Incoming junior at UC Berkeley wanting to transfer to a CSU (in any city with job prospects…). Would like to know if anyone here had experience with UC to CSU transfer since I understand that CC transfers get priority and UCs generally get last pick.
Reason why I want to transfer is because I just got kicked out of my house: I need to find a job to afford rent/bills, and I don’t think I’d have time to give my all to what Berkeley demands for academic success.
I think you need to transfer to a community college in order to have the time to look for work.
It’s rough out there right now but I would think that the Berkeley area would have more job opportunities, given their access to all the cities in the Bay Area.
Right now it’s extremely difficult to find work, especially since you haven’t mentioned your marketable skills, without a degree.
Also, you know that California rents are extremely expensive near all the colleges.
Also, given the calendar, and the admission cycle that just completed, I think it would be extremely difficult to just transfer into a CSU right now.
I think the cc is your only option at this point.
As a rising college junior, seems community college would be somewhat redundant?
I do not know about the transfer process to CSUs, but it probably makes sense to target non-impacted CSUs who may be more open to late applications.
Perhaps another option is take a leave of absence from Cal, but that would really only work if the current difficulties are temporary.
I have about 70 units already, I’m not sure how that would work with CC. I’m planning to continue with Berkeley as a junior (tuition for the year was paid in advance - locked into a lease for a year that I’d be paying with savings) and would be applying for CSUs during the fall application cycle. Looking into work study, but need to hear back from the FA office.
The CSUs accept upper div transfers (even at a senior level, which I would be after finishing Spring 2027), and I’d be able to do part time there without permission from the school (UC). I’m not sure if CC would be my best option if I’m at upper div level already.
Sort of my bad for not mentioning it in OP post: I am planning on applying during fall, not right now. In Aug there are some CSUs that accept applications for Spring 2027 admits though.
Would you consider taking a leave of absence to work and save money and then retuen to Berkeley?
I was thinking about it, but overall I feel that a CSU might be better for me because they focus on practical skills instead of theoretical.
My friends who attended CSUs did more hands-on learning in their programs, and I admired that.
CSUs off the top of my head: Bakersfield,
San Bernardino, Sacramento, Monterey, and Stanislaus.
Jobs nearby would be in tourism, retail and restaurant industry.
Work-study usually has limited hours. The government approves a certain amount of funding and hours are paid in monthly checks, according to your timesheet. This may have changed.
Expect about 10 hours or less a week, minimum wage, and most jobs are related to the eateries on campus. The amount isn’t much and you shouldn’t rely on it to pay rent. It’s usually for incidental expenses.
Bakersfield has a number of factory jobs.
Here’s the transfer info on Sac State.
It would help to know major, a couple of these (Monterey, Stanislaus) have far fewer offerings than some other CSUs. If hands on /learning by doing is a major attraction, Cal Poly Pomona could be a good option (again, depending on major, but it has quite a broad offering).
If affordability is a major criteria then cost of living in the areas is something to consider as well.
Agree.
Lots of information like major, budget, employment skills, transportation, was not provided by OP.
I listed schools that I thought would be less competitive for admission.
Given that the OP does not have priority for admission, it’s hard to know because we don’t have other necessary information.
Priority admission for CSUs continues be for freshman, local resident agreement and CCC transfers.
I assumed that non-impacted schools would be easier for admission, similar to freshman applications. Schools like CPP are impacted for some but not all majors so some but not all majors might be competitive for transfer. Is it stated somewhere that CSUs give priority for transfers from CCCs? I have no doubt that is where most of their transfers come from as a natural progression, but their remit is to educate California residents.
Looping in @Gumbymom who probably has the detailed info to help OP target, but again knowing major and gpa would be useful here.
Yes. The CCC’s were specifically created for that and typically have articulation agreements with the local CSUs, but a lot depends on availability of major.
https://www.calstate.edu/apply/transfer/pages/ccc-associate-degree-for-transfer.aspx
Most CSU’s do accept High unit/Senior level transfers however, to complete any degree there is still an in-house residency requirement where you need to have a specific number of course credits taken at the CSU campus. This may prolong your time at any CSU campus and any financial benefits from transferring may be moot.
If you are locked into completing your Junior year at UC Berkeley then maximize your time there this year and possibly consider @SJ2727 ‘s and @happy1 ‘s advice of taking leave of absence from Berkeley and then go back to complete the degree when you are in a better place. Again not sure if this a workable solution. I would contact the financial aid office to determine if you are eligible to get additional financial help in the meantime.
That said, your current GPA and major are important and as stated, not all CSU campuses will accept Junior/Senior level transfers so you still need to do some research and due diligence.
Wishing you the best of luck and please update when you hear from the financial aid office and if you can qualify from more financial assistance.
Again I understand that this is the route most take but - maybe I’m missing it in that page - I don’t see anything that says they prioritize CCCs over other transfers from within California, as compared to UCs which explicitly say
At UC, junior-level transfers from California community colleges are our highest priority,
“With these Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADT) — sometimes called a Degree with a Guarantee — students who meet the CSU’s minimum eligibility requirements are guaranteed priority admission to a CSU campus”.
I didn’t see that priority admission was “guaranteed” to transfers from other California schools.
The point is moot for this student because this student has reached past the 60 unit cap.
I had a number of students, when I worked at my high school, use this program, at the CCC’s, to advance their education the CSU system.
It’s been established for a while that the priority admissions were first given to entering freshman and then to CCC students. Local CC students had articulation agreements with local CSU’s.
Adding the full paragraph from the CSU transfer page:
The California Community Colleges (CCC) Associate in Art for Transfer (AA-T) and the Associate in Science for Transfer (AS-T) degrees are two-year associate degrees that are fully transferable to the CSU and are no more than 60 semester units or 90 quarter units.
With these Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADT) — sometimes called a Degree with a Guarantee — students who meet the CSU’s minimum eligibility requirements are guaranteed priority admission to a CSU campus, though not necessarily to a particular campus or major.
But this ADT is like a TAG program for UCs, right? It doesn’t cover all CCC students whereas the stated priority for UCs does.
Anyway not sure this discussion is helping OP. I doubt there are many UC-CSU transfer applicants (certainly not like the opposite). Still think a leave of absence if workable would be the best path.
It does.
I just want to say the posts regarding CCC transfer priority for the UC’s and CSU’s is not valid for OP’s situation so there is no point in continuing these discussions.
OP has stated they will continue their Junior year at UC Berkeley so attending a CCC and then transferring will not help their situation.
Thank you… I was overwhelmed by all the CC debate derailing this post that I was hesitant to reply again 
I have more than 60 units, why would I go to a CC if I’d still be pursuing my same major?
I have a 3.9 GPA currently (EECS major), I just feel like being without a permanent home address would affect my academic performance at a tough uni…
I completely understand. You should contact the Basic Needs office at Berkeley for housing resources Home | Basic Needs
Also look into taking a Gap semester to reduce the pressure of finding a job and housing and then check with the financial aid office to see if the tuition for the Gap semester can be applied towards the Fall semester of your Senior year so you can stay and complete your degree. There are resources at Berkeley that can help you get through this difficult situation.