Hey everyone, first time posting here. Currently, I’m a college freshman and was thinking of transferring out of my CSU. I feel like I’ve made a mistake coming here as I don’t enjoy it that much and feel like I could’ve just gone to a cc and tagged a UC. Is it worth it transferring out or should I try to stick to my current school? Currently, for my Fall semester I have 3.54 gpa and I have some extracurriculars and ap’s and jobs from high school to add to it. My dream transfers are currently UCLA, UCD, UCI, UCSD, UCSB and UCSC. I’m a CS major as well. I’m stuck in a rock and a hard place and I was wondering if I should apply as a transfer in Fall 2023. Thank you for reading.
CS is a highly marketable degree so attending a UC is not needed to be successful. What issues do you have with your current school? Can you name your current school and what do you think the UC’s can offer that the CSU cannot? Please get rid of the notion of a “dream school”. There is no such thing.
CSU to UC transfers have a lower priority than CC transfers. Also you need to articulate your CSU classes to the UC classes which can be difficult. For CC classes you can use assist.org for course articulation.
Think about it and best of luck with your decision.
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Here is the 2022 UC Transfer GPA by major and campus information for CC transfers. You can filter by major and campus to see the GPA admit rates and range needed to get into the UC’s.
You will need to complete the Transfer requirements for each school you plan to apply which can vary by campus also so make sure the CSU classes you have taken so far are UC transferable.
UCs give preference to CC transfers so you’d have a better chance if you went to a CC next year. Also you’d be able to qualify for a TAG guarantee except at Davis which requires attending a CC spring semester.
However there are two drawbacks. First CS is not part of TAG at many UCs. Second it is a bit of a turbulent college career to attend 3 colleges. It might be the right path for you, but give it a lot of consideration first.
Of course nothing stops you from applying to transfer from your CSU to UC, you don’t lose anything if you don’t get in, but the chances are probably low. What is it you don’t enjoy at your current school?
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CS TAG is only available at UC Riverside and UC Merced currently which are not campuses on the list.
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thank you guys for the help, currently i’m at csu northridge and i’ve a few factors things that i don’t like being a computer science student.
- I’ve gone to the job fair for CS students and it’s pretty barren, i saw a few odd startups and not that much else
- csun as a campus overall doesn’t feel very welcoming, it just feels very high school like, there’s not much actual flavor on campus and while some of the buildings are cool in terms of tech, i just didn’t really get the same feeling i got when visiting uci and ucsb in the summer of last year
- honestly the cs program at csun is pretty lackluster, albeit i haven’t actually experienced it but from what i’ve read and heard from others, most of the teachers are pretty bad when it comes to higher level and grad classes, some reasons include that either the professor lectures too fast or isn’t able to help the students and the worst one was that some of the professors aren’t able to clearly lecture
i know my chances are pretty bad for getting in but i would still like to try, i have $1000 saved for applications this fall so i’m going to apply to like 5-6 schools and see how it goes.
CSUN is a commuter school so it’s not going to have the same vibe as a campus where students live. Have you joined any clubs or intramural sports to become more a part of the campus community?
Meeting other CS students in clubs can help you by letting you see what other students are doing to find internships and the like, and if they already have had them they may have friends they can send your resume to. As for the career fair, not surprised; if you’ve been following the news FAANG and other big tech companies have been laying off scores of workers, its not surprising they’ve cut back on summer hiring.
Still I can understand your disappointment in attending a commuter school; it isn’t the college experience many people envision. If you’re considering a transfer then other CSU schools should be on your radar. Several are residential including Chico and Cal Poly. Unfortunately most CSU give preference to those living in their service area so it probably isn’t a slam dunk.
Also I’ll suggest you take advantage of the study skills help CSUN offers - Learning Resource Center You say you have a 3.5gpa 1st semester which is decent but is about half A’s and half B’s in frosh-level classes. As a CS major classes will just get harder so it’s worth figuring out how to improve.