<p>Hello everybody! I’m international student from Ukraine currently enrolled in UC Santa Cruz. I really want to get to UC Berkley. I prepared for sat for a very short time, so my scores allowed me to get only to UCSC. What should I Do to successfully transfer to Berkley? What does the admission office expects from transfer application? Is it high GPA or SAT scores? Or both? I plan to study 2 years at UCSC and then transfer .Waiting for your suggestions, guys! 
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<p>If you really want to go to UC Berkeley, then you should to go to a community college in California. UC Berkeley hardly excepts any UC to UC transfer students. </p>
<p>Eh, I wouldn’t advise the CCC route if you’re OOS/international. CC is a good option for most students because it’s cheaper, but with OOS tuition rates you end up paying crazy amounts for what’s usually a not-so-good education with sometimes awful professors. Going to CC also won’t guarantee that you get into UCB, I think their admission rate tends to be ~25%, or lower for impacted majors. So, CCC transfers get priority over other schools, but it’s not the safest option and I’m not sure I’d recommend it in this case.</p>
<p>As for what admissions are actually looking for, SAT means nothing now. GPA, coursework/pre-reqs, and ECs/essays are the biggest factors now. For pre-reqs, assist.org will give you an idea of what to take, though you may have to guess at the articulations. Try to pick classes that will be useful for both your current major/school and as pre-reqs for your UCB major. For ECs, things related to your major look good, so do the usual volunteer/leadership positions. But get involved in something.</p>
<p>Oh, and make sure you don’t miss application dates! For UC, applications are due in November of your sophomore year, which is pretty early. So… don’t miss it. You might want to consider applying to another UC or two as well, assuming you’re not a huge fan of UCSC. It’s pretty hard to guarantee anything with UCB, so don’t put all your eggs in one basket if you really want to transfer.</p>
<p>What do you mean by “EC”, because I’m not yet familiar with these words you use. And for SAT, it means nothing if you are transfer? Cause my SAT scores are 1900, will that do for transfer purpose, or should I take the test again and aim for 2100+ ? Thank you.</p>
<p>@alexUA SATs are not relevant if you transfer. They will not look at them. You do not have to take them again. They will not even ask for the scores.</p>
<p>ECs mean “extra-curriculars”, such as clubs, leadership, volunteer stuff, jobs, etc.</p>
<p>Got it, thank you.</p>
<p>@collegedropout1 I have seen some students transferring from UCSD to UCB. They are international students with GPA close to 4.0. But their majors are all econ&math, I don’t know why.</p>