Community College to UC · Popular Majors
Community College to UC Engineering:Prerequisites and Screening
Engineering prerequisites in math, physics, chemistry, and programming must be completed before transfer. The minimum GPA is 3.5 for the UC Berkeley College of Engineering and 3.4 for UCLA, and engineering at UC Santa Barbara is not open to TAG.
- UC Transfer Pathways
- Mechanical engineering at 8 campuses, electrical engineering at 7 campuses, civil engineering at 5 campuses
- Math courses common to all three pathways
- One year of calculus, multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations
- UC Berkeley College of Engineering minimum GPA
- 3.5
- UCLA Samueli School of Engineering minimum GPA
- 3.4
- TAG for fall 2027
- Not open for any major in the UC Santa Barbara College of Engineering
- UC Irvine beginning fall 2028
- Aerospace engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering no longer open to TAG
Transfer Admission Data for Engineering at Each UC Campus (Fall 2025)
According to the University of California Information Center, admit rates for fall 2025 transfer applicants across the 20 campus majors in the table below range from 12.2% for UCLA Mechanical Engineering to 63.0% for UC Merced Mechanical Engineering. Of these, 16 fall below the overall transfer admit rate of their campus.
Major names follow the official UC wording; "Pre-" in UCLA major names indicates admission in pre-major status. An admit rate reflects how competitive a major is and does not represent the chance of admission for any individual student.
Admit rate for this majorOverall transfer admit rate of the campus
| Campus | Major (Official UC Name) | Applicants | Admits | Admit Rate | Admit GPA (Middle 50%) | 2016 to 2025 Admit Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | Mechanical Engineering | 698 | 93 | 13.3% | 3.90 to 4.00 | |
| Civil Engineering | 175 | 38 | 21.7% | 3.76 to 3.94 | ||
| UCLA | Mechanical Engineering | 794 | 97 | 12.2% | 3.92 to 4.00 | |
| Electrical Engineering | 629 | 112 | 17.8% | 3.93 to 4.00 | ||
| Civil Engineering | 177 | 40 | 22.6% | 3.75 to 3.94 | ||
| UC San Diego | Mechanical Engineering | 724 | 146 | 20.2% | 3.88 to 4.00 | |
| Electrical Engineering - BS | 599 | 232 | 38.7% | 3.62 to 3.98 | ||
| Structural Engineering | 95 | 39 | 41.1% | 3.47 to 3.91 | ||
| UC Irvine | Engineering - Mechanical | 884 | 280 | 31.7% | 3.59 to 3.92 | |
| Engineering - Electrical | 558 | 208 | 37.3% | 3.66 to 3.93 | ||
| Engineering - Civil | 233 | 87 | 37.3% | 3.55 to 3.87 | ||
| UC Davis | Mechanical Engineering | 502 | 174 | 34.7% | 3.61 to 3.91 | |
| Civil Engineering | 182 | 63 | 34.6% | 3.60 to 3.89 | ||
| UC Santa Barbara | Electrical Engineering | 445 | 109 | 24.5% | 3.87 to 4.00 | |
| UC Santa Cruz | Electrical Engineering | 307 | 181 | 59.0% | 3.32 to 3.84 | |
| UC Riverside | Mechanical Engineering | 429 | 161 | 37.5% | 3.32 to 3.82 | |
| Electrical Engineering | 238 | 92 | 38.7% | 3.23 to 3.89 | ||
| UC Merced | Mechanical Engineering | 165 | 104 | 63.0% | 3.12 to 3.60 | |
| Electrical Engineering - BS | 100 | 62 | 62.0% | 3.18 to 3.73 | ||
| Civil Engineering | 79 | 44 | 55.7% | 3.15 to 3.59 |
Fall admission data. UC does not publish categories with fewer than 5 applicants or with fewer than 3 admits or enrollees; these appear as "—". GPA is the self-reported transfer GPA of applicants, and the range covers the middle 50 percent of admitted students. The trend charts use a fixed vertical axis from 0 to 100% for easier comparison; a line breaks in years when the major was renamed. The UC Information Center campus summary table does not yet list UCLA data for fall 2025, so the UCLA rows have no campus-wide admit rate marker. Campus names link to the corresponding transfer guide. Source: UC Infocenter · Transfers by major (visualizedata.ucop.edu, Transfersbymajor workbook, fall admission), retrieved September 27, 2026.
Engineering majors have many prerequisites, and this page focuses on mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering. UC has a separate Transfer Pathway for each of these three majors, and math, physics, chemistry, and programming must all be completed before transfer. The challenges fall into two areas. First, engineering schools generally use completion of prerequisites as a screening criterion, and missing courses directly affect admission. Second, GPA thresholds vary widely among the engineering schools: 3.5 at UC Berkeley and 3.4 at UCLA. TAG is not open for engineering at UC Santa Barbara, and UC Irvine will exclude several engineering majors beginning in fall 2028. The data section below shows transfer admission results for this major at each campus.
Common Prerequisites
This section explains which courses the three engineering UC Transfer Pathways require. UC Transfer Pathways are standardized prerequisite lists that UC has compiled for popular majors. The UC website states that completing the courses on the list satisfies all transfer course requirements for the majors listed.
| Course type | Mechanical engineering | Electrical engineering | Civil engineering |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Variable Calculus | One year | One year | Full sequence |
| Multivariable Calculus | 1 course | 1 course | 1 course |
| Linear Algebra | 1 course | 1 course | 1 course |
| Differential Equations | 1 course | 1 course | 1 course |
| Calculus-based Physics | One year with labs | Three semesters or five quarters, including modern physics and labs | Full sequence with labs |
| General Chemistry | One year with labs | 1 course with lab | Full sequence with labs |
| Programming | 1 course | 1 course | 1 course |
| Engineering Graphics and Design | 1 course | Not required | Not required |
| Circuits | 1 course with lab | Circuit analysis, 1 course with lab | Not required |
| Statics | 1 course | Not required | 1 course |
The mechanical engineering pathway applies to 8 campuses; UC Santa Cruz is not included. The electrical engineering pathway applies to 7 campuses; UC Berkeley and UC Merced are not included. The civil engineering pathway applies to UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, and UC Merced. The electrical engineering pathway recommends taking digital logic design before transfer, although taking it after transfer does not affect admission competitiveness. The mechanical engineering pathway notes that the two English composition courses must be completed by the spring term before transfer, and students targeting UC Berkeley must confirm that the courses satisfy UC Berkeley requirements.
Requirements by Campus
This section compares transfer thresholds at each campus’s engineering school. Most campuses require prerequisites to be completed by the end of the spring term before transfer.
| Campus | School | Grade threshold | Main rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | College of Engineering | Transferable GPA 3.5 | Complete major prerequisites as listed in ASSIST; no change of major within the college after admission |
| UCLA | Samueli School of Engineering, highly selective | GPA 3.4 | Calculus, multivariable calculus, linear algebra, calculus-based physics, chemistry, and programming; most majors also require differential equations |
| UC Davis | College of Engineering, all majors selective | Non-TAG applicants: transferable GPA 3.10, prerequisite GPA 3.20 | C or better in each course; summer courses taken immediately before transfer do not count toward admission requirements |
| UC Irvine | Henry Samueli School of Engineering | Transferable GPA 3.0, prerequisite GPA 3.0 | C or better in each course; statics, graphics, and circuits for mechanical engineering do not count toward admission but are needed to graduate in two years |
| UC San Diego | Engineering departments, screening majors | C or better in each course | Mechanical and electrical engineering require calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and three physics courses |
| UC Santa Barbara | College of Engineering, possibly highly selective depending on applicant numbers | Admissions office lists no major minimum | All majors require two semesters of calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations |
| UC Santa Cruz | Baskin School of Engineering; electrical engineering is a screening major | Screening course GPA 2.8 | 8 screening courses, 4 of which must be completed by the end of the fall term of the application year |
| UC Riverside | Bourns College of Engineering | Transferable GPA 2.8; 2.5 in each of the calculus series and one other series | C or better in each remaining prerequisite |
| UC Merced | School of Engineering | Not listed separately on this page | Mechanical and civil engineering are covered by UC Transfer Pathways; see ASSIST for specific courses |
UC Berkeley states that engineering transfer students have five semesters to complete the degree. At UCLA, aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering substitute an engineering mathematics course for differential equations, and electrical engineering requires only one chemistry course. UCLA recommends C++ for electrical engineering and MATLAB for other engineering majors. The UC San Diego admissions office screening list names structural engineering and does not list civil engineering separately.
Is TAG Available?
This section describes engineering majors at the six TAG campuses. The Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) rules are covered in full in TAG: Transfer Admission Guarantee. UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego do not participate in TAG.
| Campus | TAG for engineering | Threshold and notes |
|---|---|---|
| UC Davis | Yes | College of Engineering 3.5; both cumulative and prerequisite GPA must meet it |
| UC Irvine | Yes for fall 2027 | 3.4; aerospace engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering excluded beginning fall 2028 |
| UC Merced | Yes | School of Engineering 3.0 |
| UC Riverside | Yes | Bourns College of Engineering 3.0, mechanical engineering 3.1, computer engineering 3.3 |
| UC Santa Barbara | No | All College of Engineering majors are excluded |
| UC Santa Cruz | Yes | 3.0; screening majors have additional prerequisite GPA requirements |
The UC Irvine change affects students who enter community college in fall 2026 and transfer two years later. Civil, chemical, biomedical, environmental, and materials engineering are not on the UC Irvine list of majors newly excluded in 2028.
Planning Two Years of Courses
This section gives a sample schedule for a community college on the semester system. Engineering has many prerequisites, so starting calculus and chemistry in the first semester is recommended.
| Term | Major prerequisites (sample) | Other courses |
|---|---|---|
| First-year fall | Calculus I, General Chemistry I | English Composition I |
| First-year spring | Calculus II, Calculus-based Physics I (mechanics), Programming | English Composition II |
| Second-year fall | Multivariable Calculus, Calculus-based Physics II (electricity and magnetism), Chemistry II or Statics | 1 course from the 7-course pattern |
| Second-year spring | Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Calculus-based Physics III, Circuits or Graphics | 1 course from the 7-course pattern |
At community colleges on the quarter system, physics usually runs five quarters, and the electrical engineering pathway states that it takes three semesters or five quarters. A schedule like this includes three to four STEM courses per term. If summer terms are used to lighten the load, note that UC Davis states that summer courses taken immediately before transfer do not count toward admission requirements. The summer after the first year is a better time for prerequisites. Engineering students must still complete the 7-course pattern. Cal-GETC is the general education pattern of the California Community Colleges. The UCLA Samueli School of Engineering does not accept partial completion of Cal-GETC, and the UC Berkeley College of Engineering does not recommend completing Cal-GETC.
EDUBUS advice: The UC Berkeley College of Engineering requires 3.5, UCLA requires 3.4, and UC Davis requires 3.10 overall and 3.20 in prerequisites for non-TAG applicants. Students should make grades in STEM prerequisites the top priority and complete most math and physics by the end of the second-year fall term. UC Davis does not count summer courses taken immediately before transfer, so summer courses should be scheduled after the first year. Students whose target major is on the UC Irvine 2028 exclusion list should consider UC Davis, UC Riverside, or UC Merced as TAG options while also preparing regular applications. Course-by-course articulation should be verified in the system described in the ASSIST guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which courses does a community college student need to transfer to UC in engineering?
The mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering UC Transfer Pathways all require one year of calculus, multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, calculus-based physics, and one programming course. Mechanical engineering also requires one year of chemistry, engineering graphics, circuits, and statics. Electrical engineering requires three semesters of physics and circuit analysis. Civil engineering requires a full chemistry sequence and statics.
Is there a GPA threshold for transferring to UCLA engineering?
Yes. The UCLA Samueli School of Engineering requires a GPA of at least 3.4 at the time of application, and the prerequisites for the chosen major must be completed before enrollment. UCLA states that engineering admission is highly selective, that Cal-GETC is not required, and that partial completion is not accepted.
Can a community college student use TAG to transfer to UC in engineering?
No major in the UC Santa Barbara College of Engineering is open to TAG. The UC Davis College of Engineering requires 3.5, and the engineering schools at UC Merced and UC Riverside require 3.0. Beginning in fall 2028, UC Irvine will no longer open aerospace engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering to TAG.
Do engineering students need to complete Cal-GETC?
The UC Berkeley College of Engineering states that Cal-GETC is neither required nor recommended. The UCLA Samueli School of Engineering does not require Cal-GETC and does not accept partial completion. The UC Riverside engineering school recommends prioritizing major prerequisites. The 7-course pattern must still be completed.
Sources and Verification Date13 official sources · last verified September 27, 2026
- Transfers by major, fall 2025 and earlier years (UC Infocenter, retrieved September 27, 2026)universityofcalifornia.edu
- UC Transfer Pathways: Mechanical Engineering (UC Admissions)admission.universityofcalifornia.edu
- UC Transfer Pathways: Electrical Engineering (UC Admissions)admission.universityofcalifornia.edu
- UC Transfer Pathways: Civil Engineering (UC Admissions)admission.universityofcalifornia.edu
- UC TAG Matrix, Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 Cycle (June 9, 2026 version)admission.universityofcalifornia.edu
- Transfer admission information by college (UC Berkeley Office of Undergraduate Admissions)admissions.berkeley.edu
- Major Preparation in the Samueli School of Engineering (UCLA Undergraduate Admission)admission.ucla.edu
- Major requirements for the College of Engineering (UC Davis Undergraduate Admissions)ucdavis.edu
- Transfer Requirements by School (UC Irvine Office of Undergraduate Admissions)admissions.uci.edu
- Transfer Major Preparation (UC San Diego Undergraduate Admissions)admissions.ucsd.edu
- Selective Majors for Transfer (UC Santa Barbara Undergraduate Admissions)admissions.sa.ucsb.edu
- Electrical Engineering B.S. (UC Santa Cruz General Catalog)catalog.ucsc.edu
- Majors Preparation Guide (UC Riverside Undergraduate Admissions)admissions.ucr.edu
Major requirements, TAG conditions, and admission data change every year. Before applying, confirm the figures published by UC and each campus for the current year.
