<p>I'm going to apply to transfer to UCB for fall 06. I am considering four different majors to apply to: political science, philosophy, rhetoric, legal studies.</p>
<p>I have completed all the prereqs (with 4.0) for legal studies, and political science. There are no prereqs you can do in CCC for rhetoric and I haven't done any of the philosophy prereqs. </p>
<p>My overall gpa will be a 3.53 at application time and possibly a 3.61 after the fall. I know the poli sci program is impacted and although I have an enormous amount of extra-curriculars related to poli sci, I am not very interested in the major. </p>
<p>I talked to the transfer counselor and it seems like I would have a good chance of getting in under legal studies, but this isn't a very rigorous major. </p>
<p>I would like to do rhetoric, but I am concerned about the inability to do prereqs. I'm worried (1) that it will take more time to finish and (2) that a bunch of students who discovered they didn't have the prereqs necessary for other majors decide to apply to it. I think having all the prereqs completed in legal studies with a 4.0 will be a good advantage for me.</p>
<p>Would it be easy to apply as legal studies and then petition for rhetoric instead when i get on campus? What about petitioning for political science? Also if you have the prereqs completed, is it fairly easy to setup a double-major for a transfer student?</p>
<p>It is pretty easy to do a double major if thats what you want to do, you would simply do it once you get there.</p>
<p>Sounds like you worked very hard. Unless you've completed TAP and have had at least a 3.8 for both majors, it's a real toss-up. What counts at Berkeley is the GPA, bottom line. With UCLA, it's a combination of factos, but with Cal it's usually an extremely high GPA and completion of TAP. For an impacted major such as the ones you propose to pursue.....I know several people online here at CC and in real life who were student government, Phi Theta Kappa officers, you name it and had well over a 3.85, TAP, and still didn't get in to Poli Sci, and Biz Econ.</p>
<p>I was aware of TAP being a program geared towards UCLA, not Berkeley? And I was actually asking mainly about rhetoric and legal studies at Berkeley, not poli sci or econ.</p>
<p>I was told by the so. cal transfer advisor that a 3.5 with prereqs completed was competitive for legal studies at Berkeley.</p>
<p>In the case of UCLA econ is much more selective than poli sci by the way. I believe it was about 40% of poli sci applicants were accepted fall 2004 and around 20% of econ applications.</p>
<p>Are you talking about people who applied to Berkeley or UCLA for poli sci?</p>
<p>Gotcha.....yes, but this year's statistic's bear little resemblance to last year's stats regarding majors GPA's, and perhaps next years might also follow suit. You'd have to look up this years stats because I don't have that link. Didn't apply to me.</p>
<p>yes, I know you were referring to legal studies and Rhetoric, but then again, I was referring to my friend's experiences and many who have been on CC and who were rejected from both schools. </p>
<p>TAP actually is useful at all the UC's, not just UCLA. Actually, the GPA's of most of the impacted majors such as Biz Econ, Poli Sci to name a few are the cum. GPA of TAP students (or so I was told at Admissions). It sets you apart from the rest and is a tremendous asset for some.</p>
<p>Regarding your last question, all of them applied to both and I'd say about half were rejected from UCLA and half were rejected from UCB for different reasons I suppose, however, what is stunning is the GPA's/TAP completion didn't seem to help them.</p>
<p>I would have done TAP but considering i just completed my fourth semester in CCC, I don't think it's possible. The honors classes that I've seen are all for classes I've already taken such as the two english semesters, intro to sociology etc. etc. </p>
<p>I think certain honors are overrated. I don't think being a member of phi theta kappa for instance is that big of a deal. You need a 3.5 GPA to join, so what? In other words being a member is the same thing as having a 3.5 GPA, it doesn't necessarily mean you were active in anything really, it just means you spent like 60 bucks or whatever it is. Being active in a different club, or different activities would seem just as useful to me if the focus is on actually being active. (Yes I'm sure many PTK students are extremely active within it, so this doesn't apply to all of them). </p>
<p>If the TAP/GPA didn't seem to help them could it be due to a lack of extra-curriculars related to poli sci? </p>
<p>Also what do you mean by this "Actually, the GPA's of most of the impacted majors such as Biz Econ, Poli Sci to name a few are the cum. GPA of TAP students." Are you just saying the TAP gpa is worth more because the courses are harder?</p>
<p>I was going to do TAP as well, but I also chose not to in my third semester, around that time. And yes, I was saying that many, if not most of the students in the more impacted majors completed TAP and yes, schools are more than willing to offer admission to students who go the extra mile in pursuing academic excellence above what is required. jmio</p>
<p>Are you kidding? Phi Theta Kappa is wonderful. Millions in scholarship money, priority enrollment, community involvement, not to mention research opportunities, etc....well, at least I'm grateful for it. I landed quite a few scholarships was in a few events and I have no complaints, (and no the induction fee is waived, just have to know someone who knows someone. lol) Mind you, you don't have to lift a darn finger to be in it, but that's everyone's perogative and up until last year, there was a guarantee to both USC and NYU with just a 3.6 GPA, and a substantial scholarships associated with it. I think it opens more doors than you'd think it would. </p>
<p>you know, it's on a case by case basis. Many wrote extensive stats in the Rejected threads, around April/early May of this year. I just remember marvelling at how much they had done and how ****ed they were not to get into the school of their choice.</p>
<p>Thanks for the awesomely quick reply. Yeah, I think the extra mile academically is important but also (and I know Berkeley specifically mentions this) they want to see NON-academic extra-curricular activities that relate to your major. For political science that's easy since there's so many clubs and internships related to it.</p>
<p>I would join Phi Theta Kappa but I'm not sure I'm eligible. I have a 3.5, but thats with a combo of cccs. I know there's a lot of benefits but I was referring to the fact that you dont necessarily have to participate in anything (you can just have a 3.5 GPA and you're in). Colleges want to see participation so in that sense I think PTK membership can be overrated.</p>
<p>I checked out a lot of the rejected threads especially for Berkeley legal studies and rhetoric, but didn't really find anything. I'm going to go back and check them for poli sci at UCLA and Berk.</p>
<p>Sounds good......can't wait to see people's reactions next year. It's going to be brutal. lol This last April, you'd get hourly reports about rejections and acceptances. It was great.</p>
<p>I know the vast majority of people don't do anything in Phi Theta Kappa and that's fine, but there's over 100 million in scholarsips to be had and most app's don't require you to be active in Phi Theta Kappa, just have to be a member. That's my point. Or maybe you come from an extremely wealthy family who......upon your Freshman year will pay for everything and a nice new Z4? lol For most of us, Phi Theta Kappa allows two great things without any particular paricipation, 1) Scholarships monies, and 2)getting into colleges on a guaranteed basis you normally wouldn't have gotten into otherwise.</p>
<p>Furthermore, heck.....I didn't have any EC's related to my major, nor did I attend high school, but I got into UCLA, Berkeley, Columbia and others. So, like I said.....it's on a case by case basis, but it's great talking to people because you gain a better sense of what is required and what schools "seem" to be looking for in a prospective student. There's no clear "formula" like.....great GPA+TAP+disadvantaged background=acceptance. </p>
<p>Frankly, I wrote my essay to the UC's in the last hour they were due back in November because I had been so busy at the time (probably family drama, and work responsibilities). I had waited for a year or so to complete the application and I almost forgot!</p>
<p>Yeah, there's always exceptions to every rule. You really wrote the essay in the last hour?? TAlk about some great procrastination...hah. Was it a good essay?</p>
<p>I was in a similar situation a few months ago. I plan on transferring to UCSB but through assist.org I had found out that Law & Society has the same prerequisites as Global Studies but without the 4 semesters of a foreign language. I had thought about applying as Law & Society then later switching to Global Studies, but I'm more for traveling the world now rather than becoming a lawyer. are you planning on going to law school?</p>
<p>this is besides the point, but political science, philosophy, rhetoric, legal studies are all hot majors. I'm sure you'd get all the babes with either one. I'm serious, my friend at Berkeley talks to me all the time about these wonderful intellectual guys she meets who always are studying one of those (+ architecture). then after I feel all crappy since I'm still down here at my CCC where every other guy seems to be a graphic design major. yuck.</p>
<p>I got into Cal, UCSB and UCLA. Remarkably, I guess it was good enough. :)</p>