Coursework
I have been taking the prerequisites for transferring into environmental engineering. By the time I transfer, I will have completed the following:
Math: Calculus (three semesters), Linear Algebra, Differential Equations
Physics for Scientists and Engineers: 101, 102, and 103
Chemistry: 101, 102, and Organic Chemistry A
Biology: 101 and Microbiology
Engineering Courses: MATLAB, Statics, Strength of Materials, Dynamics
I have also completed all of my IGETC classes; such as English, Economics (macro and micro), Mass Communications, Linguistics, Theatre Arts, etc.
Extracurriculars
from most to least recent
one potential extracurricular (not confirmed yet): Student Sustainability Commissioner with the city’s Office of Sustainability
Math Tutor
Intern at my college working with business partner to strategize a solution for a challenge I was given. Internship revolved around compost and community involvement
NCAS: NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars
Barista: for 1.5 yrs, received employee of the quarter, became barista trainer
Member of Sustainability Club
Member of Honors Program (for 1 year)
Cost Constraints / Budget
For the time being, please assume that budget is not an issue. Please judge purely on my other stats : )
Schools
It is difficult for me to gauge if these universities are safety, match, or reach, but here are the schools I plan on applying to:
Cal Poly SLO
Georgia Institute of Technology
UC Berkeley
UC Irvine
I would consider UC Irvine to be a safety for me because I will be applying with the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) Program. I would assume the others to be either reaches or possibly matches.
Do you have a guarantee transfer at Gatech? If not, do not bother.
I read that one person did 3 attempts to transfer from UGA to GaTech instate.
Transfer OOS to GaTech from any community college but Montgomery College, MD (they have an agreement) without guaranteed transfer path is not happening. In addition, there are so many guaranteed transfer paths now from GaTech getting OOS without path is extremely difficult.
That is a very helpful link. There isn’t any information on my major at UC Berkeley but I seem to be within the Admit GPA for a few of the schools such as UC Irvine and UC Davis. Thank you for the advice!
Leaving aside Georgia Tech (which seems like a long shot), it sounds as if you prefer Cal Poly over Irvine. If this is because you like the more hands-on, project-based approach at SLO, you might consider adding Oregon State to your list. OSU is similar in philosophy to Cal Poly, and they have a strong campus-wide emphasis on all things environmental. Engineering-wise, they not only have an environmental engineering major but also an ecological engineering major, plus relevant minors like geomatics engineering and irrigation engineering, and a strong engineering honors program. It could cost the same as a UC, if you get WUE reciprocity (which is offered to the top 30% of geographically-eligible admits). Could be worth comparing to Irvine, to see which seems like a better fit for what you’re looking for. Another WUE school with very strong environmental engineering is Colorado State. You would definitely get the WUE award here. Also in CO but not WUE, CU Boulder and CO Mines are both very strong too.
More distant OOS publics that are particularly strong in environmental engineering would include Purdue, and Clemson; reachier ones are UMich and UIUC. I’m not specifically familiar with the relatively competitiveness of these for OOS transfers, but fwiw.
With TAG as your safety, you really can’t go wrong; the question is whether there are other options that you’d choose over the UC you select for TAG. Good luck!
If i were you, I would stay in CA. If you are coming from Community College in CA most CA schools will take almost all your credits. That maybe not the case with OOS schools. Usually instate schools have agreements with local community colleges to make it easier for local students to transfer. This is done ONLY for local community students.