I am determined to get into UCLA as it is my dream school and although I did not get in for the fall of 2023, I plan on attending UC Davis for fall 2023 with a major in Biology and then potentially transferring to UCLA. I understand that UC to UC transfers are not prioritized when it comes to transfer students however I would still like to try and get in. Based off of what I have researched, it is most common for UC’s to accept transfer students who have are at a Junior level. However, the high school that I attend does dual enrollment with a local community college and therefore I have about 40 credits completed already. I have taken both English 1A and 1B which are 3 units per semester and I believe that is one GE requirement that most UC’s need. I need to take at least One transferable college course (3 semester or 4-5 quarter units) in mathematical concepts and quantitative reasoning as well as ,General biology with lab (full introductory sequence), General chemistry with lab (one-year sequence), Calculus for STEM majors (one-year sequence), and Organic chemistry with lab (one-year sequence). I am aware that not all of the GE requirements match up between each UC which is why I am going to try to request a letter of reciprocity as soon as I start at Davis. UC Davis uses the quarter system so I want to try to take all of those required classes and build up my transfer application with a high GPA and extra curriculars. Because the transfer application is due on November 30th would that mean that I would have to wait until 2025 to receive my UCLA transfer decision? If there is a way I could possibly get in before that please let me know what I could do, thank you.
This is your best bet. Finish your associates at a comm coll with which ucla has an agreement, and you’re there Sept '24.
1 year UC transfers are possible especially if you have significant number of DE UC transferable courses but easier from a community college than from a UC.
Here is some information:
Is it difficult?
o Yes, transferring to a CC to a UC in one year is not easy and only works in very specific situations where a great number of AP credits are used or if the student has college units from CC courses taken during high school. AP credit refers to the college semester/quarter units obtained from passing AP scores.
Is it possible to transfer to a UC in one year with TAG?
o Yes, but it is much harder as there are additional requirements to obtain a TAG agreement since it guarantees your major as well. Only TAG if the student already has 20 semester credits. UCLA, UCB and UCSD do not participate in TAG and several campuses have excluded majors. Check the TAG matrix: University of California Counselors
Can I still transfer to a UC that doesn’t offer TAG in one year?
o Yes, a student can TAG into one UC campus that has a TAG agreement and still able to send a regular application to any other campus. For example, a student can TAG with UC Santa Barbara but still send a regular application to UCSD, UCLA, and UCD.
What if I have none/very little AP credit and haven’t taken any college courses (less than 10 semester units worth)?
o It is not recommended students with none/very little college units attempt to transfer in one year. Even with summer courses, a student would still have to complete 40-50 semester units within two semesters. This would equate to 5-8 college courses a semester. Not only would classes be hard to get into, but the scheduling of the classes may making preforming in these classes very difficult.
Do I need to declare a major?
o Yes, as with all transfer students. Upon admission as a transfer student, the student is expected to complete their remaining lower division work and start of their major’s upper division courses. However, it is also not recommended that students with engineering and impacted majors transfer in a year due to the competitiveness and amount of required courses needed prior to transfer.
One Year Transfer without TAG:
- Calculate your current amount of UC semester/quarter credits
Add up all of your current UC semester/quarter credits from passed AP scores and college courses taken during high school.
To find AP Score to UC credit equivalents, look at your Target UC’s along with CC
- Choose a major offered at a UC(s) and search it on www.assist.org
This is, of course what you’re working for
Enter in your major and your intended CC to see what courses you need to complete.
If there are no major preparatory courses required, still complete as many as possible. The completion of IGETC is still required for some majors.
- Plan out your summer, fall, and spring courses
Remember you must have 60 semester (90 quarter) units, the completion of IGETC if needed, and as many courses towards your major as possible prior to transfer.
Since you’re not getting a TAG, you don’t need 30 semester (45 quarter) units by the end of the summer before you apply, but still take a couple courses so your fall/spring course load won’t be so heavy
Some courses towards your major can also towards finishing IGETC or the 7 course GE pattern. Sitting down and planning this out with a CC counselor is a great way to plan a solid schedule.
Pay very close attention to your registration dates each semester since classes fill up very quickly.
- Apply to your UCs before the end of November
Don’t miss this date and plan your personal statements!
You’re also going to have to list all of your classes you’re planning to take and the ones in progress
- Complete TAU in January
TAU stands for Transfer Academic Update. In January, you must update your application with your fall grades and declare spring classes in progress
- Keep up your GPA!
Might I recommend you give Davis a shot? You might surprise yourself and like it. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, as they say.
I completely agree with @teleia that you should give UC Davis a chance and not attend with the intention of transferring. I posted the other option which is the CC to UC transfer in 1 year if you want to transfer as soon as possible.
Remember UC Davis may seem like you are settling but UC Davis is another applicant’s dream school. Perspective is what you need.
Actually, look at the AP credit chart of the UC being transferred to, since subject credit for AP scores differs for each UC campus and will not necessarily be the same as for the community college. The AP credit chart at the community college matters if you will be getting IGETC certification or an associates degree from the community college.
General credit for AP scores at UC can be found at AP credits | UC Admissions ; click the links on the right for campus subject credit for AP scores. In some cases, there may be additional types of subject credit for specific majors not listed on that page (e.g. in many UCB L&S majors; these may be noted on the ASSIST pages or on the department web site).
I might be biased since the only student currently in university in my family is studying for a degree for which UC Davis is the #1 university in the world. Specifically she is getting a doctorate of veterinary medicine. However, I will note that this does overlap with biology.
So I looked up the ranking for biology for UC Davis. At least in the US News ranking it is tied with UCLA, and they are both very high up in the ranking. I understand that rankings are not important. However, I also understand that there are a very large number of universities with very good biology programs – this is a very popular major. UCLA and UC Davis are both very good in general, and very good for biology.
When I went to graduate school I was turned down by my #1 choice. I attended my #2 choice instead and LOVED IT. I am thinking that if you give UC Davis a chance you might discover the same thing.
Also, biology is an area where graduate school is a possibility. Top graduate programs, including UCLA, will know how strong both UC Davis and UCLA are. My experience in graduate schools are that students come from all over the place. Others I know have reported the same thing.
A different issue: My wife and both daughters had majors that overlap a great deal with biology and that overlap a great deal with premed requirements. Some of those premed classes are going to be tough. One daughter referred to organic chemistry as “the most difficult B- that I ever had in my life” (this is the daughter currently getting a DVM). We occasionally see posts here on CC from students who are taking organic chemistry as a freshman in university and are in trouble. One daughter postponed organic chemistry until junior year, and breezed through it (this was the other daughter, no B-'s for her). You will most likely be a stronger student as you get further along in university. You might not want to take too many of the tough classes early on.
My wife and both daughters, with degrees that included a great deal of biology, had a lot of internship or work or research experience that overlapped a great deal with what they wanted to do. It is easier to get to do this if you get to know your professors, which is easier to do if you stay in one place. Of course the specific details of the experience that helped one daughter get into a DVM program were very different from the experience that helped my other daughter get into biotech research. The importance of the experience was very similar.
You can go ahead and attempt to transfer to UCLA, but please be aware of how strong UC Davis is for your intended major.
You can try to transfer, but I believe that you will be at a disadvantage.
You already applied to UCLA and were rejected.
The admissions committees, for transfers, have a priority obligation to community college students for admission, first and foremost. They accept CC students at a very high rate. UC to UC transfers do happen, but usually, they expect a significant reason for transfer. " Dream school" wont work. Given that Davis has an exceptional College of Biological Sciences, your’ll be hard pressed to find a reason.
Plus, you recently applied and were rejected, they will still have your information on record. With a quarter of university coursework (not DE), at Davis, it may not be enough.
FWIW: My daughter attended Davis and majored in NPB. Davis has a phenomenal health advising team and their students are strong. They also have an awesome network of clinical and lab experiences with low income, SES populations. My daughter got into several med schools and chose to attend UCSF. Davis has a collaborative study environment. If you go in thinking about transferring out, you will miss out on many opportunities not found at UCLA. I know that LA can be uber competitive. I don’t know what your future plans are, but if these include medical school, you’ll be competing with a LOT of students in LA for clinical opportunities.
hi, i’m a current hs senior who is in a similar situation but with ucsb (ucla was my dream school and i am waitlisted right now). i took a lot of APs and have looked into community and have enough credits to easily transfer after one year—out of curiosity, what did you end up deciding? even though i committed to sb, i’m still considering just losing my deposit and attending community instead… i’ve been trying to get myself to love sb but i just can’t see myself there.
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