Some words of wisdom from someone who has done this before

Transfer Students UC Transfers
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<p>Hello fellow anxious transfers, I just checked this forum for the first time in a long time and am seeing a lot of very easily answered questions being asked, and as someone who went through the whole process I think I can put some minds at ease.</p>

<p>First my background, last year I got into UCSD for Electrical Engineering but eventually the fact that UCSD was not the right place for me won out over my desire to get out of my CCC as soon as possible and at the last possible moment (the day before move-in actually) I decided to tough it out at home/CCC for another year. But I have the experience of getting in, SIRing, housing, transcripts and enrolling in classes so I think I can impart some wisdom for the more anxious students here.</p>

<p>First things first: RELAX. If you're taking the time to post on this message board your probably an above average student. The honest truth is if you have an above 3.0 GPA and are a junior level (60 unit +) CCC transfer you WILL get in to A UC, the system is designed for you. My best friend was almost as messy a transfer as possible, (3.4 GPA, 30 units at CSU before going to CCC, no TAG, no IGETC and missing pre-reqs for his intended major) and was admitted to UCSD and UCSB. </p>

<p>Another thing is if you have a TAG you are in (as long as you were honest on all applications), no ifs ands or butts if you met the requirements you will be admitted, it doesn't matter if you borderline meet the requirements it's black and white. I had literally only 2 out of about 11 pre-reqs at UCSD but I met the TAG requirements and was admitted, easy as that.</p>

<p>Now when considering your chances to certain schools think about things rationally. You need to factor in your GPA, IGETC, pre-reqs, what school your applying too, and is the program competitive. If you're going for something competitive like Biz Econ at UCLA you need to be top notch in all categories. But if you're going into a non impacted major there is a bit more wiggle room. I suggest most of you look into what the classes you need to take after you transfer are, most BA's are only about 10-15 upper div classes, that's only 40-60 units even if you transfer with a full 105 quarter units; that's not enough to even graduate. In a case like that if you're missing a pre-req or two that isn't a direct pre-req for an upper division class you should still have a solid chance. A perfect example of this is something like Applied Math at UCLA, they list the Physics series as a pre-req for the major. When you look at the upper div classes NONE of them require physics as a pre-req, so in all likelihood you could be missing a class or two since you could take them at the same time as your upper division classes and still graduate in 2 years with ease. That's just one example, but think of the factors I mentioned and analyze your situation rationally and you should have a good idea of your own chances without needing to resort to a chance thread.</p>

<p>One thing I highly recommend is to learn to love your safety school. Schools like UCB and UCLA are tough to get into, and with budget cuts and what not they're only going to get tougher. That's why it's very important to have an open mind about your safety. This year I'm applying to UCLA, UCB and UCD, and I'm very psyched to go to Davis next year, if I get into one of the other schools thats just icing on the cake. Any UC is a good school and if you only get into your 2nd or 3rd choice your still going to a really good school.</p>

<p>My last bit of advice is that after your app update is to just relax. Focus on your last semester and don't worry about your application. It is out of your hands now! Also the whole process is very easy, UC keeps you up to date through e-mails and if you check your e-mail fairly regularly there is a zero percent chance that important dates like the SIR deadline, transcripts, financial aid, fee payment, enrollment, housing etc. will go by without you knowing. The UC's will keep you informed and if there is any information you need to know about a deadline your school will give you that information, they don't expect you to look everything up on your own they WILL provide you with 100% of the information you need.</p>

<p>Well that's about it for now, if you have any questions about the enrollment process or anything else just ask and I'll try my best to answer them. Hope this helped!</p>

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<p>Hey there!</p>

<p>I have a question. Do you know anything about people getting into UCs with a GPA below 3.0? In my case, I have a 2.9 and I am a history major.</p>

<p>I started off as a nursing major at a CSU. I never went through any life threatening situations that caused me to horrible in school, I just simply didn’t know what I wanted to do. After a horrible year at my CSU I went to CCC for a few years, decided to change myself and take the necessary steps to do better in school. My GPA at my CSU was horrible. No I mean really, REALLY horrible and I understand that it will be calculated in my current GPA. At my time in CCC I have managed to maintain all A’s and B’s. I’ve taken a few honors literature classes and raised my GPA to 2.9 this fall. My spring GPA should be higher but I know they don’t look at that. I should add that I finished my IGETC, have decent ECs, I am a junior level CCC transfer student and all my major pre reqs will be done by this spring.</p>

<p>I just want to know your opinion on my situation. You stated that you’ve had a friend who didn’t have any IGETC done and missing pre reqs but got in. When I look at that situation, your friend’s GPA was much higher than mine and I wonder if my low GPA will be heavily taken into account. How big does GPA play a factor in admissions? I know I’m not going to get into UCLA or UCB but I am hoping for UCD or UCI. Do you think I’ll probably have to wait another year? Thank you.</p>

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<p>Great post! Especially the part about loving your safety. I was reluctant to even apply to a TAG school, but I just had to after swinging by Davis on a visit to Berkeley. Hubris isn’t going to do me in. </p>

<p>I’m deff saving this.</p>

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<p>@ nelise: yes people do get in with below 3.0’s. In fact the GPA requirement for a TAG at UC Davis (college of letters and science majors) is 2.9 .</p>

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<p>“learn to love your safety school” - great advice, I agree 100%. And if you do get into your top choice, it is icing on the cake.</p>

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<p>So basically I’m taking a Math class during a winter intersession which is </p>

<p>Math 5b ( 2nd yr Calc) and i am planning to drop with a “W” cause it is to hard for a short session.</p>

<ul>
<li>I Have a Cumulative GPA of a 3.01 so my UC GPA should be slightly higher maybe a 3.09</li>
<li>I have TAG with UCSD, UCI</li>
<li>I already finished my IGETC </li>
<li>But I will be missing 2 pre-reqs which math 5B being one of them and the other is my last series of bio, bio 1c *
-I’m a Bio Major and i already know i won’t get into UCSD as that major cause my GPA is not competitive but my alt is Psych which should be non-impacted for both UC’s</li>
<li>my first choice is UCSD</li>
</ul>

<p>Would not taking Math 5B hurt my chance not getting into UCSD and UCI with TAG? Also i have to update and change it to “in-progress” to “withdrawal”. Should I just put withdrawal for winter intersession? And put planned for spring even though most likely I won’t be able to add the class? So that it looks better in my uc update?</p>

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<p>Good post, thanks for sharing your ideas!</p>

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<p>Fantastic post, and DAMN you definitely cut it close with the whole ucsd thing. if you dont mind me asking, what about ucsd turned you off?
and whats your #1 choice now? la or berk? :)</p>

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<p>@ UCeric2010 : GREAT POST!</p>

<p>well,you appear quite a lot of knowledge about the UCs in comparison to some of my counselors at my CC.so I got a lot of questions to ask but I don’t want to make a long list so here the most basic questions I really want answers to:</p>

<p>(1)so I’m a chemistry major.I wanted to know if I have to finish ALL pre-requisites?
I will still need to finish like 6 pre-reqs.IGETC and 60 units already completed.</p>

<p>(2)Let’s say your TAG is approved(mine was approved for Davis and Santa Cruz) but your Winter and Spring schedule completely changes from what you’ve stated in the TAG.I’m not changing major but I will take other classes that are pre-reqs of the major.</p>

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<p>@ Pianocat: I don’t know about UCI’s TAG requirement but you are in at UCSD, UCSD does NOT guarantee your major or college though but your approved TAG guarantee’s you admission to the school. I told them I was going to take Physics and Computer Science 2 and dropped them for non pre-reqs because the commute at 6:45 in the morning was killing me and I was still admitted. I would say you are going to make the math class on your update and try your hardest to get into the class, surely it would look better to do that and tell them you were unable to get it then to not try at all.</p>

<p>@ Redoplease: a LOT about UCSD turned me off. First it’s a bit far from home for my tastes (510 miles to be exact), I needed 144 quarter units to graduate nudging me up against the unit limit so I had no room whatsoever to take a fun elective, because of all the units it was going to take 3.5 years at least to graduate (and that isn’t cheap), I think the college system is really stupid (especially because they put me in my 5th choice!) and I’m a bit of an introvert and wanted to go to a more socially outgoing school to make it a bit easier for me to come out of my shell so to speak, also having a division 1 football team would be a plus. My number one choice is UCLA, loved the campus and it seemed like a bit more of a fun place to be than UCB (thats only my opinion though).</p>

<p>@ray50177: If your tag is approved your good regardless of if your missing pre-reqs (as I said I was missing like 10, you just have to take them after transfer which will make it take longer to graduate). If you were changing your classes to non pre-reqs it my be a problem but if your just taking one pre-req instead of another I’m 99% sure your TAG’s will still be valid.</p>

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<p>@ UCeric2010 : THANKS!!!</p>

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<p>Very good and informative post</p>

<p>Unfortunately, applying into an impacted major with missing prereqs is a different ball game :&lt;/p>

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<p>@ Anonymousity: Believe me I know! I got into UCSD since they don’t care about pre-reqs for TAG, but last year I got big fat rejections from UCLA, UCD and UCSB (with a 3.87 GPA to boot, for engineering pre-reqs > anything else).</p>