Just to let you all know, I helped with selecting a few of you for review. Cal is the only UC that still incorporates their students in admitting new students. Harvard and the Ivy’s do but so do WE!! Of course we are only involved in the preliminary stage of admissions but you all should look into it once you are admitted. Its a great experience!!
@mochiburrito What’s your major? How was the adjustment between CC courses to upper-division courses at Cal? Do you feel your CC prepared you?
@mochiburrito, Very kind of you to have our back. I believe education is the equalizer for anything.
Im a CS major and i transferred as a MCB major. You have one year to declare a major within L&S (they dont tell you that) but as long as you complete the pre reqs for another major within that time you can switch. The adjustment was harsh, I’m not going to lie. I took summer courses to alleviate the anxiety which helped but to be honest summer is WAAAAAAAYYY easier! I took biochem and my AC requirement and i aced both but the fall was BRUTAL but it is manageable. CC prepared me for MCB but not CS. CS here is pretty hard and I would say, most people here are pretty privileged in terms of having a lot of tutoring in the past and well they started coding REALLY early in life. That doesnt mean you cant code if you just dive in but the learning curve is steep.
@goldenclub I see.
I thought it was a limiting factor because Cal probably wants the student to graduate within 2-3 years of transferring. I understand the other priorities but they have not proven if they can handle a lot of coursework. Though the situation would change upon transfer, would Cal take the chance and admit them without that information? As you said, a 4.0 is a 4.0, and I can definitely see the rational with having other things to do, but Cal’s rigor is miles ahead of any CC. Though this may not be a huge deciding factor, I thought this situation would be at least considered. (The big factors are still GPA/Personal Statement/EC)
Just to clear the air, unlike most other transfers I was admitted to Cal as a freshmen and dropped out my first year because I was not ready for the time/stress commitment. I needed to take a year off and apply myself academically at a CC or through Berkeley extension in order to apply for readmission (easier than applying as a transfer). So i traveled and took online classes.
@mochiburrito That’s very nice of you! 
Go bears!
@mochiburrito Do you think that someone who didn’t start coding until recently could survive CS as a minor? I really like some of the courses, esp. the ones around Data/Information Science, but I don’t want my gpa to tank since I want to go to grad school.
@nidalee you are right in the sense we do take into account the years one spends at a CC but thats why we review the PS. Theres a difference between taking 4 years to transfer with little to no ECs and someone who took 5 years to transfer but had is juggling two jobs and helping out at a high school. This is why your PS matters, it mostly fills in the gaps for all the questions we have about your GPA or time at CC.
Guys I haven’t slept all night!
@Wadadli I was going to do the minor until i realized how much catching up i needed to do with programming. So i decided to be CS full time because that way i can just be at Soda hall all day haha (its fun though!!) i would say take CS10 which is a really nice blend of concepts and theories to programming and it has a little bit of programming embedded into it, before taking the CS61 series because they are HARD (depending on your exp. with programming). You will all notice that there is a trend here…Cal is hard because the kids have been immersed in academics for a LONG time so they are ahead in those terms, theyre not just “SMART” or whatever . They have just been exposed from a very young age but hard work does take care of that as long as you are willing to put it in the time.
I just called Admissions and they said that they will start really soon…
at 4 or 5 ha good one!
I wish in everybody hear good news, just like Jared Goff was selected the first pick at 2016 NFL Draft.
Just wanted to say - thank you for all the help and advice - coming here was so much better than going to my clueless college counselors 
Best of luck to all you guys, I actually feel invested in some of your admission decisions, haha! I really do hope it is good news for us.
Same. I would be very angry if my school passed on some of the quality posters we have on this threa.
I wish all of you get accepted! It’s been a tough and long journey up to this point!
@nidalee Well, the review is holistic, so many factors are taken into account. Still, GPA is king. Amount of courses taken is a negligible factor (although having a packed schedule is definitely admirable).
A 4.0 student who took 4 classes per semester would likely be admitted over a 3.8 student who took 5 classes per semester (for certain majors). It doesn’t work out to be a complete science, but ultimately transfer admissions is predominantly numbers based (with exceptions, of course).
Whatever, though. I’m going to go grab food and kill time.
Last night I was accepted into Berkeley! Then I woke up and realize it was only just a dream 
@nidalee , i mean i hope they are need blind. I don’t need FA whatsoever, but my families income bracket is somewhat beyond the highest option I could put in the online application for the UCs. I guess I just think admissions would be like “oh he’s rich, he’ll be fine anyway. Doesn’t need to go to a good school to succeed”.
@mochiburrito do you know if Cal gives any leniency toward transfers regarding the 3.3 GPA cap for CS? For example could I retake 61B even if I already took an equivalent course at my CC in order to try to raise my GPA if it’s under 3.3?
I’m afraid I may have to turn down Berkeley, as the risk of simply getting two B’s and ruining my entire career and educational plans does not seem worth the reward.