Hey, guys. I’m an immigrant from Taiwan, I can’t apply UC because my English credit in high school isn’t enough, and I wants to go to UCB to study in mechanical engineering.
So my question is: should I go to community college or should I go to Cal Poly then transfer to UCB? If I go to Cal Poly, what do I need for transferring? I’m really interested in mechanical engineering, I hope I can graduate from UCB.
Also, I’ll graduate from high school next year. So please give me some advice for my American Dream.
Thanks, guys.
CSUs like the Cal Polys have the same 4 years of English required of high school applicants that UCs have.
For prospective transfer students, community colleges are the main starting point. Community college students can use http://www.assist.org to look up course equivalencies.
Transferrring from a CSU, including Cal Poly, to UCB or even a UC is not feasible. UC’s take transfers primarily from cc and in limited cases from other UC’s
Transferring from Cal Poly Pomona to UCB is not going to work. You are not a priority if you do this. Community college students are considered first and then if there’s still room to consider students from other universities then they may have a chance.
Also, University of California Irvine/Riverside I don’t think are too picky if you did go the CSU to UC route.
I know someone who was in my math program that even transferred out of Cal Poly Pomona and ended up going to UCLA instead. It’s not unheard of, but you’ll have a much smoother process going directly to a UC coming from a community college.
As noted above the CSU and UC English requirements are identical - That’s right, Berkeley (the most selective UC) and CSU San Bernardino (a non-impacted CSU). have the exact same requirements for English.
http://www.ucop.edu/agguide/a-g-requirements/files/UC_CSU%20ComparisonMatrix.pdf
Have you been admitted to either of the Cal Polys? If not, this is a mute point.
It is hard to give relevant advice without your stats and other qualifications. If you have competitive stats and want to come to school in CA - there are privates that will show more flexibility on their required courses. Loyola Marymount and Univ of San Diego may both do the trick. USC or even Stanford or CalTech could also be options depending on your stats.
If your goal is to graduate from UCB - your best path would be to transfer from a CA Community college. Just understand, the school is super competitive for transfer admits less than 20% of applicants so, it is likely you won’t be admitted at that stage.