Hello, I am a student at a California Community College. Since the calendar has turned to 2018 and I have recently submitted the Transfer Academic Update, there is nothing to do but wait until the end of April to hear back from the colleges.
I applied to UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine, with the TAG being with Irvine. I have a 3.91 GPA, and have all of the IGETC completed, and will be completing all the requirements for my major (English) in the Spring. I have to take 5 English classes and an intermediate Spanish class because I did not declare a major during my first year and worked to fulfill all of the general education first.
After doing some research, I feel good about my chances at all of them; my GPA is above the 75th percentile for accepted students at UCLA and Cal in my respective major. However, the fact that I haven’t made significant progress on the undergrad requirements worries me to some extent. I will have it all done by the end of the spring, but will not having those done earlier make me a less appealing candidate to the point where I do not get in?
I feel like I may be overthinking this, but would like some input from other people. Thanks for reading.
So you have no req completed for your major? Hmmm, that is kind of not good. Do you have the two required English completed with As? Much better to hold off on IGETC.
Many departments will tell you that they want you to have made progress towards the completion of your major prep by fall before transfer. Though I don’t believe the English department has said that at any of the campuses you listed, they would certainly expect at least some major coursework to assess. I would not be surprised if you were waitlisted to UCLA, UC Berkeley, or both, so that they can look at the grades you got in your major related courses. That being said, I would imagine you would be accepted off of either or both waitlists if, of course, you produce the same excellence in your major prereqs as you have in your general education.
Yes, I completed both English classes with A’s. Wish I had known the emphasis would be on major progress…probably would have decided on a major earlier. Thanks for the input!
Additional info I did not include in the initial post that may help my case: I was hired by my college’s English department and have served as a tutor/TA for two semesters, am a member in the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and have had job experience with USA Rugby, Positive Coaching Alliance, and the Total Health& Fitness Expo Sacramento.
Not sure how much the extra-curriculars will offset the lack of major progress up to this point, but it can’t hurt. I believe working in the English department looks really good, but who knows. Hoping for the best come April.
Any input on my situation is welcomed and appreciated, thanks for reading.
Well there’s no way any of us can know what they’ll do. And re the waitlist scenario, you don’t send transcripts in until after you’re admitted. They don’t ask for transcripts from waitlisted students. So they will have no idea of spring grades. I think you’ll be in or out. If waitlisted, it will be on your merits, although you can send them an unofficial in June, which could aid your case. So, I amend that - yeah, an unofficial could help in a waitlist scenario. But being on a waitlist is always being behind the eight-ball. You ideally want to avoid it because it’s solely a numbers game based on space.
Ok - do this: in TAU, note that your major courses are all last term because you had not finalized your major. You would not have done it that way had you known earlier.
Oooh 5 English classes? So is that 6 classes total you have to complete for prereqs? @Ohm888 is definitely the Expert here so I’m not sure how much I can add but that definitely doesn’t sound good, especially cuz your major is impacted. I’ve heard of students with similar gpas getting rejected for taking 3 prereqs in the spring. But like you said, you worked in the English dept so that’s definitely a plus, and it’s not like youre not gonna have them done by spring. Regardless, 6 prereqs in the spring semester for an impacted major just doesn’t sound good no matter how you slice it. Sorry man, wish I had better news for You. How many prereqs are you missing for each school? I’m assuming for ucla you’re probably missing just 2 because when I looked on assist they only had 4 English classes for ucla it only listed 4 English class requirements, 2 of them fulfilling igetc which you said you already finished.
(Final) update: No dice on Cal. If I had a choice between UCLA and Cal, I was going to choose UCLA though (better location for what I want to do after school).