Transferring to UCLA for Physics: Advice Needed

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around advice for a community college student majoring in Physics who is seeking to transfer to UCLA. Participants share insights on academic preparation, research involvement, and strategies for enhancing transfer applications, with a focus on maintaining a strong GPA and completing necessary coursework.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest maintaining a high GPA and obtaining good letters of recommendation as important for transfer applications.
  • Others argue that letters of recommendation are not required for transfers from community colleges to the UC system, emphasizing the importance of a good GPA instead.
  • It is proposed that students should create an education plan with counselors to ensure completion of pre-major requirements and IGETC.
  • Some participants recommend studying specific physics textbooks, such as H&R physics and K&K intro to mechanics, to better prepare for junior-level courses.
  • There is a suggestion to extend the time at community college to three years to allow for a more manageable course load, particularly in math and general education courses.
  • One participant mentions that taking the ACT or SAT is unnecessary for transfer students once they have accumulated enough transfer credits.
  • Concerns are raised about the difficulty of engaging in research at a community college and the limited opportunity to showcase such experience on transfer applications.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the necessity of letters of recommendation and standardized test scores for transfer applications. While some emphasize the importance of a strong GPA, others provide alternative strategies for preparation and planning.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that physics courses at community colleges may be more aligned with engineering majors rather than physics majors, which could affect preparation for transfer. There is also mention of the need to complete specific coursework to meet transfer requirements.

Geno
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Hello everyone,
My major is Physics and I am a freshman at community college looking to transfer to UCLA after my two years at CC. Is there anything you guys can recommend. Is there any extra studying I should do or any extra things/ideas I can learn about Physics. I think Physics is perfect for me and I enjoy it, and I want to know as much as I can. What I am asking is what should I do to better prepare my self to get into UCLA for Physics even maybe get a scholarship. Also I live in California and I am relatively close to UCLA so that's basically my only option because I am going to be paying for college all my self and I work almost full-time and I really do not want to accumulate any debt will going through with this. So yeah thanks!
 
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Straight As and good letters of recommendation. Figure out how to get involved in research if you can.
 
Dr. Courtney said:
Straight As and good letters of recommendation. Figure out how to get involved in research if you can.

Don't need any LoR when transferring to UC system from CCC, they won't even look at them. Straight A's aren't nessacary either, but a good GPA is.

To OP, schedule an appointment with counselors and create an education plan. Follow the plan. Do well in plan. That's about all it requires. Make sure your plan enables you to complete all pre-major work on assist.org, IGETC completion also helps.

Also be aware physics at CC is aimed at engineering majors, not physics majors. At a minimum, you should also purchase H&R physics 4th or 5th edition and work through that in lieu of whatever book they're actually using for the course. Ideally, you should finish K&K intro to mechanics and purcell E&M prior to transfer- although this isn't a hard and fast requirement, working through those problem sets will better prepare you for junior courses.

Instead of two years, I recommend three. You could then load up on math + gen Ed's + gen science courses, and be able to delay E&M until after you've done calc 3 + line algebra. Best time to take it would be with gen diff equations. Don't take it with calc 3, even if that's the coreq, you'd be missing out on too much in my opinion.
 
Student100 said:
Don't need any LoR when transferring to UC system from CCC, they won't even look at them. Straight A's aren't nessacary either, but a good GPA is.

To OP, schedule an appointment with counselors and create an education plan. Follow the plan. Do well in plan. That's about all it requires. Make sure your plan enables you to complete all pre-major work on assist.org, IGETC completion also helps.

Also be aware physics at CC is aimed at engineering majors, not physics majors. At a minimum, you should also purchase H&R physics 4th or 5th edition and work through that in lieu of whatever book they're actually using for the course. Ideally, you should finish K&K intro to mechanics and purcell E&M prior to transfer- although this isn't a hard and fast requirement, working through those problem sets will better prepare you for junior courses.

Instead of two years, I recommend three. You could then load up on math + gen Ed's + gen science courses, and be able to delay E&M until after you've done calc 3 + line algebra. Best time to take it would be with gen diff equations. Don't take it with calc 3, even if that's the coreq, you'd be missing out on too much in my opinion.
Thank you so much for the help, should I take another act test, and should I try and get into research? I need to get into UCLA and I would love to try and get a scholarship. This is sort of my only option considering I am almost working full-time and I am paying for college all by my self so this is huge for me.
 
Geno said:
Thank you so much for the help, should I take another act test, and should I try and get into research? I need to get into UCLA and I would love to try and get a scholarship. This is sort of my only option considering I am almost working full-time and I am paying for college all by my self so this is huge for me.

Don't need ACT or SAT as transfer student, once you hit 60 transfer credits. Which as a physics major, you'll probabaly transfer with 70~80 by the time major prep is done.

You can attempt to do research, but it's hard at CC, and there's no true place to state it on the application anyway. Other than a few short responses at the end of the app.

Get good grades, and really try to learn and remember to self prepare.
 

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