So, I'm in this odd predicament..

Transfer Students UC Transfers
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<p>First of all, I congratulate those of whom have received their positive notices regarding admittance into their respective universities. I have found myself in a rather odd situation and I have a feeling someone on here might be able to give some sound advice. I hardly ever ask for advice, but I feel someone might say something that'll give me some perspective. I apologize beforehand for the lengthy post, but I don't think any readers will get a good understanding of my situation if I don't go into some depth.</p>

<p>To start off, I'm a Chemical Engineering major with an emphasis on Nanotechnology who'd like to get into UCB (Who wouldn't?) and eventually attend graduate school doing something related to the physical sciences. However, I have a rather pathetic GPA of 3.72 (I'm not proud of it). I have gotten into UCSD, UCD, and Cal Poly so far, but I received my rejection letter from UCLA earlier this evening. I don't want to go to UCLA, and UCSD is actually my second choice school. However, I've visited Berkeley several times and I just feel like it's an amazing fit for me, regardless of its "prestige". While UCSD offers Nanotechnology courses (Which is why it's my second choice school), I don't get the same sort of "I'm home" feeling on their campus as I do at Berkeley.</p>

<p>The reason my GPA is so low is that up until May of last year, and starting from Fall of 2009, I had to take care of my fiancee since she was quite ill (cancer). And yes, it most certainly caused Bs here and there (Sorry Berkeley, but family trumps straight As any day). I already reflected this in my personal statement, but since UCLA has decidedly chosen to reject my application, I can only wonder how I could have gone about this. </p>

<p>Now, I know I'd be a great fit for Berkeley. The reasons being are that when I have been able to devote myself to school and work, I find all my classes to be too easy, and I'm fairly bored. For example, in my current Electricity & Magnetism course, I've had the highest exam scores in the past 5-6 years (or so my professor says). If any engineering majors read this, they'll understand what that means. (But I can't write an essay if my life had depended on it)</p>

<p>Additionally, I have been accepted to an internship in Washington doing Nanotechnology research for the Department of Energy this summer, but cannot add that to my application even though it would look good on there. Also, I've had my chemistry and physics professors encourage me to apply to MIT or Stanford under their guidance, since they feel UCB is setting the bar too low (go figure), but MIT isn't where I want to be. They've even collaborated and written a letter of recommendation and sent it to the dean of the College of Chemistry on my behalf.</p>

<p>Now, I didn't intend to gloat or stir up any emotions or feelings any readers may have, so if has come across in such a manner, I deeply apologize. I'm really just curious about my potential options. I'm aware that students who get rejected from UCLA "can" get into UCB, but I'm also well aware that my GPA is incredibly difficult to overlook. More importantly, my fiancee feels quite terrible since seeing the UCLA letter, since she feels she's held me back. If there was an interview process, I'd feel fine, but they can only see the 1,538 words I wrote for my essays and that's all.</p>

<p>Personally, I don't feel entirely too bad if I don't get into UCB, because college is what you make of it, regardless of the school. However, I also don't want to miss out on a great opportunity such as this, and I do know that UCB would open many more doors regarding graduate school when compared to UCSD.</p>

<p>If there's anything I could possibly do, I would greatly appreciate any advice. Likewise, if there is really no course of action differing what I've already done, then I appreciate the response as well. :-)</p>

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<p>You know, I think you have a better chance at Cal than you had at UCLA. I say this because I’ve read, and heard, time and time again, that Cal cares a lot about the Personal Statement, and likely to a greater degree than any of the other UCs. Your story seems touching enough, and you sound like quite the wiz.</p>

<p>I believe you’ll get in! (Fingers crossed, over here, for both of us.)</p>

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<p>To be honest, what can you do? I think the only option you have left is to wait the 7 days and see what Cal has to say about you. If it’s of any comfort to you, I’ve read plenty of times that UCLA admits “GPA heavy” while Cal admits the more well-rounded students. But then again, I got into UCLA with a GPA way lower than yours (“pathetic GPA of 3.72…” pshaw). </p>

<p>I’m almost sure than the admissions officers at Cal will look at your situation and be understanding of you. Something my AP Lit teacher told me in my senior year of high school, “You’ll get into schools that are a fit for you. If they reject you, it is simply because you are not a match. If you’re in, then you know you’ll fit right in.” Not exactly those words, but along those lines =P. I’m sure it’ll all work out for you.</p>

<p>Also, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?</p>

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<p>Well, I think i got into UCLA because of my essay and not my GPA because i only have a 3.5 (really a 3.49) as a physics major. the average for last year was 3.7 in my major.
Cal does admit more on the essay than UCLA though. you will probably have a better chance</p>

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<p>Learn to love UCSD, many students would love to be admitted. It really is a great school!</p>

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<p>I’m 20 currently. I’ve only been in college for three years currently, and my fiancee was sick for the first two. I’m not frowning upon UCSD as a school at all, I’m truly not. I personally just felt like Berkeley as a school / city / lifestyle was a better fit for myself when compared to UCLA or UCSD. Honestly, UCSD is most definitely better than UCB in quite a few programs. In fact, their Bioengineering is consistently ranked 1st in the world. </p>

<p>I’m more-or-less asking for her peace of mind, and to be sure that there aren’t any avenues I can attempt to pursue to get into UCB. After all, we only go to college once. I believe we should each go to the school we really see ourselves attending.</p>

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<p>Don’t assume you won’t get into Berkley just yet, you should really be posting this after Berkeley releases their decisions. While it obviously won’t be easy, strange things can happen. You could stay another year and raise your GPA, although it’ll be hard. With that said, UCSD, as well as UCI, UCSB, and UCD etc., are all really, really great universities. Berkeley is wonderful, but so are all the other cities. Lots of people would kill to go to one of them. I’m sure you’d LOVE them if you went there. Going to to a university other than Cal doesn’t mean that you are banished from Berkeley. You can still work there when yo graduate or even go there for grad school. I’m sure you’ll really like it in San Diego if you choose to attend.</p>

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<p>last year my friend have a 3.5GPA in math major and still got in UCB.You possible have a greater chance to get in CAL</p>

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<p>Thanks for the post. There is one major factor for which it seems you are planning: graduate school. I do have to tell you that the idea that you’ll get into a better grad school simply because you attended Cal for your undergrad vs. UCSD is severely fallacious. For non-medical grad school, the two primary admissions factors they consider are your GPA and your GRE scores; the actual university at which you received your education is taken for much lower consideration (with the exception of M.D. programs, of course.) That being said, it would actually work to your advantage to attend a school that, while it can’t be called “easier” than Cal, is at least noticeably less rigorous academically because your GPA will be much simpler to maintain. Given the information on your current GPA, it seems as though this should be a primary concern. </p>

<p>It is for this reason that I have been distancing myself from the idea of Cal. If I simply wanted my B.Sc and nothing else, I would be very committed to undergrad at Berkeley; however, I have to maintain a very competitive GPA even after I transfer so that I can get into a good grad school, so I’m considering other UCs, particularly given the fact that I work full-time and have a full schedule outside of class.</p>

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<p>I am not entirely worried about my GPA once I actually start attending my respective university. As soon as I had enough free time from my personal life last year, I have yet to come close to a B or so in any class. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that at Cal or UCSD the trend will continue, which is perfectly alright with me. Getting straight As isn’t of utmost importance to myself, otherwise my priorities would be different and my situation would be as well. Like yourself, I do work full-time as well and even have a social life, and I plan to continue this throughout my transition to my four-year college.</p>

<p>However, my major reasons for desiring Cal isn’t due to it’s prestige or national “rank”, it’s quite simply because I feel I’d enjoy my experience there. If I felt the same way about UCSD, I probably would never have even bothered to apply to Cal. Most of us are only going to be at our undergraduate universities for two years, and we all want to maximize our enjoyment during those two years. The last thing any of us want is to be located somewhere which we don’t enjoy.</p>

<p>As for your last point about GPA being greatly important for grad school, I find that interesting and will keep it in mind. Thanks for bringing it up; although I haven’t found anything from UCSD, I do remember that close to 40%ish of students from my major in Cal went onto MIT for graduate school or Stanford and such. I’ll have to do some looking around, but I am greatly interested in seeing if the same trend applies to other schools. </p>

<p>I appreciate the comments, everyone. She certainly feels better from the reassurance. :)</p>

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<p>One thing that you need to keep in mind when you read statistics such as “40%ish of students from my major in Cal went onto MIT for graduate school or Stanford” is their GPA. You will not get into those schools with a Cal GPA of <3.8, which means you will need to get nearly entirely straight As for your entire Cal career, with only 1 or 2 Bs. Especially considering the fact that you, like most healthy people, do things outside of class (and have to work), this needs to be a consideration of yours. </p>

<p>I’m not saying you won’t get into Cal or can’t handle that – quite the contrary, I get the impression that you are a dedicated, thoughtful student who could more than handle himself in the academic environment provided at Cal. I simply want you to know what will be expected of you if grad school is indeed an aspiration.</p>