U.C. Berkeley (Haas); Help Please

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>I plan on transferring into Haas after my sophomore year at a community college. At the moment I'm deciding on which college to go to. In my area, there's American River College and Sierra College. Which of the two is considered "better"? Which of these two would give me a better chance of getting accepted to Haas?</p>

<p>Here are the prerequisite for transfer students to Haas:</p>

<p>Admissions</a> for Transfer Students, Undergraduate Program, Berkeley-Haas</p>

<p>I noticed that American River College has a much broader selection of courses. Sierra doesn't have as many classes, but assist.org showed me a few classes that I could take instead of such and such that Sierra doesn't teach. At the moment I'm kind of leaning towards American River College; but I'm not too sure. Please help me out. Thanks you so much.</p>

2

<p>Doesn’t matter which you go to. What matters is your GPA, prereqs, EC/work experience, personal statements and essays.</p>

3

<p>I understand that UCB; its just that the two different colleges have different courses. For example, A.R.C. has “principles of microeconomics” and “principles of macroeconomics”, while Sierra just has a single class that covers both of them. I understand that its mostly GPA and how you did, but just for the hell of it, which of the two would you recommend? I see you’re from Sacramento so you probably know a few people who went to both.</p>

4

<p>You can take courses from both CCs to meet the pre-reqs. I recommend you take the micro & macro class at ARC. The singlel class that covers micro AND macro will more than likely not transfer over since they are rather important classes.</p>

5

<p>Finance - THERE REALLY IS NO DIFFERNCE. You have to take two econ classes at either school. Go to the one that is closest to you, less travel time. SFS makes a solid point, sign up at both and whatever classes you can get into that fit your schedule.</p>

6

<p>Lucky for you, I attend both ARC and Sierra College. Even though it’s listed as Principles of Economics, Econ 1A covers Macroeconomics and 1B covers Microeconomics. I have no idea why they named the courses that. They are separate and do not overlap. </p>

<p>The econ professors at Sierra College are tough but for different reasons. Two of the professors (Farhengi, Behrooz) both have very, very thick accents. It was near impossible to follow along with the lectures and I taught myself everything from the book. The 3rd professor (Auslam) is tough as well but he’s just a tough grader. He also requires a subscription to the WSJ and other small things like that. Economics is not very popular here. The Econ club is pretty much non-existant. I mean it exists, but loosely if that makes any sense. I don’t think I’ve met another econ major at Sierra to be honest. Econ is very unpopular here for whatever reason. But you’re aiming for Haas so don’t worry about that.</p>

<p>As for the rest, math is excellent at both Sierra and ARC. I took my first Calc course at Sierra and my second is planned at ARC(pending). I did take another math class at ARC that was a prerequisite. Sierra College’s math program is fantastic. All the teachers go above and beyond to help students. The Math tutoring center is great. If you take the Math 30 series (I believe you have a choice between the 16 series and the 30 series), there should be no issues getting into any classes. Now the 16 series is more tricky. I’ve struggled trying to get into Math 16B. It’s not being offered for the Summer or next Fall. In fact, I think it’s only offered in the Spring now. That could be problematic if you are gunning for 2 years. The 30 series is available year round and I think you only need 30 and 31. The 30 series has more prerequisites though (Trig + College algebra OR Pre-Calc).
And of course, you can always test into 16A or 30. </p>

<p>I think that’s all you need for Haas right? Econ + Calc? Prerequisites of course.</p>

<p>ARC is much bigger(# of students). They definitely have a broader range of classes and you’ll have less trouble getting into classes there. For ex. Math 351 (their equivalent of 16B) is offered year round and sometimes in the Summer. I haven’t been at ARC too long so I can’t speak much for it. I only took a couple classes, one being a math prereq. That was in 2011 though. </p>

<p>SC is less crowded but it’s harder to get into classes because there are just not enough classes offered. SC was hit pretty hard with the budget cuts. The campus is absolutely beautiful. I love it. Parking is a major pain in the ass. The student body here is very lazy and unmotivated. Most people are here just to waste time or transfer to Sac State. The transfer rate is around 14%(IIRC) which is very low. I dislike working with other students. I know I sound like a huge d-bag with a superiority complex but I’m being serious. There are very few students who are actually motivated to get good grades and succeed. </p>

<p>I can’t speak the same for ARC because I spent far less time there. One huge advantage ARC has is that you can take classes at other CCs in in the Los Rios District. This is fantastic and a huge help in the event you can’t get into a class at ARC. The other CCs are Sac City College, Folsom Lake College, and I think Consumes CC? When you sign up for classes, you can sign up for any class at all four in one place. Now at Sierra, if you can’t get into a class, you either have to wait, register into the Los Rios District, or go up north(north east?) to Yuba CC.</p>

<p>I don’t think either CC has any advantage over the other in terms of getting into Haas. I completely agree with everyone else. Work experience, GPA, ECs, Personal Statement, and pre-req completion are more important. It’s just up to you whether you choose to do this all at ARC, SC or both.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for all the help guys! Emprex, that post covered a lot of what I was wondering. I think I’ll enroll into American River College. I thought it was the complete opposite about unmotivated students. I don’t know plenty of students from Sierra, but to me it seemed like a lot of A.R.C. students enrolled just to receive financial aid. As for work experience; what exactly is Haas looking for? Manager at a fast food joint? I don’t see how an 18-20 year old student can have much of a working experience.</p>

8

<p>No problem. As for work experience, it’s pretty broad. I think anything that shows you have genuine interest in business/finance etc. will work. I didn’t apply for Haas so I don’t really know. If you go into past decisions threads, you can check out the stats of people accepted into Haas. They’ll usually post what kind of work experience they have. There are also some Haas applicants this year who could help you out.</p>

<p>Try going through this thread and see if any work experience is posted:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1153370-official-uc-berkeley-haas-transfers-fall-2012-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1153370-official-uc-berkeley-haas-transfers-fall-2012-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>And I felt the same way at Sierra. I don’t know the specifics but it seems like a lot of people abuse the financial aid system. They’ll get money then drop the class or just not buy the book. I don’t know how it works or if they keep the money or what but just rumors I’ve heard. I don’t think it’s exclusive to just Sierra.</p>

10

<p>This should be better than some of my personal anecdotes:</p>

<p>Page 53 for ARC
Page 671 for SC</p>

<p><a href=“http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/reportsTB/March_ARCC_2011.pdf[/url]”>http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/reportsTB/March_ARCC_2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>slightly old</p>

11

<p>Awesome! Again, thanks for the help. The PDF that you showed me proved that Sierra was slightly more focused on school work. Nothing too major; 2-3% difference. How exactly does enrolling into two different community colleges work?</p>

12

<p>I know this may be bad but there are many teachers at ARC that will give you an easy “A”. (not intended but personal experience from taking many math courses(calculus up to differential equations) and a few economics courses). The trade-off is that you may get a high GPA but you may not be academically prepared.</p>

<p>To answer your question about enrolling in two schools, you just enroll like any other student.</p>

<p>The fallback on enrolling in those two schools is that you may not receive an adequate amount of financial aid (assuming you get it in the first place) if you don’t take at least 12 units at one of the schools. You can not fill out a consortium (combine units at two different schools for financial aid reasons) for Sierra and ARC. On the other hand, you can for schools within the Los Rios District (ARC SCC CRC FLC). </p>

<p>Classes will be difficult to get into. I’d recommend you trying to enroll in as many schools as you can if you cannot get into the classes at a particular school (I’ve taken classes at ARC, CRC and FLC all in one semester).</p>

13

<p>thanks hopingtoxfer</p>

14

<p>Hmmm, I see. Am I right in assuming that breadth requirements are just general education? Also how about summer courses? I know a few universities don’t accept summer courses. Is that alright with Haas? I plan on taking 15 units a semester, and than maybe some summer units if needed. I’m starting community college in the fall semester by the way. When would I need to transfer? I plan on getting 60+ credits at the end of my sophomore year. When I’m in the transition between my sophomore and junior years.</p>

15

<p>“Breadth is not required for admission to the Haas Undergraduate Program.
However, students are encouraged to spread breadth coursework over 4 years.”</p>

<p>Hmmm?</p>

16

<p>Transfer students used to be required to fulfill the breadth requirement. It was removed as a requirement starting this application cycle (Fall 2013). And yes, Haas should accept summer courses with the exception being the summer right before you transfer (soph. summer). I think you have to have everything done by the end of that spring (soph. spring). </p>

<p>I’m taking a guess here but I think you would start filling out applications your sophomore year in Fall. So, around Sept/Oct. 2014? Assuming you’ll have 60+ units done by the end of Spring 2015. Also, it’s not uncommon for students to spend 3 years at a CC. Sometimes even 4. It’s getting tougher to get into classes/prerequisites.</p>