UC Berkeley 2016 Transfer Thread

Transfer Students UC Transfers
2641

@“Darth Cornholio” With a 3.86, you would be competitive to apply to Econ directly. From my understanding, it is difficult, if not impossible, to switch into an impacted major after transferring. In any case, you should have taken more than one philosophy class - they expect some demonstrated interest in the major.

A 3.86 is competitive for Berkeley. Very competitive. But (1) taking only one philosophy class, and then applying as a philosophy major is shooting yourself in the foot, and (2) planning to do that with the hopes of switching into Econ is definitely not a good idea. It may be possible for you to get in - but even if you do (which is unlikely), you probably wouldn’t be able to switch into Econ, so it probably wouldn’t be worth attending anyway.

2642

@goldencub
So what do I do about the email that I sent them two and a half weeks ago? Email them again, or just chalk it up to a loss and wait for them to reject me? If you’re telling me applying as a phil major isn’t a good idea, then I’m tempted right now to email them again making sure that they got my last one, but at this point it just feels desperate. I think it’s too late.

2643

@“Darth Cornholio” You could get lucky. I dunno - if I were you, I would complete the Econ requirements in the Summer/Fall, reapply as an Econ major, and then take the Spring off to work/do an internship. But that’s just me.

It doesn’t seem as if there’s much you can do now other than hope for the best - but maybe others can give more substantial advice.

2644

@goldencub
Thanks for your advice and taking the time to assess my situation. I’m just going to email them again mentioning that its been over two weeks and it says on their website 5-7 days, and chalk the whole situation up to a loss for now. It’s just really disappointing because my counselor had me convinced when this school year started that I just had to “Ace” out my grades fall semester and winter intersession and i’d get in, so for the past 4 months after I did just that I’ve been expecting whole-heartedly to get in, and I simply cannot bare another year here at community college. I’m confident I’ll get into UCSD and I think I’ll just end up going there, I live 5 minutes from the campus anyway. It’s just heart-breaking because my counselor assured me I’d get in, and once I got my rejection from UCSB two and a half weeks ago, this whole thing has just gone to shit and reality has struck me pretty hard.

In the end I’ll be okay, looking back a year ago I was at University of Arizona (started CC in San Diego my sophomore year) and all of these schools seemed completely and utterly out of reach. Now I’m disappointed about settling for UCSD. Thanks again man.

EDIT- Just checked, they are no longer accepting change of major requests. Looks like it’s all over.

2645

@“Darth Cornholio” Can you please provide me with the source that says they are no longer accepting change of major requests?

2646

I read over the automated message that I got after I emailed them two and a half weeks ago. Right at the bottom it reads:
Withdraw Requests (Transfer only). If you wish to cancel/withdraw your application please log in to cancel or withdraw application.

Decisions for Transfer will be available April 29

Withdraw Requests (Freshman only) - the deadline to withdraw your application is March 9. Requests to withdraw your application will not be processed after March 9.

Decisions for Freshman will be available March 24.

Change of College/Major Requests - we are no longer processing requests of this nature at this time.

For additional information and any questions regarding status of your application, please visit MAP@Berkeley

Please always include your Application ID number when communicating.

Prospective students may find answers to general admissions questions, sign up for emails, or find out how to visit our campus at: admissions.berkeley.edu
Go Bears!

2647

@“Darth Cornholio” Thanks. Looks like I may end up going to UCI, then. I’ll have 6 philosophy courses completed, but unfortunately I had to withdraw from my Symbolic Logic course. I recently sent them an email requesting a change to Rhetoric.

Ah well, we will see. It is indeed a class under the major, but isn’t an articulated pre-requisite.

2648

@Cheolf It’s not the articulated prereq? You should be fine. Your GPA is really high and they’ll love you. The W is explainable.

2649

@goldencub Nope. The one articulated pre-requisite in my district is Ancient Philosophy (which I’m taking and will receive an A in).

I sent them (and the other UCs) an email explaining my withdrawal. It’s not only for the reasons I disclosed to you, but also because of work obligations. Basically I recently found out I’ll have to be working at 2am on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (starting on April 27 and lasting three weeks). My symbolic logic course is on Mondays and runs from 6:00pm-9:10pm. I don’t usually get home until 9:40pm. You can see why this would be a problem.

I let the UCs know I can provide current grades for my other five courses (all of which I have over 95% in; four of them are philosophy courses). I also let them know I can provide evidence for my work obligations.

Hopefully they have mercy on me

[-O<

2650

@Goldencub is correct that you’ll have major issues.

Econ is an impacted major within L&S. Because of this, the administration imposes a deadline that requires you to meet all requirements by the end of your first semester at Berkeley.

See: https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/prospective/transfer-students

It’s also not physically possible to pursue the economics major if If you don’t have Calc I complete by the end of Spring due to the course sequence of the prerequisites. The latest possible timeline to have a chance of meeting all the prerequisites:

Spring 2016: Calc I (Differential)
Summer 2016: Calc II (Integral), Intro to Microeconomics, Intro to Macroeconomics
Fall 2016: Intermediate Economics (either Micro or Macro), Applied Statistics, Submission of a Major Declaration Form

See: http://guide.berkeley.edu/courses/econ/

Additionally, Econ hopefuls also tend to overlook the logistics of impacted courses…

A lot of people try to backdoor into the major using the same strategy your counselor recommended. Because of this, combined with the vast majority of freshmen-admitted Haas hopefuls applying to Economics as their backup major, there is a huge bottle neck for some of the “core” prerequisites at Berkeley (Stats 20/21, Econ 100/101/A/B). Seats in these classes are at a premium and classes fill up even before the vast majority of transfers start registering. The current state of the campus is that Econ transfer pre-admits have to be saved spots in those said courses.

…basically if your not an econ pre-admit, then your chances of getting off the wait-lists and enrolling in both required courses are basically nil. It’s a huge gamble for non-econ admits as you essentially waste your Phase I to add classes you have close to no shot of getting into.

See: http://www.berkeleytime.com/enrollment/?course1=2018-fall-2015-52145&course2=2017-fall-2015-49705&course3=2019-fall-2015-51188&course4=2020-fall-2015-51128 (Look at the wait-list data!)

I’m sorry to hear you got bad advice from a counselor, but I recommend you stay an additional semester (or two) in community college to finish the prerequisites if you want to pursue Economics. A GPA of 3.86 is indeed in the competitive range to get into the major as a pre-admit with the requirements met.

On another note: [UCLA does not allow Non-Econ transfer admits to switch into Econ.](https://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/lsmajors/econ_pre.htm) Unfortunately, there is no back door into UCLA Economics.

2651

@SDGoldenBear
Thanks for the informative post. I just wish that my counselor didn’t screw me over, but I have only myself to blame for not doing more research. Sucks, but I don’t think I can stand another year at community college. Looks like its either gonna be USC or UCSD, and although those aren’t UCB or UCLA, it’s hard to complain about those choices.

2652

Guys decisions come out next week why would you think there’s time to change your major and have them review your app again??

2653

@SDGoldenBear All this time I’ve been using schedulebuilder for class data!

2654

11 days before berkeley decision and 4 days away from UCLA… Now I start worrying over stupid stuff like I didn’t get any inquiry email from Berkeley maybe because they already rejected me…

2655

^^ Don’t worry about anything. Don’t look into anything. You’ll make and see problems that aren’t there. Concentrate on what you can control.

Time is flying for me, then again I have a million things going on that is keeping me plenty distracted. At this point, I’d appreciate an extra month before the 29th arrives.

2656

same here, with full time school/work/personal life I was surprised it was already mid April

2657

Agreed. This semester flew by.

2658

I am too tired to be anxious. I got nine hours of sleep yesterday and I’ve only been up since 10. But I cannot seem to break away from this exhaustion. I am far too type A to be unproductive and take naps in the daytime. Yes, it is the end of the semester, but it has also been an easy semester for me. I’m so a night owl so I am not used to feeling tired before midnight at the earliest, unless my sleeping pattern was disrupted. Let alone 4 p.m.

2659

My landlord of 5 years gave us 6 weeks notice several weeks back. We originally had a year’s lease and have been month to month since. The original date given was April 15. Obviously since I’m waiting to hear back on Berkeley, that was problematic since the rental market where I live in terrible and if I don’t get into Berkeley, the last thing I want is to be stuck in a year’s lease when I need to move.

We have a good relationship with our landlord and they extended it to May 10 … but even still, that’s a super tight turnaround once I found if I’ve been accepted or not. Luckily we found a friend we can crash with, which we’ll be moving to the first week of May while we figure out our next steps. While that’s great, that means the next 2 or so weeks are going to take a lot of my time, energy, and patience moving … which is pretty lame. Luckily my course load is stupidly easy aside from a calculus class that takes some of my energy, but I have an 8 page paper I need to start that I’m sure will get forgotten about in the process.

So, yeah, more time right now would be awesome. I am going to an Avett Brothers concert at Berkeley on the 29th, so there’s that to look forward to. If I don’t get accepted though that concert will be a downer lol

2660

dumb question. does invitation to the alumni scholarship mean anything?