I am a prospective transfer student from the San Diego community college district into the UC system for their Bioengineering programs. I am applying to:
UC Berkeley - Bioengineering
UC Los Angeles - Bioengineering
UC San Diego - Bioengineering: Biotechnology
UC Irvine - Biomedical Engineering
UC Santa Cruz - Biomolecular Engineering
UC Riverside - Bioengineering
I would prefer to either go to Cal, LA, or SD. SD is my top choice due to its great research opportunities, variety of other majors (I might switch to Nanoengineering) and close proximity to home. Along with my personal statements, which I have finished (I will email these to anyone who would like to read them), I feel somewhat confident in my stats:
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Pre-major completed (as according to ASSIST.ORG) with the exception of the second course in the Organic Chemistry series (O-Chem II), and the third course in the Physics series (Waves, Oscillations, Optics, Modern Physics) - This last physics course does not apply to UC Berkeley, but instead the rest of the UC schools.
Research assistant in a Neurobiology lab at CSU Long Beach (Used to be a student there - GO 49ers!), concerning the study of the mechanisms through which the hormones estradiol and progesterone turn on and off reproductive behavior circuits in the brain:
- Performed drug injections on female rats
- Performed cutting/collection of rat brain tissue
- Performed/Shadowed surgeries on female rats
- Aided in observing/recording data concerning lordosis and other mating behaviors in rats during behavioral experiments
- Maintained laboratory work areas
Public Affairs and Project director of the CSU Long Beach Biomedical engineering society:
- Advertised events hosted by the Society
- Managed Society’s official Facebook page
- Built, organized, and sold circuit boards concerning Society fundraising
- Designed and built TMS device as showcase project
Made Presidents list @ CSU Long Beach (Fall, Spring semesters)
In the San Diego Community College District Honors Program
My major concern is that I have not finished the entire premajor track. I know that Bioengineering is a competitive and impacted major at most of these schools, and I fear that because of this I maybe rejected. Can anyone give me feedback on this?
Are you completely unable to take the final courses? Not finishing required courses is a huge reason for getting rejected. If you finished those two, I see you getting in wherever you’d like, frankly. Without completing them, well, I’m not sure. It happens, but they’re usually pretty adamant about people completing required courses, especially for engineering majors.
@goldencub the Class schedule for my district just came out, and there is no physics course that fits into my schedule. I can’t taking O-chem II until summer, since i am taking O-Chem I in the spring. I meet the requirements for UC Berkeley, but not the other schools. I have heard of people getting into UCSD and UCLA without completing their entire pre-major track, and I am bagging on my GPA, personal statements, and research experience to get me in. If anything, I would need to take an extra semester at CC, but I honestly don’t see the point if I can complete O-Chem II or the third physics course at CC summer session, or the UC summer session. I’ve been told by a UCSD counselor that this is the last year they are accepting people without 100% completion of their pre-major. It is wrenching to think that my effort might be fruitless just because I did not take two courses in time.
I’d mention the physics course not being offered in your application. If you get rejected, appeal and ask to take the courses over the summer. You could complete them over the summer and apply again, taking a gap year - I’m pretty sure they don’t care about full-time enrollment. If you get rejected this time around, you might as well take them over the summer and take a gap year (where you intern somewhere or something) - or, you can work on classes for a minor, perhaps.
Hopefully it won’t come to that, though. Good luck.
@goldencub taken from a reddit post I made in UCSD subreddit:
“I don’t think you would need to complete all of your premajor classes. I transferred in as a bioE major without completing the lower div physics series or ochem… In my opinion you would have a pretty good chance of getting in as a bioE major. And to answer your other question, general bioE kind of covers everything regarding the topic, while biotechnology is more chemistry/cellular based if I remember correctly. Bioinformatics is quite popular here as well, I like to think of it as a combination of compsci and bioE. I’d recommend learning more about each subdivision and choosing the one that interests you the most. Good luck.”
I think I will take my chances.
By all means, take your chances. You are very competitive, but missing required courses is a massive reason for getting rejected. It’s still possible to get in, absolutely.