<p>Hello everyone,
I am currently a sophomore at UNLV, majoring in Biology. I am considering a switch to engineering, keeping a minor in Biology. I currently have a 4.0 gpa, these being the classes I have taken: Intro to Spanish, General Biology I and II, General Chemistry I, Precalculus I and II, English II, Molecular Genetics, and Latin American History. I have also taken clep exams for College Algebra and Sociology. All science courses have been accompanied by a lab section and I have earned an A in every course. I have participated in no extracurricular activities, other than maybe 30 hours for Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada. I am a nontraditional student, being a 23 year old hispanic woman. I work 30 hours per week. The journey to where I am today has been off the beaten path to say the least, from homelessness to escaping an abusive relationship. I’m fairly well known among the science faculty at UNLV, but from what I understand Berkeley does not accept LORs. I’m not sure where I stand as far as prereqs go, having not changed my major yet. I’m wondering if I have a good chance of getting accepted to the College of Engineering, I understand it is quite competitive.</p>
<p>Check assist.org (pick a random CC and Cal, and guess the articulations for your school) to figure out pre-reqs. It doesn’t matter what your major is at the current school, so long as you have the right coursework.</p>
<p>Honestly, assuming you’ve done your pre-reqs and will be in the right range of units, your stats are as good as can be. Does that mean you’ll get in? Who knows. But your chances are are great as any other OoS student right now.</p>
<p>While you have a great story and it sounds like you’ve truly overcome a lot in your life to get to where you are, you really haven’t begun to scratch the surface of the engineering prereqs, which typically require Calculus, Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, and Linear Algebra, along with Calculus based Physics and usually a few programming classes. Without them you really don’t have any chance at being admitted to Berkeley nor many of the other UC’s as an engineering major. The engineering majors tend to be amongst the most competitive to apply to at all of the UC schools and as such they’re all very strict on requiring you to have completed their lower division requirements prior to transferring. Berkeley in general tends to be that way with all majors, but for some of the other UC’s there’s leniency in terms of lower division prereqs and they may let you complete the rest after you transfer (but not usually for engineering or many impacted majors). </p>
<p>Also, just be aware that out-of-state (OOS) transfer applicants typically tend to have a lower probability for acceptance because of several factors. The major ones being that the UC’s are mandated to give priority admission to California CC students as well as other in state transfers from the CSU and UC system before OOS applicants. And the other factor being that the UC’s are very strict on their general admission and prereq requirements. If you don’t meet the requirements, you’ll be ineligible for admission and will be rejected without any further consideration. Additionally, what typically disadvantages OOS applicants is that unlike for the California CC’s there isn’t an articulation agreement for an OOS university, like UNLV, and the UC’s. Articulation agreements really simplify the transfer process because it lays out exactly what courses at your prior school you need to transfer to a certain major and guarantee that those courses will satisfy those lower division prerequisites which are so critical for admission. As an OOS transfer there’s really no guarantee that the curriculum of any course is going to be transferable to the UC’s and as such the whole transfer process can be a bit of a guessing game. That’s why user failure622 suggested you look on assist.org, which has listed the articulation agreements for the UC’s and the California CC’s so that you can use that as somewhat of a template to figure out what courses you need to take to complete the major prereqs. Additionally, you need to look on the UC application site to make sure you meet the basic requirements to apply to the UC system. </p>
<p>Lastly, I think you really need to consider whether you truly are ready to commit to the process of transferring to the UC system and applying as an engineering major. It really is a significant commitment because as you can probably tell there’s still a lot of coursework you need to complete to get to the point of being eligible for UC Berkeley College of Engineering. You at least have another year or two of coursework just to get through the math and physics requirements so be aware of that. Also be aware that there are no guarantees because of the lack of an articulation agreement and because OOS students get last priority. That being said that’s not meant to discourage you, but just to make you aware and prepared for the obstacles that are ahead of you as an OOS engineering applicant. If you’re able to maintain your GPA and complete those critical prereqs and UC admission requirements you should have a fair chance at being admitted. It you’re determined to transfer to a UC school the more practical option would be to transfer as Biology major, which you’ve completed more of the prereqs for, although you’ll need Calculus and Organic Chemistry also for Berkeley. Also, you may want to consider applying to a few of the other less competitive UC’s beside Berkeley as a back up plan as well as a few private universities assuming you’re set on coming to California. The private universities tend to have a more flexible application process and costwise, while thought of as more expensive, for an out of state student tuition is probably going to be similar. </p>
<p>Resources you should take a look at:
[Admission</a> requirements | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/requirements/index.html]Admission”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/requirements/index.html)
[Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“Welcome to ASSIST”>Welcome to ASSIST)
[Transfer</a> Students | UC Berkeley Office of Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.berkeley.edu/transferstudents]Transfer”>http://admissions.berkeley.edu/transferstudents)
[Admissions</a> ? UC Berkeley College of Engineering](<a href=“Admissions - Berkeley Engineering”>Admissions - Berkeley Engineering)
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/390953-uc-transfer-faq.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/390953-uc-transfer-faq.html</a></p>
<p>Also you should utilize the search function on this forum to find old threads for out of state transfers that have been in your position. You may find valuable posts from out of state applicants that have been successful and unsuccessful in the transfer process that can during your application process.</p>