Can I Still Get in UCB Applied Math Without Math 54?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

Hello I am a current CCC applicant to UCB for fall 2024. My primary major chosen is Applied Math in the College of Letter & Science. My alternate major is Data Science in CDSS. I graduated from High School last year and was enrolled in UMichigan Ann Arbor for Fall 2023. I withdrew from it because of my financial situation and came back to CA to attend CC. Because of the time, I was not able to get an optimal schedule for Fall 2023. I wrote this for one of my PIQ topics and in the additional comment.

My Stats:

GPA: 4.0 for Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 and expect a 4.0 for Spring 2024.

EC: National Honor Society(HS), 1 research and 1 pub, 2 software copyrights, tutor in math, science and computer science during HS and CC, 2 Kaggle Competitions(Beginners), Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) of UC(HS), AP Scholar with Distinction twice, and UCLA CS Summer Institute(A+ in both CS30 and CS97).

PIQ: One on major, specially on courses offered at Cal, one on UCLA CS Summer Institute(taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity), one on withdrawal from UMich(challenge) and one on my tutoring(school and community).

By the end of spring, I will complete over 60 semester credits and IGETC by 12 AP Exams I took in High School(all scores of 4 or 5). For major preparation courses, I will complete MATH 1A, 1B, 53, 55. I will also complete CS 61B and PHYSICS 7A. I will miss MATH 54.

From the information I got from a Rep of UCB, Applied Math is not a highly demanded major, and it is in the College of Letter & Science. In this case, Applied Math does not consider completion of major preparation courses as a factor of admission. All that matters will be GPA, ECs and PIQ. So I guess I am fine in this case? And I will not be at a disadvantage for transferring in one year by just having one Fall semester grade reported in January 2024.

Can I Still Get in UCB Applied Math Without Math 54? Been stressted out in the past few months.

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If you check assist.org and several California CC’s as a transfer source, Math 54 (Linear Algebra and Diff Eq) is a requirement but Math 55 (Discrete Math) is not for the Applied Math program.

Of the lower-division requirements for the Mathematics and Applied Mathematics majors Math 55, Discrete Mathematics , is not required for admission. If your college offers an articulated course we will accept it, however, you may complete Math 55 at Berkeley in your first semester.

If Math 54 is a requirement, you will most likely need to have it on your transcript so be a viable transfer applicant. I would contact UCB Transfer admissions for verification.

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Thank you for the reply! Yes, I checked this with my regional AO who came to our campus during a transfer fair. She told me verbally that the Applied Math major does not consider completion of major requirements as a factor of admission. I also sent her an email, and she confirmed this as well.

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An example ASSIST page for UCB applied math:

https://assist.org/transfer/results?year=74&institution=113&agreement=79&agreementType=to&view=agreement&viewBy=major&viewSendingAgreements=false&viewByKey=74%2F113%2Fto%2F79%2FMajor%2F5abf42b2-86c7-4178-8ed6-8eb27649f8a1

It says that “If you are interested in this major, it is very important to select this major on your application, and complete as many lower-division major requirements as possible prior to transfer. See details on preparation for this major below.” The use of the word “requirements” implies one thing, but “complete as many … requirements as possible” implies another.

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If you do get admitted, would it be possible at least to take a linear algebra course before transfer? Math or applied math majors at UCB tend to start with MATH 110, an upper division linear algebra course, so knowing the MATH 54 linear algebra content before starting at UCB would help.

https://math.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/majoring-mathematics

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I don’t think it is possible. Can I take Math 54 at UCB after transfer?

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If you do get admitted, then needing to take MATH 54 after transfer would delay progress into upper division math courses, since most upper division math courses either require MATH 54 (or equivalent lower division linear algebra) or require other courses that require MATH 54. (Note that MATH 56 mentioned in some places is an alternative lower division linear algebra course.)

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Thank you for the advice!

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If you do get admitted and want to start on upper division math courses, 115 (number theory), 116 (cryptography), 151 (for high school math teachers), and 172 (combinatorics) appear to be the ones that you can take without 54, if you have 53 (needed for 151) and 55 (needed for 115, 116, 172).

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Thank you for the information! I think I will need this if I get admitted. Hope for the best.