<p>does taking a heavy courseload of classes and doing well have any significant impact on admissions decisions at schools like UCLA or UC Berkeley?</p>
<p>for example, my courseload for fall 2013: 19 units total (the max allowed at my ccc)
-Genetics (3rd semester bio class): A
-O-chem (1st semester): A
-Physics (1st semester): A
-Writing (2nd semester): A
-MicroEcon: A</p>
<p>Yes it makes a difference. Good grades and high course load are the two biggest criteria admissions look into.</p>
<p>Not really. </p>
<p>And congrats on doing so well last semester with such difficult classes. MicroEcon and o-chem are pretty tough classes for most people.</p>
<p>What matters most is that you got such good grades and continue to get good grades.</p>
<p>so from what you guys are saying, it seems to be good factor but nothing too big in the whole scheme of things. Thanks for the quick replies!</p>
<p>No problem.</p>
<p>nah it makes a huge difference. With that course load and grades you are a shoe-in for everything besides Haas. Because Haas puts equal weight on PS/Resume & Grades; everything else is like 70-30 or 80-20 grades-ps.</p>
<p>@bomerr</p>
<p>The University of California doesn’t officially take in to account the course loads of its applicants and I’ve never really heard of any UC reps saying that they prefer applicants who take a lot of units each semester over those who go part-time or only take about 12 semester/18 quarter units in each term.</p>
<p>Well, it certainly doesn’t hurt. We have to keep in mind though that we’re talking about Junior College transfers. Many work or play sports or have kids or etc. etc. etc. The UC’s aren’t going to penalize or favor someone over a heavy or light course load. GPA and completion of pre-reqs is far more important compared to GPA and a heavy course load. </p>
<p>@bomerr, </p>
<p>“Good grades and high course load are the two biggest criteria admissions look into.”
What’s your source? I would highly doubt this.</p>
<p>I remember someone told me their cousin overloaded and took 25 units a semester. He got into every school he applied too.</p>
<p>The number 1 thing colleges look for is students who can handle a college level course-load. Nothing shows that better than excelling in CC. More to the point they don’t want people who can’t graduate in 2 yrs. </p>
<p>This is a video from USC, goto 1:10
[Tips</a> on transferring to USC Marshall from another university - YouTube](<a href=“Tips on transferring to USC Marshall from another university - YouTube”>Tips on transferring to USC Marshall from another university - YouTube)</p>
<p>She says 3-4 classes a semester (min)</p>
<p>College course load on average is 12-15 units. My buddy from the Marines Aunt, who works in matriculation at USC told me that they look for students who are enrolled full time, at least 12 units or more a semester.</p>
<p>Like Snorlaz said some people have lives other than school. They can’t take units in excess. So for that reasoning, I don’t think course load has much weight in admissions.</p>
<p>@bomerr</p>
<p>You haven’t shown that this cousin of someone you know(By the way, it’s not very persuasive when you talk about someone whose relationship with you is very distant) got in <em>because</em> he took 25 units every semester. Correlation ≠ causation.</p>
<p>A college level courseload is not “25 units a semester” or “20 units a semester.” There isn’t even a standard definition of this term you’ve coined. There’s part-time and full-time, but I’ve never heard of anyone’s chances of admission being contigent upon the status of their courseload.</p>
<p>And USC isn’t even a UC. Come on, man. We’re talking about the UCs only here.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16763461-post25.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16763461-post25.html</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^ He got into Cal Econ without even competing calc. </p>
<p>12 units (or 3 4 unit classes) is the BARE MIN to be considered a full-time student. But if you want to increase your chances of getting in - especially to a competitive major - then taking 19 or 22 or 25 + units while excelling is a good idea.</p>
<p>@bomerr</p>
<p>That evidence is pretty circumstantial and therefore not very persuasive. This doesn’t prove that taking 20+ units every semester increases one’s chances of getting in at Cal or anywhere else.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that Berkeley’s admissions process is the most holistic in the UC system. The person you mention said himself that his ECs were very strong.</p>
<p>I just don’t want anyone here to mistakenly believe the unsubstantiated notion that taking a bajillion units every semester is going to increase their chances of admission, especially when many CC students have huge time commitments outside of school and can’t afford to undertake that academic option. I’m highly certain that you can’t quote any UC rep as saying that taking heavy courseloads helps increase one’s chances of admission. Even if you could, I strongly doubt that he/she would say that it was a significant factor in the admissions process, knowing damn well that there are a lot of older CC students who work full-time or close to full-time and still excel in their studies but who cannot afford to take so many units every semester. The UCs expect many if not most, of their applicants to have somewhat significant time commitments, which is why it is stated <em>nowhere</em> on the the University of California website that heavy courseloads are advantageous in the admissions process.</p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that the person you quoted didn’t apply to UCLA, a school of comparable prestige and with a highly ranked econ program(Though not as prestigious as Berkeley, unsurprisingly). Their econ program is extremely impacted and I’m 99% certain they would’ve denied him had he applied simply because he didn’t satisfy the math requirement for that major by the end of fall. He would’ve been denied right off the bat because of that, regardless of how many units he took in every semester. An applicant who went part-time every semester(Without even justifying it on the grounds that he/she had other time commitments) and who had the necessary pre-reqs completed by fall, a high gpa and major gpa would’ve gotten in over him any day.</p>
<p>I must reiterate that Berkeley and UCLA, while nearly equal in their prestige, differ wildly in the way they admit transfer students. And I must reiterate that the person you mention said himself that he had strong ECs. I’ll just take his word for it since he’s at Cal and didn’t even complete the calculus series by the end of fall. You would’ve practically had to start your own food bank or something and have a world-class personal statement to get away with that, and I’m inclined to think that he did. I’m not implying that he doesn’t deserve to be at Cal or something, far from it. I’m just saying that he must have been a cut above the rest and that that would’ve been apparent to Cal admissions officers who looked over his application because frankly, people don’t just transfer to the econ program of the premier UC in the UC system without completing the necessary pre-reqs by fall unless they’ve excelled in other parts of their academic experience or personal life. He had a good GPA and presumably, excellent ECs and PS.</p>
<p>I’m 99% certain that guy didn’t get in because he took so many units every semester.</p>
<p>@Cayton</p>
<p>You’re the man dude.</p>
<p>@stanx89</p>
<p>lol thanks. I guess all those philosophy classes paid off; that **** will make you pretty good at making decent arguments if I do say so myself. :P</p>
<p>"@Cayton</p>
<p>You’re the man dude."</p>
<p>+1, well said!</p>
<p>
The thing is, people like the following guy completely destroy that argument. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
They set a minimum standard; not a maximum one.</p>
<p>@bomerr</p>
<p>Do you honestly expect most people to do what he did? Good for him, sure. But most people can’t do that and you know it.</p>
<p>And I’m still waiting for proof that the UCs consider the size of one’s courseload in the admissions process. You haven’t furnished that yet despite my challenging you to do so.</p>
<p>And what about this “minimum standard”? Any proof for that, either?</p>
<p>@bomerr</p>
<p>The confirmation bias is prevalent right now. You can pull up examples from random strangers on the internet all you want. You claimed that taking a heavy course load is the 2nd most important thing after GPA. This doesn’t prove that. </p>
<p>That’s great that UCLA bounded was able to work full-time, take 27 units etc. etc.
That’s an extreme example and most people who take unit totals like that have no other commitments. </p>
<p>The point is, as an adcomm, how are you going to gauge someone who works 40 hours a week and takes 12 units a semester and a kid who doesn’t work and takes over 20 units in a semester? I don’t think you inherently favor the student who simply took more units in a semester.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. Good grades AND completion of major prerequisites are the two biggest criteria admissions look into. </p>
<p>
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<p>Totally agree! Lol</p>