For CSU to UC Transfers

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

So I wanted to write this for all the students who are at CSU or going to a CSU and looking to transfer to a UC. This is also for me as well because I am currently a CSU student who wants to transfer to a UC and I want some answers as well. IF YOU ARE GOING TO COMMENT ON THIS THREAD PLEASE DO NOT SAY, “GO TO A CC BECAUSE YOU’LL HAVE A BETTER CHANCE”!!! We know that going to a CC gives us a better chance to transfer to a UC , but we all have our reasons why we cannot do that and were stuck at CSUs. If you have a chance to go to a CC, then go do that and go to another thread. Moving on…

I am applying to UCs right now for the Fall of 2017 so any of the advice is just my experience from researching and and applying. I will not be accepted anywhere until Spring 2017, so do not take my word blindly and do your own research besides this thread. So my advice is…

  1. Get informed and and make a plan.

Use assist and college confidential to get informed and go out to look for any answers you might have. From ASSIST you will get all the information you need for the prerequisites you need for your major. Look up the major prereqs for every school you are interested in transferring to. When you know all the information for which classes to take, make a plan. Plan out which classes you need to take each semester before you transfer and how you will reach those mandatory 60 semester units needed to transfer to a UC. This is probably the most important part of transferring. The faster you have a plan the faster you get to transfer and you will have a easier and clearer path. And look through all the threads on the website and get a sense of what you need to do and what it takes to get a UC.

  1. Don't lose sight of the goal!

I know how hard it has been for me to keep my grades up and take enough classes to stay on track. So when you are striving to get As in those classes and you want to give up, don’t lose sight for what you are doing this for. CSU students probably have to the most to transfer because the odds are against us. If you are not willing to put in the work and you do not have the heart then trying to transfer is not for you especially if you are a CSU student. If you do put it in the work, trust me it will be worth it.

  1. Applications have to be perfect.

When you are finally applying to those UCs, make sure they are perfect when you submit them. Call all the schools you are applying, talk to some counselors, going to workshops if you can… do everything to make sure they are perfect. And for your personal insight questions, start early and and get some expert advice on them. Every CSU has a writing center to my knowledge, go to them with your essays and have them go over it for you and they’ll help you. Talk to counselors because they know what schools are looking for in a good essay and what an applicant should write.

  1. Plan for the worst.

The truth is that CSU students have last priority for transferring to UCs right after 1st) CC and 2nd)UC students. Some of us will not get into the schools we want or might not get into any that we apply to and that is the sad truth. So make a plan for every outcome that is possible. You might go to a UC that you did not expect or you might have to stay where you are now.

So that is my advice. I do not have all the answers and I want to know if anyone knows more. If you are a successful CSU to UC transfer, can you please post any advice you might have and your stats such as where you went for a CSU, where you got accepted, where you ended up going, and you major and gpa. These are my stat:

Overall Transferrable GPA: 3.65
Major: Political Science
Prerequisites: Done by end of Fall 2016
Applying from: SJSU
Applying to: UCSC, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB

When I get the results I will post them. Please feel free to add your own stats and where you’ll be applying to. And if you have any questions I will try to answer them. Good Luck!

2

Hundreds of applicants from CSUs are granted transfer admission from a CSU every year, If you select the Transfer by Year tab and Transfer by GPA you can use the School Type radio button to find how many went from CSUX to UCY and what their GPA was. .

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/admissions-source-school

The CC priority is overblown in most people’s mind. All else equal, your 3.65 from a CSU will beat out a CC student with a 3.60. (essays and ECs, first gen also play in so, it isn’t that pure in real life.) The real CCC advantage are TAG - which really does guarantee admission only to CCC student (though UCB, UCLA and UCSD don’t participate) and Assist which simplifies the mapping of courses.

With your GPA and the right courses, I think you’ll make UCSB and UCSC. The others could go ether way.

For Poli Sci, you may also want to apply to UCD. Their proximity to the state capitol in Sac makes for a plethora of internships and other opportunities to engage in the political process.

Good luck!

3

@NCalRent >All else equal, your 3.65 from a CSU will beat out a CC student with a 3.60

Not true at all. Your analysis additionally misses the fact that CSU students have unit caps (by which they become intelligible for transfer) while CC students do not.

4

Just a question here from another CSU to UC transfer. AP credits can be applied to UC Minimum Transfer Requirements (depending on the school) but do their unit equivalencies count towards the 60 units minimum needed to be considered for transfer?

5

I was accepted into social sciences at each of those UCs with about that GPA at the time of application. Make this semester your most successful! Those January updates are critical for all applicants.

@2017UChopeful I am not sure whether you are opposed to Berkeley, but Berkeley Political Science is far easier to be admitted to than UCLA Political Science. The UCLA Political Science department is horribly picky about which courses satisfy their prereqs. Even several identical statistics courses at UCLA do not satisfy their own Political Science requirement. It is really a formality that they really need to revised, but many applicants are rejected on those formalities since there are so many applicants. For Berkeley, Political Science applicants simply need to qualify for admissions into the L&S college and be competitive enough to snag a spot. They will not reject you based on whether you have a specific major prereq.

Of course, this information is only relevant if you are interested in Cal. Many people assume that Cal is out of their reach, but applicants to L&S who break that 3.7 threshold by their January update and write a killer personal statement will definitely be competitive.

6

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/transfer/advising/transferring-credits/
It sure looks like the unit cap (70 semester units) applies to all schools.

7

I have finally gotten my first decision and I got accepted to UCSB with these statistics.

GPA: 3.4ish
Major: Political Science
Pre-reqs: Done by Fall '16
Pending: UCLA, UCSC, UCSB

If you have questions just ask me I am surprised I got in as a transfer from a Cal State. Other CSU to UC hopefuls, it is possible to do it just work hard.

1 Like
8

That is AWESOME, Congrats!

9

Congrats!

10

I got my last decision today!!!

GPA: 3.4
Major: Political Science
Pre-reqs: Done by Fall '16
Applied: UCLA, UCSC, UCSB, UCSD
Accepted: UCSC, UCSB, UCSD
Denied: UCLA

It has been a long and difficult journey but glad that this part is over. I will most likely go to UCSB but have not made my final decision. CSU students who to transfer, just go for it because it is possible.

1 Like
11

I have a question. As of right now, I’m taking classes at CSULA. My goal is to transfer to UC after 2 years, however l, I’m not really sure what classes I need to take since assist is usually for cc to uc. In addition, so I have to personally contact them?

12

I am currently a senior that got accepted to CSUN for fall 2018 and I am really interested in transferring to a UC from CSUN although I see a lot of threads saying that its pointless but this discussion got me really hopeful and will for sure work hard to get into a UC.

13

@UConfidence it’s not pointless but if you really wanna transfer to a UC bad it’s better to go to a CC. But it’s definitely possible from a CSU. Nursing is super competitive from what I understand tho… nursing majors in my anatomy class said they need a 3.9 just to be competitive for the mid-tier UCs.

14

I’m currently attending CSUN but I can’t seem to find a connection from CSUN to UCLA on assist.org. Can anyone help me with that?

15

@Bilakor99 assist.org only shows agreements between CC/UC and CC/CSU as one’s between UC/CSU don’t exist.

What you’re going to have to do is pick a CC (or multiple, I checked between 3 for certain classes) and do the agreement with the CC/CSUN and then the CC/UCLA.

16

@2017UChopeful That’s awesome! I am planning on doing the application for next Fall 2019 to a UC; I was wondering if you have any advice on the written questions. If you are describing yourself as a transfer from a CSU, what was your reasoning to transfer to a UC? (I understand it is personal, but I would like some insight on this)

17

@2017UChopeful This thread actually helped me a lot. Congrats on your admission to those UC’s! I am going to be a Sophomore at SJSU and I wanted to know if you had any tips or advice that would help me with the transfer app?