Career and Transfer Center

A highly successful academic advising and enrichment program serving more than 1,000 underserved students at 45 California community colleges. Participants receive support services designed to facilitate their transfer to the University of California and other baccalaureate-granting institutions. You can schedule an in-person appointment at BCC to meet with a UC TAP Advisor.

Interested in transferring to a CSU? If so, you’ve come to the right place! There are 23 CSU campuses throughout California, a complete list of which can be found at the California State University Website. At this website you can also compare CSUs by location, size, setting, sports, and more, to find the best campus for you.

Degree with a Guarantee

As a community college student interested in applying to a CSU, it is important to be aware of the CSU system’s CCC-Associate Degree for Transfer program. These degrees, Associate in Art for Transfer (AA-T) and the Associate in Science for Transfer (AS-T) are two-year community college degrees that are fully transferable to CSUs. When applying to a CSU, these degrees are sometimes called a Degree with a Guarantee, meaning that students who complete an AA-T or AS-T and meet the CSU’s minimum eligibility requirements are guaranteed priority admission to a CSU campus. Be sure to speak with an academic counselor at Berkeley City College in order to create an educational plan that will ensure your completion of an AA-T or AS-T in your intended major by the time you wish to transfer to a CSU in order to make sure your application is as competitive as possible.

How to Apply to a CSU

If you’re looking to apply to a CSU, first meet with an Academic Counselor at BCC to double-check your progress and make sure that you’ve met the requirements to transfer. Transfer students will need a minimum of 60 units in order to transfer into a CSU, as well as successful completion of general education courses, such as IGETC or the CSU-GE breadth. The minimum GPA for resident CSU transfers is 2.00, while the minimum GPA for nonresident CSU transfers is 2.40. However, in order to be a competitive applicant it is encouraged that you attempt to surpass this minimum, as all majors have different GPA requirements and averages.

The CSU application can be found online at https://calstate.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/login. The application fee is $70, however the CSU system offers a limited amount of fee waivers that are automatically applied to your application based upon your answers to income questions within the application.

For more information on the CSU application, please check out this CSU Step-by-Step application Playlist

Please also check out the Top 5 Do’s and Don’ts for you CSU Transfer Application

While all of the CSU campuses offer Fall admission, some CSUs offer Winter and Spring quarter admission as well. As of 2018, the application deadlines are as follows:

• Fall: October 1 – November 30
• Winter: June 1 – June 30
• Spring: August 1 – August 31

Please review the Dates and Deadlines page on the CSU Website for more detailed information on what majors and campuses are open for your ideal transfer date.

Every Fall the Transfer and Career Center hosts application workshops and holds one-on-one meetings with students in order to better facilitate the application process. Contact us or keep an eye on our Events Calendar for more information.

The California Community Colleges are here to get you into Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Advantages:

• Acceptance of completed transfer-level community college courses

• A free single application for up to four participating partner HBCU institutions

• A simplified transfer process

• Priority consideration for housing when application submitted by the posted deadline

• Consideration for transfer scholarships if you have a 3.2 or higher grade point average (based on funding availability)

• Pre-admission advisement

For more information check out the California Community College Transfer Guarantee to HBCU website

Interested in transferring to a UC? If so, you’ve come to the right place! There are nine UC (University of California) schools throughout the state:

• UC Berkeley
• UC Davis
• UC Irvine
• UC Merced
• UC Riverside
• UC San Diego
• UC Santa Barbara
• UC Santa Cruz
• UC Los Angeles

Would you be interested in learning more about one or more of these schools? Click on their name above to explore their website!

For more information on the applications for the UC’s please check out this UC application Step-by-Step Playlist

California community college students are given first priority over other transfer applicants when applying to a UC, and many campuses offer guaranteed admission for well-prepared transfer students. This guaranteed admission is called TAG: Transfer Admission Guarantee.

What is TAG?

Six of the nine UCs (UC Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz) participate in this program which guarantees admission into one participating school. Students who participate in TAG receive early review of academic records, early admission notification, and specific guidance about major preparation and general education coursework. Admission via TAG is only for California Community College transfer students who have completed 30+ units at CCC, and who meet all general education and major requirements for their intended program at their chosen university. Please review the UC TAG Matrix, for requirements at each campus. The filing period for TAG applications is September 1 – 30 every year. If you choose to apply for TAG, you must additionally complete the regular UC application, the filing period for which is November 1 – 30 every year. For more information about TAG such as where and how to apply, please visit the University of California TAG Website.

What is a UC Transfer Pathway?

The UC Transfer Pathways program is an official “roadmap” of the 21 top majors offered throughout the UC system. This program is ideal for students starting out at a Community College who already know what major they wish to pursue but do not know which UC campuses to apply to. By utilizing Pathways, students can prepare for their major by taking a single set of courses that applies to all nine UC campuses. For more information on this program and to see if your intended major is included, please visit the University of California Admissions Website. Please note that this is not a program that you can sign up for, it is just a generalized list of major preparation classes that you can take while at a CCC that will apply to any UC.

How to Apply to a UC

If you’re looking to apply to a UC, first meet with an Academic Counselor at BCC to double-check your progress and make sure that you’ve met the requirements to transfer. Transfer students will need a minimum of 60 units in order to transfer into a UC, as well as successful completion of general education courses, such as IGETC. The minimum GPA for resident transfers is 3.0, while for nonresident transfers it is 3.4. Please keep in mind however that in order to be competitive for your major, it may be advisable to strive for a higher GPA. Once you’ve determined that you are ready, or will soon be ready to transfer, you’ll want to apply for admission the Fall prior to your intended transfer date. For example, if you’re hoping to transfer in Fall 2019, you’ll want to apply in Fall 2018, or when you have 2 semesters left to complete your transfer requirements. Every fall the Transfer and Career Center hosts application workshops and holds one-on-one meetings with students in order to better facilitate the application process.

The UC Application can be found online at https://admissions.universityofcalifornia.edu/applicant/login.htm. The fee to apply is $70 per UC campus. However, you may qualify for a fee waiver based on your answers to income questions within the application. If you qualify, the fee waiver is automatically applied to your application. Please visit the UC Admissions Website for tips and checklists on how to apply as a transfer.

While all UC campuses accept students for Fall admission, a select few campuses also accept students for the spring or winter quarter. During the 2018 application season, the three UCs that offered winter quarter admission were UC Merced, Riverside, and Santa Cruz. The application process for this admission is exactly the same as it is for fall, however, the application period is July 1-31. Please keep in mind that not all majors are open for Winter Quarter Admission. Available majors vary by campus.

Personal Insight Questions

The UC application requires that all applicants answer four short essay questions. One question regarding major preparation is required for all transfers, while the other three are chosen from a list of seven. The word count for each answer is 350 so it is important to use your space wisely. The goal of these PIQs is to provide a snapshot of the things that you find most important, compelling, or intrinsic to who you are; you want to convince the UCs that you wish to apply to that you are a good fit for their campus. Answering these questions can be very time-consuming, so make sure to start writing your essays in advance to the application’s deadline. 

If you need help writing your statements, the Transfer and Career Center holds workshops and one-on-one meetings with students to help brainstorm, edit, and submit your answers.

We offer cover letter and resume assistance by appointment only. Please contact bcc-careertransfercenter@peralta.edu.

• Career Center at UC Berkeley – many resources including their Job & Internship Guide
• Consumers Advocate – Comprehensive resource that helps maximize the job hunting experience
• East Bay Works! – Network of job centers, economic developers, support service providers and educational entities,  provide benefits and services to employers, job seekers and youth, aged 16-24.
• Glassdoor – Search all the open positions on the web. Get your own personalized salary estimate. Read reviews on over 600,000 companies worldwide.
• Indeed.com – Find millions of jobs around the Bay Area and many more locations!
• Instawork – Local job site in the Bay Area helping small businesses hire full-time and part-time workers.
• Localwise – Discover awesome jobs at local businesses. Hundreds of restaurants, boutiques, bookstores, salons, fitness studios, nonprofits, and more are hiring near you!
• Monster Jobs – Monster can help you find the best jobs, employers and career advice.
• Talent –  is a free job search that indexes jobs directly from companies’ career websites, placement agencies and job boards.
• The TemPositions Group of Companies – Convention services division is looking for customer service savvy people to join their team of Professional Staff (Temporary job).
• USA JOBS – SHAPE AMERICA’S FUTURE!
• Ziprecruiter – Search for jobs hiring in your area using ZipRecruiter’s job search engine – the best way to find a job. Find jobs hiring near you and apply with just 1 click.

This is the first step in finding a major and/or career that is right for you. The assessments below will help you identify your interests, skills, values,​ and personality type​​. The quick assessments offer an easy-to-use format and tell you results quickly. Focus 2 offers a complete career/major development and activation profile. Both of these great resources will help you learn about yourself and begin (or continue) your major/career development journey. 

Quick Assessments (10-15 min each)