@goldencub , I’m going to pursue a career in the sport I play. But God forbid that doesn’t work out. Probably going to go into Finance/Banking (Wall Street kinda stuff you know 
haha )
GoldenCub “nobody in their right mind would ever spend 10+ years at a CC” Exactly! And Berkely wouldn’t admit someone that would take that long to graduate. My point was/is that your point didn’t make sense.
Transfer student here! MCB hopeful for CAL. Accepted to UCLA, UCSD, and UCD so far. 3.71 gpa from my most recent school, however, I attended college 7 years ago and did not perform well and so my cumulative gpa is a 3.52. I wanted to give some support and perspective that a gpa is only reflective of your academics and not you as a person. I am president of a club, I have two jobs on campus (I work in organic chemistry and the counseling department), I have a research internship over the summer at CAL, and I am independent. My ambition and vigor to achieve more and excel is reflective of my personal ethic which raises my academic ability. Keep this in kind! Do not be frustrated with yourself about not having a 4.0. Find the avenues in which you thrive! Good luck to all! 5 hours and 15 minutes and counting… 
Keep this in mind*
My plan was to sleep, but after working 12:00am-11:00am I find it difficult. All that time to think about decisions!
Just have a question, because I feel like my APs/SATs would hurt my application. Did every non-community college student have to put their SAT scores on the application or was it optional?
@BatWonder77 SAT scores are not considered by the UC’s (for transfer admission).
@Itsaboy, regardless of any perceived “easiness” associated with the 4.0 student with a light load in your scenario, I don’t think @goldencub is wrong.
The 4.0 student no less deserving than the 3.8 student. The argument for the 4.0 student in that scenario is that he/she succeeded at everything he/she has taken and, with Cal’s admissions criteria, they can’t conclude that that applicant would have had a lower GPA had he/she enrolled in more units per semester. The bottom-line fact is that as long as the 4.0 applicant met the same minimum requirements as the 3.8 student, then from an admissions point of view that 4.0 student will have less blemishes than the 3.8 student.
Also I completely agree with @Mochiburrito, other than a select few uber-geniuses, what separates the vast majority of the students here at Cal is the amount of immersion and preparation they have been exposed to prior and during their stay here.
For the chosen few that will be hearing good news later today, regardless on your level of previous accomplishments and competitiveness, the competition against your fellow Golden Bears doesn’t start in August…it started yesterday, the day before, and the day before that…one of our unofficial nicknames is the University of Competitive Bleeps for a reason.
goldencub is correct, SAT scores are not considered for transfer admit. They are concerned about your lower division requirement and how successful you were at completing them.
Mm, I was just looking on MAP and misread the “Visit the Campus” link as “View the Contract”. 8-}
One can dream!
@Itsaboy
Someone went to drop-in transfer advising in Berkeley’s and asked that question last year, and they said the number of courses you take per semester is usually not considered.
It is your choice to take 5 or 6 courses per semester,or if you decide to be 1 year transfer rather than 2 year, it is your responsibility to do well on all the coursework. If you feel unsure of getting good grades in 5 courses per semester, you should not do that from the beginning. You are raising the standard by yourself, and I don’t think they’d give you extra points for that.
I got into UCLA, UCD, and UCI. I really hope I get into Berkeley, it would be a dream come true.
Hey guys, my name is DreamsShattering and my dreams are shattering lol. I’m so frustrated, I really need to vent, so I’m sorry and I hope none of you fine folks mind. I know a lot of you are stressed out and anxious waiting for the golden ticket (I was too, but not anymore…), so maybe take this opportunity to kick back and enjoy a little story time and point and laugh at someone and be glad you’re not me. I’m glad I can be of service! Lol
I’m a 4.0 GPA CC student with only one goal: to transfer to my dream school of Cal. Only, I’m not. You see, after HS I went to Cal Poly SLO as a CS major. I had a terrible time because of non-academic factors, which affected academic factors. I ended Fall Quarter with two F’s and one D+. My GPA was a 0.43. A 0.43, people. I think I deserve an award for getting so low, actually.
I withdrew from the school because of a couple of reasons: they were giving me a tough time changing majors, and because the fit of the school was all off. The fit was like a cat squeezing through a fence. No bueno. I don’t know any Spanish, by the way. I guess I’m just going hysterical. hyperventilation bag
So I withdrew. Withdrew! Not transfer, I didn’t transfer the credits. Not because I wanted to like, evade the GPA Feds and start a new life or whatever. But because they had nothing to do with my major. I went back home, to the fanfare of my family (woohoo! 0.43 GPA! I never told them of course.), and enrolled at my local CC. I spent two years here and managed to snag a 4.0 in the major I always wanted, completed all pre-reqs, and fulfilled the IGETC.
I send in my UC application. I cast my fishing line into the pool, hoping for a blue whale to drag me into the water. I was so proud. I thought I had a chance. I applied to 7 UCs, I didn’t want to go back to a Cal State, I became disillusioned with the CSU system.
Here comes the turn!! A period of unprecedented anxiety is ended when UCLA congratulates me on my admission! Cool, not my dream school, but so happy and excited and grateful and it feels like a big weight is lifted off my shoulders. I’ll have somewhere to go, after all, and it’s a fantastic school to boot.
The turn!!! I hear (read?) talk of the Honors Program at UCLA in the UCLA transfer thread. “It’s simple! It’s just a box to check.” I check for my box to check. There is no box to check for me to check. DREA. “Everyone should’ve gotten it” I didn’t get it. DREAMS. “Oh, well not everybody, there’s a minimum GPA requirement, 3.75” Oh, that should be no problem, I’m a 4.0 student. DREAMSSH. I need to get to the bottom of this. After searching high and low, I log into UC Davis’s admission site. DREAMSSHA. I click on the course credit transfer review. DREAMSSHATT. And I find out… that the one quarter I took at Cal Poly is factored into my overall GPA! DREAMSSHATTERED.
I thought I was a 4.0 student. I’m actually a 3.53 student. Talk about expectations vs. reality. I realize there was never any bait on my fishing rod at all. A lot of things makes sense now. No wonder I wasn’t getting some invitations for scholarships some other 4.0’s were getting.
So I’m extremely frustrated. I feel like I lost a lot of scholarship opportunities (regents, my love…) that I would have had the potential to get as a 4.0 student. And beside that, I might not even get into my dream school anymore. The worst part is that I don’t even need or want the credits from SLO, it doesn’t go toward my major and I have enough credits to transfer solely from my time at the CC. And I feel like, maybe the most unfair thing, that for the most part, I did the same thing (GPA-wise) as those other 4.0 students did. We all did the work and got 4.0’s from our time at CC. But because of that one quarter, I feel like the efforts I put in, my 2 years as a 4.0 CC student, is wasted. This is so frustrating. It’s a lose-lose. I probably lost my chance at admission to Cal. And even if I do get admitted (doubtful), I’ll be locked out of a lot of opportunities that people who did the same thing as I did get (4.0 in CC).
So do you guys feel better now? You’re better off than me. What are your guys thoughts on this? Any encouraging words? Do you think I still have a chance? And I’m sorry for the long post. Thanks everyone for listening.
I’m so anxious…good luck everyone, I really hope everything works out for all of us:) fingers crossed!
SDGoldenBear You completely missed the point I made and the inconsistency I was pointing out in GoldenCubs logic.
@DreamsShattering Not to take away anything from your post, but when you were spelling out “DREAMSSHATTERED” letter-by-letter, I spit out my tea in laughter. I think everyone needs a little smile today to ease their nerves.
I can tell you with certainty that your admission counselors will recognize the fact that your GPA is being weighed unfavorably because of a college you went to a long time ago. They will either disregard it completely and consider you as a “4.0” student, or (more likely) put little emphasis on that grade. The fact that you were able to get into UCLA (congratulations!) is a testament to this fact. Bonus points if you were able to explain this GPA discrepancy in the “Additional Comments” section (but no worries if you didn’t, the counselors will know.)
Also, please remember that your GPA shouldn’t define you, nor should it make you judge whether or not your two years at a CC was “a waste of time.” You’ve grown as a student and an individual over these two crucial years, and I’m sure that your tale of personal redemption will have many more successes in the future.
Good luck man! I’m cheering for you.
@DreamsShattering Yeah, you can’t hide from your past coursework. I was surprised by UC Davis’ evaluations of my transcripts as well, because I retook classes I thought were considered failing, but they still used my first attempts, which were all C-.
Did someone tell you the courses you took at Cal Poly wouldn’t be factored into anything? I’m still haunted from courses I took 10 years ago at a community college in another state.
You got into UCLA though, which is a good in itself. Maybe that’s encouraging for Berkeley. Did you include the failing grades in your application to Berkeley? Did you explain them at all?
Either way, best of luck.
@DreamsShattering I have gpa 3.4 which is lower than yours. I spent 3 years in cc and 2 years in cc in another country. I got rejected from UCSB and UCLA and have no hope for other schools. I also have a baby and I don’t have time to take lots of classes. How should I feel?
DREAMSSHATTERING lol you didn’t do the same as other 4.0 community college students. They graduated highschool, and got straight A’s since then. You graduated highschool, failed your first quarter in college, and then got straight A’s. Just be happy with what you’ve been able to accomplish since then. Things don’t always go the way we want, we just have to work hard make the most of the results. But, either way, you weren’t treated unfairly.
@DreamsShattering I am also not eligible for financial aid and any scholarships because I am not on F1 visa and I don’t have a green card. Do you feel better?