OOS applicant w/o prereqs

Colleges & Universities University of California - Davis
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<p>i was hoping to get some insight on admissions policies for oos students and for students that haven’t completed prereqs.</p>

<p>first of all, does anyone know how much more difficult it is to be admitted as a non-resident? i know it’ll be “more difficult,” but can anyone elaborate?</p>

<p>second, how are applicants that haven’t completed prereqs evaluated? are their applications more or less doomed from the start? i applied this year with 64 credits, most of which were dual enrollment credits that do nothing for me as far as prereqs go. if i waited until i was able to complete more of the required courses to apply, i’d be over the 80-credit limit… so i didn’t have much of a choice.</p>

<p>the rest of my application was very strong… could that balance out residency and major prep to give me a decent shot?</p>

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<p>oh, if the major is an important factor - neurobiology.</p>

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<p>A few things I learned for OOS applicants from ad coms this year at info sessions at UC’s and state schools…

  1. You still need to meet a-g requirements at a minimum-look up these requirements for the university and at the school in which you want to apply.
    Most of the people on CC are well qualified in a-g except for…
  2. This is a big one and one for which many OOS applicants don’t get accepted, you have to have 1 YEAR of PEFORMING or VISUAL arts. California schools are set up for this requirement to be met but many OOS schools are not and unless you are required to take this for graduation or are in art, drama, band etc. then this requirement may not be met and you most likely will be rejected.
  3. Most UC’s and state schools look for something exceptional about the applicant. Since there are so many in-state applicants, you need pretty good stats, etc to be considered.
  4. It is pretty expensive to go to a UC and even a state school from out of state. Maybe others have something to add for OOS’ers.</p>
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<p>thanks, any1can. i probably should have mentioned that i’m a transfer student. if i’m not mistaken, the a-g requirements are only applicable to freshman applicants.</p>

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<p>and does anyone know how AP scores might factor into the admissions decision - in other words, will AP credit be applied to major prereqs when my application is reviewed?</p>

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<p>hm. no one?</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, your chances of getting in aren’t very good. Neurobiology, along with all sciences and engineering majors, are considered all very hard majors. On top of that, California has a bazilion number of super smart students in the sciences.</p>

<p>So when you are applying as a transfer applicant, you’re basically competing against those other scientists in landing one of those spots. It’s basically a numbers game… you just have to hope that the available number of spaces for acceptance in your major are still available AFTER the school has accepted those other applicants that have better qualifications than you.</p>

<p>I know for engineering majors, and this should apply to science majors as well, the UC’s will require that you have completed ALL your lower division core classes in your major. If you are missing 1 or 2 core classes, your chances are greatly reduced.</p>

<p>Engineering and science majors overlap alot during the first 2 years. I have lots of science friends, and we are required to take alot of the same classes. Engineering majors need to take 2.5 years of math while science majors take 1.5 years. Engineering majors take 2 years of physics while science majors take 1 year. Engineering majors take .5 years of chemistry while science majors take 1-1.5 years. Engineering major don’t need to take Bio while science majors need to take 1 full year of general Bio.</p>

<p>All math needs to be done, for science people, I think it should be Calc1, Calc2, and Calc3 only. For science majors, you stop after the Calc series. You don’t need to move on to DE (differential equation) and LE (linear algebra).</p>

<p>You will be required to finish 1 year of calculus-based physics. 1st class is Newtonian mechanics, 2nd class is E-M physics (electricity & magnetism). You stop right there. There’s no need to move onto the 3rd class which is L-T physics (light & heat). There’s also no need to take the 4th class (atomic/quantum/modern physics).</p>

<p>You will need 1 year of general Bio, and 1 year of general chemistry. You may need to take Organic Chemistry, which is the 3rd class in the chem series, if your school offers that course. From hearing friends who’ve taken O Chem, they said it was the HARDEST thing they’ve taken in their life.</p>

<p>So basically, the UC’s will want to see if you indeed really have the aptitude to take all the heavy math and science courses. It’s just a test to see if you have what it takes to go thru the science programs. If what you’ve done so far is just mostly GE type classes, there’s almost no chance to get in, especially for out of state students which makes it even tougher because they give priority to California residents. They don’t really care if you can do well in easy GE classes. They want to see if you can successfuly pass the core classes.</p>

<p>It’s tough. I’ve seen some genius pre-med guys in some of my science and math classes. They put me to shame. One guy transferred to UCLA as a bio major, and last I heard he is kicking some serious ass there too with a 3.8 during his 1st year of upper division work.</p>

<p>To put that into perspective, as you know, in the science/engineering majors at the top UC’s, the average gpa is usually around 2.8-2.9. It’s that difficult and grueling. Not everyone can hang in the sciences, and so alot of people eventually drop out for other easier majors. But if they do manage to stick around, it’s a constant struggle to the very end.</p>

<p>I think the best thing for you to do is to complete your lower division core classes mentioned above first, try to get good grades in them, and then apply. You will then have a much better shot at getting into the UC’s then.</p>