University of California (UC) Schools

Nine of the ten UC schools offer undergraduate degree programs. (University of California, San Francisco, is a graduate medical school.) Their focus tends to be on research-driven programs. They cost more than CSU schools, and tend to have much larger class sizes, but are frequently rated among the best universities in the world.

Use the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)

IGETC is a very helpful guide to completing your general education requirements efficiently. You can find it in our catalog. However, it is not an admissions requirement. And, some programs (like many STEM majors and Berkeley’s HAAS School of Business,) do not follow IGETC. It also changes year-to-year.

Assist.org can then help you prepare for your transfer campus and major.

And, be sure to work with a CCC counselor to make sure you’re on the right path.

Get a UC Transfer Admission Guarantee

If you want to transfer to a Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, or Santa Cruz, you should also consider participating in the UC Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program. You’ll still have to take the same breadth and major prep classes. But, you will also get an early review of your academic records, early admission notification and specific guidance about major preparation, and general education coursework. You can only submit TAG to one UC campus.

To get a TAG, you’ll need to:

• Work with a CCC Counselor to make sure your TAG application will be accepted
• Complete 30 transferable units by summer of the year you are submitting the TAG application
• Meet the GPA minimum for your chosen school. This will vary from campus to campus. Be sure to work with a counselor to make sure you’re on track.
• Pass transfer-level math and English courses
• Use the UC Transfer Admission Planner to complete the TAG application, and review it with your CCC counselor and/or UC campus TAG adviser. You’ll need to submit it between September 1 and September 30.
• Fill out the application for admission to UC and submit it between November 1 and November 30.