I’m currently preparing to transfer as a CC student, and I recently got an opportunity to be admitted to UC Berkeley for Chemistry, which is my dream school. However, there’s a big issue with the admission process. In order to be admitted, I need to complete a Physics course in summer school as a condition. I applied for the Physics course at my current CC’s summer school, but the problem is that the registration started last week, and now I’m fifth on the waitlist. This means I might not be able to take the class at all.
I reached out to the professor and the dean of the Physics course, explaining my situation, but they couldn’t help. Berkeley has a form for students who can’t fulfill the admission condition, where they can explain their circumstances. I contacted Berkeley admissions to inquire about how they handle similar cases, but they simply instructed me to fill out the form.
Here are my questions:
1 What response can I expect from Berkeley when I submit the form explaining my situation and inability to meet the admission condition? If anyone has experienced a similar situation, I’d appreciate any advice.
2 If Berkeley doesn’t provide any alternative solutions, I’ll have to wait for five people to drop the Physics course I applied for. But relying on that chance is risky since I might not get the opportunity to enroll. I also got accepted into UCLA for Chemistry. If it seems unlikely that Berkeley will work out, should I submit the form explaining my situation for Berkeley’s admission condition? I read that applying to both schools simultaneously leads to loss of eligibility for both. The deadline for completing admission applications for all schools is June 1st.
I’ve put in a lot of effort to immigrate at a late age and get admitted to my dream school. If anyone understands this situation, please provide some advice. Thank you so much for your help.
Thank you for your suggestion. I have been actively searching for alternative community colleges or online options to take the required course. Unfortunately, there are currently no available classes that meet my needs so far. I will continue exploring different options and reaching out to other institutions. Any further advice or insights are greatly appreciated. Thanks again!
I actually became aware of this situation last night, and today the Dean of my current CC suggested that I explore the option of taking the course at another school. I plan to give UCB a call tomorrow to inquire and get more clarity on this. At the same time, I am actively searching for available classes. I must admit, I’m feeling quite concerned. I genuinely appreciate your response and valuable advice. Thank you so much.
I hadn’t considered that option before. Is that actually possible…? I should definitely give UCB a call tomorrow to inquire about it. The admission deadline is approaching on June 1st, so everything is quite pressing.
It’s usually an option for incoming freshmen, so it’s definitely worth asking about.
Edited to add – incoming freshmen can often defer at many schools for a year, but hopefully Berkeley will let you defer for a quarter as an incoming transfer.
How about private or OOS colleges. Tons of colleges out there. My daughter took a fro class at a cc last summer. Will take the 2nd in the set at UTK this summer. Her college is on South Carolina.
Someone offers the class….it may be in South Dakota or Mississippi but someone has it, online and asynchronous.
Everything regarding your admission is in UCB’s hands so talking to them is the best way to determine if you can maintain your acceptance. You have been given good advice but I would also add another option.
If UCB cannot give a definitive answer regarding your Physics class by the June 1 SIR date and they will not allow you to defer for a semester, I would ask them to extend your SIR deadline until you find an appropriate class to meet the requirements. If they extend the SIR deadline, you might want to SIR to UCLA as a backup until you have confirmation from UCB and have enrolled in a Physics class somewhere.
Quite a few premeds take physics at SCU so they can study abroad.
As an aside, is your admission to the College of Chemistry or Letters & Science? If teh former, definitely worth the hassle to find a summer physics class. If the latter, than it would be no different than UCLA.
I want to clarify if I’ve understood your advice correctly. So, essentially, I should start by submitting the SIR to UCB and continue looking for a physics class for admission during that time, correct? Then, by June 1st, I should prioritize making an admission decision for UCLA. If I do find a suitable physics class for UCB, I would cancel my admission to UCLA and confirm my decision with UCB. Is it possible to cancel UCLA at a later stage? Thanks for the reply!
Try any college and university because many do have online courses.
This is a schedule of summer physics classes at San Diego’s Mesa Community college. (I hope it comes through.) I don’t know what level you need but there should be something around the community colleges in other cities.
No, I would contact UCB to see if you can extended the SIR deadline beyond June 1, SIR to UCLA as a backup and continue looking for a suitable Physics course to fulfill the UCB requirement. Once you enroll in a Physics course and get confirmation from UCB that your admissions stands, you must withdraw from UCLA.
All this is dependent upon UCB extending your SIR deadline if they will not defer for a semester or if you cannot find a Physics course in time.
Thank you so much for the response! When I called UC Berkeley just now, they mentioned that I should apply to both UCB and UCLA by June 1, and it wouldn’t matter which one I ultimately choose. However, since I only received this information from UCB, I’m not sure if UCLA will accept the same approach. I recall seeing somewhere that applying to both schools simultaneously is not recommended… Would it be better to submit the SIR?
