UCLA eTransfers

Advice and Hindsights

Written in collaboration with ACM, SWE, and UPE. See additional resources at https://linktr.ee/CS_Resources_at_UCLA.

You’ve busted your butt for these past few years. Along the way you built up a strong cohort of friends and together you conquered community college! At this point though, you know the “game” and all the “plays” so UCLA should be a piece of cake, right? Think again…

UCLA Samueli is notorious for taking bright eyed and bushy tailed students, chewing them up, and well, making extremely solid engineers out of them. I think as engineering students we all understand that to be a good engineer you need to not only be challenged, but also to persevere and overcome those challenges. The problem is that this can be extremely difficult without the right tools in your toolbelt or at least the knowledge of where to get them — perhaps that cohort of friends?

Sadly, given the acceptance rate to UCLA Samueli, there is a high likelihood that your cohort isn’t around anymore. Even if they are, they are likely in the same boat as you — drowning from information overload about unimportant details while the important stuff unfortunately slips through the cracks.

To be frank, it’s unlikely your first year will be completely smooth sailing. Despite that, UCLA is a thriving and welcoming community that wants to connect with you and help you succeed! Created with those goals in mind and with the input of the eTransfer student body, the following transfer pro tips have been compiled just for you!

1. Make use of the UCLA Transfer Students Facebook page to connect with others and for the latest transfer need to know updates. It’s a great way to make new friends and can help with feelings of isolation that are commonplace with distance learning.
2. Take advantage of the resources provided by the eTransfer Center and Transfer Center such as study nights and community events. While these centers will similarly help you connect with others, they also have a wealth of knowledge and resources beyond what is compiled in this guide such as the feasibility of studying abroad as a transfer.
3. Use the Engineering Academic Counselors! They are here to help! They are extremely familiar with the engineering courses and their respective loads and will be invaluable for forming cohesive and manageable schedules (especially while you’re first adapting to all the new systems in place).
4. Get involved with clubs and organizations ASAP! As a transfer student you have less time here than a traditional student and this will be vital for networking, project experience, and — honestly — quality of life.
5. Try to decide early if you are interested in research or industry and make concerted efforts to reach those goals. If you don’t yet know, be sure to at least give research a try. Again, transfer students have less time to figure things out so be sure to hit the ground running.
6. Finally, there is no catch up in the quarter system. You will always need to be on your “A” game! While this is applicable to any new student, it is especially important after getting perhaps too well accustomed with the community college pacing.

Again, this list is far from exhaustive, but it should serve as a strong support as you begin to navigate your new home, UCLA!

Remember: You are not alone. You are capable. There is a reason you made it into UCLA Samueli. Keep your chin up, don’t be a stranger, and never be afraid to reach out for help. From one fellow transfer to another, you got this!