UCM to... 'Somewhere' transfer chances

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi! Its my first post and its rather long...</p>

<h1>Stats</h1>

<p>Caucasian Male</p>

<p>HS GPA: 4.77 / 3.93 unweighted, top student
SAT: 1390
SAT II: Cant recall
HS Admitted: UCM, UCB, UCI, UCD, UCLA, UCSC
HS ECs: CSF, Varsity Swimming & Water Polo, FIRST Robotics Program, Leo's club, Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout), Debate, Science Club, held leadership positions in most of them. </p>

<p>Current College: UC Merced
Current Major: Bioengineering
College GPA: 3.999, pretty sure I'm #1 in the BIOE program here.
Sophomore, Transferring after 3rd year.
Completed Units: Waaayyy too many (88 sem-units)
General ED/PreReqs: Mostly done, I can finish whatever else
ECs: Engineering Club, soon to join Business Club, Youth group, Research internship at UCM and UCB as well as a volunteer position, worked part time at an Investing Firm. Was involved in the Lions club at one point. May try to start a business up in the next few months.</p>

<h1>Additional info and Aims.</h1>

<p>I was dissuaded from transferring this year by counselors telling me "to wait a little longer", while the deadlines passed. Ive kept my nose to the grindstone telling myself it will get better, but it really hasn't. So, I have another year to look forward to in an undergrad experience similar to being submersed in
formaldehyde. It will be my 3rd year, so I am nervous that it will wreck my chances.</p>

<p>Anyways, I have budgeted 5 years of undergrad education into my plans, so its not too big of an issue. My main goal is to get out of UCM and go somewhere that will utilize my full potential and provide greater opportunities for success- this will dressed up much more nicely in an essay. I want to undo the damage Ive done. I figure I have 3 months to prepare for winter '08 transfers and nine months for fall '08. In the interim, I need to make up my mind and improve my chances; a year is a long time, so there is quite a bit I can do.</p>

<p>Destinations so far:
Haas @ UC Berkeley may double with BIOE major
UCD, may pick up managerial econ minor + BIOE
Stanford, Harvard, Yale (yeah, right... cant hurt to try)</p>

<p>Majors under consideration so far:
Business or Economics related
Engineering majors not offered at UCM
BIOE Major</p>

<p>So, any recommendations? Some schools I haven't considered? What are my chances and how can I improve them? Thanks! I wish I had found this forum 2 years ago.</p>

2

<p>i think you are probably over the maximum number of transferable units for many schools.
for example, the maximum is 80 semester units to transfer to UC Berkeley
& 86 for UCLA
and since you transferring from UC to UC, every unit transfers over</p>

<p>im not sure about stanford/harvard/etc. though</p>

3

<p>oh yah, and most places you can't transfer as a senior...</p>

4

<p>Students with above 80 quarter units won't be able to transfer into impacted majors in UC's.</p>

<p>Since I took the old SAT, I don't know how good 1390 but your stats make you academically competitive for top programs in the US. Business majors looking into private schools should check out MIT, Cornell, Stern, UVa, Georgetown, NYU...and Wharton if you're really feeling lucky.</p>

5

<p>I would most likely be trying to transfer into an impacted major... I dont suppose a bait-and-switch tactic would work? For example, get enrolled and petition/appeal to change majors?</p>

<p>Starry, could you point me to the maximum unit cap at UCB? While browsing their admissions site, I could only find the 60 unit min/135unit max. I will probably be contacting the Haas School in the next couple days, so I suppose Ill find out more then.</p>

<p>As to the SAT score, its from the 2004/05 test. In my youthful disregard for planning ahead, I didn't really pay attention to the SATs. I took them cold-turkey, with no preparation. I really wish I had spent more time on that.</p>

<p>Walnut, from your response, it sounds like I would be much better off trying to transfer into a higher end private school rather than the UC system. I really hadn't considered it, but it seems like a very good idea. Out of curiosity, does having a Stanford alumni to vouch for you give an edge in the application process?</p>

<p>Thank you for your responses! Its been helpful and I will probably continue to frequent the board seeking advice.</p>

6

<p>There really is no edge for top school in the nation. Your toughest competition will probably be against students from other Ivy's, and top international students.</p>

<p>The bait & switch tactic won't work for Haas because it only allows transfers at the junior level. They won't even accept Berkeley students after that.</p>

<p>If you're interested in investing, New York's the place to be!</p>

7

<p>has UC Merced even been around for 3 years?</p>

8

<p>Some good schools are still taking apps. I know Emory is through the end of the month.</p>

9

<p>^^^ yes you should apply now if you want to transfer to a top school. Emory would be a good choice...unfortunately Northwestern would too but the deadline was 4 days ago. It's going to be quite tough (perhaps impossible) to transfer into HYS or any other top private college as students with so many credits are given low priority.</p>

10

<p>You could always try and rush a late application out to NU. I submitted my freshman app there 6 days late OVER THE INTERNET (I don't know why the site was still up), without proofreading it much, and still got in :).</p>

11

<p>Eins - I applied for transfer to UC Berkeley, and got in (but I am attending UCLA in the fall) and when I emailed the transfer advisor at UC Berkeley she informed me that the maximum number of semester transfer units one could have was 80 (completed by the end of the last semester before transferring), give or take a few.</p>

12

<p>from what i hear, uc merced is more of a community college than a uc. Thats very depressing and based on your description, it seems like your severely limited by going there.</p>

<p>Other UCs, with the exception of berkeley, admit for winter and spring quarters. Only thing is that there would be a tooth gap between the end of summer and the beginning of winter quarter. But if you have less than 86 credits after this quarter or around there, i think your pretty much a shoo-in at ucla for the winter. </p>

<p>I'm pretty sure that bioengineering is an impacted major at all the top ucs, so if you have over the 86 units, it would be hard. </p>

<p>I think you have a slight chance at the higher end private schools, but i wouldnt bet my money on it simply because you have too many credits. And they only admit <9% of their applicants each year. Its tough for anyone. </p>

<p>Another possibility is to overload on classes next year, graduate as fast as you can, and get into a stellar graduate program like stanford's.</p>

13

<p>doesn't ucla not admit for winter/spring quarter, unless you apply for engineering or something?</p>

14

<p>tongos - but Eins has 88 semester units as of right now, and will apply at the end of third year, at which time he will have over 100 units, and will be ineligible for transfer to berkeley or LA.</p>

15

<p>starryqt
<a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/apply_to_uc.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/apply_to_uc.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>starryqt. that might be true, this situation is very complicated.</p>

16

<p>yes it is complicated. i dont think it would be as much for lower-tier UC's, but ucla & uc berkeley take all the requirements veryyy seriously.</p>

17

<p>Wow! Quite a bit of discussion! One other consideration is that I already have 88 SEMESTER units (1.5x quarter units in transfer calculations comes out to 132 quarter units)... I find it odd because I have yet to take an upper division major specific course nor any courses outside my major track. </p>

<p>As for rushing to graduate school... Well, UCM is in the process of opening courses; many of the required courses simply arent offered yet and wont be for another year or so. Were they offered, I probably would consider this route. Sadly, this isnt a viable reason to justify a transfer as they will open up in my senior year.</p>

<p>Im afraid UCM might sabotage my chances of getting into a top gradschool program. While I could probably function just fine at a top UC, I managed to chose the bottom of the barrel and seem to be paying for it.</p>

<p>I suppose if I explain the situation to potential colleges this far in advance, I might be able to work something out. I can only hope.</p>

<p>ckmets: No, UC Merced is turning two years old. I will be transferring after its third year.</p>

<p>Thanks for your responses.</p>