Lets be honest here, how hard is it to get into uc Berkeley as a transfer?

<p>Are you an international?</p>

<p>First generation to college, parents immigrants from Ireland, and EXTREMELY low income.</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959V using CC</p>

<p>^ Good statistics.</p>

<p>CCC to UCB course list:

  • Get all A’s in your classes.
  • Get relevant internship/work experience.
  • Participate in stuff on-campus. Student government, student club leaders, etc.
  • Write amazing essays. You probably have a lot of relevant material being that you’re first generation to college and extremely low income.</p>

<p>Oh okay! Again, not sure what relevant work experience is in Mathematics! And probably the biggest reason Ill be going to a CC is because of income. Right now it looks like it would have to be COMPLETELY funded off of loans :/</p>

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<p>Sorry, but are there those sorts of things at CCCs? Like student gov., etc.? I thought it depended on the college. </p>

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<p>Work experience might constitute, off the top of my head (which might not be accessible to you as a CCC student):

  • research with a professor.
  • tutor math for Kumon, after-school, etc.
  • accounting/consulting/finance-related work.</p>

<p>Honestly, it’s hard to tell you. Math is such a broad subject, and we don’t know what you’re concentrating in (finance, applied mathematics, etc.).</p>

<p>Student government does show up at CCC. It’s not that hard to join either. At my CCC, you basically showed up for 4 meetings in the fall, and were invited to become a senator in the spring. This definitely shows “leadership”, and Berkeley’s holistic review being what it is, it won’t hurt you, especially considering the statistics of other applicants on here, it’s an extra thing you can do besides GPA that will benefit you.</p>

<p>I can’t personally speak towards the benefit of this, but I would have taken the opportunity if it was feasible for me (I was only at CCC for 1.5 years, so it wouldn’t have shown up on my UCB application, and therefore, could not help me either way).</p>

<p>Yeah, im looking to be a 1 year transfer too xD (cuncurrently enrolked in highschool too!)</p>

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<p>I’m transferring to Berkeley this Fall. My best advice to you:</p>

<p>–Strong GPA. Get A’s. The 3.9-4.0 range is where you need to be. Business may need the 3.95-4.0 range. Some majors may require less. If you want to be a strong applicant, get that 4.0. I had a 3.93 (after fall). I had a slightly rocky start at the beginning for health reasons, but I retook the failed classes (got stuck with one C) and got a 4.0 for the rest of my time at CC. So if you’re like me, make sure to explain any discrepancies in your transcript.</p>

<p>– Prerequisites. This is crucial. Get them ALL done. It’s okay to do them during spring semester/winter and spring quarter, but get math and English done! I finished English early on and math during the fall I applied in, personally, and left one prereq for winter quarter. The more you finish by (or during) fall, the better. This is essential for UC Berkeley and UCLA. If prereqs aren’t offered at your CC but are offered at a nearby CC, take them there. It’s worth it.</p>

<p>– Strong personal statement. Far less important than GPA, but I still think having a strong statement gave me that extra edge over others. START EARLY. They can see when effort was made and when it wasn’t. Let others give you feedback (and not just your parents or your significant other). Getting feedback from an instructor is great. Make sure your statements address every part of the prompts. Now I could be wrong about this, but I would give strong goals that are as clear as possible about what you want to do with your UC education in your first statement. Even if you haven’t worked it out completely, there are ways to let them know you’re serious about pursuing your dreams and aspirations. I wasn’t that specific in mine, but I still told them what I do know about what I want. In mine, I wrote about gaining interest in psychology (my major) by having a brother who has a form of autism and how my volunteer work with children who have special needs made me passionate about wanting to work with that community in the future. I also wrote about leadership in psych club and how I’m passionate about leadership. It’s not specific, but it gives them an idea of what I’m going to college for. For the second prompt, I wrote about my other brother who is deaf and finding out about deaf culture and realizing that I hadn’t been as open minded to new cultures as I thought I was. I think showing them personal growth is important too.</p>

<p>– Extra curriculars. Again, not as important as GPA, but Berkeley puts more emphasis on them than other UCs. Now, transfer students are NOT considered like freshman applicants. They do not expect you to have the insane amount of EC’s they expect from freshman. They know we have less time at CC to find these activities, and they understand that CC is college and it’s generally more time consuming for most people than high school. However, I would recommend joining a club or two and gaining leadership. They like commitment. If you don’t work, volunteer. My volunteer work (volunteering with children with special needs, involvement in the Deaf community) and one of my clubs (psychology club) complimented my prompt very well. My other clubs (GSA, women’s club) gave them a sense of what I’m passionate about. I had officer positions in all three. I think that gave them a complete picture of who I am as a person. Essentially, that is what your app is all about. You get one chance to show them who you are. Make that picture of you as complete as possible.</p>

<p>I think it depends on your major. I was a CC transfer. I transfered with 3.76 GPA and I got into UC Berkeley. L&S. I suggest to also get involved too though. I think Berkeley look at that too, not just GPA.</p>

<p>So, how do the grades work is it still.calculated the same as high school: A/A+= 4 A~= 3.7, etc. I thought I rrad somewhere that ucs neglect +/~s, is that true? Do those even continue in college? Etc. My, personal, problem is that I dont plan on dkjng anything “amazing” with my degree other than going on to get a PhD & (my dream) become a college professor. I reallize tenureship is really competitive though, so maybe that will help?! I dont know…is that supposed to be a trick question? Lol…</p>

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<p>UC GPA includes + & - differences but most community colleges do not give them out. </p>

<p>I have had multiple 89%s in classes and I get the same B that the 80%s got. Le sigh.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, that sucks on the 89%, but rocks on the 90%… Basically it allows you ten percent of wiggle room rather than seven. Im still, of course, going to aim for the 95%+ range, but its good to know.</p>

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<p>Yeah, it more sucks for classes that are based on papers because it’s basically impossible to get a 100% on a paper. Especially in my major, there is always something to improve upon, so the best students with the best papers get lots of positive feedback like “excellent work! At the level of some of my grad students!” and then get a 95% lol. Which is a great grade but it still makes you ALWAYS a borderline A-, which is the grade most good students in my major get at the UC level (average grade for my major though is a B-). </p>

<p>At the community college, especially since you’ll mainly be taking math classes, it’ll be a lot easier to guarantee an A. That will make your transcript look a lot better. Another nice thing about math classes is that homework/class attendance is 20-30%, and if you do all the work it’s pretty easy to get 100% in that, so you’ll have more slack on the tests.</p>

<p>But if you do move to the bay area and take a class at UCB, not only will it be on a + & - system, but it could also be on a curve! Some of them are “nice” curves, which guarantee that all but the total slackers at least pass the class, and some (the “weeder” classes, which I think you’ve already taken at the JC), make it difficult just to get a passing grade. But either way, they usually make it fairly guaranteed to get a “good” grade but very difficult to get an A or A+. This is another reason why I recommend taking all lower div classes that are on a curve at the CCC instead of waiting to transfer. It will probably be the same material and require the same effort to get a C or B, but to get a true A all of a sudden it takes way more effort at the UC. I know you are planning on grad school, so I highly recommend getting as many classes out of the way at the JC as possible so you can get straight As and not have a bunch of B+s and A-s. But if you move here and there is an upper div summer session course at UCB that you can verify grades on an easy curve, then by all means take it! It will look so good on your app.</p>

<p>Just out of curiousity, what is your major? It sounds weird to me that they would percentage deflate like that unless they could comment on something in particular. I havent seen an A~ or A+ on anything yet so I was wondering if they even exist at the CCC level. The good thing about most science/math tests, and I suppose courses, is that they are correct/incorrect based. Not, oh thats grammatically correct but I dont like your phrasing C~ lol. </p>

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<p>My major is philosophy. </p>

<p>Like I said before, there are a few CCCs that hand out - and +s but most don’t.</p>

<p>Well I’m taking classes at my local state college while i’m still in highschool and they do have +/- but i’m not sure if that’s the norm at state colleges</p>