Hello im an incoming freshman at csula and although im attending there i wish to transfer to a UC school with a better computer science program. Although the school really doesn’t matter and its what you do with an education that determines success, i wish to attend a UC for the prestige and also a better computer science program overall. People have also been saying that it is really difficult to transfer from a csu to UC so that also motivates me to continue to pursue my transfer goals. As such, whoever can give me some good advice, i wish to know how i should go about my transfer process. I’m entering csula as a computer science major and i really want to take classes that will transfer units over to a UC. I also would like to know how i can take classes at a community college in order to quicken the transfer process, i hope to transfer in 1-2 years. The difficulty of transferring is pretty overwhelming, however, i’m willing to go through the process so hopefully someone can give good advice. Thanks again to anyone who took the time to read this i truly appreciate it !!!
Leave CSULA, enroll at a California community college, ask a counselor about TAG, check assist.org for what classes you need, enroll accordingly
Lot of people are going to tell you it can’t be done. If you play around with this tool - particularly the Transfer by College and the Transfer by Year tabs, you’ll find that a handful of people do transfer from CSU LA to UCs every year. (16 last year)
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/admissions-source-school
The reason people go to CSU LA is to earn a BS/BA from there rather than transfer. Enter the process not expecting much support but, knowing it is possible but not as common as going from a CC - LA City had 174 UC transfer admits last year. Note required courses and GPA threshold are essentially the same for applicants from CSULA and LACC.
TAG is certainly a better worn path and may be worth considering if you know you are bent on a UC and don’t feel comfortable forging your own way. It is easy to find the classes you need and GPA threshold for the 6 campuses that use the program. Most CCs are a very different mix of student than a CSU - Some hell bent on Cal ASAP and others who attend part time and don’t have a plan at all. Just something to think about.
I will caution that earning a competitive GPA in a CS program (CC or CSU) is no picnic.
Hey thanks for the info NCalRent !!! and do you think that i should base my decision on how i do my first year at CSULA? Depending how competitive my GPA is ill stay at CSULA but if it isnt good enough should i drop down to a CC with my units that way i receive the TAG? Oh and also where can you check what general ed classes im supposed to take to transfer? Thanks again for reading my post its greatly appreciated !!!
Here is the link to the UC TAG matrix which should answer most of your questions and what GPA is required to TAG to each of the 6 campuses.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/tag-matrix.pdf
Regarding GE’s, here is the link of the required GE’s for UC’s:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/transfer/advising/igetc/
You can use assist.org and type in a local CC and then your desired UC campus to see what are the GE requirements and major requirements. If you start CSULA, you would have to try and match the CSU GE’s with the UC GE’s which are different.
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html
If you are set on transferring to a UC, I would not attend CSULA, but start at our local CCC. Much easier to articulate the correct courses.
Since school at most of the CSUs starts this week, I think you should stay put, engage in the campus, do your best and see how you feel next year. Maybe you’ll be a club president, love it there and not want to leave. Maybe not… give it the old ‘college try’ and make your decision when you have more info.
I also have the same issue as you at the moment. I am a freshman for fall 2016 attending San Diego State University, a CSU, and am also hoping to transfer into a UC. I’ve read quite a few threads stating that the only way to go about this is to transfer to a community college first. In all honesty I’m probably going to transfer to a CCC for the spring 2017 term just so I can transfer to UCI within 2 years. My main concern is the difference in course level and requirements, so trust me we’re on the same worried boat. I’m also trying to get counseling at the CCC to see how to make this transfer smoother for me since everything is kind of up in the air.
School has been in for just a couple of weeks. You should really give SDSU a fair shot before making plans - apply to transfer to UCI as a Jr if you want but, stay put until then.