Diablo Valley College to UCI
Nursing Transfer Plan
Semester-by-semester courses, IGETC requirements, and major prerequisites — verified from real articulation data.
From
Diablo Valley College
To
UC Irvine
NursingGPA Reality Check
UCI Nursing Science requires a minimum 3.0 GPA to apply as a transfer student, but the median GPA of admitted transfer students from California community colleges across all majors sits at 3.77 — and Nursing is one of the most selective programs on campus, with an overall acceptance rate reported well under 10%. Your science GPA is what admissions really scrutinizes: grades in CHEM 120, 121, 122 and BIOL 121, 122 carry enormous weight because they predict your ability to survive UCI's upper-division nursing curriculum. A 3.0 gets your application read; realistically, you need to be targeting 3.5 or higher in your science courses to be competitive.
Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) — Not Available for Nursing Science
Heads up — Nursing Science is one of the majors explicitly excluded from UCI's Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program. The UCI admissions office lists it alongside Art, Business Administration, and all ICS majors as TAG-ineligible. There is no guaranteed admission pathway into this major from Diablo Valley College, so every application cycle is fully competitive. Apply with your strongest possible GPA, completed science prerequisites, and meaningful healthcare experience documented in your personal insight questions.
Major Requirements
Nursing Science (B.S.) — Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing Major Preparation
Nursing Science (B.S.) — Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing at UC Irvine
Courses at Diablo Valley College that satisfy UC Irvine's Nursing major preparation, verified via ASSIST.org.
UCI offers a Public Health Sciences B.S. that students sometimes confuse with Nursing Science. Public Health is a population-level policy and research major — it does not lead to RN licensure and has a different, less science-intensive prerequisite set. If your goal is to become a registered nurse, only the Nursing Science B.S. qualifies you to sit for the NCLEX-RN exam after graduation.
| Course at Diablo Valley College | Satisfies at UCI | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 120 — General Chemistry I | CHEM 1A — General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHEM 121 — General Chemistry II | CHEM 1B — General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHEM 122 — General Chemistry III | CHEM 1C — General Chemistry | 5 |
| BIOL 121 — General Biology I | BIO SCI 93 — Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology | 4 |
| BIOL 122 — General Biology II | BIO SCI 94 — Introduction to Organismal and Evolutionary Biology | 4 |
| MATH 120 — Introduction to Statistics | STATS 7 — Basic Statistics (Nursing Science Statistics Requirement) | 4 |
| PSYC 121 — General Psychology | PSYCH 7A — Introduction to Psychology (Nursing Science Psychology Requirement) | 3 |
| SOC 120 — Introduction to Sociology | SOC SCI 3H or sociology lower-division requirement | 3 |
| ENGL 122 — Reading and Composition | WRITING 39A — Lower-Division Writing (IGETC Area 1A) | 4 |
| ENGL 123 — Composition and Literature | WRITING 39B — Lower-Division Writing (IGETC Area 1B) | 4 |
General Education
Foundation GE at Diablo Valley College
Complete these five courses at Diablo Valley College to start your UCI GE pattern. Finishing full IGETC/Cal-GETC at the CC is ideal — these five give you the broadest head start, and CCN-tagged courses stay portable if you switch community colleges.
ANTHR 115
Primate Evolution and Adaptation
CHEM 107
Integrated Inorganic, Organic, and Biological Chemistry
HIST 120
History of the United States before 1865
ENGL C1000
Academic Reading and Writing
ENGL C1001
Critical Thinking and Writing
| Area | Course at Diablo Valley College | Units |
|---|---|---|
Life Science | ANTHR 115 — Primate Evolution and Adaptation | 3 |
Physical Science | CHEM 107 — Integrated Inorganic, Organic, and Biological Chemistry | 5 |
Humanities | HIST 120 — History of the United States before 1865 | 3 |
English CompositionCCN | ENGL C1000 — Academic Reading and Writing | 3 |
Critical ThinkingCCN | ENGL C1001 — Critical Thinking and Writing | 3 |
CHEM 120 → CHEM 121 → CHEM 122
The full three-semester general chemistry series at DVC is strictly sequential and takes a minimum of three semesters to complete. Delay the start by even one semester and you will be submitting a UCI Nursing application in November without a completed chemistry record — one of the most disqualifying gaps in this major's prerequisite list.
UCI runs on quarters — DVC runs on semesters
Once you transfer, UCI's quarter system moves fast — what feels like a full semester of content at DVC is compressed into 10 weeks, so the dense science-heavy curriculum in Year 3 of the Nursing Science program will demand a different pace than anything you experienced at DVC.
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
Start Chemistry Your Very First Semester
The three-semester chemistry sequence at Diablo Valley College — CHEM 120, 121, and 122 — is the longest prerequisite chain standing between you and a complete UCI Nursing application. DVC runs on semesters, which means this chain takes a full year and a half to complete. If you delay CHEM 120 even one semester, you will not finish CHEM 122 before the fall application window of your second year, and your application goes in with an incomplete science record.
TAG Will Not Save You Here — Plan Accordingly
Many DVC students rely on the UC Irvine TAG program as a safety net, and DVC does participate in TAG for most majors. Nursing Science is explicitly excluded, however — UCI's admissions office lists it as TAG-ineligible alongside Business and all ICS majors. That means every Diablo Valley College student applying to UCI Nursing competes in the open pool with no guarantee, making a 3.5+ GPA and solid healthcare experience more important, not less.
Non-Science Prerequisites Need a B, Not a C
UCI holds transfer students to a higher standard for non-science lower-division nursing requirements — courses like PSYC 121 and SOC 120 taken at a community college must be completed with a B or better, while the threshold for most UC transfer requirements is just a C. Don't coast through your non-science courses thinking a C is fine; in the Nursing Science context, it isn't.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What GPA do I need to transfer from Diablo Valley College to UCI Nursing Science?
UCI requires a minimum 3.0 cumulative UC-transferable GPA to be eligible for the Nursing Science major, but that floor is misleading. The median GPA of admitted CC transfer students at UCI across all majors is 3.77, and Nursing is among the most selective programs on campus with an acceptance rate reported well under 10%. For your DVC science courses like CHEM 120 and BIOL 121, you'll want to be at 3.5 or above to have a realistic shot.
Does Diablo Valley College have a TAG agreement with UC Irvine for Nursing?
DVC does participate in UCI's Transfer Admission Guarantee program, but Nursing Science is one of a handful of majors that UCI explicitly excludes from TAG eligibility. The UCI admissions office lists it alongside Business Administration and all ICS majors as TAG-ineligible. DVC students applying to UCI Nursing must go through the standard competitive application process with no guarantee of admission.
What science courses do I need to take at Diablo Valley College for UCI Nursing Science?
UCI requires one year of general chemistry with lab (equivalent to their CHEM 1A/1B/1C series) and one year of biology (equivalent to BIO SCI 93 and BIO SCI 94). At DVC, that means completing CHEM 120, 121, and 122 for chemistry and BIOL 121 and 122 for biology. These are sequential courses, so start as early as possible — the chemistry sequence alone takes three consecutive semesters.
Can I use IGETC to satisfy general education requirements when transferring from DVC to UCI Nursing?
Yes — IGETC is accepted for UCI Nursing Science, and completing it at DVC before you transfer is a smart move since it clears most lower-division GE requirements. That said, your priority at DVC should still be finishing the science prerequisites first, since those are the hardest to complete and the most critical for your application. IGETC courses like ENGL 122 and SOC 120 can often double-count toward both GE and major prep.
How competitive is it to get into UCI Nursing as a transfer student?
Very. UCI's Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing targets graduating roughly 50 students per year across all entry pathways, which means transfer seats are extremely limited. The overall acceptance rate for the Nursing program has been reported well under 10%, compared to the UCI-wide transfer rate of about 40%. Unlike most UCI majors, Nursing Science cannot be changed into after you enroll — you must be admitted directly as a Nursing Science transfer applicant.
Explore More
Related Transfer Plans
Students at Diablo Valley College (DVC) who are planning to transfer into the Nursing Science B.S. program at UC Irvine (UCI) are pursuing one of the most competitive transfer pathways in the California community college system. UCI's Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing admits a very small cohort each year — the overall program acceptance rate has been reported well under 10% — and transfer planning needs to begin on day one at DVC. The lower-division major prerequisites are demanding: the full three-semester general chemistry series (CHEM 120, 121, and 122 at Diablo Valley College), a two-course general biology sequence, statistics, psychology, and sociology are all required before you can be considered a competitive applicant. One important nuance that trips up many DVC students is the TAG program: while Diablo Valley College participates in UC Irvine's Transfer Admission Guarantee for most majors, Nursing Science is explicitly excluded from TAG eligibility, meaning every applicant competes in the open pool. IGETC is accepted for this pathway and can help satisfy general education breadth requirements alongside your major prerequisites. The median GPA of admitted transfer students from California community colleges at UCI is 3.77 across all majors, and Nursing is far more selective than the campus average. Non-science lower-division nursing requirements completed at DVC must be earned with a B or better — not the typical C threshold — adding another layer of difficulty. Tools like Pipeline can help Diablo Valley College students map out exactly when to take each prerequisite, flag the courses with no DVC equivalent, and build a semester-by-semester plan that gets them to UCI Nursing Science admission-ready on time.
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