Transfer from Vanderbilt to UC Berkeley

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

Hello, I am a freshman at Vanderbilt.
For personal reasons, I am looking to transfer to UC Berkeley.
My SAT score was around 2300, so that part is not a problem.

However, my GPA certainly is.
HS Junior: 3.7
HS Senior: 3.4
Vanderbilt Freshman 1st semester: 3.5

I know my GPA is low… but I really want to study Economics at UC Berkeley. Would I have a chance. I have an idea of what transfer is like at Ivy league, but it is my first time looking at UC Berkeley. I know one kid at Vanderbilt right now who transferred from Cornell to Vanderbilt with a GPA of 2.7(I’m thinking that the prestige at former university matters). Since Vanderbilt is at least as prestigious as UC Berkeley is concerning rankings, would I stand a chance if I write a winning essay?

2

I am an international student from Asia, if that matters, and able to pay full tuition

3

The UC’s prioritize their admissions such that the order is, more or less:
new entering freshmen,
California Community College students
UC to UC transfers
Cal State transfers
Private California schools
Privates and CC students from everywhere else.

The UC’s were developed to educate California residents. These are public universities, funded in part, by California residents. Hence the order of admission.
They admit students according to their needs.
They admit Junior level transfers and there has to be a significant reason for the transfer.

You can take a shot, and apply, but there are no guarantees.

4

so… they don’t take sophomore transfers right?
And how competitive is the transfer compared to ivy league?

5

Correct.
I don’t know how the overall transfers are done in the Ivy leagues as the numbers for transfers are based on attrition. As far as the competitiveness, look at the order of admission.

The UCs’ get thousands of applicants and there are only so many seats.

6

or is it

Last year, 93% of UC Berkeley transfer admits were California community college students. UCB also requires that you have at least 60 transferrable units.

7

lolol situations and goals change over time. but thank u for the info

8

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major

For 2015, UCB economics applicants had a 19% admission rate, with admit 25th-75th GPA range of 3.81-4.00.

You need to have at least 60 semester units by the time of transfer (junior level). High school grades and test scores are not considered.

9

You would two semesters, not including the summer to bring up that GPA, which is perfectly reasonable. Berkeley has a million majors/minors, so if you were open to options aside from economics, the likelihood would further increase.

However,

You really need to consider the reasoning behind this desire. UCB is expensive for out of state students. The city of Berkeley is outrageously expensive. While Vanderbilt University is an excellent university, you couldn’t pay me to move to Tennessee. Therefore, I will not lecture you on not giving Vanderbilt a chance. Please do consider transfer opportunities if you are not satisfied where you are. Just shop around a little bit and make sure that Berkeley would really be a good fit. Transfers set on attending top tier schools would be foolish not to apply to at least five different universities anyway.