Ensure that you have completed the necessary courses for transfer. In order to be accepted into UC Berkeley as a transfer student, you must have completed at least 60 transferable semester credits (approximately two years' worth of coursework). Students who have more than 80 credits, or 70 credits from a California community college, will not be considered for admission. In order to be admitted to a major within the College of Letters and Sciences, transfer students must also have completed Berkeley's general education requirements in quantitative reasoning, foreign language and reading and composition. For students transferring from a California community college, completing the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum will satisfy this requirement. All coursework must be completed no later than the end of the spring term of the year in which the student is applying to UC Berkeley.
Work hard to achieve a high GPA in courses needed for your major. In order to transfer into the College of Letters and Sciences, students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all previous UC-transferable coursework. However, just meeting the minimum does not necessarily make a student competitive for admission. In 2010, the middle 50 percent of accepted transfer students had a GPA between 3.62 and 3.98. In order to increase chances of admission, students should also take as many courses in their major or related areas as possible. Requirements vary greatly by major. For example, prospective anthropology majors should complete cultural anthropology, physical/biological anthropology and archeology while potential physics majors need to have completed an introductory physics sequence, calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, chemistry and computer science.
Complete the UC Berkeley application for admission in a timely manner. For example, students applying for the Fall 2012 semester must submit their application by November 30, 2011. Students can apply online and must apply directly to a specific major (in other words, transfer students cannot be accepted as an undeclared major). As part of the application, students should provide information about awards, extracurricular activities, work or volunteer experience and answer two short essay questions. While students do not submit official transcripts at this time, they are required to self-report all courses completed and grades received.
Update your application as necessary. Once transfer applicants complete the fall term at their current institution, they must update their application with their most recent grades. Students must also update their application if there are any changes to the class schedule they originally reported or if they receive below a grade of C in any course.
Send official transcripts if requested. Transfer admission decisions are released in late August and accepted students are then required to send an official college transcript to UC Berkeley. Failure to submit a transcript or to successfully complete all required courses may result in your not being admitted.