<p>I am attending a state school this fall. I hope to transfer to a school such as UC Berkeley or Northwestern. I am going to major in Economics with the goal to attend law school. </p>
<p>I am currently unsure of a specific set of classes for my first term that will allow me to be a stronger candidate. I am currently registered to take Honors General Chemistry. I want to take this class for two reasons.
It is part of my science general requirement, so I have to take this or just standard General Chemistry.
I want to demonstrate that I am capable of taking a higher tier class for my transfer application.</p>
<p>However, I am majoring in Economics. I am not taking a language this semester (won’t fit). I see Spanish as a very appropriate language to learn in the United States. Would it be better for me to take an entry level Spanish 101 class as it is more practical to my major and future goals, or honors general chemistry to demonstrate I am capable of such classes? I am confident I can earn good grades in both, I just don’t know which class to take for a stronger transfer application.</p>
<p>I don’t know where you’re from but transferring to UC Berkeley from out of state, especially from a state school isn’t going to be easy. It’s hard for even people who are in-state. Out-of-state applicants are looked at because they are expected to pay full fare or close to it. If you truly wanted to go to UC Berkeley it would be more practical to go to a community college in California and transfer then. </p>
<p>As for law school, GPA is the only thing that matters as well as a good LSAT score. It doesn’t matter what major you get your high GPA in (unless you intend to do patent law). </p>
<p>I have plenty of friends heading to UC Berkeley this fall and the things that helped them the most were:</p>
<p>1) Great GPA (3.7+)
2) Honors courses
3) Club activities
4) Strong personal statement</p>
<p>Taking honors chemistry I believe would neither help you nor hurt you if you do well. It’s not really a part of your major, I don’t think. Doing well in all of your major courses and fulfilling their prerequisites for transfer are what you need to do. I’d suggest contacting them about this. I think it’s a little easier here in California because they have transfer agreements with colleges here that tell us. </p>
<p>I know that you’re supposed to have two years worth (two semesters in college) of a language as part of your graduation requirements at a UC. However, that can usually be waived by test or your high school transcripts.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your reply. I would be transferring from the University of Oregon Clark Honors College. </p>
<p>As I would be applying when I am a freshman in college, most likely my high school record will weigh very heavily? I have an International Baccalaureate diploma and will be entering my freshman year in college with over 40 credits. Those credits, I have checked, will also transfer over to UC Berkeley - however, they will be capped. For the language requirement, I already have three years worth of credit in another language. </p>
<p>Right now I am signed up for two honors courses, Honors English and Honors General Chemistry. I will also be doing Honors History this year as well. </p>
<p>Any other opinions on if I should take Honors General Chem or Spanish?</p>
<p>Yes. Your high school record and test scores would be weighted pretty heavily if you’re trying to transfer after one year. To be honest, there is an extremely low probability for lower-division transfers of getting in. People are in a much better position applying their sophomore year.</p>
<p>I think admission officers reward transfer applicants who take harder, upper-level classes to demonstrate their academic aptitude. Coming off very low high school grades, I took all easy courses my freshman year, aced them all, and managed to get accepted into just one top 20 college. I keep telling myself I would have been much more successful taking advanced classes in or relating to my major. Yet my grades would have been lower as well because of the poor professor selection at my previous university; most of them were rumored to deflate like crazy. I would agree with what has been said before: Take upper-level courses when they fit into your major requirements. Otherwise, the reward is not worth the risk.</p>
<p>Once again, I advise all prospective freshmen transfers to avoid thinking about the process until they get their first semester grades. Where you apply should depend more on how well you do and less on what your dreams are.</p>