I am currently a mechanical engineering major and I am on track to leave my community college in two years. Unfortunately due to focusing on my other STEM courses, I got a C in my general chemistry course. This semester I am also getting a B in calculus I but am getting an A in my three other courses. Will a C dramatically hurt my chances of getting into a UC?
First Semester:
English 1: A (4)
College Algebra: A (4)
Trigonometry: A (4)
Second Semester:
English 2: A (4)
Calculus I: B (4)
Math Seminar: A (2)
Intro to C++ Programming: A (4)
General Chemistry I: C (5)
Overall if I were to get straight A’s from this semester onward, I would get a 3.85 maximum. I was also thinking of taking additional general education classes that I find interesting as well to boost my GPA to a 3.9. It might not hurt my GPA overall but will colleges see my C and just flat out reject me?
It depends on your target UC and major. The thing is, your Fall 17 application goes in before next semester’s grades are in the books. That means their initial look at you will be with your transcript as it sits. A 3.6 in college is nothing to apologize for but, if you want to be a Chem major at Berkeley, the C could keep you out.
Generically, your best shot at transferring into a UC is TAG. Pick one of the 6 schools that participate and follow the instructions to the letter. That means take every class on the list and keep your GPA and major GPA above their threshold. You should certainly apply elsewhere - even the non-TAG schools (UCB, UCLA, UCSD). With a 3.6+ and a compelling application, you could make all 3.
Good luck.
I thought that grades for the Fall 2017 application would be turned in up to the end of the winter semester between 2016 and 2017. The school that I go to has a winter intersession and I plan on taking two general education courses during that time. Wouldn’t that make my GPA slightly higher than a 3.6 and close to my goal?
I am leaning a little bit away from the TAG for some UC’s right now because some schools like Irvine and Riverside want advanced computer science courses that are only needed by those two schools. I am not a chem major but will be taking one more semester of general chemistry and I think that would redeem my C if I were to get an A right?
As a non-chem major, having that as your only C won’t hurt your chances too much. Also, two As in GE courses this summer certainly won’t hurt either but, you gotta understand CS at UCB and UCLA both have less than 10% admit rate for transfers. The lowest admitted transfer GPA was around 3.8 for both schools.
See for yourself here:
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major
I am not suggesting you don’t apply, in fact quite the opposite. You are obviously bright an motivated student but, no applicant is can really be sure they will get in to CS at those campuses. Apply elsewhere too though so you have options for 17.
Find a TAG program you can live with and follow the prescription to the letter. That will be a nice fall back in case B and LA don’t work out.