Semester Unit Confusion

<p>Hi,
Long story short, I'm from Southern California and while I was accepted to UCSB, UCD, UCSD last year as a senior in high school I decided to attend at school out of state because I was swayed by its ranking (which I know realize is a stupid thing to do). After being here for almost a semester I realize that UCSB, or UCSD would have been a much better fit for me. I am currently filling out the application to transfer to a UC, however I'm confused about converting the required units.
I am on a semester school schedule where on average people take 48 units per semester. This would mean that in two semesters (fall '10, and then spring '11) I will have completed the necessary 60 units of transferable courses and be qualified as a Junior applicant. However, I am not sure if the conversion from units is the same from my school to the UC schools.
I know that 1 credit = 3 units as a conversion for my courses here so currently credit wise I would have 16 credits for this semester and 16 for next semester.
I also have AP credit from high school (4 on AP Lit, 4 on AP Comp, 5 US History, 4 US Gov)
Does anyone know if I am qualified to apply as a Junior transfer?</p>

<p>let me get this straight, average units at your school is 48/semester.
3 units of your school = 1 unit UC
16 UC units/semester</p>

<p>16x2= 32 units this year </p>

<p>32 + 5.3(lit) + 5.3(comp) + 5.3(history) + 2.7(gov) = 50.6 units</p>

<p>(source: [Advanced</a> Placement Examinations](<a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/faq/ap.html]Advanced”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/faq/ap.html) +
[AP</a> Credit - College of Letters and Science - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/APCreditLS.htm]AP”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/APCreditLS.htm)) [1.5 qt unit = 1 sem unit]</p>

<p>It appears you do not have the necessary 60 units, and not only that but some of your 32 units at your school probably would not transfer (course incompatibility) so that’s subtracting even more units from your 50.6</p>

<p>ouch complicated… just go to a ccc LOL</p>

<p>Hi Winged Yoshi, thank you so much for responding back. Does the UC go by the credit system? I only know that credits seem to be universal while units seem to differ, so I posted that. 3 units = 1 credit hour according to my college’s website. </p>

<p>Also, how did you get the decimals for the AP transferable courses? I don’t know if it would matter, but I also have a “3” on the AP exam in Statistics, and a “3” on the AP exam in Economics.</p>

<p>Finally, at my high school I took courses that qualify as a University of California “f” and “g” electives, Film as Lit I and Film as Lit II, Concert Band (for four years), and Video Production (ROP). I think those would count as elective units. Do you think these would help?</p>

<p>you mean, 3 credit hours (at your school) is equal to 1 unit? That makes more sense…otherwise you’d have 144 units a semester which doesn’t make sense lol. </p>

<p>The links I provided shows why there are decimal points. For example, 8 qtr units at UCLA is equal to 5.3 semester units…8 qtr x (1 sem/1.5 qtr) = 5.3 sem. (1 semester unit is equal to 1.5 quarter units). I believe only Berkeley and Merced go by semesters, and every other UC uses the quarter system. </p>

<p>If you include stats and econ then…(I’m assuming your econ credit does not count for both macro and micro):</p>

<p>50.6 + 2.7(stat) +2.7(econ)=56. Still short of units and you need to remember that you should expect some courses to not transfer. </p>

<p>A-G requirements are for freshman applicants, not college transfers.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for replying and sorry to completely spam you with questions. I’m really new to this process, and was hoping to never have to deal with this. </p>

<p>I’m currently taking 54 units this semester but am assuming that 6 won’t transfer. Next semester I’m taking the standard 48, but they are all courses that should transfer. That still leaves me at 56 credits though. Do you have any advice to meet the 60 credit minimum?</p>

<p>All you can do is simply take more courses the nest semester. Also look into colleges or community colleges that offer a short winter/spring intersession (typically the time when you have break). </p>

<p>You have not noted your major and their requirements. Just because you meet the 60 units, you still need to satisfy the 7 course breadth requirement and the courses for your major…and to make sure that they transfer for course credit, not necessarily “bulk” units.</p>

<p>I’m applying as an English major, so there aren’t many pre-recs that I can see. I guess I’ll call up the admission office when I get home and see if there’s anything that I can do that would help. </p>

<p>Thanks for the advice</p>

<p>Okay one more thing. On the UC website it says:</p>

<p>While all UC campuses welcome a large pool of junior level transfers, most admit only a limited number of lower-division students.
However, it can happen. Here’s how:</p>

<pre><code>* If students were eligible for admission to UC when they graduated from high school — meaning they satisfied the subject, examination and scholarship requirements or were identified by UC during their senior year as Eligible in the Local Context (ELC) and completed the subject and examination requirements in the senior year — they are eligible for transfer if they have a C (2.0) average in their transferable college coursework (2.8 GPA for non-residents).
</code></pre>

<p>Does this at all apply or do you think I could use this in any way?</p>

<p>If you notice that is under MINIMUM admission requirements. It’s basically saying you meet the minimum to even be looked at and considered for a sophomore transfer (you check sophomore instead of junior transfer on the application). It does not mean its a guarantee, it specifically says “most admit only a limited number of lover-division students.” You can probably find statistics on sophomore transfer rates, but from what I’ve heard, very low. </p>

<p>You’re better off getting more units, satisfying the 7 course breadth, meeting English major requirements and transferring as a Junior.</p>

<p>I thought the website essentially says that all sophomore majors are closed except basically for Davis for agriculture as a Sophomore?</p>

<p>well on the UC app it asks:</p>

<p>How many college/university units do you plan to complete before you enroll at UC?
Fewer than 60 semester/90 quarter units (sophomore transfer)
60–89 semester/90–134 quarter units (junior transfer)
90 semester/135 quarter units or more (senior transfer) </p>

<p>It may be true that they’ve cut sophomore transferring (I would’nt be surprised with the budget cuts), but I’ve been told by counselors that if you’re near 60 then you can still transfer as a Junior. However, given that admissions are getting more strict, this may not apply anymore. This is all the more reason for you to get over 60 units and transfer as a Junior…</p>

<p>If you tested out of entry level English from High School, how do you answer with regard to whether or not you have completed two English Composition courses in your first two years of college? (for Junior transfer)</p>