SMC to UCLA with Computer Science Major

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hey everyone! I'm a senior in high school (out-of-state) and I'm trying to figure out how I can get to UCLA. I don't think I can get into UCLA as a freshman due to a 3.53 GPA. (lame right? I screwed it up in 9th and 10th grade.) So I'm planning on going to SMC for two years and then transferring over to UCLA my junior year. I know I can work my butt off and I'm hoping that I can make at least a 3.85 at SMC. </p>

<p>Anyways, my question is: What can I do to make myself look like the perfect candidate to transfer to UCLA with a Computer Science major? I know they put high importance on GPA and prereqs. I plan on taking all prereqs and the recommended classes I found on assist.org and (like I mentioned before) getting a high GPA. But is that enough? HSSEAS (Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) is HIGHLY selective and I'm worried about my chances overall. I can work my butt off but I know a lot of highly qualified students will be turned down due to space available. So what can I do at SMC to make myself look the best I can be and to get UCLA's attention? Any insight, advice, or tips would be highly appreciated! Thank you in advance!</p>

2

<p>You actually have a higher chance of getting into UCLA as a freshman. To be honest with you, you have absolutely no chance of getting into UCLA’s CS department as a transfer student. It is sad, but it is also true. You are better off putting your efforts trying to get into another UC or your state’s flagship university. </p>

<p>Here are the numbers: Last year UCLA’s CS department had 501 applicants, and out of those 501 applicants only 6 got in. That is acceptance rate of 1.2 percent. The average GPA of admitted students was 3.98, so 3.85 is simply just not going to cut it. You have to be pretty close, if not perfect to get into the CS department. So you can tell just be the numbers how hard it is going to be, but the bad news does not end, well, at least for out of state students. UCLA gives preference to in state applicants when considering students for admission. </p>

<p>So even if you can get a perfect GPA, you’re still going to get second tier consideration for admission. Which is really bad, because there is no shortage of qualified in state applicants competing for a very small number of spots. It is already extremely difficult to get into UCLA’s CS department, and that is an understatement, so being an out of state applicant is only going to make it next to impossible…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof13_mjr.htm#SEAS”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof13_mjr.htm#SEAS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>I have to agree with CollegeDropout1. It seems the criteria to get into UCLA CS is:

  1. Get a 4.0. Maybe they’ll let you slide with one B.
  2. Finish ALL of the prerequisites (yep, that means getting straight As in college chemistry, multivariable calculus, engineering physics, etc.)</p>

<p>If you can manage that, you have a chance.</p>

4

<p>Oh, I forgot to mention that Santa Monica College is extremely impacted. That means you are going to have a very hard time getting the classes you need to transfer to UCLA. To complete all of the prerequisites, you will probably have to be there for at least three years and maybe even more. Also, UCLA will only consider CS applicants if all of their prerequisites are complete, if not, then they are automatically rejected. The problem with SMC is that half of the world goes there, making it really hard for people, especially STEM students, to transfer within two years.</p>

<p>On top of that, Santa Monica College is a very tough college, making it harder to get good grades in the already difficult classes you need to take for CS. If you want to transfer in a reasonable amount of time, you’re going to have to take a very heavy load of classes each semester. Which makes it even harder to get a good GPA, let alone a competitive GPA for UCLA.</p>

<p>Have you really though this through? Why do you even want to go to UCLA? Why can’t you just go to your state’s flagship university? What are you going to do if UCLA rejects you? Because that seems like a very likely outcome. It is almost guaranteed to happen. </p>

5

<p>Also Delalayy, not sure if you’re aware, but UC determination for state residency doesn’t allow you to gain residency while attending school. So even if you’ve been in CA for 2 years going to SMC, they’d still consider you an out of state applicant :-(</p>

6

<p>This seems like a huge undertaking with no guarantees and a high cost (out of state CC tuition, high tuition once you transfer to ANY UC, housing, time etc). There are plenty of places that you could get a CS education at that are not UCLA. </p>

<p>I will say this year I think CS had more normal engineering admit rates in comparison to the rest of the engineering school, last year was kind of a fluke. But until I see the actual figures I can’t say for sure. </p>

7

<p>Darn. I guess I didn’t think it out as well as I thought I did… What are some other schools like UCLA and in that general area that have CS and are a little easier to get into?</p>

8

<p>I just wanted to add onto @CollegeDropout1 's post about SMC being impacted.</p>

<p>It is difficult to get classes, which makes it extremely important that you find a way to get priority registration. I get it through the Scholar’s program, so I always get all my classes with professors I want. There are some other programs like EOPS that also offer priority registration, so look into those.</p>

9

<p>Do you want to go to UCLA or want to go there because of the CS program? </p>

<p>There are better ways to give yourself more certainty when you apply, but like I said, I don’t think financially speaking it’s worth it. Where do you live now?</p>

10

<p>I live about 30 minutes away from Atlanta in Georgia. I kind of already knew it would cost a lot but I love the idea of going to UCLA. My best friend is looking at UCLA too and she has a way better chance of getting accepted than I do. She has an uncle working there and her older brother graduated from UCLA a few years ago. But I can widen my horizons. Honestly, I just want to be in that area and pretty close to the beach. I love it there. (I was born in Torrance then moved out here to GA.) </p>

<p>I know I definitely want to be a Computer Science major. What other schools should I be looking at in that area? CSULB? USC? I’m not really sure…</p>

11

<p>@Luckie1367 I don’t think the OP qualifies for EOPS. To qualify for that program, I believe you have to be a low income student. If he has money to pay for out of state tuition, then I don’t think he can be classified as a low income student. As for the Honors program, the deadline to apply has already passed. He would have to wait until the spring semester.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.smc.edu/StudentServices/Scholars/Pages/Applying.aspx”>http://www.smc.edu/StudentServices/Scholars/Pages/Applying.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>@Delalayy Regardless of what university you want to transfer to, you are probably going to have to spend at least three years at SMC if you decide to go there. UCLA is part of the University of California System, hence the name University of California, Los Angeles. It has many sister universities that are also ranked very highly and part of the “Public Ivies” schools group. I’m not sure why UCLA and UC Berkeley are the only ones know outside of California. You could try to get into one of them, but they are also going to be very difficult to get into. I ranked them in order of prestigious;</p>

<p>UC Berkeley- The same thing I said about LA applied to UCB too.</p>

<p>UC San Diego- The same thing I said about LA applies here too. </p>

<p>UC Davis- The same thing I said about LA applies here too, except a competitive GPA would be around 3.7- for in state students, and you don’t have to finish all of the prerequisites.</p>

<p>UC Santa Barbara-The same thing I said about LA applies here too, except a competitive GPA would be around 3.7- for in state students</p>

<p>UC Irvine The same thing I said about LA applies here too, except a competitive GPA would be around 3.7- for in state students, and you don’t have to finish all of the prerequisites</p>

<p>UC Santa Cruz The same thing I said about LA applies here too, except a competitive GPA would be around 3.3- for in state students, and you don’t have to finish all of the prerequisites</p>

<p>UC Riverside- You’re better off attending your state’s flagship university, especially at the cost of out of state tuition</p>

<p>UC Merced- You’re better off attending your state’s flagship university, especially at the cost of out of state tuition</p>

<p>Have you thought about the cost? If you attend any community college in California, you’re going to have to spend 325$ for each unit that you take. You need at least 60 to transfer, but you are probably going to need around 65 units for your major, maybe even more. 65 units X 325$ is 21,125$, and that is not even taking into consideration the high cost of textbooks. Did you really think about this? Or did you suddenly wake up one day and decided that you wanted to go to UCLA? There is no reason anybody should be spending 20,000$ on community college, especially when there are plenty of CC’s is your state. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.smc.edu/EnrollmentDevelopment/Admissions/Pages/Fees.aspx”>http://www.smc.edu/EnrollmentDevelopment/Admissions/Pages/Fees.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“Google”>Google;

12

<p>You could apply to USC after your first year wherever you go, and the tuition will be about the same as UCLA. Also consider Chapman. If you are in Georgia I’d say GT would probably give you a similar, if not better CS education. </p>

<p>If you were going to come here for CC, and just want to go to UCLA you could do this:</p>

<p>You could go to SMC (or any good SoCal CC), get TAP certified (it is a program between SMC and UCLA that gives you some admission priority in Letters & Sciences), and apply for Mathematics of Computation. If you have at least a 3.5 and finish your classes your chances are pretty good. I’d would allow you to choose another major as well. I was going to say you could apply for CS and use the TAP certification to list Math of Computation as an alternate, but I don’t think you can do that. </p>

<p>I personally wouldn’t go to SMC if you are going to decide to do this, go somewhere in the Valley or College of the Canyons. </p>

13

<p>If you really want to live in the LA area, then why don’t you just go to Georgia Tech, and then move to LA once you have graduated. There are plenty of jobs for people with CS degrees, especially from a good university like Georgia Tech. This seems like the best option. Unless your parents are flooded with money, then I doubt you will be able to afford going to college in California.</p>

<p>Or if you really want to come to California for college, then just go to a community college in your state, and then transfer to USC. It will be a lot easier to transfer to USC than any other public college in California. </p>

14

<p>Interesting fact is for UCLA transfers, it’s a bit easier getting into EECS than CS.</p>

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<p>@Delalayy‌ </p>

<p>It’s going to be difficult to transfer to UCLA as a Computer Science major, even if you’re out-of-state or a CC student. The stakes are high and your GPA and prerequisites are very important. CSB111 offered some good advice though that you can apply with the Mathematics of Computation major, which had a 46% acceptance rate in 2013. </p>

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<p>And you won’t be able to finish in 2 years in SMC transferring to UCLA.(if that matters at all!)
There are so many courses articulated in between these two schools if you check ASSIST, and if you want to have a good chance, you have to take them all. Imagine taking those math courses with professors like Nestler, Konya and Hong?! each of them have only 2-3 As in their classes, in this way, you’ll be losing the chance of having a high GPA! Something that happened to me!
Unless you’re a genius don’t bother.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://web1.assist.org/web-assist/report.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=2&sia=SMCC&ria=UCLA&ia=UCLA&oia=SMCC&aay=13-14&ay=14-15&dora=COMP+SCI”>http://web1.assist.org/web-assist/report.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=2&sia=SMCC&ria=UCLA&ia=UCLA&oia=SMCC&aay=13-14&ay=14-15&dora=COMP+SCI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You need Calc 1-3, Linear Algebra + Differential Equations, General Chemistry 1. Physics 1-3, 4 Computer Science classes, English 1-2 just to be considered for the major. At the same time you will probably want IGETC completed so you can avoid the GE requirements. </p>

<p>At first you will have the problem of enrolling in those classes, but once you do get them, taking math + physics + chem/cs in the same semester WITH As!!! is very difficult unless you are a genius or you have hookups to tests from the previous years. </p>

<p>P.S. The reason As are so important is because the grading is 3.0/B, 4.0/A: no such thing as +/- for most schools. So if you got straight Bs, you would have a 3.0 and have zero change to get into any CS program besides your local CSU. </p>

<p>With STEM, what usually happens is the person gets a few Bs because taking on soo many difficult courses at the sametime is difficult (i.e. tests can be random / out of the blue), they beef up the GPA with easy A Liberal Art classes and end up with a 3.4-3.6 which makes them competitive for Mid-Tier UCs only. </p>

18

<p>I’ve recently got into ucla cs as a transfer so I try to answer as helpful as I can.</p>

<p>As others have implied, unless you’re proficient in learning math it will be an uphill battle. Fortunately, the required comp sci classes are relatively simple even with little to no previous experience in programming but it does take the most time outside of class due to all the projects you would probably have to complete. It would be advisable to take calc 1-3 with any of the physics classes since they compliment each other.</p>

<p>Realistically it will be very difficult to transfer within 2 years considering how crowded community colleges are. I would plan for 3 years and even then you might need an extra summer semester to complete all prereq.</p>

<p>It does appear smc to be one of top feeder school for higher tier ucs, but at the same time it might imply smc classes might be more difficult than other cc. It might be advisable to look around for a better cc. Things you want to look out for is ratemyprofessor (to gauge how difficult the required classes will be) and living costs. Another thing to consider is that unless you’re highly disciplined in time management, santa monica area might have too many distractions. </p>

<p>As others have mentioned consider other UCs too. Some would say UCSD’s comp sci program is better than UCLA’s comp sci. Also UCI has a dedicated department for computer science, and probably the only uc that actually have adequate courses to prep you to become a software engineer. If I were to rank computer science programs for the UCs imo it would be…

  1. Berkeley
  2. UCSD/UCLA
  3. UCI
  4. UCSB/UCD
  5. UCR
  6. Merced</p>

<p>Also, I think your overall gpa matters less than the average gpa for required classes. However, those grades you receive from the required classes must be stellar. It’s important to finish all your prereqs but you could miss at least one and still get in (I missed the chem requirement).</p>

<p>I think extracurriculars don’t matter as much for computer science unless it’s heavily related to your major. So unless you can land an internship don’t spend too much time in building extracurriculars.</p>

<p>Other little advices I could offer is…

  • Find a counselor that know his/her stuff regarding UC transfers, and visit him/her often. A good counselor is a great source for information, helps you keep on track, and could possibly give you options on how to gain priority registration.
  • Find a good study group. Chances are if you’re a stem major you’ll see a lot of familiar faces through out your time at cc. Personally, I usually study by myself first then usually work with a group to knock out little details to guarantee an A for an exam. Don’t be afraid to ditch study group if it isn’t beneficial. There are surprisingly a lot of students in a stem major that cheats.
  • Go to class. Even if the class is mind numbingly easy, go to class. Don’t argue, just go to class.</p>

<p>This became a bit of a rant, hopefully it was helpful.</p>

19

<p>An option to consider is Berkeley’s CS (not EECS). You won’t directly get into the major, but getting admission into the L&S college is much easier than getting into UCLA CS or Berkeley EECS. You’ll have to finish up prereqs at Berkeley and then you can declare the major. </p>