<p>My son is going to UCSB for his first year of college and will be going in as a sophomore due to his AP units. He would like to transfer to Cal next year and will have completed 60 units by the end of this year. Does anyone know the application process, any tips, etc.?</p>
<p>California Community College students will get priority over him. He should keep a high GPA and try.</p>
<p>You’re in luck! As a transfer-out-of-UCSB student myself, I’ve lived the process that your son will be subjected to in the following year. Here’s my advice:</p>
<p><em>This is a rather large RISK. Be warned</em>
-Tell your son to focus on finishing the prereqs for his major that CAL requires. If he is that serious about transferring, doing the UCSB major prereqs will just waste his time, and will potentially lower his GPA.
-Get started on your GE requirements right away. The UCSB GE requirements are rather moderate, but still will be difficult to finish in one year. I too came into college as a sophomore due to AP units, but those units do very little to finish your GEs. He needs to become very familiar with the GE system at UCSB, and he needs to be able to use GOLD to find courses that fulfill AT LEAST two to three GE requirements per class. You won’t be able to finish in a year otherwise.
-Getting the courses that knock out two to three GEs at a time will be tough. EVERYBODY wants these classes, including seniors with much higher pass times. If I were you, I’d tell your son to become friends with someone in the CCS program: They have the very first pass time, and are able to register 99 units at a time. Play your cards right, and one of those CCS students will be able to give you all the classes you need.<br>
-Because you are transferring in one year, Cal will only be able to see your son’s first quarter grades in evaluating his college GPA. Since UCs do not consider SATS or high school GPA, your son’s fall quarter will be his only shot at impressing the admissions department. Make it count.</p>
<p>I mentioned that this plan is risky. If the transfer does not succeed, your son will have finished all his ‘easy’ GE courses in one year, leaving him with rather difficult classes left that must be taken all together. Furthermore, if he focuses his attention on Cal’s prereq requirements for his major, he might fall very far behind in finishing his UCSB prereqs (assuming they are very different, which really depends on his major).</p>
<p>That’s my advice. I hope your son does well at UCSB and can transfer to Cal whenever he sees fit.</p>
<p>Thank you for the tips - those are all great to know! Do you know when the application process is for a transfer? Same as everyone else? He is considering the business school and thinks that trying to come straight in to that is probably not possible. Any idea?</p>
<p>November 1st of the year prior to interest of transfer.</p>
<p>Yeah, applications open up October 1st, then can be submitted November 1st, with the deadline being the end of November. </p>
<p>Now, Cal’s business school (Haas) is probably the most competitive division of the most competitive UC. Your son needs to have every single Haas prereq finished by spring 2012, and damn near a 4.0, especially if he an only show his first quarter. Finishing his GE requirements is also a must, because then he won’t have to do GEs at Cal.</p>