Will an old transcript hold me back? UC Berkeley EECS

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hello all,

I am planning to apply to UC Berkeley as a transfer student into the EECS program this fall, and was wondering if anyone has an opinion regarding my predicament.

Current stats:
27 years old
4.0 GPA
Internship at small engineering firm
Robotics Club President (if all goes well and we get approved)
Math Club Officer
I will have 3/6 recommended courses completed (CIS61A-C)
I work 20 hours a week on weekends to support myself

The caveat is, I attended a private university from 2006-2010, racking up 113 quarter units (~75 semester) and essentially have nothing to show for it. At the time I was not motivated yada yada nor was I pursuing a STEM degree. None of those classes were upper division, however, my accumulative GPA was a 2.74. NONE of the classes (except potentially 2 english classes which I got an A and B in) are relevant to my major preparation. i.e. I have A’s in all of my core classes. It looks like I will have a total GPA of around a 3.4-3.45 when this old transcript is factored in. I know there is some sort of hard cutoff, where they disregard your application altogether if your GPA is below a certain mark. My question is, will they consider my GPA as the average of all classes? If so, will it even be high enough for them to look a bit closer and realize that I have straight A’s since returning to school, notably in my core classes? What are my chances here?

I am doing my best to get in touch with an EECS advisor and get their input, but in the meantime, I figured I’d ask you folks for some advice. Thanks!

2

This will be helpful for you: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/uc-transfer-maximum-limitation-policy-chart.pdf

If they were upper division, you’d be screwed. Since they aren’t, that shouldn’t be an issue.

You will definitely need to report them though. All grades from all schools will have to be reported.

They’ll look at those grades for sure, but your most recent grades is what they will look at most, and they will definitely see the upward trend. You will also have ample space to address the issue in either your personal statements or one of the handful of “additional comment” sections. I have no idea about chances or anything like that, but it’s all about how you present the information to them and spin your story.

In the future, post in the UC Transfer forum for better feedback: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/