UC-to-UC Transfer. Did I Just Screw My Chances of Transferring?!

Transfer Students UC Transfers
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<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I am currently a first year at UCSC and am looking to transfer out of here next year. Grades for Winter quarter have just been released and I am extremely sad to say that I did not do as well as I thought I was going to do. Here are my grades thus far:
Fall Quarter 2011
–> BME 5: Intro to Biotechnology = A
–> BME 80: The Human Genome = A
–> Core 80A: Freshman College Writing Course = A
Winter Quarter 2012:
–> CMPE 12: Computer Systems/Assembly Language = A
–> CMPE 12L: Lab = A+
–> CMPS 12A: Introduction to Programming (Accelerated) = B+
–> CMPS 12L: Lab = A
–> Math 19A: Calculus 1 for Science, Engineering and Math Majors = C
This means my GPA was a 4.0 fall quarter and a low 3.28 winter quarter making my cumulative GPA a 3.60. </p>

<p>This quarter was tough, I have never worked as hard as I did for any class, ever. I took on 19 units. I took two programming courses (one being an accelerated course) without any prior programming experience, I had labs for each course (never doing that again) and finally, I placed into Math 19A (which is considered more challenging than regular Math 11A Calculus 1 as its aimed for STEM majors) without ever taking calculus before in my life. The grade that really worries me is the C in math as anything below a B- is looked down upon. </p>

<p>Like I said, I am trying to transfer next year as I wish to pursuit Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering but UCSC does not offer such programs. I plan on applying to UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCI and USC. Now for the questions: how bad is a C on my transcript? If it hurts my chances of being admitted as a transfer student I will take the course again in the summer. Let’s say I do take the course again, can I take it over at a CC close to home so I can save money (I’m from SoCal)? Or do I have to take it at UCSC in order for my new grade to overshadow my old grade? What are my chances of being admitted as a transfer student with the grades I have so far, stellar EC’s, good essays, UC reciprocity and all the pre-reqs done for my intended major?</p>

<p>This will be the last time I let anything like this happen. I will have mostly As, if not all As, from here on out. I spread myself thin this past quarter, that’s it. </p>

<p>Sorry for the long post, I hope you guys can help out.</p>

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<p>Passing grade cannot be repeated.</p>

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<p>Damn, really?! Well that gets rid of that option. </p>

<p>So then, how bad will a C look on my record?</p>

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<p>A C doesn’t look too great, but it’s still passing. I’m at UCSC right now, and transferring to Santa Barbara or Berkeley for next fall. One of the conditions of acceptance is that you have to get a C or better in all of your planned classes, so theoretically a C should be okay. Keep the rest of your grades up, because your overall GPA is very important (3.5+ just to be safe) and finish UCSC’s GE requirements. Intercampus transfers are stressful, but not as hard as people make them out to be.</p>

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<p>@Mikali
Thank you! It’s nice to hear that I did not completely screw it up for myself. Believe me, this is the last time anything like this will happen. </p>

<p>Congratulations on UCSB and UCB! Do you think you could tell me about your situation? GPA? Any C’s? UC Reciprocity? Pre reqs completed? Major? Where did you apply? Where did you get in? Things like that.
Maybe you have some pointers/tips/advice? Any sort of information is greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>Anyone else have personal experience with successfully transferring with Cs on your transcript? Or does anyone else have any other input?</p>

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<p>I applied to UCSB and Berkeley as an Interdisciplinary Comparative Literature major. I have only heard back from SB so far because Berkeley doesn’t release decisions until the end of April. I don’t have high hopes for them though as I have heard that they particularly discourage inter-campus transfers. I applied with a 3.5 GPA, and I will fulfill UC Reciprocity by the end of this quarter. Major reqs are tricky because there is no set equivalency guide between the UC’s. You’re some type of engineering major right? So you might have an easier time with that-math and sciences courses are fairly similar across the board. What is your reason for wanting to transfer? I wrote about that in my essays, you could potentially do that too. I should really stress the importance of finishing the GE’s at UCSC. They’re very different from the other UC’s and it would suck to have to take a bunch of random GE classes after you transfer. Major reqs are also important, obviously, and if you keep your GPA high you should be good.</p>

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<p>I’m also a student at UCSC looking to transfer to either UCD (CSE or CS) or UCB (EECS) [still waiting to hear from both]. I also think getting a C is not going to hurt your chances by a lot. I’ve also fell into a situation similar to yours (getting a B- in WRIT 2 last year) but after that I’ve keep up my grades ending up with a 3.61 GPA when I sent in my application and did the academic update after fall quarter.</p>

<p>Keeping your grades up and fulfilling the UC Reciprocity are what you should do to give yourself a good chance. Keeping track with a typical Aerospace/Mechanical major (as well as the major you are following at UCSC as a backup plan) would also be a good idea to follow too [imo, completing physics (5ABC w/ labs, and D too?) and math (19AB,23AB,21,24) seem to work for most aerospace/mechanical and typical SoE majors. you most likely will need to do some research to figure this out].</p>

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<p>@Mikali
Congrats on on UCSB!
Major pre reqs are tricky, and like you said, especially for majors like Interdisciplinary Comparative Literature. I have run into problems with pre reqs as well, however. UCSC has two different physics series (5 and 6 series), the offer Math 21 Linear Algebra and AMS 10 (linear algebra for engineering majors), Math 22 and AMS 20, etc. I don’t know exactly which of the two I should take. It would suck to take these classes and have them not count when/if I am able to transfer. How did you check which classes were the right pre reqs? </p>

<p>Thanks, again! :)</p>

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<p>@Zeo210
You’re an engineering major trying to do the same thing! First off, thanks for replying! Secondly, good luck with UCB and UCD!
The only thing that’s different with your B- and my C is that I got a C in Calculus 1. I really hope it doesn’t hurt my chances as I really really want to transfer.
What is your GPA now? (You said you updated it recently).
You said to take the physics 5 series, Math 21 and 24 as opposed to the Physics 6 series, AMS 10 and 20. How did you know those were the right classes to take?
Have you completed all your pre reqs and fulfilled UC Reciprocity? </p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

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<p>Thanks and you’re welcome!</p>

<p>Yeah you are correct, that does change things a bit. I honestly don’t know how much that will affect your chances, my guess is that it somewhat hurts but its something you can possibly recover from by doing well calculus 2.</p>

<p>The GPA that gets reported to the UCs for junior transfers is up till the fall quarter/semester you applied on (so for mine its up to the fall of 2011). At that point my GPA was 3.61. This past quarter it has dropped a bit due to various reasons (both my fault and somewhat out of my control) but as far as I know, your GPA after the academic update is not used for review.</p>

<p>As for picking the types of classes/series at UCSC, I also was very confused especially when I was picking out my classes. The main reason for me saying to take PHYS 5 over PHYS 6 is because 5 is aimed for engineers. As for MATH 21/24 over AMS 10/20 (which teaches its corresponding math subject through MatLab) I suspect that other UCs are more likely to offer courses that do not teach the material specifically through MatLab, thus resulting in less transfer course conflicts and more likely to be equivalent to be a course at the UC you would like to transfer to. This was just an opinion and really does require research to figure out appropriate courses.</p>

<p>One thing you can do is talk to someone at the UC you would like to go to as to how you should go about picking your courses. Last year I got a chance to talk to a few deans at UCD during Picnic Day and one of them showed me a transfer credit agreement between them and UCSC (the one I viewed was a few years old, but still useful). It showed that UCSC’s MATH 21 and 24 transfers over to UCD’s MATH 22A and 22B [nothing was listed about AMS 10, 20]. It also showed that (apparently) either PHYS 5ABC w/ labs(5LMN) or PHYS 6ABC w/ labs(6LMN) can be used for a part of UCD’s engineering physics series (9ABC but not D). I would imagine each school having a similar list, possibly with different equivalent courses, you would just need to talk to them and see what you get (fyi, you had UCB on your list but I don’t have this type of list from them so I cant help you there, sorry X.x). </p>

<p>As for the pre reqs, I have completed as much as I possibly could up to the point where the only classes I can take now are upper divs, but I have not completed all of them. I knew early on I was not able to fulfill all of the pre reqs before the end of the spring quarter after applying even with taking 20+ units multiple times, just because there were so many required classes and at UCSC you end up taking less courses over the same amount of time than at another UC (its due to UCSC’s 5 unit course system. Another reason was because some courses are not taught at UCSC). I also asked about the pre reqs at Picnic Day and they just said that its fine as long as I keep my GPA up and such (not really sure if it was just a rushed response or 100% true, but that’s what I was told). As for the Reciprocity, I fulfilled it at the end of winter quarter.</p>

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<p>@Zeo210</p>

<p>Sorry for the late reply. As you know, spring quarter just started and I have been a bit busy. Anyways, have you heard back from anywhere? </p>

<p>I know the C will definitely hurt my chances but I at least I have three quarters (spring, summer and fall) to show them that I am better than that. I have heard of some people receiving letters that ask for an update of their spring quarter grades. Hopefully the schools you applied to do not send you this letter (since you say your grades have fallen a bit). </p>

<p>I got in contact with and adviser here at SOE but its kind of hard to tell them my plans. I don’t know how they will necessarily feel about me wanting to transfer since their goal is to keep the retention number as high as possible. I have also sent out a letter to Berkeley and UCLA regarding the various questions I have, hopefully they get back to me. </p>

<p>I find it funny how you got the chance of talking to a couple of deans on picnic day at Davis. Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t picnic day at Davis suppose to be like 4/20 here at UCSC only the drinking version of it? Haha. Just to be sure, I think I will be taking Math 21 and 24. It only makes sense that they would transfer to another UC. AMS 10 and 20, not so much. It seems like they are UCSC specific. I made sure to include that and the physics-series question in the email I sent out so we’ll see. </p>

<p>This was my exact same thought! Most of UCSCs courses are 5 units as opposed to other UCs that offer 3 to 4 units a course ultimately taking more courses to offset the unit difference. There are so many prerequisites to fulfill in such a short span of time (for the engineering majors at least). How did you go about a back up plan? I mean, did you solely take pre reqs for the other campuses or did you take on courses that were a mix between pre reqs for other campuses as well as pre reqs for your major here at UCSC just in case you end up staying here for any reason. Perhaps this doesn’t really apply to you, if the major your pursuing here is the same major you would like to go into at the school you wish to transfer to. My case is a bit different, I am proposed robotics engineering major looking to go into Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering if I do transfer. There are courses (like Chem 1A and 1B) I am to take as they are pre reqs for the scools I wish to transfer that are not pre reqs for robotics engineering here at UCSC, get me? </p>

<p>I know i will definitely fulfill the reciprocity, not so sure of pre reqs though just because of time even though most, if not all, are offered here at UCSC… </p>

<p>Thanks for all the help!</p>

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<p>@Mikali
Quick question. I remember you saying you were still waiting to hear back from UCB. Have you heard back from them? (If I may ask and you wish to tell me of course).</p>

<p>Best,
jongranados</p>

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<p>They don’t release decisions until April 27</p>

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<p>Nope. As Mikali said, Cal decisions are released on April 27th. As for Davis, I have no clue as to when, but there are posts on this fourm saying they will be released on the 20th.</p>

<p>Thankfully neither school has asked me for a winter update. Not sure if thats a bad or good thing, but i’ll just think its a good thing so I can freak out about admissions less. </p>

<p>I felt the same way about talking to an advisor. When I was declaring my major, I explaind that I wanted to transfer and the advisor was totally fine with it and understood. Others who are also trying to transfer from UCSC to another UC had different responses (some were very helpful with what to do at UCSC, some just told them to contact the school where they wanted to transfer to and that was it).</p>

<p>haha. Yeah you can make the connection, but its also a time where they hold a lot of different event/activites/showcases at UC Davis as well (Doxie Derby [Dog races] near theyre gym, lazer maze at the Engineering building). They had an open house at their engineering building and the deans were out there just answering any questions people had.</p>

<p>I also think there are classes that are UCSC specific. Asking UCLA and Cal if the courses you pick can transfer is a good idea so you can plan correctly.</p>

<p>For the planning, what I did was first figure out which major courses worked with the GEs at UCSC (you can ignore DC. its an upperdiv, major-specific GE and the Reciprictiy only applys to lowerdiv GEs). Then I made a 2 year plan, with all of those major/GEs classes in it giving priority to major classes. Becuase of the UCSC 5 unit courses, I had to do two different things to this schedule. First I needed to plan a summer session to get more GEs done (this can be done through UCSC or a CC, just use assist.org if through a CC). Second I needed to plan to take 20+ units for a few quarters at UCSC (I did this only twice. One time was on Winter 2012 with 22 units, which was one of the reasons as to why my grades slipped then). What this schedule allowed me to do was fulfill the reciprocity, stay on track with my major at UCSC, and get my as many prereqs done as possible, putting me in a good possition to graduate on time/early at UCSC or at the school I transfer to.</p>

<p>Lucky my major was avalible at UCSC and the two schools I have applied for. Yours on the other had isnt avalible at UCSC, so your planning I think will be a bit more trickier. Asking UCLA and Cal about this is, I imagine, the best way for you find out the right answer/correct way to plan. Also note that I’ve read on these fourms that if your school does not offer classes that are prereqs, you wont need to fulfill them before you transfer. I would confirm with your schools if this applys to UCSC just to make sure.</p>

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<p>Hello fellow prospective UC to UC Banana Slugs! </p>

<p>Jon, don’t fret too much about your C, you are still in the running for transferring. If it’s any consolation, UCLA weighs UC transfers the same as CC transfers. You definitely need to try to pull off 4.0s from here on out. </p>

<p>In regards to your question about Physics, you should be taking the 5 series because that’s what required for Engineer’s here at Santa Cruz. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket because you’ll be screwed if you don’t get to transfer and have to finish here. Try to hammer out a schedule that would earn you UC to UC reciprocity, satisfy pre-reqs at your ideal UC campus, and stay on track for your major here. I know it’s easier said than done, especially for Engineer’s, but you have to do this to optimize your chances for transfer and to not fall behind here at UCSC.</p>

<p>If you haven’t already, check out assist.org to figure out what classes you need for your potential campus of choice. A good way to do this is to use a local CC and see what courses equate for that major to your school of choice and then to see what classes equate to those CC courses here at UCSC. </p>

<p>Also, you should know that 19B is considerably more difficult than 19A because (in my opinion) its one of the bigger weeder classes for most engineering majors. Do not fall behind or become complacent in this course. </p>

<p>If you have any questions feel free to ask, I’d be glad to help.</p>

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<p>Also sorry for grammar and spelling, I’m on my phone</p>

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<p>@Mikali Oh okay, keep up us updated when they’ve released decisions! :)</p>

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<p>@Zeo210 </p>

<p>Oh, okay. Well I wish you the best of luck! Were those the only two schools you applied to? </p>

<p>I think not being asked for winter updates is probably a good thing. You do have a solid GPA for being an engineering major or in affiliated with the school of engineering at least. </p>

<p>Oh, you’ve declared your major here at UCSC? That’s another question I had. I’m curious as to what your reasoning while deciding?I don’t know if declaring will look bad when I want to transfer for the reason that I want to go into go into a different engineering emphasis. </p>

<p>I tried talking to an engineering adviser and she simply told me to contact the school I want to transfer to. Not much help if you ask me, but then again I really don’t expect them to know TOO much regarding that kind of information. </p>

<p>Sounds like it’s more than what my friend told me it was, hahaha. I might go and check it out. Sounds like it can be very beneficial, especially since I have so many questions. </p>

<p>I kind of a plan set like that except I have scheduled some upper divs Spring quarter of next year which I really don’t want to take, especially since I committed to transferring. It looks like I too will have to take 20+ units a couple of quarters. I actually had planned to take 22 units this quarter but dropped a course and its lab but I recently got a job and figured it would be a little too much. I don’t want to risk having my grades hurt anymore (ever since this past quarter).</p>

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<p>Hey Maninder, thanks for the replying! </p>

<p>I too have heard about UCLA’s policy, that makes me a bit more comfortable. I am definitely trying my a** off this quarter, I am committed. Are you a transfer student yourself? If so, let us know your story! </p>

<p>Yeah, I am going to be taking the 5 series here at UCSC. That’s part of the reason why I decided to take the Chem 1A pre req this quarter and Chem 1B over summer as opposed to postponing everything a quarter. I figured 2 science classes, multivariable calculus, and a ge is probably not the smartest thing to do. </p>

<p>Agh! That’s pretty slick. I will definitely check that out on assist.org. Someone was telling me that to take summer courses this upcoming summer I need to go through this long process here with the Admissions office and the School of Engineering because assist.org is no longer up to date. I’ll go and verify that asap. </p>

<p>Yeah, I heard 19B is much harder. At least I will have the extra time I was devoting to two lab section last quarter to devote to 19B. Hopefully that’ll be good enough. Any tips? (Mark Eastman is the professor this quarter). </p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>