<p>A little background on me:
Just finished my first semester of College (CCC) this fall with a 4.0
Member of the Business and Economics club (Treasurer) and am currently running my own business and also managing a website.</p>
<p>So I'm dying to go to UCLA for Business Econ. It's all I think about everyday. SO when the opportunity to talk to a UCLA transfer counselor came up, I decided I'd reserve a session.</p>
<p>I met with him a couple weeks ago and found out some valuable information that many of you may feel uneasy with.</p>
<p>The things he told me:
GPA is the FIRST priority
TAP is not as important as everyone makes it out to be (I'll explain more later)
EC's are also not that important.</p>
<p>He basically said that the first thing and only thing they truly analyze is your GPA. He said now a days, if you don't have > 3.5 they don't even look at the rest. :( </p>
<p>I asked him a scenario that was:
Is doing TAP worth the risk of getting a lower GPA, or should I just get a 4.0 without TAP.</p>
<p>He said word for word "If you are capable of getting a 4.0, get the 4.0 and don't risk a lower GPA with the honors program."</p>
<p>He continued to explain that the major was so competitive, and that having a 4.0 is like having a pink highlighter across your name on a list of hundreds of potential candidates.</p>
<p>And finally, he talked about personal essays, and how they use personal essays to choose between people who have the same GPA's.</p>
<p>I know the TAP thing is kind of a shocker. This is just what he told me and I thought it would be helpful for some to get a different perspective on it. These are not my views so don't try to argue with me about them.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that honors classes usually aren’t much harder than normal classes, if at all. If you’re capable of a 4.0, you’re capable of getting A’s in honors classes, assuming you find the right teachers.</p>
<p>Agreed rikizle, but in my case there’s no reason to but that extra burden on myself if it is not necessary. For those who are in honors and getting A’s, more power to you.</p>
<p>^I’d concur, I LOVE my honors classes, but this semester they were easier than just about any other class I’d been in. Show up, write a few essays, (two, total) and sit back watching the grades come on in. The only honors class I ever risked a B in was because this particular professor grades in a way that… normal people don’t grade in and I overslept before finishing my speech outline. I managed to keep myself above the -20 or less for an A by 2 points, had I not overslept it would have been by -7, so it was cutting it a little but… yeah. Anyways if you have a 4.0, TAP’s… not really for you. I wouldn’t say it’s “not as important as everyone makes it out to be” it’s just not necessary if you’re already pulling 4.0s. TAPs are for people like me in unique situations with borderline applications.</p>
<p>Couldn’t have been said better Itachirumon. I think a lot of people on here make too much commotion about TAP. If you’re struggling without TAP, say 3.3 - 3.6, and you can do TAP and shape up, It would definitively help your chances. Business Econ is just so competitive it’s insane</p>
<p>So GPA is key for transferring, and the average GPA for Business Econ is 3.94, so I’m guessing a good shot at getting in would be if someone had a GPA between 3.9 - 4.0 ?
And I’m guessing they’re pretty strict they are on Pre reqs as well ?</p>
<p>^I’m just glad I’m Psychology and not Biz Econ, I know we have it bad/impacted but you guys are just insane, WAY too many people want to go into that major</p>
<p>they don’t even look at rest of our apps if we’re below 3.5? I have higher than 3.5, but I don’t think that is right. you mean only for the Biz-econ major right? because the average gpa of philosophy transfers is always 3.4-3.5ish.</p>
<p>^Yeah that sounds like someone who isn’t doing their job correctly, ALL applications to UCLA and UCB get thorough reviews of all points. GPA-only sounds like some overachiever’s wet dream, no offense.</p>
<p>@goingmeta - OP clearly says UCLA transfer counselor @berkeleyphil - OP’s major is Biz-Econ, so of course the information the counselor gave him was for Biz-Econ. What you point out about phil majors obviously shows that other majors don’t apply. @Itachirumon - I think it makes sense since Biz-Econ is so impacted and competitive…but yeah I agree about the overachiever thing <.< @OP - this makes me so so soso sosososososo glad I’m not majoring in Biz-Econ…</p>
<p>^lol thank you!
but I just showed this thread to my friend from RCC (her number one is UCLA) and she’s glad she skipped the honors program for her 4.0 now…</p>
<p>“I am pretty sure the “UCLA transfer counselor” is actually from UCLA and not from his/her current CC. So it does mean something.”</p>
<p>“UCLA transfer counselor” could be interpreted to be a title of an individual. For all we know, this title could be given to somebody at his CC. There are plenty of staff members who help coordinate transfers who could potentially have such a title.</p>
<p>He didn’t say “transfer counselor at UCLA.”</p>
<p>What in the world type of ccc has a hired staff member who only counsels students on how to get into UCLA? These days, most ccc’s are in massive debt and are forecasting vastly shrinking financial help from the state. I don’t think any ccc could afford such a wasteful position. Whoever is questioning whether the counselor was from UCLA is probably just in denial because their GPA is low but has TAP.</p>