Transferring from a CC to a UC/CSU. Fall 2013 Application Deadlines

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>To whomever that can help me in my situation, I am giving you a big thanks in advance.
I'm currently a community college student in Los Angeles Valley College and this past month, I've been filling out UC/CSU applications non-stop. I have some inquiries about the transferring process, selection process, and other various factors that can affect my acceptance/rejection.</p>

<p>My current marks aren't the greatest example of an exceptional student as I currently have a 2.87 GPA in my community college. I am hoping to transfer out to a university by Fall 2013, and I have met most of the IGETC/GE-BREADTH requirements with a few exceptions. </p>

<p>As of the Fall 2012 semester, I am taking two requirements for transfer, English 101 and Speech 101. In the upcoming Winter 2013 semester, I am planning to take English 103 and for Spring 2013, I am planning to take Math 245 which then will successfully complete all requirements I have to meet to transfer out Fall 2013 to a university.</p>

<p>This fall, I am taking 13 units in total, and I am 100% sure that I will be getting these grades:</p>

<p>A - Speech 101
B - English 101
A - Math 125
A - Physical Education 690
A - Physical Education 628</p>

<p>And I calculated the GPA accumulated during this semester, and my current GPA would be 3.54. Then calculating the average with the 2.87, my overall GPA coming spring semester would be 3.205. </p>

<p>Although I put 2.87 as my current GPA in the applications, would these universities acknowledge the improvement on my GPA and further help my chance of being accepted by these universities? </p>

<p>Universities that I have applied to:
CSU Fullerton (Intended Major: Communications [emphasis on Advertising])
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Intended Major: Communication Studies)
CSU Long Beach (Intended Major: Communication Studies)
CSU Northridge (Intended Major: Communication Studies)
CSU Los Angeles (Intended Major: Communication Studies)
San Francisco State University (Intended Major: Communication Studies)
UCLA (Intended Major: Communication Studies)
UCSB (Intended Major: Communication Studies)</p>

<p>I hope that I could be helped as soon as possible. Deadlines are on the 30th of November and I only have a few more things to do with the applications until I pay and submit them. </p>

<p>If there are more questions about my transcripts, current social stature, etc, feel free to ask. Thank you so much for your time.</p>

2

<p>bump, I’m in need of some assistance.</p>

3

<p>You should check the universities grade requirements for transfers. Some majors require minimum gpa’s. The UC’s are out of your reach, especially if you posted a 2.87. If you have great EC’s then they may take a second look. You would have to explain your CC grades and why you were at a B- average. The UC’s are getting transfers with 4.0’s so you may want to review your involvement in community service.</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much for your feedback, Aunt Bea. Funnily enough, my niece’s name is Bea! :P</p>

<p>So would it be pointless for me to spend $140 on the applications for UCLA and UCSB? I’m sure that my GPA by the end of Fall 2012 would be 3.20 and I’m also aiming for it to improve more by spring 2013 to a 3.7, but the UC’s wouldn’t acknowledge this improvement further? </p>

<p>Also, I looked into all the CSU communications requirements and most have their minimum GPA at 2.5. Would these Cal States also notice my GPA’s further improvement? I’m only considered a “local” in two of these Cal States, which is Northridge and Los Angeles. Would my chances significantly lower at the other schools I’m applying at such as Fullerton, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, and Long Beach?</p>

<p>Any further help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!</p>

5

<p>I hate to sound like a naggy and needy person but I’m bumping this :(</p>

6

<p>UCLA is heavily impacted for Communication Studies, so you’re definitely not getting into there.</p>

7

<p>Did you take any remedial courses at cc? If you did than you need to factor those grades out of your overall GPA. What is this English 103 and Math 245 course that you are taking during the winter and spring semesters? If these are your college English and math requirement than you may definitely get rejected. Last year there were applicants that had 3.8+ GPAs and got rejected because they took their English and Math requirement way too late. </p>

<p>The universities will definitely see the improvement but a 3.2 gpa is still below UC standards(the top tier campuses at least). You could TAG to UCI or UC Davis with a 3.2 but only Davis offers a Communications major. The average GPA to get into the comm program at UCLA last year was a 3.94 and 3.93 the year before that. So yeah, heavily heavily impacted. I’m trying to switch into the major at UCLA right now and its really tough. I applied with a 3.5 gpa(which is not great either) and I did get accepted to the other UC’s for comm studies(I think my EC’s work experience helped a lot) and all the CSU’s that I applied to so you should bump up your GPA as high as you can. Yes the minimum for CSU is 2.5 but that is the minimum for them not to throw out the application. Comm is still very impacted at the CSUs so realistically the applicants have much higher GPAs. For example, when I applied last year CSULB did their admissions for the comm majors in “rounds”. I was notified each time my application had made it through to the next round. It will be more competitive this year due to further budget cuts. </p>

<p>No the UCs don’t care about Spring 2013, it will not affect the decisions. Decisions are released mid Spring semester so your Spring grades will not be factored into your decision.</p>

<p>So I would say forget about UCLA unless you plan to apply to a different major but apply to Davis and SB and do the TAG. I’m sure you’ll get into one of the CSUs though. Will you be mentioning/explaining yourself for a low GPA in the UC apps? That may help.</p>

<p>I doubt living in LA will have any impact on CSUF, SFSU or SLO. It’s only if you’re out of state.</p>

8

<p>Yes, I took the remedial courses at my CC. I took English 28 to get into Eng 101 (which Im in right now) and Math 115 to get into Math 125(which I’m in right now so I can take Math 245 (College Algebra, a GE Requirement). Oh man, that scares me… but don’t they allow the classes to finish before they ultimately attend during Fall 2013? That’s what I’ve been informed with… and now I’m scared.</p>

<p>I took down the UC’s, I figured that unfortunately it’s a waste and I’m not going to get in so I’m just aiming for those Cal States. </p>

<p>Calculated, by the time I finish my spring 2013 semester I will have a 3.5 GPA before I enter Fall 2013 in whichever university I go… would this still help me out? I’m genuinely scared now. Thank you so much for your feedback though, that’s the honest advice I needed.</p>

9

<p>Use this gpa calculator to factor out your remedial course grades if you have not already because you will only be submitting your “UC transferable GPA” which does not include remedial classes. <a href="http://www.college-/online_college_gpa_calculator.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.college-/online_college_gpa_calculator.htm</a></p>

<p>So you MUST take that 245 college math course in the Winter semester. Is the English course that you are in right now the required college level course or is it also remedial? If you have to take another course during the winter before you can take Math 245 in the spring than you will be screwed. Can you take stats during the Winter instead? The biggest issue I see here is that if you can’t have your general Math and English done before the Spring than you chances will be 0. UC also requires a second college level English. When I was at cc I had to take remedial English, English 68(remedial)–> English 1A(for CSU) and —> English 1C(for UC requirement). So it looks like the Eng 101 that you are taking now is equivalent to the Eng 1A that I took. So you still need the next English to finish IGETC for UC.</p>

<p>BTW why are you taking College Algebra? You only need statistics for communications. Have you looked at [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to see the major requirements for Comm studies? According to assist.org for UCSB for example, the only major prereq that is offered at LA Valley College is Math 225 which is stats. You don’t need the college algebra.</p>

<p>And yes the UC/CSUs will wait until your grades come in after Spring 2013 to finalize your admission. But the decisions, if I remember correctly, come out in April so mid Spring semester. So the last grades that will go into consideration for your application is the Winter semester. Basically the Spring 2013 semester will only finalize your admission. For example, you got accepted to UCSB, but if you failed a course than your admission will be rescinded. My last spring semester before transfer I was taking a computer science course that was kicking my ass. I didn’t even need the course, only UCI required that course but the thing was I had already been accepted to UCLA. So basically I was very scared of failing the class because if I did I would have had my admission rescinded. But I ended up getting a C in the class. The reason they don’t allow you to take the GE math and Eng requirement during the Spring is because they don’t know if you will pass the course or not and its the most basic english and math requirement too. That’s why it is a bad idea to leave those GE courses until the very end. </p>

<p>I was out of school for a few years so I had to take a bunch of remedial courses when I went back to CC. I hated math but I had to start from pre-algebra so I couldn’t postpone it and had to take math my first semester. I had to do Math 50–> Math 51–> Math 71–> Math 110(Stats). So as much as I hated math and wanted to procrastinate, I knew if I held off I wouldn’t have the remedial courses done in time to take the college level one. </p>

<p>I would say still apply to UCSB and UC Davis for communications. You won’t know unless you try. At least it will never leave you wondering if you didn’t apply. Make sure you check assist.org for your Comm studies prereqs.</p>

<p>sorry my post is kinda long. But I know how stressful this time is. My brother transferred to UCLA the year before I did so he helped me through the process, and my younger sister is applying for Fall 2013 transfer as well, hoping to get into UCLA to complete the Bruin family. LOL. Good luck!</p>

10

<p>Well, as much to my dismay, I completely gave up on my plans on going to the UC’s.
I’m now focused on the CSU’s. I’ll just make sure I do great on the Cal States as I’m planning to go to graduate school and I’m hoping UCLA will be my graduate school. </p>

<p>Math 245 actually is also a GE requirement, as I don’t need to take Stats! Thankfully not, all my friends got really bad grades on that class :confused: So I’d rather take that. It fulfills the IGETC/CSU-BREADTH requirement.</p>

<p>So now my main question is, I’m taking English 103 for the Winter session, and for the Spring session, I’m taking Math 245. Would they still consider me for admission even though I finish Math 245 by the end of spring? I’m sure that I’ll get a good grade on it, and I’m highly positive that I will pass English 103 as well. English 101, Eng 103, Speech 101, and Math 245 are the four main classes I need to finish. By the end of Fall, English 101 and Speech 101 are finished, I’m assuming both A’s, maybe a B. Then, for winter 2013, the class would be Eng 103. Then Spring is Math 245. </p>

<p>Am I still eligible??</p>

<p>BTW THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT AMAZING FEEDBACK. That’s the kind of feedback I needed. It truly helped me!! And I hope that your sister gets in and becomes a Bruin!!!</p>

11

<p>I think you should call the CSU’s and double check but most likely they will not allow it if you are taking Math 245 during the spring. What else are you taking during the Winter? You need to fulfill the “Golden 4” that the CSU’s require. I highly highly recommend you take your English course and the Math 245 course during the winter. Yes I understand that it will be a heavier load but in your situation it could either make or break you. </p>

<p>I found this off DeAnza College’s(a CC in the bay area) website regarding transferring to CSU. According to them it says;</p>

<hr>

<p>Complete the Golden Four within a Specific Time Before Transferring:</p>

<p>These Golden Four classes must also be completed within a specific time before transfer. For students planning on a fall transfer, they must be completed no later than the previous spring quarter. For students planning on a winter or spring transfer, these classes should be completed no later than the previous fall quarter.
*******************************************************************<a href=“faculty.deanza.*.edu”>faculty.deanza.*.edu;

<p>So according to this, CSU requires that you must have your Math and English done by the end of THIS semester. So if that is the case I’m sorry to say that you may be in trouble. Please call the CSU campuses and confirm this. I can understand why the CSU’s might be a little stricter on this than the UC’s since the CSU application process is much less intensive than the UC application. Again I highly suggest you apply to UC Davis or UCSB. Your essay doesn’t need to be great since generally the UC campuses don’t factor in your essay towards your decision(except for UCLA and Cal). Did you sign up for the Transfer Admission Guarantee(TAG) program for any of the UC campuses? If you could pull off a 3.2 by the end of this semester you would have been eligible for UCSB or UC Davis.</p>

<p>Again, apply to as many schools as you can, including the UC’s. If you throw out a bigger net, you catch more fish right? When I applied I wanted to do it right and have plenty of backups and options so I actually applied to 12 different campuses. LOL.</p>