<p>I'm an out-of-state student about to begin my freshman year at college majoring in mechanical engineering and for my sophomore year, I really want to be transferred into UC Berkeley. I didn't apply to UC as a freshman. </p>
<p>My high school resume isn't as spectacular as I would like it to be. I mainly got A's and B's, but I did get some C's in classes like history and english, my weakest subjects. (I don't have a single grade below a C on my transcript). My strongest subject is math but I'm also pretty good at science. I was part of the IB program and I received my IB diploma. I did also take a few outside classes at my local community college but I got C's in them. Also, I only took part in just a few extracurricular activities throughout those 4 years and no sports.</p>
<p>During my freshman year at the college I'm attending (again I do not live in California), I'm taking 19 credits for the fall semester and I'm expecting to get almost straight A's except for maybe a B here and there. The reason I'm expecting this is because I'm taking only 1 english class and no history classes, which are again my weakest areas. Also, according to ratemyprofessors.com, I have some of the easiest professors for almost all my classes. I'm also planning to play tennis and chess as extracurricular activities and I might start an intramural water polo team with a friend, but I don't know how that would work out. I might also take up a few engineering-specific extracurriculars.</p>
<p>My question is, what can I do during my freshman year of college to maximize my chances of being transferred to UC Berkeley or a similar college? I'm open to any suggestion even if it only slightly improves my chances. Should I take up on a research project with a professor or do freshman not usually take part in research? If so, how I do go about starting a project? Would it be wise to send my transcript of the classes I took at my local community college during high school even though I got C's in most of those classes (I took 4 classes in which 3 of them directly relate to my major. I am getting credit for these classes at my current college). How many extracurricular activities should I get involved in? Is more better? Basically, what can I do to make my transfer application standout from everyone else despite a not-so-strong high school resume?</p>
<p>If you guys need more detailed information about high school resume, feel free to ask. I didn't post it on here yet because I thought it would make the post too long. Any and all help/advice/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>They won’t look at your high school transcript. So just aim for straight As in college.</p>
<p>Cal doesn’t look at sophomore transfers, juniors only.</p>
<p>IMO, “almost straight A’s except for maybe a B here and there” is not good enough for Berkley, especially coming from out of state. Those C’s from community college won’t help either, other than the fact that they will add to the unit minimum needed to get into the UC. You should aim for straight A’s and perhaps wait a year before applying. It might be hard to meet the unit minimum in just one year of college (if not impossible without lots of past AP/CC work). </p>
<p>There’s no need to provide more details about your time in high school because the UCs don’t care about high school history for transfer applicants. You have lowest priority for transfer, behind California Community College students and in state applicants. In addition, Engineering is one of the poorest articulating majors, so I’m doubtful that the majority of your college’s Engineering courses will satisfy Berkley’s pre-reqs. </p>
<p>Also, one general piece of advice–a high easiness rating on sites like RateMyProfessor do not always translate into easy A’s. Time management is till up to you. Extracurriculars, while important, should be your second priority behind getting a high GPA. Don’t try to overload yourself with a ton of ECs because your GPA will suffer. </p>
<p>I don’t want to come off as condescending, but I’m pretty sure your chances are next to none. It’s not necessarily your fault; the UC’s (unfortunately IMO) prioritize applicants coming from CCC’s as it is written into law. Even if you are an amazing student, you should still be skeptical of your chances. As I mentioned before, Engineering is a hard major to get into in general, even before considering the poor articulation rates. There’s not much you can do, short of getting the highest GPA you can and writing and extraordinary personal statement. Even that is most likely not enough.</p>
<p>Tbh, I’d put Berkley out of my plans if I were you. Berkley is an amazing school but there will be others. If you are intent on coming to California for school, you should drop out, move to CA, and attend a CCC. This probably sounds absurd and stupid to you now, but you are not even a freshman. There’s plenty of time to think hard about this and make it happen. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who responded. I didn’t realize that UC only takes Junior transfers. Disregarding UC Berkeley, does anyone have any general advice on what I can do during my freshman year to maximize chances of transferring to a different school in general (other than the obvious goal of getting straight A’s)? I don’t think the college I’m currently going to is one where I want to stay for all 4 years (personal reasons) and I do have a few other colleges in mind that I think I have a much better chance of transferring into. But regardless of what I think my chances are, I am still hoping to pick up some tips to maximize those chances. Once again, thank you.</p>
<p>Hey,
Sorry for messaging on this thread again but i posted something similar to my own but unfortunately mine died down. But I actually do intend on living in California and would it be absurd of me, an OOS student, to move there as attend a CCC? I am a rising senior in high school. </p>
<p>Also I looked up information on the economic situation happening in California but I still feel like I’m lacking to fully understand the situation other than the fact that those cuts would affect the funding of the school. </p>
<p>Sorry for some typos because I’m typing on my iPhone :/</p>
<p>Where is it that you want to go and with what major?</p>
<p>I was thinking mechanical engineering or just a science like physics</p>
<p>Since UC only takes Junior transfers, would I still be able to have a chance at transferring since I’ll have approximately 60 credits? I did some calculations and I should end up with about 55-65 credits for my major and an additional 10-15 credits that don’t relate to my major by the end of this school year.</p>
<p>Here’s 2 cents from an OOS student that was given acceptance to UC Berk for Spring 2014.</p>
<p>@tsuhinator-
- Getting mostly As with some Bs isn’t really the attitude any prestigious school looks for, nor is pointing out your weaknesses. What matters to them is how you put in extra effort to overcome said weaknesss. Extracurriculars can help, but only if they mean something to you- being in a million clubs does not say anything unless you can write something meaningful about them. I understand that students with less than stellar grades can get into UC Berk, but often times it is due to an amazing personal statement or appeal. They give you a chance to explain your histoyr or grades in an optional third essay, so use that.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Definitely consider moving to California for at least one academic year, as it is not as outrageous as it seems. From most to least important, UC priority goes to freshmen applicants, freshmen OOS, ccc transfer students, uc/csu transfer students, and THEN OOS transfer students. OOS acceptances are increasing every year, but your chances are still slim due to your grades and your major.</p></li>
<li><p>Once you’ve reached 60 semester units (or 90 quarter) you qualify as a transfer student and may apply as such. However, schools such as Berk and UCLA are super picky about you finishing all your lower division courses before transferring. That means GE classes AND all lower-division major courses: the more completed, the higher your chances (in addition to yur overall GPA), especially in your major, which I assume is impacted and thus have limited space. I applied as a Psych major, but was only given Spring admittance versus Fall; I’m assuming it was because I was missing two lower-division courses that they wanted me to complete prior to transferring. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Another tricky thing is finding out what classes actually transfer to UC Berkeley. It’s easy to find out using assist.org if you were transferring from a CC in Cali- talk to your counselor about it if you haven’t already. </p>
<p>@dysfunctional
That’s exactly what I did and, with the occasional financial remorse, I do nt regret my desicion. Depending on where you plan to live (or with who) living can be expensive but many students can reduce that by getting roomies, of course. CC down in Cali is extremely cheap relative to the other states. The first year you will be charged OOS tuition (which is still cheaper than in-state tuition back in my home state, Colorado). The second and oncoming you will be considered in-state; for me, that was like…$500-600 per semester with 15-17 units taken each semester. Still, you are given first priority among transfer students, and, again, knowing what classes you need to take becomes infinitely easier with assist.org. However, unless you are able to find a god enough job to be financially independent from your folks for those 2 years, and the year of transfer, you will be considered OOS according to UC policy. Be prepared to handle a $32k+ tuition bill every year yu attend a UC school, then.</p>
<p>Hope that helps, and message me if you have any more questions. c:</p>
<p>^Actually, UCs give priority to CA transfer applicants over freshman.</p>
<p>Really? I always assumed they looked at transfers after freshmen applicants since transfer students get their acceptances later. Thanks for the correction!</p>
<p>:) No problem. The reason is that CCC students have the ability to guarantee themselves admission and have proportionally more spaces reserved for them (about 30% acceptance for CCC UCLA transfers, while only around 20% for CA freshman).</p>
<p>Wow thanks a lot crystalmew for the information…</p>
<p>Also, can you inform me more about becoming a resident in California? Do you just obtain if after living there for 1-2 years? Or do you also have to declare yourself independent too? Plus, do you have any friends/peers who transferred to Cal as an engineering/science major student?</p>
<p>I know that those two majors are pretty competitive for Cal… Btw I was thinking of applying to De Anza</p>
<p>Hey sorry for the late reply!</p>
<p>So the UC schools are really funky with this whole residency thing, which has actually been tried a couple times but still survives. Basically there are two California residencys: the first is the common move to Cali and stay for a year with an inent to live there by changing licences, registering your car, etc; then there is residency for tuition purposes, where you not only do the latter, but you must also be financially independent of your parents. That means you have to find a way to pay your insurance, rent, gas, whatever it costs for you to live. Loans, financial aid, and a job will all count as your income so long as taxes are done in Cali, your parents don’t use you as a dependent on theirs, and the loans arent cosigned by them. This financial independency requirement can be bypassed only if you’re 24, get married, are military, a graduate student, or if your parents move to Cali and meet the requirements. The UCs got fed up with OOS kids working for a year and then getting residency, so they gave us this anal policy. c’:</p>
<p>I unfortunately don’t. Almost all my friends transferred to Davis instead, and the ones that were accepted to Berk are Neuroscience and Food Sciences majors.</p>
<p>De Anza is a good school and pretty close to Berk! Though I would opt for DVC since its a bigger school and hopefully offers more classes you’ll need.</p>
<p>I dropped out (of columbia), moved to san diego, worked for a year, got residency, attended community college, got a 4, got into every UC for transfer. </p>
<p>Went to UCSD, kept my GPA around 3.9, and will continue on to grad school. </p>
<p>dropping out of columbia to come out here was possibly the best decision of my life. If you are determined to go to a UC, CC is absolutely the best way to do it. Not to mention our community colleges are actually awesome - I had a much more rigorous and high quality of education at CC than I do at UCSD. Also, you can cross enroll for verrrryyy cheap at a UC while you’re in CC if you want to start taking classes there. TAG may not exist anymore, but it’s still easier from a california CC. </p>
<p>I would totally say moving out here to go to CC is a viable method of making it into a UC. </p>
<p>But really, the UC’s aren’t that great for undergrad, I think, especially the big research ones. Consider them for gradschool if it doesn’t work out to transfer as an undergrad!!</p>
<p>PS. I’m an electrical engineeering major!
PPS. I got UC residency for tuition purposes. Proving you supported yourself really isn’t that hard, and actually I did it solely through federal financial aid and stafford loans from my CC. No parent co-signers cause it’s all title IV aid.</p>
<p>hey does anyone know much about uc-uc transferring?</p>