Transferring to UC from other 4 year university
hello bpn community. My daughter is considering attempting a transfer to UC following her sophomore year. We realize this can be a relatively uncomplicated process for students who are at community colleges. But she is currently attending another 4 year university and worries that her chances are terribly bleak. Does anyone out there know anything about the transfer from university to UC? Any recommendations on who we might consult? The thought of returning to the nightmare of college applications is so daunting for us ...
Nov 6, 2017
Parent Replies
All UC campuses will prioritize CCC students for transfer admissions but will consider students from other 4-year schools as space allows. She will not have the admissions advantage that CCC transfer applicants have (i.e., greater chance of getting into top campuses than the same students would have had out of HS).
You will need to read the information on the UC websites (UCOP for UC-wide policies, campus admissions pages for campus-specific guidance). Because UC does not have transfer agreements with non-CCC schools, you and your daughter will need to evaluate whether her courses are transferable and make sure she does not exceed the maximum units. There is guidance for this on the website.
You say she wants to transfer to "UC," but don't mention if she has a campus in mind. My guess is that the difficulty will depend in part on the campus. Berkeley and Merced will have different rates of admissions for students in this category, just as they do for students in other categories.
In sum, the first thing I would do is very carefully read up on all the public information provided by UC. Follow up with her current school for transcript and course information. Once you have done that, you can contact admissions officers at the various campuses. By doing your homework first, you can call with well-informed, targeted questions that will move your daughter's process along more efficiently.
It will be a new application to UC, not a transfer. You apply as something like "other than freshman." It is not that big a deal. I did this, from a CSU to a UC, UC did not accept any of my humanities units but English, Economics, foreign language, all those were accepted and I still graduated in 4 years.
Hi, the process will be the same as it would be for kids transferring from community college who do not go through the "guaranteed admission" transfer process; if she's considering Berkeley or UCLA, community college students never have a guaranteed admission (so for those two schools the transfer process is the same no matter where they are transferring from). It is possibly a slightly "easier" process at the Junior than Freshman level; in any case, it's 100% "on her", so if she's ready & willing, I wouldn't let the "nightmare" aspect deter you. Colleges like to see previous success at the college level; no exams required, just essay & grades. Best of luck to her