New map to UC a go

Community College students are now able to transfer easier and faster to the University of California through a new academic pathway.

The University of California “introduced a new academic roadmap for California Community College students who plan to apply to transfer to UC campuses,” according to a University of California press release on July 7.

The UC faculty, who created the pathway, sought to make it simpler for students to transfer to a UC by having the same pre-requisites required for each of the majors at every UC. This would make it easier for students to transfer to any of the nine UC campuses, which gives them more options of schools to go to.

“The universities noticed a decline in UC transfer enrollment,” said Transfer Services Coordinator Rachel Anicetti. “A task force determined that one of the reasons enrollment decreased was because it was difficult for many students.”

The universities applied the changes to the 10 most popular majors at the UCs, which include: anthropology, biochemistry, biology, cell biology, chemistry, economics, mathematics, molecular biology, physics and sociology.

Colleges are focusing first on the most popular majors, while gradually adding more majors to the list.

“The university plans to create pathways for another 11 majors later this year. Once pathways are complete for all 21 majors, they will cover two-thirds of all admissions applications UC receives from transfer students,” said the University of California press release.

The transfer pathways will help students who do not know which campus they would like to go to yet, but know which major they are interested in.

“Overall, this is a good resource for students to follow as a general reference guide showing major-related courses they should follow towards transferring to the UC,” said David Reyes.

Transfer Pathways are not a guaranteed admission to a UC school, but will help make it easier to transfer. Students will still need to meet other requirements such as having the minimum GPA requirement.

Reyes urges students to still visit with a Counselor to go over their educational plan, while also referring to assist.org to see the entire list of major preparation courses for each UC campus.

For more information on the UC Transfer Pathways, visit the Transfer Services in the Student Services Center on the second floor or go to the UC Transfer Pathways website at http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/preparation-paths/.