Are you an international student in the US who wants to transfer to the University of California? If you want to study at one of its campuses but are hesitant due to the complicated transferring process, then this article is for you! This is an easy-to-understand guide regarding transfer admissions at UCLA and UC Berkeley.
Students who attend California Community Colleges have the opportunity to transfer to UCLA or UC Berkeley after their second year. Admitted students will then complete their remaining years at UCLA or UC Berkeley. The diploma they will obtain will be from the University of California.
Guidelines Regarding Transfer Admission Guarantee
UC website states, “Six UC campuses [Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz] offer the Transfer Admission Guarantee [TAG] program for California community college students who meet specific requirements.” UCLA, Berkeley, and San Diego do not practice transfer admission guarantees.
- You may apply to only one campus through a Transfer Admission Guarantee, but you can apply to other universities through regular transfer applications.
- Each campus has various transfer admission guarantees with different requirements for different majors.
- Although UCLA, Berkeley, and San Diego do not guarantee transfer admission, 80%-95% of TAP students from California community colleges have successfully transferred to UCLA and Berkeley.
General Requirements for Transfer Admission Guarantee
Remember that every campus differs in its requirements for the guaranteed transfer, but the general requirements for the Transfer Admission Guarantee are as follows:
- A certain number of transferable credits
- GPA of 3.0 to 3.4 or higher depending on the college and major
- Minimum prerequisite courses for the intended major (e.g. prerequisite courses for a biology major are different from prerequisite courses for a humanities major)
UC Berkeley Transfer Alliance Project (TAP) and UCLA Transfer Alliance Program (TAP)
UC Berkeley states “Since its founding in 1999, TAP has served over 18,000 students, and more than 80% of TAP participants who applied to UC Berkeley were admitted.” Although UCLA does not state on its website, its TAP program also admits over 80% of students who participate in TAP programs according to community colleges’ TAP coordinators.
TAP is similar to honors college in state universities. It offers academic advising, helps you with your course selections, and also helps with your transfer application. Because of the excellence of the TAP program, 80%-95% of the TAP participants succeed at transferring to UCLA and Berkeley with different admission rates for different community colleges.
While Berkeley and UCLA do not offer guaranteed transfer admission, they do offer priority consideration for students transferring from California community colleges and even higher consideration for TAP participants. If you were denied the first time, you can reapply to UCLA and Berkeley the next year or attend one of the TAG campuses to which you are automatically admitted.
Check Also: Available Programs for International Students
Financial Aid at UCLA and UC Berkeley
Only a handful of financial aid is available for international students at UC campuses. For instance, UCLA offers partial funding for master’s students like the Graduate Assistantships and Dean’s Tuition Fellowship Awards. UC Berkeley on the other hand, has Leadership Award for bachelor’s and Doctoral Funding Packages for Ph.D. students
FAQs: California Community Colleges
What are the Different California Community Colleges?
There are hundreds of community colleges in California, and each community college offers different opportunities for students. You should contact community colleges that you are interested in for more information.
The biggest community college in California is Santa Monica Community College which sends thousands of transfer students to different UC campuses. Their expertise in transfer admission is unparalleled because of numerous years of counseling thousands of transfer students. If you want to receive excellent counseling for transferring, Santa Monica is an excellent option.
There are advantages and disadvantages for each community college. While bigger community colleges like Santa Monica offer great counseling, you will have more leadership positions available in smaller community colleges.
We hope this article on transferring to UCLA and UC Berkeley was helpful. To know more information on studying abroad, check out the Guide to Studying in the US and Available Programs for International Students sections!
