I am a high school senior who has taken community college classes since freshman year. I took 7 courses (21 credits) that are transferrable for UC colleges and Private schools.
I plan on attending community college for the next two years and would love to transfer to a top UC such as UCLA or UCB as well as USC and other private schools.
I recently learned that the GPA I gained from these classes (a 3.0) will continue and count when I apply for transfer and I am really stressed as I wanted to start over and plan on getting a 4.0.
The questions that I currently have are:
- Will my dual enrollment classes hurt my chances to transfer to a top UC/Private School?
- Will admission counselors place the same value on these classes as the rest of my classes in the next two years even if I get all A’s?
- Would UC count these classes for my transfer GPA even if I achieve more than 70 semester credits (the max amount of credits that they accept)?
@Gumbymom i think you can help here.
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DE courses that are UC transferable will be on your permanent college record and will be included in your UC Transfer GPA. How much will it impact your UC transfer chances depends upon several variables such as the grades, your cumulative UC Transfer GPA, target UC campuses and intended major.
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Again if they are UC transferable courses, they will be considered by admissions but they will put more emphasis on your current grades vs. the DE course grades.
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The maximum UC transferable credits if they are all lower division courses is 70 semester units, but the DE courses will be counted and anything over the 70 semester unit maximum will be given subject credit.
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You would need to maintain a 4.0 GPA and need approximately 49 semester units to raise your GPA to a 3.7.
Here is the UC Transfer GPA by campus and major so you can determine your target GPA you will need to transfer. Remember you apply the Fall prior to matriculation and the UC’s will consider all courses including the Fall courses in your UC Transfer GPA.
I would also look into the UC’s that offer TAG which do not require as high as a 3.7 GPA for transfer.
https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/tag-matrix.pdf
You can check with a UC counselor, but their policy for calculating a xfer gpa says
Calculation of the transfer grade point average includes all UC-transferable units attempted at all U.S. regionally accredited colleges attended, including college courses completed through a dual enrollment program while enrolled in high school.
They don’t mention an exception for hitting the cap limit. They will allow up to 70 CC units towards UC graduation and give you subject credit where applicable for the rest of the classes, but it sounds to me like the gpa is over everything transferable you took.
Private colleges are free to calculate gpa any way they wish and it’s possible some may exclude units earned while in HS. You’d need to check with the schools you are considering.
See if your CC is a member of TAP (Transfer Alliance Program) which gives a preference in admission to UCLA and also allows you to give a 2nd major in case you are not accepted for your first. https://admission.ucla.edu/apply/transfer/ucla-transfer-alliance-program#TAP
Cal has a program with the same name but it is a program aimed at low-income and minority students. See TAP | Center for Educational Partnerships
@Ally2022 there is one longshot approach you may want to consider. That is to convert some of those grades to pass/fail. Some CC are allowing retroactive changes due to Covid, such as Requesting Pass/No Pass at this CC. And your CC may have special rules for dual-enrollment students. Since you plan on attending a CC for two years it wouldn’t matter for any apps you may have submitted for this Fall at 4-year colleges (don’t do this if you still might go directly to a 4-year).
I’m not saying rush out to do this, there are a few consideration even if it is possible. For one, when you xfer to a UC they only accept up to 14 semester units of P/F grading (there are some UC relaxations of this limit due to Covid, but I wouldn’t count on them still being present when you’re applying to xfer). And for another, they either require or strongly suggest that major prep be taken for a grade (see University of California Counselors page 44). So whether it makes sense is something to really look into first. You’d probably want to talk it over with the counselors at your CC and the assigned UC counselor that visits your CC regularly.
If this can be done and makes sense for you then the P/F units would not be used in calculating your UC gpa. Private colleges are free to do whatever they want.
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I really think the TAG is the way to go given the lower GPA required to get into some solid UC’s. Getting into UCLA or UCB may be tough with the 3.0 GPA on DE credits to date, but as an example getting that up to a 3.4 for a UCSB Tag eligible major is certainly possible.
Also, I’m not sure if you have any AP credit, but with 21 DE credits complete you could get to the 30 credits required by end of summer to be able to apply for a TAG at UCSB this fall and transfer in just a year. Check the TAG matrix that Gumbymom provided above for details by UC Campus and major but it’s very possible. My daughter has 24 DE/AP credits and is taking this exact path.
@my2caligirls if your D wants an extra year of the UCSB experience she might want to consider attending SBCC. Some SBCC students live in Isla Vista, right off the UCSB campus. And I believe SBCC students are allowed to enroll in one UCSB class per quarter after completing a term at SBCC.
Yes thanks for the tip - I know that’s a popular option! She is going to roll the dice with UCLA as well so will probably stay here in OC.
Not sure about UCs but I have struck out of every private school I’ve applied to. They did not like the fact that I’d received an associate degree by 15 at all and one actually told me not to even apply because I had too many credits.