Hi, I am applying for transferring to UC this year as an English major. I really wanna know what is the usual GPA of students the UCB and UCLA accept (for English major)? I know there is a minimum like 3.2 or something, but I wanna know what is the prevalent GPA of English-majored student that got into UCB and UCLA?
I am also in the honor transfer program in my CC which promises the transfer priority when applying to UC. Does that influence the criteria, including GPA, that UC uses to accept transfer students?
UCLA has a profile of admitted transfer students by major, but, alas, UCLA is the only UC that has this. (Assume with Berkeley you need to add about a .1 to the GPA.)
English is a selective major at UCLA (and I believe Berkeley). In terms of UCLA, you might want to consider American Lit and Culture - it’s also in the English department and the average admitted 2014 GPA was 3.38, while the average admitted GPA for English was 3.71.
Both majors have the same requirements and an advisor in the UCLA English department told me a student could petition to switch to English after he or she got accepted. Now, this info is anecdotal - one person told me this - so I cannot guarantee that would work out. I’m only repeating what I heard. He seemed to think it was doable.
All things being equal, either major should serve the same purpose.
P.S. I’m assuming you mean UCLA TAP? Remember, it only gives you priority consideration, and if you apply to a selective major, with a substantially lower than average GPA, it might still be tough.
I got into Berkeley and UCLA for English this past application cycle, and I had about a 3.5 after Fall, and then 3.6 after Winter Intersession (if memory serves correctly). Also had UCLA TAP, some good extracurriculars, and, imo, some well-done essays. I know that UCLA’s English major is impacted while Berkeley’s isn’t. You can petition to switch from American Lit/Culture to English if you’re admitted to the former, but I’m not sure what the process is like.
From what I’ve seen on this forum, doing UCLA TAP typically gives you a better chance of getting in even if you have a GPA on the lower end of the scale (like mine). That being said, I wouldn’t apply to UCLA English with a 3.0 and expect to get in because you have TAP (although I guess it could happen). TAP will benefit you, but it’s also not a complete guarantee, so it really is in your best interest to try really hard to get as good of grades as you can during the Fall prior to transfer.
It’s worth noting, also, that you shouldn’t stress yourself about UCLA’s foreign language requirement for English. I’m including this because I know I stressed about it way more than I should have–I called one of the advisors and she told me that they do not use your completion of the language pre-reqs as a factor for admission. If you don’t complete your foreign language classes, you just have to take them before you graduate UCLA. They will use your literature pre-reqs as a factor, though.
You answers are very helpfuL, but I am a little bit confused about what you mean by “selective major”? I dont know there are even subfield of majors. My major at CC is English and that’s all I know about right now. How is the selective major ever different from other majors? Could this difference require me to do something in my UC application?
No worries. A selective (or “impacted”) major is a major that is more competitive than other majors are, and has a lower acceptance rate. The major itself isn’t different–if you go to Berkeley or UCLA, you’ll still graduate with an English degree. But UCLA’s English program is impacted, meaning it is more difficult to get into than most other majors at UCLA. As @lindyk8 showed, the GPA difference between the impacted (English) and non-impacted (American Lit) majors can be pretty substantial–the difference between a 3.38 and a 3.71. If you want better chances of getting into an impacted major, your application should reflect that. This means (generally) a higher GPA, some kind of extracurricular involvement, and essays that you’ve spent a good amount of time on. And perhaps most importantly, completed pre-reqs. I’m not sure if this is true for humanities, but I know that some majors won’t even look at your application if you haven’t completed at least most of the pre-reqs.