Transferring into a STEM Major

To transfer to a UC campus you must complete at a minimum: 60 UC transferable units, 2.4 GPA, & the seven course breadth pattern of general education:

• 2 transferable college courses in English composition
• 1 transferable college course in mathematical concepts and quantitative reasoning
• 4 transferable college courses chosen from at least two of the following IGETC subject areas:
• arts and humanities
• social and behavioral sciences
• physical and biological sciences

To be a competitive applicant, check out the following links below.

• Major Preparation Requirements for all UC's
• Advanced Placement (AP) credit taken by different UC's: Each UC takes AP credit differently and it is important you are placed in the right Math level depending on your AP score and the UC of your interest.
• Preferred general education for each UC: Keep in mind IGETC is not an admission requirement. Sometimes it is beneficial to complete the IGETC depending on your major and sometimes it will get in the way of the major preparation. Please look at this link when deciding whether to complete the IGETC.

Here are some links that are important when looking into STEM for University of California (UC) schools.

• Six campuses have the TAG program. As a California community college student you are eligible as long as you meet certain criteria. Check out this website for more information.
• Transfer Pathways: Each campus has different requirements for major preparation. Here are 21 majors that they have created common requirements for each major.
• Transfer Admission Planner (TAP): Begin tracking your classes with the planner.

University of California School Transfer Links

To transfer to a California State University (CSU) campus you must complete at a minimum: 60 transferable units, 2.0 GPA, & "The Golden Four":

• Oral Communication
• Written Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning

Please refer to assist.org for major preparation courses and the CSU GE plan or the IGETC for your general education courses. For student interested in applying to CSUN's Computer Science and Engineering majors, please follow the following general education, PLAN R. Do not follow the CSU General Education.

You may benefit from pursuing an Associate Degree for Transfer
If you are applying to transfer to a CSU, you should consider the Associate Degree for Transfer program. An Associate Degree for Transfer may allow you an increased chance for admission to a CSU campus and guarantees that you will graduate in 60 units after transfer as long as you remain in the major deemed similar to your Associate Degree for Transfer. For details on how this program works, please go to the Degree with a Guarantee web site. You can also search the database located on the CSU Chancellor's CSU Transfer Student web site.

STEM-related programs at California State Universities

CSUN has many amazing opportunities as a STEM student. Some highlights to consider are:

• 1. CSUN AIMS2 Program: This is a NSF funded grant that provides Computer Science and Engineering majors at CSUN have extra support to succeed as a student. There are research opportunities available as well.
  2. Remember if you are transferring as a CSUN Engineering and Computer Science major, please follow Plan R (CSUN Engineering and Computer Science) General Education rather than the CSU General Education.
      
• CSU Bakersfield department of Physics and Engineering
   
• CSU Channel Islands Computer Science Program
• CSU Channel Islands Mechatronics Engineering
   
• Chico STEM Connections Collaborative
   
• CSI³
   
• Cal State Dominguez Hills Louis Stokes Alliance for Participation (LSAMP)
   
• CSU East Bay
• Institute for STEM Education
   
• Central California STEM Collaborative
   
• STEM at Fresno State
   
• Fullerton Engineering and Computer Science
   
• HSI STEM at Humboldt
   
• CSULB College of Engineering
• CSULB Biology
   
• Cal State LA Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
   
• Cal Maritime Academy
   
• CSU Monterey Bay
   
• CSU Northridge College of Engineering and Computer Science
• CSU Northridge AIMS² Program
   
• Cal Poly Pomona
   
• Research Opportunities at CPP
   
• Sacramento State University
   
• CSU San Bernardino
   
• San Diego State University
• SDSU Engineering Program
• SDSU MESA Program
   
• San Francisco State University
   
• San Jose State University
• SJSU Center for STEM Education
   
• Cal Poly Selection Criteria for majors
• Cal Poly Center for Engineering Science and Math Education
• Cal Poly STEM Teach Scholarship Opportunities

USC STEM Rankings from US News and World Report

• #25 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Program
• Biological Sciences: #54 among graduate schools
• Chemistry: #48 among graduate schools
• Computer Science: #20 among graduate schools
• Earth Sciences: #31 among graduate schools
• Math: #44 among graduate schools
• Physics: #61 among graduate schools

Some things to consider when transferring to USC:

• They average out the grades with courses that have been repeated.
• They consider 15 units as a full time student load and expect transfer students to maintain this amount of units while at Pierce in the Fall and Spring semesters.
• Student should not have more than 3 Withdrawals (Ws) on their transcript.

To apply to USC you must follow a different set of general education and major preparation. Go to the USC Transfer Planning Guide (TPG) web site to review guidelines. You can apply to USC after one year of community college work (30 units), rather than the 60 unit minimum of UCs and CSUs. Go to the Transfer Application Checklist web page to review a checklist to help you apply.

USC Admission Counselor for Oxnard College 
 

When looking into Private and Out-of-State schools, here is a checklist of things to do before seeing the STEM Counselor:

• Visit the website of interested school and look up admission requirements for transfer.
• Go to the OC Transfer Center website and review the requirements for transfer to private and out of state. Some things to check out:
  1. Common Application
  2. Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)
  3. Email octransfer@vcccd.edu to find out which schools have Transfer Admission Guarantees (TAGs).
  4. What schools accept the 
     IGETC
  5. Contact the transfer counselor at the private and out-of-state school you are interested in to discuss their transfer process. Then, schedule an appointment with a Counselor at OC to discuss the transfer process further.