<p>I'm currently in my first year of Community College and majoring in Engineering (either Mechanical or Aerospace). My grandfather went to Cal Tech with a degree in Physics, so Math definitely runs in the family (at least for me). In high school I wasn't a spectacular student. I'm not dumb at all, I just wasn't motivated. Late in my Senior year I put serious thought into what I want to accomplish in life. I'm going to become an Engineer and return back to school later and get a Ph.D. My biggest goal in life is to become an Astronaut and I'm really going hard towards it. I've changed a lot since high school; all I think about is engineering, technology, how things work, space, etc. I'm VERY motivated about my direction in life and I'm doing great in community college so far.</p>
<p>I expect to have a 4.0 GPA when I'm ready to transfer, I'm not settling for less. I was originally looking to transfer to Cal Tech, Stanford, MIT etc. but it's not really likely for a CC student to get into those schools. I'll still apply, but I know my chances of getting accepted are very low regardless of grades. UC's were really my last resort, but I've heard Berkeley has a great Engineering department. Unfortunately they don't have Aerospace so I'd have to do Mechanical if I went there, but they're pretty similar.</p>
<p>My college has a program called Honors Transfer where basically, if you complete 5 honors courses before you transfer and maintain a 3.0GPA you can get guaranteed admission into any UC. It doesn't apply to Berkeley, but would this make my application stronger?</p>
<p>I'm really aiming to get into Berkeley. What are my chances of getting in? Not that it really matters, but I'm mixed with african american and white, my family always tells me that colleges really look out for the minority. Would that help at all? Is Berkeley's engineering school comparable to the other top schools out there? How about UCLA or Cal Poly, are they comparable as well? It sucks that the private schools are so hard to get into. I just want to make sure I go to a well respected Engineering school and have a chance to work with the top companies.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help guys!</p>
<p>UCs cannot officially consider race in the admissions process. That said, some evidence suggests that it may be advantageous to mention your race in your personal statement, if you’re a URM. </p>
<p>I think you’re either confused about the guaranteed admissions programs, or your community college has misled you. You do not need to participate in the honors program, at all, to be granted guaranteed admission to every UC (except UCLA and Berkeley). You simply need to qualify for each campus’s TAG program. Google “UCSD TAG,” for instance, and you’ll see the requirements. Note that UCSD’s GPA requirement is increasing to 3.5 for next year.</p>
<p>For UCLA, students who complete their CCC’s honors program may (some CCCs aren’t a part of the program) be eligible to be TAP-certified. This grants students priority consideration at UCLA. Anecdotally, people seem to think it’s like a .2 or .3 point boost to your GPA. Regardless of the specifics, TAP helps a lot. My CCC counselor actually said they pull TAP applications out and review them separately (as opposed to leaving them with the normal application readers and including a TAP notation).</p>
<p>A small number of community colleges offer TAP for Berkeley. However, TAP for Berkeley has no clearly defined benefits (like the priority consideration granted by UCLA). It’s more of a mentoring program, preparing students for Berkeley, and I don’t think it’s connected with honors. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to participate, but the benefits won’t be as great as a TAG or UCLA’s TAP.</p>
<p>From what I understand, both UCLA and Cal Poly SLO have excellent engineering programs. Frankly, Cal Poly may be harder to get into than UCLA because of the CSU system’s budget cuts and focus on students local to the college. Right now, I’m not sure I would recommend any CCer (by that I mean, highly motivated college transfer student) to apply to CSUs. It will likely be harder to get in than a mid-level UC, more crowded, and less prestigious.</p>
<p>Wow, I didn’t know that. Regardless, the program at my school lets you get priority registration for classes so it’s a no brainer to do. :P</p>
<p>Are Berkeley and UCLA the best out of the UCs as far as Engineering goes? What things can I do to make sure I can get into Berkeley?</p>
<p>I’m a political science major so the engineering majors may want to chime in, but I believe UCLA and Berkeley are the best. SD may be pretty good too, but I’m not sure.</p>
<p>What can you do to get into Berkeley? Get a 4.0, finish all of the pre-requisites for your major (including attending multiple community colleges if necessary), get some decent ECs and/or work experience, and write a killer personal statement.</p>
<p>Not being a homer here, but Berkeley definitely has the strongest engineering department out of the UC’s. I’m fairly sure that it’s Top 10 in the country, but don’t quote me on that.</p>
<p>i applied to UCB as mech engineering and to other UCs’ as aerospace engineering for 2011 transfer. i got TAG for UCI but there is no TAG or TAP things for other schools for my major. SD has TAG though you have to “complete” IGETCE prior to transfer and impacted major doesnt get any guarantee.</p>
<p>Thanks guys.</p>
<p>For an engineering student, is it possible to complete IGETC and all of the necessary prereqs in about 3 years? Berkeley discourages following IGETC very closely, but in case I don’t get into Berkeley I need a backup so I can get into othet schools.</p>
<p>It is possible in 3 years (assuming you can start at college algebra/pre cal or higher for math. )</p>
<p>Typical sequence would be:</p>
<p>Fall yr1:
English 1
Pre-Calc
Intro Chem
arts </p>
<p>Spring yr1:
English - Critical Thinking
Calculus 1
Chem 1
social science</p>
<p>Summer yr1:
social science
biological science</p>
<p>Fall yr2:
Calculus 2
Chem 2
Phys 1 - Classical Mechanics</p>
<p>Spring yr2:
Multi-Variable/Vector Calculus
Phys 2- Waves/Optics/Thermo
Intro to Programming</p>
<p>Summer yr 2:
social science
foreign language</p>
<p>Fall yr3:
Linear Algebra
Phys 3 - Electricity and Magnetism
properties of materials*
humanities</p>
<p>Spring yr3:
circuits*
statics*
engineering graphics and design*
humanities</p>
<p>Classes with an * are typically strongly recommended, though not required before transfer as they are not offered at all CC’s. Also if you can test into chem 1 and calculus 1 you can shift all the math and chem classes up a quarter and spread out the humanities/arts/social sciences to have less of a load on certain semesters. It’s a lot of work but if you could follow that schedule that would complete all the pre-reqs for mech/aero engineering and do IGETC.</p>
<p>IGETC is only important at UCSD, for engineering at every other UC pre-req’s > GE. Typically engineering majors have a shorter GE program than liberal arts majors due to the heavy lower division prep required.</p>
<p>Take more than 4 courses per semester while you’re finishing the easy stuff.</p>
<p>The physics might not be so “easy.”</p>
<p>So far I’ve taken:
Math 80 Algebra 2
Math 170 Trig
English 1A
Economics</p>
<p>I took Trig over the winter session and I plan on doing that for as long as I can. Right now I’m taking:</p>
<p>Math 180 PreCalc
Chemistry 4
Intro to Engineering</p>
<p>I still have a while to go, but if I start loading 4 classes a semester I can do it. Would completing IGETC and most/all prereqs look good on my Berkeley app?</p>
<p>Also, I took two years of spanish in high school, do I still need more foreign language? I dreaded spanish in high school.</p>
<p>^ it’s not about having your application look good, at Berkeley full pre-req completion is REQUIRED for admission, IGETC is not. When you’re picking your classes, if it comes down to taking a pre-req or a class for IGETC take the pre-req every time. In fact IGETC is not even accepted as fulfilling the GE requirements for engineers at UCLA and CAL, as I said before IGETC is only important for UCSD. Focus on the pre-reqs and get a 3.75+ and you’ll be fine. The two years of Spanish should suffice, talk to a counselor but I would guess you don’t need to take any more foreign language.</p>
<p>Use [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to see what courses at your local community college(s) articulate to courses required for the desired major(s) at the desired UC(s) and CSU(s).</p>
<p>For example, from that page, to see transfer requirements for UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering:</p>
<p>Click “Explore Majors”.
Click “UC”.
Click “Berkeley”.
Click “Mechanical Engineering B.S.”.
Select a nearby community college.</p>
<p>You will see a list of several nearby community colleges. Click “Major Prep” for each one to see what courses match up with the required courses for the UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering major. This may help you find out if other community colleges nearby offer a course that your community college does not.</p>
<p>IGETC is not suggested for UC Berkeley engineering majors because the breadth requirements are different from non-engineering majors, although it does no harm to fulfill IGETC if you can take the courses without crowding out the courses needed for the major (some of the IGETC courses will be the same as those required for the major or engineering breadth requirements anyway).</p>
<p>An alternate route from the home page, starting from the community college you attend, is to do the following:</p>
<p>Select your community college.
Select “To: University of California, Berkeley”.
Select “Mechanical Engineering B.S.”.</p>
<p>This route also allows you to find courses that fulfill the American Cultures requirement at UC Berkeley (a selection on the majors list, even though it is just a one course requirement for all UC Berkeley students).</p>
<p>You may also want to see the web site of [UC</a> Berkeley’s Mechanical Engineering](<a href=“http://me.berkeley.edu/]UC”>http://me.berkeley.edu/) department and that of other departments / schools you are interested in.</p>