<p>I'm a little bit confused about the lower division courses required for your major thing. On some website, it says you should take as many lower div courses as possible. On some others it says you need at least 80% of it. On the Transfer FAQ on CC it you have to take all of them since berkeley is really strict on this. I also called the admission office and they said you need to complete 100% of it.</p>
<p>The thing is my college doesn't offer all the pre reqs. It does offer all the basic courses (math chem and whatnot) but it doesn't have some (only like 3-4) techincal (engineering) courses. So</p>
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<li>is it okay to miss 3-4 courses (still meet the 80% requirement) and is still a good candidate? (besides the GPA part) Or do I really have to go find a community college that has them and take them? I'm a MechE major.</li>
<li>I'm from UCSD and none of the CC's near my college and near my home offer all the pre req courses (missing like 3-4 as I said). UCSD however offers courses that are really similar to the berkeley pre reqs, but it's not like official (no articulation set up between the schools). So can I like have my professors or anyone sign a form to say it's equivalent or only Berkeley people can do that? (I called the Berkeley office and they said only Berkeley will evaluate that once you get in) If I can't have it verified as equivalent does it give me any advantage if I take those similar but not counted courses?</li>
<li>For UCSD-UCB transfer how high of a GPA do you need? and I heard people say besides a high GPA, you also need a damn good reason to transfer and say that in your essay. is that true? ANd how much is the essay worth in the application?</li>
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<p>I know I have a lot of questions. But I'd appreciate if you can help me answer them!</p>
<p>I can’t help you out with the prerequisite question that well since I don’t know for sure how seriously Berkeley takes it. I think the goal is for students to take as many lower division pre-requisites as possible by Fall prior to transfer so they can see if the student can handle major coursework, and then to complete most if not all by Spring prior to transfer. If you can’t take some of the pre-requisites, then there is nothing you can do. The system is set up for CCC transfers who often have access to all of these courses, so as a UC-UC transfer, I think the system is more lenient. </p>
<p>GPA required depends on your major. It sounds like you are in a technical major. You should definitely aim for upwards 3.5. I don’t honestly think the ‘reason to transfer’ is all that important. If you actually had a really good reason (i.e. Your mom is dying and she needs you to support her for the last three months of her life) then yeah, of course a good reason would give you a good boost. The vast majority of UC-UC transfer though are simply looking for a better program than they currently have, better social life, better faculty, better facilities, and all the other bonuses that come with transferring to a premiere University (UCB).</p>
<p>yeah but i called the Cal office and they said if i can’t take them at a local CC, I"ll have to find a different CC and take them. she said i need to finish 100% of it. so i was just confused</p>
<p>yeah but i mean the website said you only need 80% of it (so that lady i talked to might be wrong):</p>
<p>“You • must complete at least 80 percent of the required lower-division admission courses with UCB-equivalent courses by the end of the spring term prior to transfer. You must demonstrate strong academic performance in this coursework.”</p>