<p>Hi,
I'm a gap year applicant applying this year to UC Berkeley. I was rejected last year probably due to poor class rank (top 12% after 10%) but am otherwise a strong applicant. Assuming that my grades were the factor, is it possible to get the amount of credits in one summer and the fall and transfer by fall of 2015? I know that it seems really rushed, but I was not aware that I wouldn't be able to apply to Cal as a freshman if I took even a single class in community college after graduation. I was originally planning to take just one semester of classes from Georgetown in the summer to show colleges that I can handle a rigorous workload. I am planning on majoring in compsci. I have a 2350 SAT and 800/790 SAT2 scores. I was 60/500 in my class (due to my grades dropping in junior year as a result of some personal issues I was going through) and my extracurriculars are excellent (not to be cocky). To give an estimate of where I am as an applicant, I was extended waitlisted to Columbia and waitlisted to Uchicago while being accepted to UCLA and CMU last admissions cycle (so somewhere inbetween the top 25 and top 5 ranking). I took a gap year for personal and financial reasons, and was not shut out. I won't be applying for FA, if that makes a difference.</p>
<p>Gah, okay, slow down. So, right now you’re looking to transfer as a junior to Cal, right? Highschool stats won’t help you if you’re not applying as a freshman, transfer admissions are a whole new game. SAT is meaningless, so is your highschool GPA. I’m gonna assume you’re thinking CC -> UC route, but if not just replace CC with the name of your current school. :P</p>
<p>You’ll need 60 transferable credits. Usually students take ~15 per semester, though up to 20 is usually do-able at CC. Whether or not you can cram enough credits into a year depends on you, and it depends on how many credits you’ve got so far. Summer moves fast, you shouldn’t take more than half what you’d do in a normal semester, and course options will be more limited. Keep in mind you still need to be getting great grades for a chance at Berkeley, and you probably need some ECs (anything techy is good) too.</p>
<p>Next step, figure out which major you want to apply as. Berkeley offers two CS majors (the BA in L&S, and EECS in CoE). EECS is a bit more techy, L&S is a bit more humanities oriented. Both take a lot of the same CS classes. If your focus is CS, either program is a good fit in terms of curriculum. Otherwise, there are some difference in terms of admissions (EECS admits to the major and is more competitive, L&S admits you undeclared and you need to complete pre-reqs with good grades before declaring the impacted CS major). But you can only apply for one of the majors, even though both are CS. The two program require slightly different coursework at CC, so plan ahead.</p>
<p>As for what you’ll need to take, go to assist.org and plug in your CC. One of the tricky things about Berkeley is that most of the EE/CS classes aren’t offered at most CCs… so it can be harder to transfer. Either you hop around to multiple CCs completing various classes, or you’re super behind after you transfer and have to catch up. If you can’t find the EE/CS classes you need, you can still get in, but you should be taking CS classes at your CC. Anyways, another problem you might hit, depending on where you stand now, are series. Especially for EECS, you’ll need a lot of math and physics, and those are supposed to be taken in a series (calc 1 before 2, calc 2 before multivariate, discrete, linear, diff eq, etc).</p>
<p>One last thing… admission to Cal is never a sure thing. You might want to have a backup plan, so you’re not disappointed. This only applies if you’re going the CC route, of course, but it’d suck to be stuck there an extra year. Other UCs should line up pretty well with Berkeley’s pre-req sequence. Oh, and don’t miss the application deadlines, it’s due early in sophomore year, TAG is due even sooner if you want to TAG a safety school.</p>
<p>So, current suggestion: Try writing it out. Crack open assist.org and a course catalog. What classes would you need to take which semesters? How many units would each semester be? Depending on your CC, you might have trouble getting the classes you need, so a bit of wiggle room is nice. Can you schedule classes in a way that you’ll meet the requirements, and not be totally overworked or let your grades slip? If you can make it all fit, more power to you, and good luck. Otherwise, it might take you an extra year, sorry. :x</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info! What if I choose to apply as a freshman transfer? The website said that the majority of transfers are junior transfers, but that some freshman transfer spots are open. Would my high school stats matter then? I’m scared that Berkeley will see that I crammed all of my classes into the summer and fall of 2014 and will regard my transfer as a “hasty decision”, when in reality I never planned on applying as a transfer in the first place (I only recently discovered that taking college courses would disqualify me). </p>