Diablo Valley College to UC Berkeley
Nursing Transfer Plan
Semester-by-semester courses, IGETC requirements, and major prerequisites — verified from real articulation data.
From
Diablo Valley College
To
UC Berkeley
GPA Reality Check
UC Berkeley's minimum is a 3.0, but the mid-50% of admitted transfer students in 2024 had GPAs between 3.61 and 3.96 — and that's across all majors. For health science pathways like Public Health, where your science GPA carries extra weight, aim higher than the published average. Your grades in CHEM 108, CHEM 109, BIOL 107, and BIOL 115 are the ones Berkeley's reviewers will look at most closely — a B in those will hurt more than a B in a history elective.
Transfer Alliance Project (TAP)
DVC is one of the 45 partner schools in UC Berkeley's Transfer Alliance Project (TAP). This is not a guarantee program — UC Berkeley does not offer TAG — but TAP is a serious differentiator: roughly 80% of TAP participants who apply to Berkeley get in. To get certified, contact the UC Berkeley representative assigned to DVC and complete the intake form through the Center for Educational Partnerships before your first transfer application semester.
Major Requirements
Public Health (B.S.) — School of Public Health Major Preparation
Public Health (B.S.) — School of Public Health at UC Berkeley
Courses at Diablo Valley College that satisfy UC Berkeley's Nursing major preparation, verified via ASSIST.org.
UC Berkeley does not offer an undergraduate Nursing (B.S. or B.A.) degree. Students who arrive at DVC planning to 'transfer to UC Berkeley for Nursing' are often surprised to learn this. The closest undergraduate path at UC Berkeley is Public Health (B.S.) through the School of Public Health, which prepares students for health professions including nursing school at the graduate level. If your goal is a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) specifically, you'll want to also consider CSU campuses such as Cal State East Bay or San Francisco State, which do offer undergraduate Nursing programs.
| Course at Diablo Valley College | Satisfies at UC Berkeley | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 107 — General Biology | BIOLOGY lower-division requirement (MCB/IB introductory sequence) | 4 |
| BIOL 108 — General Biology with Lab | BIOLOGY lower-division lab requirement | 4 |
| CHEM 108 — General Chemistry I | CHEM 1A — General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHEM 109 — General Chemistry II | CHEM 1B — General Chemistry | 5 |
| BIOL 115 — Human Anatomy | Human Biology/Anatomy lower-division preparation | 4 |
| BIOL 116 — Human Physiology | Human Biology/Physiology lower-division preparation | 4 |
| BIOL 121 — Microbiology | Microbiology lower-division preparation | 4 |
| MATH 120 — Introduction to Statistics | STAT 2 or PB HLTH 142 — Statistics for Health Sciences | 3 |
General Education
IGETC at Diablo Valley College
Complete IGETC at Diablo Valley College to satisfy UC Berkeley's lower-division GE requirements before transferring.
ENGL 122
4 unitsENGL 123
3 unitsMATH 120, MATH 124
3-4 unitsART 100, MUSIC 120, THEA 120
3 unitsENGL 130, PHIL 120, HIST 116
3 unitsPOLS 120, PSYC 121, SOC 120
3 unitsCHEM 108, PHYS 120
3-5 unitsBIOL 107, BIOL 108
3-4 unitsSPAN 121, FREN 121, ASL 121
3-5 units| Area | Course options at Diablo Valley College | Units |
|---|---|---|
| 1A: English Composition | ENGL 122 | 4 |
| 1B: Critical Thinking and Composition | ENGL 123 | 3 |
| 2: Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning | MATH 120, MATH 124 | 3-4 |
| 3A: Arts | ART 100, MUSIC 120, THEA 120 | 3 |
| 3B: Humanities | ENGL 130, PHIL 120, HIST 116 | 3 |
| 4: Social and Behavioral Sciences | POLS 120, PSYC 121, SOC 120 | 3 |
| 5A: Physical Sciences | CHEM 108, PHYS 120 | 3-5 |
| 5B: Biological Sciences | BIOL 107, BIOL 108 | 3-4 |
| 6: Language Other Than English | SPAN 121, FREN 121, ASL 121 | 3-5 |
CHEM 108 → CHEM 109 (and the rest of your science chain)
Every major prerequisite in this pathway has a prerequisite of its own — CHEM 108 must come before CHEM 109, BIOL 107 before BIOL 121, and BIOL 115 before BIOL 116. If you start even one course late, you can push your entire transfer date back by a full year.
Preview
Your First Semester
A preview of what Pipeline generates — exact courses, in the right order, every semester.
Watch Out
Common Mistakes for This Transfer Path
UC Berkeley Has No Undergrad Nursing Major
This is the single biggest planning trap for DVC students targeting this path. UC Berkeley does not offer a Nursing B.S. or B.A. at the undergraduate level. If your end goal is becoming a Registered Nurse with a BSN, you should be looking at Cal State East Bay, SFSU, or Samuel Merritt University alongside your UC Berkeley application for Public Health. Don't spend two years building a plan for a program that doesn't exist.
Don't Skip the Chemistry Sequence
CHEM 108 and CHEM 109 are a two-semester chain — you cannot take them simultaneously or out of order. Students who start at DVC in the spring semester and delay CHEM 108 until their second semester often find themselves a full year behind in their timeline. If you want to transfer in two years, CHEM 108 needs to be your very first science course at DVC.
IGETC Is Recommended — But It's Not Your Only Job
IGETC certification is accepted by UC Berkeley's College of Letters and Science (and strongly recommended to optimize your degree progress once admitted), but admissions reviewers care more about your major prep courses than your IGETC completion status. Prioritize finishing BIOL 107, BIOL 115, BIOL 116, and your chemistry sequence with strong grades before rounding out IGETC electives.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Does UC Berkeley have a Nursing major I can transfer into from Diablo Valley College?
No — UC Berkeley does not offer an undergraduate Nursing degree (B.S. or B.A.). If your goal is a BSN, you'll want to look at CSU campuses like Cal State East Bay, which do have undergraduate Nursing programs. The closest undergraduate path at UC Berkeley for health-science-minded transfer students from Diablo Valley College is Public Health (B.S.) through the School of Public Health.
What GPA do I need to transfer from Diablo Valley College to UC Berkeley?
The minimum is 3.0, but the mid-50% of UC Berkeley's admitted transfer class in 2024 had GPAs between 3.61 and 3.96. For health science pathways, your grades in courses like CHEM 108 (General Chemistry I) and BIOL 107 (General Biology) carry particular weight in the review. Treat the 3.0 minimum as a floor, not a target.
What is the TAP program and does Diablo Valley College participate?
TAP — the Transfer Alliance Project — is UC Berkeley's advising and enrichment program for underserved community college students, and yes, Diablo Valley College is one of the 45 partner schools. About 80% of TAP participants who apply to UC Berkeley get admitted. Contact the UC Berkeley representative assigned to DVC to apply to the program.
Can I use IGETC to satisfy UC Berkeley's GE requirements when transferring from Diablo Valley College?
Yes. IGETC certification is accepted by UC Berkeley's College of Letters and Science and is strongly recommended to streamline your degree requirements once you arrive. You'll need to complete all nine IGETC areas, including Area 6 (Language Other Than English) — DVC offers SPAN 121, FREN 121, and other language courses that satisfy this. Note that as of fall 2025, IGETC is no longer required for admissions eligibility, but completing it is still strongly encouraged for degree progress.
How many students apply to transfer to UC Berkeley and what are the overall odds?
For Fall 2025, 23,322 students applied to transfer to UC Berkeley and 5,603 were admitted — a 24% overall transfer acceptance rate. Diablo Valley College is UC Berkeley's top community college feeder, which means strong advising infrastructure and a well-known course catalog, but Berkeley does not reserve spots by source school. Your GPA and completed prerequisites are what move the needle.
Explore More
Related Transfer Plans
Planning to transfer from Diablo Valley College (DVC) to UC Berkeley with a focus on health sciences is a serious, achievable goal — but it requires understanding exactly what UC Berkeley does and doesn't offer. There is no undergraduate Nursing major at UC Berkeley; the closest undergraduate path is Public Health (B.S.) through the School of Public Health, which serves as an excellent foundation for graduate-level nursing or healthcare careers. That distinction matters enormously for transfer planning. Students at Diablo Valley College preparing for this pathway need to complete rigorous major prerequisites — including CHEM 108 (General Chemistry I), BIOL 107 (General Biology), Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, and Microbiology — before transferring. These courses form interconnected prerequisite chains: skip one and the whole sequence gets pushed back. IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum) is accepted by UC Berkeley's College of Letters and Science and is strongly recommended to satisfy GE breadth requirements after transfer, though as of fall 2025 it is no longer required for admissions consideration. For the Fall 2025 cycle, UC Berkeley's overall transfer admit rate was 24%, with admitted students showing a mid-50% GPA range of 3.61 to 3.96 — meaning the 3.0 minimum is just the starting line. DVC students also have access to the Transfer Alliance Project (TAP), where roughly 80% of program participants who applied to Berkeley were admitted. Tools like Pipeline help students map their entire two-year plan — showing exactly which semesters to take CHEM 108, when to stack IGETC courses around major prep, and how to avoid the sequencing mistakes that cost students a full extra year. Thoughtful transfer planning from Diablo Valley College to UC Berkeley, with a clear-eyed understanding of the actual program options, is what separates students who transfer on time from those who don't.
Build your Diablo Valley College → UC Berkeley plan
Personalized, semester-by-semester. Free to start.
Get My Transfer Plan