Transferring to a UC from a private 4-year college

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>I am a rising sophomore (c/o 2015) at a private liberal arts college looking to transfer to a UC for Fall 2013. I love my school but am anticipating a significant decrease in financial aid during my junior/senior years and need to be realistic in giving myself options. At my current school I am working towards a double major in studio art and computer science, but if I were to transfer I would like to apply as a design major (design/media arts for UCLA, visual arts media or ICAM for UCSD, and design for UCD). </p>

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<li><p>Is there any way I can gauge how much of my previous coursework is transferable? My understanding is that I can only apply at the junior level, which is 60-90 semester units, but it seems that have no way of determining which of the courses I've taken are transferable before I apply, since ASSIST is only for CCC students. This is further made complicated by the fact that I go to a small liberal arts college on the East coast (I am, however, a CA resident) and not a large private university like USC or NYU, so I don't think I can just automatically assume that a course is transferable even if it seems comparable to one offered at a UC. This also means that I have no idea what my transferable GPA is at the moment (I'm assuming they disregard the grades for courses that don't transfer), so I have no way of knowing where I stand in regards to admissions.</p></li>
<li><p>Are my chances for admission as a design major at all realistic given that I haven't had the opportunity to take any lower division design courses? (They are not offered at my current school.) I have taken studio art and art history classes, which may or may not fulfill a few of the lower division requirements, depending on the UC (all of the programs differ significantly). ...Or does this only matter if the major is impacted?</p></li>
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<p>Even if they don't look at the prereqs or LD courses specifically, I'm concerned that it would be impossible to finish the major requirements within two years without having completed some of the necessary courses before transferring. If this were the case would I be able to stay in school for another semester or is there a strict credit allowance within which you absolutely must complete your major? My apologies if the answers to all of these questions are obvious - the whole UC system is completely foreign to me.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>In the case that I do not have 60-90 transferable units after finishing my sophomore year at my current school, can I go to a CCC for a semester/year to complete those units and still apply to be a junior for Fall 2014?</p></li>
<li><p>If I am not admitted because I was not able to complete the prereqs, can I complete them at a CCC and apply a year later to be a junior for Fall 2014? (assuming that I still have 90 units or fewer).</p></li>
<li><p>Do community college courses taken during high school count toward the 60-90 semester units?</p></li>
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<p>Any and all answers or advice is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. :)</p>

2

<p>Your biggest problem is going to be that the UCs give transfer applicants who are already attending 4 year colleges the lowest priority for admission. No CCC can award a BA or BS so to obtain a bachelors degree, a CCC student must, at some point, transfer to a four year school. The public higher education system in California is therefore set up to give the highest UC admission priority to applicants from CCCs and lowest priority to applicants already at four year colleges and universities who do not need to transfer to earn a BS or BA.</p>

3

<p>Full Disclosure: I didn’t read your full post.</p>

<p>No, you can’t know for sure what classes will transfer. Generally they will give at least unit credit, but maybe not major prerequisites.</p>

<p>My advice: Cut your losses and go to a CCC. I, too, started at a four-year. I then did 61 units at a CCC, basically starting over. Now I’m at Cal.</p>