International Student Wishes to Transfer to UC Berkeley in Chemistry

I answer a lot of UC questions on Quora and occasionally reprint a few. Here is one:

Question: What does it take to transfer to UC Berkeley for an international student who wants to pursue chemistry?

The best way for an international student to transfer to Berkeley or any UC is to transfer via a California community college. It’s hard to get specific stats regarding an international student’s originating institution, but you can use UCLA as a guide. (UCLA is the most data-friendly of the UCs.) In 2014, stats on the UCLA admitted international transfer pool noted the following:

*Direct from international institutions:
Applied – 206
Admitted – 11
Admit rate – 5.34%

*Int’ls direct from a CCC:
Applied – 3,019
Admitted – 793
Admit rate – 26%

*Source:  UCLA Profile of Admitted Transfer Students, 2014. (Note: The 2105 profile no longer has this breakdown.)

I would suggest it will be as hard, or slightly harder, to make the same jump to Berkeley, especially in a selective major such as chemistry.

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