<p>Haven't been in this section for a while. This might be overdone, but ask me anything. I basically followed this forum like a hawk.</p>
<p>Got in to</p>
<p>Berkeley
UCLA
UCD
UCSD</p>
<p>This is my final semester here.</p>
<p>Full Stats please? thanks</p>
<p>I forgot my stats. lol. Looking back through my post history brought all the joys of the transfer process back to me. I do know a lot about it. I pretty much studied it for an entire year. I can also talk about how things are at berkeley</p>
<p>Political Science
3.47
TAP
IGETC certified, Prereq’s completed
A couple of clubs, co-founder of a club
Full-time work while at CC</p>
<p>Accepted to every UC I applied to</p>
<p>Hi MortimerC, I too am majoring in political science and hope to attend Cal this Fall. Thank you for taking the time to help us applicants out. A few questions if you don’t mind…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I believe that polisci majors must take Political Science 3 at Berkeley. Can you briefly describe what the class entails and its difficulty? I believe its difficult to get a seat in that class, so how did you sign up for that class, among others? And when did you take it?</p></li>
<li><p>What clubs/organizations are you involved in now? How much time do you put into that? Do you have a part-time job over there?</p></li>
<li><p>How is the course load there? How many hours a day do you put into studying?</p></li>
<li><p>Are your PS courses graded on a curved? Do you frequently attend office hours or speak to GSI’s?</p></li>
<li><p>Regarding housing, where are you staying? Apartments? Co-Ops? How’s it working out for you so far?</p></li>
<li><p>Any other tips for new transfer students? Anything you found useful since receiving your acceptance letter up till now?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’ll probably have more questions for you but these are all I can think of for now. Thanks!</p>
<p>Wow! </p>
<p>Were pre-reqs completed for each UC you applied to? Also if you dont meet the Cal Breadth Req because of one simple thing (AP English score) am I immediately denied?</p>
<p>Things must have gotten significantly competitive GPA-wise, or have I been really freaking out…</p>
<p>Also, why Cal out of all of those selected?</p>
<p>Hi MortimerC, I too am majoring in political science and hope to attend Cal this Fall. Thank you for taking the time to help us applicants out. A few questions if you don’t mind…</p>
<p>Hello, would love to see you at Cal in the fall. I have a double major I might be completing so I still may be there.</p>
<ol>
<li>I believe that polisci majors must take Political Science 3 at Berkeley. Can you briefly describe what the class entails and its difficulty? I believe its difficult to get a seat in that class, so how did you sign up for that class, among others? And when did you take it?</li>
</ol>
<p>PS3 is research methods. It’s a stats course and yes, I took it my junior year. The thing about it is the vast majority of polisci majors avoid taking it to the last possible moment so if it is first, the seniors will get 1st dibs. Basically, people are not chomping at the bit to take that class, you should be able to take it your first semester if you want.
The advisers, who are very nice, will gently recommend that you take it with a certain Professor. This Professor’s class is much more soft on the mathematical aspects of the course. Try to take it with that Professor. The stats I took at CC was more difficult than this class.</p>
<ol>
<li>What clubs/organizations are you involved in now? How much time do you put into that? Do you have a part-time job over there?</li>
</ol>
<p>I have an internship and research position. As far as clubs, I bounce from club to club and am only active in a leadership position in one club. I believe that research/internships are much more important than clubs especially for what I plan to do when I graduate. My internship is actually pretty competitive, no idea how I got it. I’m lucky.</p>
<ol>
<li>How is the course load there? How many hours a day do you put into studying?</li>
</ol>
<p>The course load is fair. I have taken the recommended 13 units and found that too light. I took significantly more and found that too heavy. I think one of fair intellectual ability can handle 16 units or there about without going insane. I don’t study everyday, but for the week I’d say I put in about…eh anywhere from 10-15 hours of studying. But you can do okay with less. Most of it is reading amd essay writing.
The reading for most classes consists of books and a class reader which is a photocopied book with selected research papers and scholarly articles selected by the professor which you buy at one of the numerous copycenters near campus. If you put in the work, you can do well in most classes. You will encounter a class where the GSI’s are brutal, take it in stride and keep moving, it all balances out in the end.</p>
<ol>
<li>Are your PS courses graded on a curved? Do you frequently attend office hours or speak to GSI’s?</li>
</ol>
<p>No polisci course I have taken is graded on a curve. Although some classes might have a soft guideline the GSI’s have to follow. Office hours are difficult for me because I am so busy. I have various academic commitments, though most Professors ARE flexible. With some of the more popular professors, you may have to wait outside the office for a significant amount of time to get your 10 mins with him or her. Oddly enough, some of the professors that can help you (old tenured) have the most empty office hours. You need to seek a couple of these people out and befriend them. Take interest in their research. Going to everyone’s office hours, I’ve found, is not time efficient. But if you can, it couldn’t hurt.</p>
<p>GSI’s are a great resource and since discussion sections are much smaller, you’re able to have more personal relationships with you. Get to know them, use them to your advantage. If they know you do high quality work and you slip, maybe, because you’ve attended office hours, they take your participation in while grading, you know that sort of thing. Our Grad programs are excellent all around and so most of the GSIs are the best of the best. Some …not so much. More good than bad.
I’ve never had a “bad” professor in relation to what I was exposed to at CC.</p>
<ol>
<li>Regarding housing, where are you staying? Apartments? Co-Ops? How’s it working out for you so far?</li>
</ol>
<p>I can generally talk about the various housing situations. The closer you are to campus the better for your academic and social life. Living off campus as a new student is tough, but if you are a gregarious person and make friends easily then you can. I definitely recommend the co-ops although it might not be the most ideal situation for a lot of people as you may not get your first choice with no points. Flesh out all of your options and see what’s right for you. There are some good deals out there for apartments if you’re willing to take the effort and look. I am happy where I am out but I feel it’s a bit expensive</p>
<ol>
<li>Any other tips for new transfer students? Anything you found useful since receiving your acceptance letter up till now?</li>
</ol>
<p>So much advice. I don’t know where to begin. 1st of all is don’t fret. If you’re on this site, you’ve taken a step that 90% of students looking to transfer will never take. You know how the system works so just let it play out. I don’t think things would be that much different if I went to UCLA or UCSD. The UC system has a lot of fantastic schools.
Did I think I was going to Berkley with my GPA? absolutely not, but miracles happen and no one cares what I did at CC now. So just hang in there, don’t overwork yourself don’t get psyched out and don’t psych yourself out.</p>
<p>Once you get here…relax a little, you made it! take an easy cake schedule and get acclimated. You will have plenty of time/ units to do what you you want if you plan things out intelligently…
If you feel you are slipping, or if you’re doing well and can take on more SEEK RESOURCES OUT. You can do ANYTHING at Cal (nearly). I know a lot about the school, but I probably don’t even know 40% of what’s available. Talk to people, ask questions and if you get an answer you don’t like, ask someone else. there is usually a way to do what you want to do even if you think the rules say otherwise. There’s a form for everything.</p>
<p>Thank you so much MortimerC for your time and effort in answering my questions. I’m eagerly looking forward to Cal should I get accepted and I will definitely take in everything you said. Wish me luck!
<em>crosses fingers</em></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is my personal opinion after reading everything on the internet about the transfer process. Given a minimum competitive GPA. PRE-REQS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING especially for specialty programs like HASS. If you have a 4.0 and no completed pre-reqs, you are not getting in. So yes, pre-reqs. TAGS for the other schools. Finish them, if you can’t now, plan on taking them the semester before you transfer. The school will most likely give you a conditional admission if everything checks out. Just take English 1 and 2 and you will be good to go. don’t slack.</p>
<p>I chose Cal because I felt it gave me the best opportunity regarding my future. I also felt that the student body was unparalleled compared to the other UCs. There were also other personal factors that went into play.</p>
<p>Okay, my girlfriend told me not to lie and say I study 15 hours a week. We don’t. she has like a 3.7 GPA and says she doesn’t study but she is lying, she’s always reading when she’s over here.
But yeah it’s probably more around 10 hours when something important is coming up.</p>
<p>wow congratulations</p>
<p>so you think getting an internship and completing all the prerequistes with good gpa is pretty much what i should do to get into berkeley?</p>
<p>im on my second semester in CC, my first semster i got 3.45 gpa and was depressed because i wanted to get 4.0 to have a good chance at berkeley.</p>
<p>Where are you originally from? Socal/Norcal? OOS?</p>
<p>Are you off campus? How did u find roomates?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Berkeley has holistic admissions. That and a really good narrative in your personal statement might give you a chance. A better chance than people on here think. Do your TAGS and TAPs as well. </p>
<p>
California native. That’s as specific as I’m getting :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Off Campus. I found a place with pre-installed roommates. Ha, they’ve lived here a lot longer than I have. They’re okay, we aren’t like best friends or anything but we never have problems and are pretty lax/chill</p>
<p>Hey</p>
<p>I am applying for a not so impacted major at Berkeley and was wondering, is GPA everything… because i had few stumbles and have a few pre reqs in progress, Which really worries me because i might not be competitive enough? I have a 3.8 something BTW. SO to restate my question is having some pre reqs IP going to hinder my chances at admission? and what would you say a typical transfer GPA is like.</p>
<p>Sorry for all thr questions, just nervous an anxious.</p>
<p>How important is TAP? I have a high GPA (3.91 when applied, 3.93 after fall, 4.00 for major prereqs and IGETC) and my prereqs done, but my major is impacted (psychology) I wasn’t eligible for TAP. Do a lot of accepted transfer students have TAP?</p>
<p>Did you have a minimum GPA to stick to for your last semester/quarter? Is it just 3.0? I’ve had a 4.0 for the past four quarters and I’m a bit worried they’ll ask me to maintain it for spring quarter or take winter quarter into account if I get a B in something.</p>
<p>Do you feel like you get more opportunities at Berkeley? I mean, I don’t know what to do with my major, and our career center is useless. My parents are convinced that once I transfer and get exposure to different fields within psychology, I’ll figure it out. Do you feel the UC really does expose you to more fields? Is their career center half decent? Sorry if that’s a weird question, I’m not really sure how to phrase it.</p>
<p>Cal’s TAP is only for specific majors? I thought it was just a general all purpose helping you transfer thing. I didn’t know it was only for certain majors!</p>
<p>Is Berkeley as insanely tough and rigorous as they say it is? Is it very difficult to get As?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Your GPA is fine. I would worry about your Pre-reqs though. People need to understand, the vast majority of people with 3.8’s 3.9’s and 4.0’s who didn’t get in did so because they didn’t finish their pre reqs or didn’t have a compelling personal statements. Looks like those stumbles are something you could write about. I would focus on finishing your pre reqs. If you don;t get in and are dead set on berkeley, apply next cycle when your pre-reqs are finished and you will most likely get in</p>
<p>
I do not know much about Berkeley’s TAP program, as only some CCs participate, and mine wasn’t one of them. I don’t think a lot of transfers have TAP. No one I know used TAP for Berkeley. I think you will be fine. Impacted majors make it tougher but talking to a psych major (my girlfriend who is in the room as I write this), we don’t think it makes that much of a difference. min GPA to get into psych for a Berkeley student is around 3.3 (either 3.2 or 3.3, she doesn’t remember). I think you will be fine, write a compelling personal statement.</p>
<p>
This is a GREAT question, and the answer is no. They just said no precipitous drop in GPA which I took to mean, anything over a 3.0 would have been fine. UCLA gave me a conditional admittance. I had to get a B or better in Stats. Luckily, I did, so it didn’t affect me. Plus, I had a higher GPA my last semester than what I applied with so everything checked out.
I was worried though because I ended up not being able to take a class that I put on the app. It was an honors class which I replaced with another honors class in an entirely different subject. I called my adcom who told me it was okay to switch as long as it wasn’t a pre-req. I was so nervous!!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The psych department has a lot of research opportunities. They have an email list with upcoming positions that you should sign up for. Talk to professors and GSIs bout their research, something should click. We would implore you to get a research position and see if you are interested in that field. Also, if you can snoop around the summer before admission and see if there are any scholarship programs you can apply to, you might have a leg up on your transfer peers. Some of these programs are work related and can give you more specific, tailored help than the transfer center. I never really used the transfer center, but they do hold internship and job fairs and various workshops.
There are plenty of internship opportunities/ career fairs etc but you have to ask, you have to be proactive. Being passive will KILL you at Berkeley, and so many people are passive. Don;t fall into the trap. So yes, there are a lot of opportunities, you just need to study up on them and ask for them. </p>
<p>*
Also to note. Berkeley is constantly changing its admissions process so take everything I say with a grain of salt. We just don’t know how many transfers, In state and out of state students they will take next year, although I would imagine it to resemble last year’s numbers. I believe that transfers are relatively insulated from these developments though, compared to Freshmen admits.</p>