my gpa to be a 3.7. I’m freaking scared of not getting into ucla bc I’m not even in TAP and my EC is very little. Do you think I can make it into ucla?
I’m also thinking about talking to a ucla counselor if i can but have no idea how to.