I’m in my second year at CC and I’m applying to Davis, Berkeley ( prob not getting in, my calc doesn’t transfer there), and UCSC. But I’ve been looking at both Davis’ and SC’s transfer page and I can’t help notice that everyone applying has like a range of 3.0-3.5, I don’t want to sound like I feel like I’m better then them or w/e but I feel I could get into other schools and this would be similar to me back in hs when I chose cc over my local state school bc i felt I could do better. So I could boost my gpa to a 3.9 and take real calculus (not life sciences like those time) and apply to la,Berkeley, Irvine. But I want to know in your opinion if waiting another year is worth it? I haven’t used tag yet so I can get into a school for sure but I don’t want “what ifs”
I’d be applying for bus Econ for la, business admin Irvine and Berkeley.
my stats currently are:
3.8 gpa (3.9 if I stay another year)
Major: Managerial/business Econ and business admin
Igetc: all done
350+ hour of community service
A bunch of awards from city/senate/legislature for my volunteer service
Won a schlorship for my community service
Intern at a place that deals with international trade in CA and China
(And possibly a nba sports team this summer & maybe more if I stay another yr)
First generation college student
I think it would be a good idea. You can likely get into Berkeley or UCLA if you finish all requirements. Berkeley may be a bit of a stretch (Haas is incredibly picky, but you still have a shot) - but UCLA is possible.
You definitely won’t get into Haas this time around if you are missing any of the necessary requirements.
Personally, if I were going to take another year at CC, I would just take classes in the Fall, and take the Spring off (setting up an internship, job, or volunteer thing ahead of time). It would be a nice break, and the UC’s don’t care so long as you explain the gap (Haas may be the exception - as stated, they are very picky, and may look down on that sort of thing.)
I’ll defer to @briank82 and @MikeSauce, who are both business majors - they can probably give you better information than I have given.
I agree, this sounds like a wonderful idea to me. Like goldencub said, you’d definitely have a shot at UCLA, but it would of course be quite competitive still. Keep in mind, Business Econ at UCLA has a 12% admit rate and over 2,000 applicants every year, and the GPA range of those admitted is 3.9-4.0.
Only the bottom 25th percentile of admitted students there had a 3.9, and I assume (although woefully unqualified to) that Cal would probably be even more challenging to get into, if only by a little. So while you’re taking the time to raise your GPA to 3.9, make sure to do something else quite note-worthy to make your application stand out amidst 2,000 others next year.
That is to say, take the extra year and make it a worthwhile one and I don’t believe you’d regret it or be left stuck asking what-ifs. Take that time to prepare yourself adequately for your future in the major as well, as UCLA would not be a walk in the park should you be admitted in 2017.
Also, definitely talk to someone at UCLA as well regarding your plans, they would give very valuable advice to you. At the end of the day, take a moment to evaluate your personal life and what waiting a year to transfer would mean to you and what the consequences would be, weighed against the prospect of staying another year to try to get into UCLA. Your decision would likely depend on your getting accepted or not to UCD/UCSC/UCB this year and your evaluation of waiting another year and what that’s worth. Either way, best of luck!
3.8 is good enough for UCB, albeit just slightly below the average and you’d need to really stand out in other areas.
Depending on how many units you already have, you could take some easy online classes to boost it up quite a bit and the 3.9, like you mention, would be ideal.
As others have said, you do need to have all the pre-reqs required to have your application even looked at. Haas allows both the STEM calculus and a business-focused (less intensive) calculus.
It really just depends on if you’re cool waiting another year for one class, and you are, there are certainly ways to do that will make you competitive, like finding an internship or something like @goldencub suggested.
If you’re willing to spend another year in school I’d lean toward doing it. My main reason is my belief that the signalling value of a degree from a more prestigious college plays a big role in starting job prospects for majors in the social sciences. For background on “signalling” see https://■■■■■■/1ma8z Some college majors cover topics that are easily tested in an interview, such as accounting, engineering, etc. But for something like Econ employers are making a bet on your talent and dedication. Waving a prestigious degree in effect advertises that someone has already screened you for such qualities. The Wall Street or Consulting companies that recruit at Cal and to some extent at UCLA don’t send reps to all the UCs.
I’m aware of the papers by academics such as Krueger, before some posts about them, that purport to show that kids accepted at elite colleges but who didn’t enroll tend to do as well as those actually attended when they are followed for a few decades. I don’t find them convincing. Krueger, for example, bases his selectivity on SAT score alone; in a preliminary version of the paper when they used an independent ranking of selectivity they found those attending elites earned 23% more on average. Still, if you decide on Davis after all, just tell yourself that studies have shown it has no long-term effect and decide to believe it
Also I don’t want to oversell the “brand” school signal. Someone that hasn’t done a lot outside of class, that makes a poor impression at interviews, is unlikely to be helped much by attending such a school. It’s not a panacea.
A few other factors in favor of Cal/UCLA include proximity to major job markets for internships and well as guidance from current alums that come to the school for conferences and the like. And its a lot easier to send a couple of employees out for a drive to an area college to recruit than it is to fly them out of town for 2-3 days. There are also peer effects; if you believe Cal and UCLA attract/select more driven students than the other UCs (a debatable point, but possible) then peer effects are also going to help. You see what the kids around you are doing and you do the same thing.
