TAG UCSC CS but not accepted!!

Hello, I applied for CS 2020 with TAG, but my admission did not get accepted! I did not meet the major screening criteria, and it’s because my college does not provide the course I need to meet the criteria, so there was not much I could do!

The message I received was:

We have completed a thorough review of your application for admission. Unfortunately, you do not meet the major screening criteria for admission to your proposed major. However, because of your strong overall academic achievement, we would like to offer you admission into one of our non-screening majors.

Can I appeal this decision?

It sounds like they are offering you admission, just not for that major. If you don’t meet the requirements for the major you wanted, then it makes sense that you did not get accepted for that major.

I don’t think they will let you appeal since you were not entirely rejected admission, you just were not accepted for the CS major. The only way that would work is if they made a mistake and you did actually meet all of the requirements to be accepted to the major.

If the course was just not articulated and that’s why you were unable to complete it you should probably talk to them about it.

How did you find out why your TAG was not accepted? I’m in the exact same boat, CS transfer to UCSC with TAG and they denied me, although, I have no idea why. I met all requirements. Please tell me, how did you find out why?

Hi this is definitely odd considering that it’s not articulated. From my understanding if a course is not articulated from the cc you’re transferring from, then you will still be offered admission.

What course is this?

I received an email:

Thank you for your interest in UC Santa Cruz.
We have completed a thorough review of your application for admission. Unfortunately, you do not meet the major screening criteria for admission to your proposed major. However, because of your strong overall academic achievement, we would like to offer you admission into one of our non-screening majors.
If you’d like to be considered for admission to one of our non-screening majors, please respond to this inquiry no later than Thursday, April 9. Keep in mind that if you accept our offer and start at UC Santa Cruz in any one of our non-screening majors, you will not be able to switch back to the major you originally requested.
Questions about this offer can be directed to Undergraduate Admissions. Select the “Alternate Major Offer” from the drop down menu. Please include your full name and UC Santa Cruz Student ID with your question. We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
UC Santa Cruz

I do not know, as I was not told why I do not meet the major screening criteria. I have posted the email I received from admission on a reply above.

I will try to contact admission office.

I’m in the same situation! I was accepted, but not as a Computer Science major. Looking at the criteria, I do believe that I completed it all. The only thing that I can think of is that my College’s Intro to Programming class is not accepted by UC Santa Cruz. But, I was still told to apply by a UCSC admissions counselor. I sent the admissions department an email asking why I do not meet the selection criteria. I’ll list the courses that I took at my Community College, and maybe you guys can tell why I wasn’t accepted?

MATH ANALYSIS I (Calculus 1) - C
MATH ANALYSIS II (Calculus 2) - A
PROG CONCEPTS I - A
PROG CONCEPTS II - A
MATH FOR COMPSCI - A

Would my “C” grade in Calc 1 be the reason I didn’t meet the selection criteria? I even emailed my UCSC transfer counselor for my area and she said that everything looked good and I was competitive. I’m just not understanding why I didn’t meet the criteria…

Yeah I would try contacting them in the morning when they open. From previous years I’ve seen people state they didn’t have all the pre reqs done in order to declare their proposed major. They were able to finish the rest at UCSC by the end of their 2nd quarter. So it’s odd that they didn’t offer you admission for this.

Please keep us updated when you figure this one out. Good luck.

@ucsctraor1213 you cannot appeal TAG rejections. UCSC is strict about the screened majors. The rule is if not accepted to TAG you roll over to regular admission. That email implies you were also rejected in regular admission. Usually the screened requirements are standard courses. If they know that one you missed was offered nearby or online that would hurt you.

The five courses needed were:
Python
C
Discrete
Calc 1 and 2

Most schools have these, and the math is also offered online.

If you want UCSC you should consider the offer.

@ucsctraor1213 I’m in the exact situation.

Applied for TAG as a CS major and received the same email. I contacted my rep but I’m still waiting for his response.

My school’s transfer rep at SC said that (as it’s also stated on the website) applicants for Fall 2020 can follow the 2018-2019 catalog requirements on assist.org—which I did.

At the time of applying for TAG I had already completed 3 of the 5 required courses:

C++ (and Java)
Data Structures
Discrete Structures

…all with As.

Fall 2019 I completed Calc 1 but earned a C (it was a bad semester…) and I am currently completing Calc 2 which I’m doing very well.

Even with the C in Calc 1, all the other required classes have As and my overall GPA is well above the 3.0 TAG threshold.

I really do not know what to do.