UC Transfer Checklist for Fall 2027: GPA, Courses & Deadlines

Transferring to a University of California school has clear requirements — but they can be easy to miss. This checklist walks you through required coursework, minimum GPA expectations, application windows, and the documents to prepare so your transfer application is complete and competitive.

UC policies vary by campus and major and can change. Always confirm requirements for your specific campus/major before you submit.

Who should use this checklist

California community college transfers mapping UC pathways.
Students pursuing ADT or Cal-GETC/IGETC who need a campus-by-campus double-check.
International or out-of-state transfers aligning major prep with UC expectations.

Which UC campus path applies to you?

UC transfer GPA and course rules are campus- and major-specific. UC transfer admit data for fall 2026 says those figures are a general guide to selectivity, not a predictor of your chance at a campus, and that competition among majors can vary widely. This page does not invent campus-group "target" GPA bands.

Confirm the current page for that campus and major before you treat a number as a cutoff.

Path	What to confirm	Where to confirm it
Regular transfer to any UC	System minimums, that campus's major-prep list, and any impaction or selective-major screen	UC transfer requirements plus ASSIST.org and the campus transfer page
TAG (one campus per cycle)	That campus and college's current TAG GPA and course conditions. These are not one shared 3.2–3.4 band. Example: for fall 2027, UC Davis TAG currently requires a 3.20 GPA in all UC-transferable coursework for the College of Biological Sciences (and for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Letters and Science), and a 3.50 GPA in transferable coursework and major prep for the College of Engineering, earned by the end of summer 2026. Davis business, computer science, and data science are not open to TAG.	UC TAP, that campus TAG page, and the UC TAG matrix for fall 2027 / spring 2028
Berkeley or UCLA	No TAG. Map the exact major on ASSIST. Do not use a shared high-competition GPA target.	Campus transfer pages plus ASSIST.org
Impacted or selective majors	The campus impacted-major or selective-major page, not a system-wide range	That campus page

TAG, if approved and all conditions are later met, is a guaranteed-admission pathway at one campus. File the TAG application in September through UC TAP (September 1-30, 2026 for fall 2027). File the regular UC application October 1-November 30, 2026, using the same major at the TAG campus. UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC San Diego are not TAG-eligible.

Minimum GPA & course requirements (campus variations)

Check the GPA and course thresholds for your exact campus/major (ASSIST.org and campus pages).
Prioritize required major prep first; competitive majors often need higher-than-listed GPAs.
Protect sequences (e.g., calculus, lab sciences) and avoid overloads that risk grades.

General education / ADT / Cal-GETC/IGETC notes

Confirm if your target campus accepts full Cal-GETC/IGETC or ADT for your major; some majors exclude certain GE areas. Cal-GETC is the pattern for students who first enrolled at a CCC in fall 2025 or later; IGETC remains available for students who enrolled before fall 2025.
Track any missing GE areas early so you are not scrambling in the final term.
If you waive Cal-GETC/IGETC/ADT, document why and confirm alternatives with campus guidance.

Application windows & important deadlines

Start 12–18 months out: select campuses/majors and map prerequisites by term.
Mark UC application windows and supplemental deadlines for each campus; include TAG if applicable. For the 2026-27 cycle (fall 2027 entry): TAG filing is September 1-30, 2026 via UC TAP; the UC application is October 1-November 30, 2026. Confirm on UC Admissions dates and deadlines; dates can change.
Do not send official transcripts with the UC application. Applicants self-report coursework and grades. If admitted and enrolling, final official transcripts are due July 1 (July 1, 2027 for fall 2027). Keep unofficial/current transcripts on hand so the self-report is accurate.

Documents & transcripts checklist

Current unofficial transcripts from all colleges attended, used to self-report courses and grades accurately. Do not send official transcripts with the application.
If admitted and enrolling, final official transcripts are due July 1 after admission (July 1, 2027 for fall 2027).
Verified course lists and prerequisites (with grades/in-progress).
Proof of GE pattern (Cal-GETC/IGETC/ADT) if applicable.
Course descriptions/syllabi for any non-CCC coursework that may need evaluation.
Financial and residency documents if requested by specific campuses.

Keiko's checklist walkthrough: De Anza to 5 UC campuses, pre-med Biology

Keiko is a first-year student at De Anza College applying in fall 2026 to five UC campuses — Berkeley, Davis, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Riverside — as a pre-med Biology transfer for fall 2027 entry. Here is how she applied each section of this checklist.

Step 1 — Campus/major map (12 months out, October 2025 / early 2026): Keiko opened ASSIST.org for the exact biology major at each campus (for example Berkeley Integrative Biology or Molecular and Cell Biology, and Davis Biological Sciences in the College of Biological Sciences). She did not assume a shared intro-biology sequence. Where one campus's current ASSIST agreement required a longer articulated sequence than another, she added the missing De Anza course from that agreement. This page does not list campus-specific biology prerequisites because those lists change and are major-specific.

Step 2, GPA and course sequencing: Her fall GPA was 3.6. She did not use a Berkeley "target" band from this page. For a Davis College of Biological Sciences TAG, she checked the current 3.20 UC-transferable GPA rule on the Davis TAG page, not a system-wide TAG range. She built her spring schedule to protect Chemistry and Biology. She did not overload past 14 units.

Step 3: TAG filing (September 2026): Keiko submitted her TAG application to UC Davis College of Biological Sciences through UC TAP in September 2026. If the TAG is approved and she later meets the shared and campus-specific conditions (including the current 3.20 overall UC-transferable GPA for that college, plus any selective-major course conditions on the Davis TAG page), it is a guaranteed-admission pathway for fall 2027. That 3.20 figure is the College of Biological Sciences TAG rule. It is not the Engineering TAG rule (currently 3.50) and not a rule for every Davis applicant. Some campuses issue that TAG decision later, so she did not treat filing itself as an offer.

Step 4: Documents (self-report for the application): Keiko reviews her current De Anza transcript to accurately self-report courses and grades in the application. She does not send official transcripts with the application. If admitted and enrolling, final official transcripts are due July 1, 2027. She also confirmed her Cal-GETC plan with her counselor (required areas completed or in-progress by June 2027) and kept copies of syllabi for her lab courses in case any campus requested course descriptions.

Outcome: By walking campus-by-campus through the current ASSIST.org major-prep lists, Keiko caught a missing articulated course with enough time to add it. The September TAG application is a guaranteed-admission pathway at Davis College of Biological Sciences if it is approved and all required conditions are subsequently met. She still applies competitively to four others.

What if you're applying to a high-impaction major like Computer Science or Nursing?

Some UC majors are classified as "impacted" — demand exceeds available spots, and admission criteria are stricter than the general transfer threshold listed on ASSIST.org. If your intended major appears on a campus's impacted major page, the rules change.

Computer Science: Coursework and any GPA screen are campus-specific. Read that campus's current impacted-major or transfer page, not only ASSIST.org. Do not apply another campus's CS number as a UC-wide target. At Davis, computer science is not open to TAG.

Nursing: UC Davis states that the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing does not offer a bachelor's degree in Nursing and has no transfer opportunities or bridge programs. Do not plan a UC Davis nursing transfer. A nursing path at another UC campus, if one exists, has to be read on that campus's current page. This page does not supply a substitute pathway.

Alternate majors: Whether a second major helps is a campus and major question. Do not treat a backup major as a system-wide UC strategy. Confirm that campus's rule before you rely on one.

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Copy/paste UC transfer checklist:

Confirm target UC campuses + intended major(s) and their GPA thresholds
Confirm major prerequisites (required + recommended) and sequencing
Build a term-by-term course plan (12–18 months out) that satisfies sequencing
Track total units and what counts toward transfer
Track GPA and protect performance in prerequisite courses
Confirm application windows, supplemental forms, and any TAG steps
Review current transcripts to self-report accurately; send official transcripts only after admission (due July 1)
Draft responses to UC's actual personal-insight questions, following the current instructions and limits rather than a generic transfer-rationale outline
Verify your plan against official campus/major pages before submission

Download the UC transfer checklist (PDF)

Use this printable PDF checklist to track your deadlines, coursework, and required documents.

Download UC transfer checklist (PDF)

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