One Year Transfer to UCB/UCLA

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

Hello I am currently a high school senior and I got accepted by all UC’s except UC Berkeley and UCLA. I have already committed to UCSD for human biology (compsci was my first choice) and will be attending there however I really want to go to UCB/UCLA because I have relatives that live in San Francisco and LA. I want to know if it is possible, and if so what are my chances of getting accepted as a one year transfer student.

So far I have passed 5 AP exams (AP World, APUSH, AP Eng Composition, AP Art History, AP Bio) with 3’s and 4’s. If everything goes well, I should have 8 (AP Computer Science A, AP Macro Economics, AP Chemistry). How many credits will that give me? Do I have to resend them my AP score when I apply for the transfer?

I plan to take summer classes at community colleges during summer. My question is, would I be able to take class at community college during Fall and Spring quarter while attending UCSD? If I transfer, would I have a higher chance of getting accepted if I transfer as biology major or computer science major? And what classes would I need to take?

I know my questions are kind of noonish but I am really confused about this. Thanks!

2

Go to assist.org to look up all that class information. In general your chances will be greater than 0 but less than 1%, they give priority to CC students since they actually NEED to transfer.

3

Disclaimer: I am not a admissions officer (IANAAO) so my info isn’t absolute, but I hope it gets you on the right path.

Are you looking to transfer as a lower division student with less than 60 units or as a junior standing transfer?

Lower division transfers are very rare, especially coming from another UC, and traditionally the ones that are successful have extreme circumstances that lend themselves as rationale for the transfer. I’m sorry to say that having relatives near another campus probably won’t be noteworthy enough to pique the interest of an admissions panel by itself. Also given that you would only have a quarter (or two if you take summer courses) worth of work at UCSD (and community college) prior to the application deadline in November, I think it would be a hard sell regardless of your impressive track record.

See: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/transfer/minimum-requirements/

If you are looking at transferring with Junior standing however, I think it’s definitely more likely. Berkeley gives priority to CCC transfers so if you really want to attend Berkeley, continuing your studies at UCSD would give you less admissions initiative than attending a local CCC. And attending a CCC? That’s a huge risk as there are 4.0 GPA transfer students that get rejected. Why risk it given you already got into a solid school in UCSD?

UCLA on the other hand, according to Ask Ms. Sun and various other sources, gives the same priority to UC to UC intercampus transfers as CCC transfers so applying to UCLA as a junior transfer is absolutely feasible. It’s fairly straight forward in that they want you to meet your GE requirements, which of course depends on which of the six colleges you’ll be attending at UCSD, complete your major prerequisites, and have 60 transferable course by the end of the spring semester prior to transferring.

See: https://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/ict.htm

You can calculate your unit credits for your AP exams from this link:

See: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/exam-credit/ap-credits/index.html

Make sure you double check if your AP scores meet the requirement to meet your major prerequisites at UCLA though as their exemptions are different from UCSD. You also don’t need to resend your AP scores until after your admitted.

See: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/exam-credit/ap-credits/los-angeles/index.html

Regarding community colleges: yes you can, and summer courses can be a good way to get ahead but why take fall and spring classes if you can take the equivalent classes at UCSD? UCSD has a flat rate tuition for full time students so you would only be paying extra money unless you can’t get the required courses or have your petition denied for a course load over 22 units per quarter.

Biology vs Computer Science? Biology has an average admitted transfer GPA of 3.72 while Comp Sci is 3.88. There are other similar majors such as MCD Bio and Linguistics and Comp Sci as well.

See: https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof14_mjr.htm

What classes would you need to take? It depends on what major you are pursuing. Check the corresponding major requirements and cross reference the class descriptions with UCLA. Additionally you can use Assist.org to compare equivalent lower division classes toward major prep.

For example: http://biology.ucsd.edu/education/undergrad/maj-min/majors/general.html

Can you do this all in one year? Yes it’s possible; more so as a bio major than as a computer science major given you have not started the calculus series. Is it recommended? I wouldn’t do it. If you really want to transfer to UCB or UCLA, I’d go for a two year plan rather than condensing it to one. You likely would have an ungodly amount of workload to get it all done in a year and it would be very difficult to get the needed GPAs with the amount of technical courses required.

TL;DR: One year will be tough. Berkeley is extremely unlikely. Given your rationale, aim for UCLA.

4

Yes, you can do one year transfer or stay two years at UCSD and transfer UC-UC. It’s not as hard as ppl say, quite doable actually. You won’t be as rushed if you stay at SD.

5

It’s not difficult to one year transfer; however, there is the catch of being able to get courses.

I was in your same shoes with about 15 units of AP, but you will find out that it is usually impossible to get any courses you want or need to transfer. I would recommend applying for 2-3 community colleges in the area, even if you do not take courses at them. I did not end up transferring in one year, but I am taking a semester off right now because of everything I did attempting the one year transfer.

With your case, it may be easier to get classes because you are going to a university, but it is still unlikely.

You may find out that you actually do not want to transfer halfway through, a lot of people end up enjoying the school they are at when all of the high school gossip fades.

Good Luck!!

6

Check out the transfer acceptance rate to Computer Science at UCLA, it was less than 6%.

7

Lol I’m sure having relatives close by is the main reason he wants to go to Cal or UCLA.

8

The problem with the one year transfer is that you won’t even have any college grades to report when you fill out the UC application. You’ll probably have some AP scores, then the only other stuff you have is your in-progress fall courses and your planned winter and spring courses. Even if you update your application after the fall scores come in, the admissions people might feel that too much of your application is still unknown.

9

@alicantekid The key is some summer courses before fall term. So, many might have three completed in summer (usually humanities) then 4 or or so in fall. Anyway, a total of seven courses by end of fall is not unusual. And ppl do get admitted.

10

I think in OP’s case though, I think it’s best to realistic and say it’s practically impossible in one year with his intended majors because of the amount of courses required to transfer and the lack of prior credit in calculus.

Disclaimer: I am not an admissions officer, so use the info below as a rough estimate only.

For UCSD to UCB Molecular and Cell Biology:

  • General biology with lab: 3 classes with lab components - BILD 1, 2, and 3 (AP credit not allowed)
  • General chemistry with lab: 2 classes with lab components - Chem 6A, and 6B (Again, AP credit not allowed)
  • Organic chemistry: 3 classes - the infamous Chem 140A, 140B, and 140C
  • Calculus: 3 classes - Math 10A,10B, and 10C or 20A, 20B, and 20C
  • Calculus based physics with lab: 2 classes and 2 separate labs - PHYS 1A, 1AL, 1B, and 1BL
  • Complete breadth requirements which differ depending on college at UCSD

Not to mention they recommend the following:

  • General chemistry: 1 class - Chem 6C
  • Calculus based physics: 2 class and 1 lab - PHYS1C and 1CL

That’s 15 required courses and 3 recommended courses plus ? breadth requirements. (Approx 72 quarter units)

See: https://mcb.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective-students/transfer-students/transfer

For a UCSD to UCLA Biology:

  • General biology with lab: 3 classes with lab components - BILD 1, 2, and 3 (Again, AP credit not allowed)
  • General chemistry with lab: 4 classes with lab components - Chem 6A, 6B, 6C, and 7L (Again, AP credit not allowed)
  • Calculus: 3 classes - Math 10A,10B, and either 10C or 11
  • Organic chemistry: At least 1 course but 2 to be competitive - Chem 140A and 140B (Ouch!)

Additional recommend courses:

  • Calculus based physics with lab: 3 classes and 3 separate labs - PHYS 1A, 1AL, 1B, 1BL, 1C, and 1CL
  • Breadth requirements which differ depending on college at UCSD

That’s 11 required and 7 recommended technical classes plus ? breadth requirements. (Approx 75 quarter units)

See: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/preparation-paths/biology-majors/ucla-biology.html

For UCSD to UCLA Comp Sci:

  • Calculus: 3 classes - Math 20A, the dreaded 20B, and 20C
  • Differential Equations: 1 class - Math 20D (Must be taken after 20C)
  • Multivariable calculus: 1 class - Math 20E (Must be taken after 20C)
  • Linear Algebra: 1 class - Math 20F (Must be taken after 20C)
  • Calculus based physics with lab: 3 classes and 3 separate labs - PHYS 2A, 2AL, 2B, 2BL, 2C, and 2CL
  • General chemistry with lab: 1 class with lab component - Chem 6A (Again, AP credit can’t be used to meet UCLA requirements)
  • Computer programming C++: 2 classes - CSE12 and 86 (12 is the prerequisite for 86)

CS “recommended” majors are pretty much required given the competition so add these as well:

  • Circuit theory: 1 class - ECE35
  • Discrete mathematics: 1 class - CSE20
  • Introduction to computer organization: 1 class - CSE30
  • Logic design of digital systems: 1 class - ECE25

That’s 15 required and 4 recommended classes plus 4 breadth courses. (Approx 78 quarter units)

See: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/preparation-paths/computer-science-majors/ucla-computer-science.html

I didn’t even try UCSD to UCB EECS or CS because it’s pretty crazy, but it’s a fair assumption that it’s at least as stringent as UCLA’s requirements.

See: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Programs/ugrad/transfer-reqs.shtml

11

Yeah, I’m sure you’re right @actuaryorbust.

And personally, what’s another year? You kids are always in such a hurry! =)) And going in as a one year transfer puts you a year younger than your peers.

12

I didn’t read thru all the responses, so I may be repeating info. I can’t speak for UCSD, though I believe it’s the same, but at UCLA, we CANNOT have dual enrollment at UCLA and a cc. We can only enroll in CC classes during summer, not during the normal school year.

13

I don’t think there’s a comment about dual enrollment. Simply cramming it all in for a one year transfer.

14

^^^The OP asked about enrolling in CCC courses during the school year while taking classes at UCSD. I think that was another potential option for getting but done faster.

15

Oh, I didn’t see that. Sorry. I thought he was merely talking about chucking it all and doing a one year to Cal/UCLA.

16

Im in the same situation as the OP and I was wondering if I do take summer courses at a CC they just count as credits and they’re not in my GPA so I will have less classes at the UC…would that make my application look bad cause I won’t have that many grades to show on my transcript?

17

@xninao Not 100% sure but for the purpose of transfer admission, they will show and factor your summer CCC grades into your GPA. The summer courses won’t reflect on your actual UC GPA and will show as just unit credit outside of the admissions process–regardless on whether you end up transferring or not.