<p>I am a college freshman who ahead in credits. I will be a Junior by the end of Fall 2014.
I am currently attending an a CSU. I currently have a 3.5 GPA (not counting Fall 2012 grades), and am studying Computer Engineering/Physics.
I want to transfer to a UC. However, I understand that there is not high chances to transfer from a CSU to a UC, unless you transfer to a JC/CC first, then try to transfer to a UC.
I plan to finish my year here, then do my final semester at my local JC. I would theoretically be done at the end of Fall 2014. It would sort of look like this:</p>
<p>Fall 2012: CSU
Spring 2013: CSU
Fall 2013: JC
Spring 2014: UC (hopefully, or at least according to my plan)</p>
<p>I was wondering:</p>
<ol>
<li>Since I want to transfer to a UC, I was wondering what UC's accept transfers for Spring semester?</li>
<li>Is it even possible to do so? If so, which UC's do/do not?</li>
<li>If it's possible, what are the chances of getting in (as a transfer)?</li>
<li>Given my situation, is it more ideal to just continue my undergrad at the CSU, then transfer to a UC for Masters?</li>
<li>Any additional information that would be useful</li>
</ol>
<p>I don't want to wait til Fall 2014 to apply to a UC.</p>
<p>If there's any other information needed, feel free to ask, and I'll try to post answers Please number your responses for each question </p>
<p>Lol you post a thread at 5am and you bump it after an hour when it’s still sitting at the top of the forum…? Smh <em>facepalm</em> </p>
<p>The only UC that has a separate application period for which you can apply to spring semester is UC Merced. The only other UC that enrolls students in spring is Berkeley, but it’s something they do at their own discretion. At Berkeley, you don’t choose to apply for spring, you have to apply for fall and they’ll offer you admission for spring if there isn’t enough space for all the incoming students in fall, which tends to be the case. </p>
<p>For most of the UCs transferring to a CC for one term isn’t going to make you a CC transfer student since the bulk of your units will be from a four year. Usually they figure two consecutive semesters and/or 30 units means you’re full time at CC after transferring. Regardless that being said transferring to a CC isn’t going to instantly improve your chances at getting admitted to a UC. Aside from Berkeley (Berkeley doesn’t accept a lot of CSU/four year transfers) there’s no real “acceptance” priority. As far as I know the UCs don’t have any quotas that say they have to accept X% of CC transfers, X% of four years and X% of international transfers. If you’re a highly competitive applicant the UCs are going to accept you regardless of where you transfer from. The CC “priority” isn’t really an automatic acceptance boost, but comes from the established resources in things like the TAG program, assist.org, the CC to UC articulation agreements, etc. The biggest reason transfers from four year universities don’t have as high acceptance rates as CC transfers is likely because the lack of an articulation agreement. Almost every CC in California has a direct articulation agreement with the UC system that shows students which classes are transferable and which aren’t. Some classes qualify to transfer to a CSU, but not to a UC. Some to transfer you need to meet all of the requirements in those designated as UC transferable courses. CSU and other four year students don’t have that so often times when they transfer not all of their units are transferable. Furthermore, if some of those non-transferable classes are in major pre-req courses or courses required for transfer eligibility it puts them at an immediate disadvantage. For example, if you apply with exactly 60 units from a CSU and not all of your units transfer you won’t meet the 60 unit requirement and you’ll be ineligible for admission. If all of your units transfer you’re pretty much in the same boat with any CC student. Also students from four year universities can have a unit cap for admission, which is usually 90 units. If you’ve accumulated 90 units from a four year you become ineligible for admission because they see you as an incoming senior and they generally don’t accept senior level transfers. This also applies at “some” of the UCs if you went to a four year and transferred to a CC they cap your combined CC and four year units at 90 units. Luckily, they’re considering getting rid of the unit cap so keep an eye on that if you might have more than 90 units when you transfer. </p>
<p>As far as a Masters degree if that’s ultimately your goal your Bachelors is going to be irrelevant in terms of your future career. If your ultimate goal is to get into a Masters program at a UC there are bigger factors than where you did your undergrad degree. Being a UC student applying to Masters program doesn’t automatically improve your chances, unless they have some sort of contiguous Masters program for your department. Getting into a Masters program depends mostly on your GPA, your GRE scores (depending on the program), any research/internship experiences, your letters of rec, and your essays. You have to think is transferring to a UC worth it? Where is your GPA going to be higher? If you’re confident you can maintain a similar GPA as you would at your CSU then being from a UC will look better. If you can’t it won’t help you. Where can you interact better with your professors to get a good letter of rec? Where are you going to find more research opportunities? UCs tend to do more research, but they also tend to have more students competing for research positions. Ultimately, you have to think about all those factors and make a decision. Also, remember you have to PAY for your masters degree and often get less financial aid. You may want to consider the financial implications of going to a UC from a CSU in addition to getting a Masters. Is that going to set you back financially? Tuition is about 3 times more at a UC than at a CSU. Masters program tend to have higher costs than undergrad as well. </p>
<p>Anyway, hopefully reading that made it more clear about the admission process and applying to a Masters program. If you really want to transfer I would encourage you to IMMEDIATELY get in touch with a UC admission officer by calling any one of the UC’s admission departments. You need to plan your future course work out now to ensure that all your important units transfer so you don’t end up being ineligible as aforementioned. If you do that and maintain a competitive GPA you should definitely to get into a good number of UCs. Good luck.</p>
<p>Why are you going to a UC from a Cal State??? You’re a cs/physics major? You know that the CS major, is a competitive major at the UC’s, so you may have some issues getting accepted with that major. Additionally, if you are a star at a Cal State school, your chances for employment are good.</p>
<p>You will be going into higher fees at the UC’s. Are you prepared for that? I’m assuming you won’t need financial aid. That may also be an issue in getting admitted, depending on the campuses you select. The ADCOM might say, well, he’s already getting a state education. Think about how you would pay your fees.</p>
<p>1) no UC (maybe Merced?) allows you to apply for spring semester. Berkeley will give some students spring admittance but those students don’t get to pick that.</p>
<p>2) going to CCC for one semester doesn’t make you a community college student. They require you to have been a student for two consecutive semesters (summer semester doesn’t count) with at least 30 units completed.</p>
<p>Your plan will not work, because you won’t be spending enough time at the CC.
So</a>, no priority as a CC student. If you want to maximize your chances, consider enrolling at a CC this upcoming spring. Then look into the TAG program which can guarantee admission to your choice of UC campuses (excluding Cal, UCLA, and soon UCSD).</p>
<p>You may not want to wait until Fall 2014, but you may not have a choice…</p>
<p>Keep in mind you don’t transfer to a UC for a Masters after you earn your Bachelors. You enroll in a Master’s program after applying and getting accepted. The primary degrees at a UC are a Bachelor’s and a Doctorate. So while it may be possible to apply for a MS program in an engineering field, that is not possible in Physics.</p>