<p>Hi. I’m going to be a Freshman in Fall 2008. During high school I had to switch schools 7 different times, through 3 different countries. By the time I settled in the US it was my senior year, and I had virtually no AP classes. I got into UCSB but I want to transfer out. Everywhere I go, people make it sound like transferring from one UC to another is damn near impossible. Is this true? Anyone have any advice for me? </p>
<p>I am aiming for the two higher ranked UCs, Berkeley or UCLA, so this makes it more challenging, but if anyone else has been in the same predicament, could they help me out? Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>Transferring among UCs is difficult, but not impossible. You need a darn good reason to transfer, and "higher ranked" is not a good reason. Also, Cal (nor UCLA, I think) will accept a Soph transfer, so you will be at SB for at least two years. If a certificate from Cal or UCLA is your ultimate goal, suggest you consider attending a community college for two years and transferring from there.</p>
<p>Where does it say that the student better have a "darn good reason to transfer?" I do realize and understand that students from a community college take top priority because they know the student does not want to be there, but they still (in my opinion) take a good chunk of students from 'lower' UC's. There were some statistics floating around a few months ago that basically proved all the naysayers wrong by showing that a student going to a community college trying to get into Cal has a comparable chance to a student going to a lower tier UC. In fact, the transfer rates were quite high with an average gpa around the 3.5 range. For arguably the top or one of the top public universities in the country, that is quite doable.</p>
<p>^^good point -- it ain't written anywhere but is just human nature. One of the first questions that will cross an application reader's mind is: 'hmmmm, this student is already at a highly-ranked, four year university, so why does s/he want to transfer?' The second question would be 'why should I accept this student (from other UC) instead of a community college student who HAS to transfer?'</p>
<p>Obviously, it's not required to address either issue in the transfer application, but students that provide valid reasons are much more likely to be successful in the process, IMO.</p>