4.0 GPA from CC to UC Berkeley EECS or UCLA CSE

<p>I’ve completed all of the core required courses for UCB EECS (Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, Lower Division B.S.), but I’m missing the third Physics for UCLA CSE (Computer Science and Engineering/B.S.), which I will complete this fall '13 semester along with other strongly recommended courses. Here is the list of my completed courses from ASSIST.org:</p>

<p>UC Berkeley Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, Lower Division B.S.:</p>

<p>Subject/Units/GPA</p>

<p>MATH 1A Calculus (4 units): 4.0
MATH 1B Calculus (4 units) equivalent: 4.0
MATH 53 Multivariable Calculus (4 units) equivalent: 4.0
MATH 54 Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (4 units) equivalent: 4.0
PHYSICS 7A Physics for Scientists and Engineers (4 units) equivalent: 4.0
PHYSICS 7B Physics for Scientists and Engineers (4 units) equivalent: 4.0
ENGLISH R1A Reading and Composition (4 units) equivalent: 4.0
ENGLISH R1B Reading and Composition (4 units) equivalent: 4.0
CHEM 1A General Chemistry (3 units) & CHEM 1AL Laboratory (1 unit): 4.0</p>

<p>Will take next FA13 semester:</p>

<p>COMPSCI 61B Data Structures (4 units)
COMPSCI 70 Discrete Mathematics and Probability Theory (4 units)
PHYSICS 7C Physics for Scientists and Engineers (4 units)</p>

<p>(Above applies to UCLA Computer Science and Engineering/B.S. requirements.)</p>

<p>I have completed at this point exactly 60 CC units, both required courses and GE’s. GPA: 4.0.</p>

<p>My problem is that I have zero extra-curricular activities, which I will tackle next semester by joining the STEM Club and trying to win programming and engineering related contests.</p>

<p>My questions are:

  1. Are there reports of students with a 4.0 GPA getting rejected by Cal or UCLA?
  2. I am currently a legal permanent resident, but I am eligible to apply for naturalization right now. Are US Citizens prioritized over legal immigrants in admissions?
  3. What other extra-curricular activities can you recommend for my chosen major?</p>

<p>A little background: I’m a legal immigrant from the Philippines. I started from zero (possibly below that), being treated like a slave by my aunt (I won’t write this in my personal statement because it just sounds like I’m trying to get sympathy, as if I don’t deserve my accomplishments) to restore her abandoned house infested with rats (she used to hoard boxes of perishable goods to send back home). There was no floor not covered with rat feces that was not already taken by a dead rat’s body. The smell has made me vomit the first days I was forced to sleep in there, and I never got used to it. It would’ve cost her several thousands of dollars to restore that house (and there were other valuables in there that she didn’t want strangers to touch), but since I owe her my green card, and since I don’t know anything about how to live in America, and since I was given a place to stay (in that very sewer of a house) if I cleaned it, I just had to do it. My first night in America I had to clean a good portion of the floor to sleep on. I just had to let this out I’m sorry (I DO ask for sympathy in here for people to help me in this particular post haha). I left upon seeing an ad from a temp agency in a far away town, and landed a factory job as an assembler. That job was far better than holding signs on street corners and working in fastfood service, both of which I did. I stayed as an assembler for two years (I tried applying for higher jobs, but we’re talking about California here) before getting laid off. Of course I tried to see if I could study while working, but the job was exhausting. Each day I come home from work and do nothing but rest. I knew I would just botch up my classes if I were to work and study. After getting laid off, I went straight to CC. And here I am. I became an avid reader when I came to the US, desperately using my 10 minute breaks for reading. Watching free lectures online made me want to pursue Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the details of that desire will be left in my personal statement. The feeling of going home after work and seeing school kids cross the street every day was the worst. I’m really glad I’ve gotten over that, although I still feel for people who experience that nightmare everyday. I hope to read many inspiring stories in here.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Yup, you can get rejected with a 4.0, or you could get in with a 3.5. Berkeley admissions are always hard to predict, but obviously a high GPA helps your chances. Looks like you’re doing well with pre-reqs as well.</p></li>
<li><p>No idea. California CC students get priority, I would assume that’s the biggest factor.</p></li>
<li><p>Do things you enjoy. STEM club and competitions are definitely a good start. You could also pick up some pet projects… maybe write a little game in your favorite language. Do things you enjoy, it’ll show interest in your area.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>And uh, just out of curiosity, does your school actually have an equivalent to CS70 at Cal (if yes, what school?)? Didn’t think any of the CCs had one… of course it’s good to take Discrete before you transfer anyways, and I’m sure the other schools you’re applying to’ll want it. :P</p>

<p>Thank you so much, winner622! There actually isn’t a CS70 equivalent at the three CC’s I’m attending (sorry I don’t want to mention names), but a friend (my role model) who attended the same CC took the available Discrete Mathematics course and he got into Berkeley EECS, even with a single B grade on a GE (he started CC when he was 14). I’m taking all advanced maths and sciences even if they’re not accredited.</p>

<p>I did find my answers from the following threads (if you’re in a similar situation as mine, please do check these):</p>

<p>Accepted/Rejected thread for UC Berkeley 2013 Fall Engineering Admissions:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1497514-uc-berkeley-2013-fall-official-decision-college-engineering.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1497514-uc-berkeley-2013-fall-official-decision-college-engineering.html&lt;/a&gt;
3.98 GPA CC Student Not Accepted To UC Berkeley or UCLA
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1498334-3-98-gpa-cc-student-not-accepted-uc-berkeley-ucla-6.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1498334-3-98-gpa-cc-student-not-accepted-uc-berkeley-ucla-6.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Looks like most of those who got accepted had a tutoring job. I’ll try to be a tutor for physics (my calculus based physics series was the hardest series of classes I could ever imagine and the professor is notorious at ratemyprofessors; even if I was taking 20 units, I had to study for physics longer than my 5 other subjects combined; the class started with 40+ students and ended with 14).</p>

<p>I’m not in a similar situation, I transferred to Berkeley (EECS) last year. This place helped me a lot with admissions and such, now I just stick around and try to be helpful. ^^;</p>

<p>Tutoring sounds like a good EC too. There’s no magic set of things to do that’ll get you in automatically, and there’s nothing that’ll kill your application if you don’t do it. Math/CS/Physics related things are great, and they can be helpful when you go to write your personal statements.</p>

<p>I think all the CS related EC’s on my app were pet projects (games and such), some contests (AMATYC, some engineering ones, more math), and maybe robotics club. Even if you haven’t done a whole lot, it helps to show that you’re passionate about your major, and that you enjoy participating in things. I got in with a 3.7-3.8 GPA, btw. There’s no magic formula, some people get in and some don’t. No one on here can say for sure what gets you in/out.</p>

<p>Honestly, it sounds like you’ll get in with any ECs you pick at this point, so good luck with whatever you go for!</p>

<p>What CC provides CS 70 for Berkeley?</p>

<p>For Berkeley EECS, you also want to complete the equivalent of the following before transfer:</p>

<ul>
<li>English R1A and R1B</li>
<li>Two additional humanities and social studies courses, preferably in subjects in which you want to take upper division humanities and social studies courses (and if your CC has any which fulfill the Berkeley American Cultures requirement, consider one of those).</li>
<li>Any of the following which are available at CCs near you: CS 61A, 61B, 61C, 70; EE 20N, 40. However, many CCs have none of these; the most commonly available one is CS 61B, followed by EE 40.</li>
</ul>

<p>Berkeley admissions is said to look favorably on “overcoming adverse conditions” type of stories in essays.</p>

<p>Dear Winning622,</p>

<p>I already assumed that you were from Berkeley or UCLA since they are the usual people who reply helpful posts in here, so I’m sorry that I didn’t clarify that I was referring to anyone reading this thread when I said “if you’re in a similar situation”. I didn’t expect you to be in Berkeley EECS right now! I’m so happy!</p>

<p>Just this Spring semester, I almost got a B in C++ level 2 because the teacher flunked me in the finals. He alleged that my final exam wouldn’t compile because I used separate files, a .cpp and .h, to define template class and functions. All my grades up to the finals were perfect. It turned out that he didn’t use my main.cpp to test my classes, which used the “#include ‘class.cpp’” to let the linker link the .h and .cpp files. I later realized that this was bad practice, but it was by no means not allowed as an ironclad rule. The teacher later corrected my grade after I sent two lengthy dispute emails begging desperately for him to hear me out. This experience made me realize how anyone–anyone–can get a B for the most unfortunate reasons.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for the replies. They made a world of difference for me, and I’m sure you know this as well as someone who used to be in my place.</p>

<p>I have a few Berkeley/EECS related questions if you don’t mind:

  1. How much more difficult is it to get an A in Berkeley than in a CC? In CC, I always gave my all, so I don’t know if that is going to be good enough. I always try to follow the three hours of self-study per unit each week.
  2. I’ve heard rumors that the UCLA grading system is easier than in Berkeley (are all classes really curved?); what are your thoughts on this?
  3. The friend I talked about earlier (graduated Berkeley on 2007) took CS 61A on his first semester of transfer, along with EE 40 and EE 20N. Next, CS 61C with EE 120 and EE 122. Next, CS 162, E 190, and EE 126. Finally, EE 129 and CS 150, and then he graduated. Could you specify the subjects that particularly need special effort?</p>

<p>Hi ucbalumnus, thank you for pointing that out! I didn’t know I forgot to include English R1A and R1B! I already took them, yes, as well as Microeconomics and Macroeconomics (both of these subjects altered my world forever).</p>

<p>This is just one of the greatest feelings in the world, to receive support just like this. I wish I could also help out others just as much.</p>

<p>BTW, I have had this dying question since forever: Is Berkeley pronounced “BERK-LEE” or “BAR-CLAY”? I’ve never heard the latter pronounced anywhere, and yet I’ve read from a post by a UCB alumnus like yourself (somewhere I forgot) that it’s pronounced as “BAR-CLAY”. This is really weird, I hope you could at least confirm how the students actually pronounce it haha.</p>

<p>It’s Bark-lee. Also, did you have Konrad Stein for physics, by chance? He’s horrible.</p>

<p>What CC do you attend? If your CC works with the Berkeley TAP program you should definitely try to join TAP.</p>