Successful Cal State to UC Transfer Fall 2010

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hi CCers!</p>

<p>My whole transfer process is pretty much done so I thought I'd post a little bit of info about what I did, because I certainly could have used it as I was going through this process.</p>

<p>I went straight to San Diego State University out of high school, and realized I wanted to transfer sometime during the first year. CSU -> UC transfers have to face the choice of leaving their CSU for a CC or choosing a CC outright to improve their shots at transferring, so I'll outline my reasoning behind not doing so:</p>

<p>-I had a great time in the dorms my freshman year and will always remember it as a very unique experience.
-The social life was great and I had a ton of fun while there. I was able to participate in several clubs and intramural sports that were very spirited with committed members. While I knew I wouldn't be at the school in a year or two, everybody else was there for the long-run, so there was a different atmosphere than I'm guessing there would be where many people have the intent of leaving after 2 years. I don't have any first-hand experience with the general mindset at a CC though, so this is only what I would guess and it probably even depends on which CC you attend.
-I made some incredible business contacts throughout the two years. A few of my friends were graduating and in the middle of starting their own businesses, so I'm extremely grateful that I was able to build connections with them that I'm sure will continue on into the future. This may or may not prove useful when I graduate.
-I was able to join some national honor societies that are available at my CSU but not some of the UCs, which is a best of both worlds kind of thing.</p>

<p>At the same time, the obvious negatives are that it is MUCH more difficult to transfer to any UC from anything but another UC or CCC. UCLA had a 6% admittance rate for other 4-years compared with a 23% one for UCs and a 32% one for CCCs. Additionally, I spent thousands of dollars more on tuition and housing (compared with living at home). </p>

<p>If I had to do it all over I would probably choose the CSU again, primarily because I truly had an infinite amount of space to learn and grow as an adult. Obviously this is just my personal experience, and we all have different ones.</p>

<p>As far as the actual transfer process goes... At my CSU I was a Business Administration major and had the intent of switching to an International Business major with an emphasis in Chinese and Asia Pacific. So, when I applied to UC's I applied to UCB as a Business Admin major (Haas), and to UCLA as a Chinese major.</p>

<p>My "stats" are as follows:</p>

<p>-4.0 GPA when applying for first two semesters, my winter update brought it down to a 3.97 (A- in Chinese lol... talk about a hard class)
-I had worked 20-30 hours a week since my freshman fall semester in an office management position of the on campus newspaper (prints 10,000 copies a day, 4 days a week)
-I had been mildly involved in a student government organization and a community-service type of organization
-I had taken Chinese every semester since starting at SDSU, which is probably important for a language major lol</p>

<p>That's pretty much it, I was denied from Berkeley Haas and accepted to UCLA Chinese. I'm assuming my rejection from Haas was because a few of the classes that I had used to fill in my prereqs were a bit of a rough fit, as well as the fact that Berkeley Haas is simply extremely selective. UCLA Chinese had an admittance rate and GPA comparable to most other UCLA majors, excluding the very impacted ones like Communications, Economics, and Nursing.</p>

<p>Course articulation is probably the primary challenge that a CSU -> UC transfer will have aside from the harsh admittance rate, and if I were to do it all again I would MAKE SURE that I took the most cut-and-dry basic GE classes. I.e. instead of an upper division Physiology class for my bio prereq I probably should have taken a simple Biology class, or instead of an upper division Lit class on an obscure subject I would have been better off with another lower division writing GE. However, these were some of my most interesting classes, and I'm glad that I was able to both take them and was accepted to a program that I'm excited about.</p>

<p>So, if you're looking to transfer from a CSU to a UC I hope this helps. My warning is that it is not easy (of course), and it's not as much of a direct path as CCC -> UC is. However, it's a great challenge and growing experience.</p>

2

<p>Hey man,</p>

<p>Congratulations! I think your post is very good and helpful for other transfers. You seem like an outstanding applicant and I personally think you should have gotten into UC Berkeley… But you were definitely denied because of prereqs.</p>

<p>I just want to remind everyone reading this excellent thread that at UC Berkeley’s Haas, if you are missing one prerequisite you are instantly denied. For example, a lot of CCCs have two classes that are named almost the same and have nearly the exact same course description… However, if you don’t do the course that is explicitly listed in the prereqs for Haas, then you will be instantly denied. The admission officers will not even read anything else on your application. This is the exact reason why the Haas admission rate is so low (for those who weren’t instantly disqualified, the acceptance rate is about 20%). For this reason, it is nearly impossible to transfer to Haas from a 4-year other than a UC.</p>

3

<p>hey what do you think would be the minimum gpa to be accpeted?</p>

4

<p>I transfered from CSU Stanislaus with a 3.95 GPA as a History major. I was accepted at UCSD, UCSC, and UCD, and decided to go to Davis. I just finished my first Summer Session class at Davis and will be taking another before the Fall quarter begins. </p>

<p>For CSU to UC transfers, I’d say a minimum GPA of 3.7 is required to be accepted at any UC besides UCR and UCM. Transferring from a CSU to UC is for some reason made much more difficult than transferring from a CC, despite the higher difficulty of CSU classes. There is also no reference guide for transfer credit like there is for CC students, so you have to be very attentive to the course catalogs of your CSU and the UCs you are applying at to ensure that your classes transfer over. One advantage of transferring from a CSU however is the ability to take upper division units within your major, helping to increase the amount of units you transfer with and preparing you for upper division courses at a UC. </p>

<p>Also, don’t expect to get into Berkeley even with a 4.0 if you are transferring from a CSU. If you are missing any kind of prerequisite course they will not even look further into your application. If you are hoping to transfer to Berkeley I would suggest enrolling at a CC instead.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for this post! I’m currently at a CSU and want to transfer to either a UC or Private.</p>

6

<p>Good luck Nae1007! It’s tough but if it’s the right move for you then it’ll be worthwhile. After spending some time at UCLA I’ve realized the differences between the two schools isn’t groundbreaking, but the small differences are the ones that I was hoping for so it makes it worth it to me.</p>

<p>I just saw rapca1990’s post, and I agree with his statement that a minimum GPA of 3.7 is required to have a solid shot at a CSU -> UC transfer. 3.7-4.0 is the “A-minus to A” range, which seems necessary considering the slim acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Of course nobody really knows what adcoms are looking for, so this is just an educated guess.</p>