CSU to UC

mikemac
Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:20:05 +0000

UCs don’t care about how long you’ve been in college if you’re transferring. All that matters is how many units you have. You’re considered a junior if you meet the cutoff criteria in units, regardless of whether you did it in 1 semester or 10. So if you will have completed the units you need by the end of next summer, you could apply this fall and be a student on a UC campus next fall.

You should think carefully about what you’re planning, though. The UC schools are facing tight budgets and have got a lot more stringent on rules such as minimum progress and the maximum unit cap. What this means is that if you finished getting the 60 units by the end of next summer and enroll at a UC, you won’t be a sophomore to the UC system. You’ll be a junior and will have 2 years left in college. There is an exception if units come from AP credit, since those don’t count against the unit cap at the UCs; talk to a counselor or look on the web for more info.

Not only that, but the UC schools by law give preference in admission to CC transfer students. With the budget crisis they’ve actually accepted fewer frosh this year than last, and there’s talk of further cuts. One thing they’ve discussed is only accepting CC transfers, so if you stay at the CSU you’re running some risk of this happening.