Diablo Valley College to UCSD
Biology Transfer Plan
Semester-by-semester courses, IGETC requirements, and major prerequisites — verified from real articulation data.
From
Diablo Valley College
To
UC San Diego
BiologyGPA Reality Check
UCSD's minimum transfer GPA is 3.0, but the admitted transfer GPA range runs from 3.46 to 3.92 overall — and Biology is explicitly identified as one of UCSD's most selective, capped majors. A 3.0 gets your application read; it does not get you in. Your grades in BIOL 107, 108, and 109 and the full chemistry sequence carry the most weight, since those courses directly signal whether you can handle upper-division biological sciences work at a research university. Aim for no lower than an A- in every major prep course.
Major Requirements
General Biology (B.S.) — School of Biological Sciences Major Preparation
General Biology (B.S.) — School of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego
Courses at Diablo Valley College that satisfy UC San Diego's Biology major preparation, verified via ASSIST.org.
UCSD's School of Biological Sciences houses six distinct biology B.S. degrees: General Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology, Ecology Behavior and Evolution, Microbiology, Human Biology, and Neurobiology. They all share the same lower-division transfer prep requirements, but the upper-division coursework diverges sharply after you arrive on campus. Pick the one that matches your actual career direction before you apply — you apply directly to a specific major, not to a general 'biology' pool.
| Course at Diablo Valley College | Satisfies at UCSD | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 107 — General Biology I: Molecular and Cellular Biology | BILD 1 — The Cell | 4 |
| BIOL 108 — General Biology II: Organismal and Evolutionary Biology | BILD 2 — Multicellular Life | 4 |
| BIOL 109 — General Biology III: Ecology and Populations | BILD 3 — Organismic and Evolutionary Biology | 4 |
| CHEM 108 — General Chemistry I | CHEM 6A — General Chemistry I | 5 |
| CHEM 109 — General Chemistry II | CHEM 6B — General Chemistry II | 5 |
| CHEM 228 — Organic Chemistry I | CHEM 140A — Organic Chemistry I | 5 |
| CHEM 229 — Organic Chemistry II | CHEM 140B — Organic Chemistry II | 5 |
| MATH 180 — Calculus I | MATH 20A — Calculus for Science and Engineering | 5 |
| MATH 181 — Calculus II | MATH 20B — Calculus for Science and Engineering | 5 |
General Education
Foundation GE at Diablo Valley College
Complete these five courses at Diablo Valley College to start your UCSD 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 108 → 109 → 228 → 229: Four Courses, Four Semesters
The full chemistry prerequisite chain — General Chemistry I and II, then Organic Chemistry I and II — is four courses long and must be taken in strict order, spanning a minimum of four semesters if taken one per term. Students who don't start CHEM 108 in their very first semester at DVC frequently arrive at their transfer application with Organic Chemistry incomplete, which is a serious disadvantage when applying to one of UCSD's most selective majors.
DVC runs on semesters — UCSD runs on quarters
Once you transfer, UCSD's quarter system moves at roughly 1.5x the pace of a DVC semester, so plan to front-load your reading and problem sets in the first week of each quarter rather than easing in the way you might 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 Calculus and Chemistry Simultaneously, First Semester
At Diablo Valley College, the biology transfer prep chain is unusually long: four chemistry courses (CHEM 108 → 109 → 228 → 229) plus two calculus courses (MATH 180 → 181) plus three biology courses (BIOL 107 → 108 → 109) must all be completed before transfer. That's a minimum of four semesters of sequential coursework if you stagger the starts. The only way to finish on a two-year timeline is to begin MATH 180 and CHEM 108 in the same first semester — these two courses have no shared prerequisites, so taking them together is both safe and necessary. Students who wait until second semester to start one of these chains typically need a third year to finish prep.
UCSD Does Not Offer TAG — Plan Accordingly
Despite what you may have heard, UC San Diego does not participate in the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program — only six UC campuses do, and UCSD is not among them. There is no shortcut or guaranteed admission path from Diablo Valley College to UCSD Biology. Your admission depends entirely on your GPA, completed coursework, and personal insight questions evaluated in a competitive, holistic review. Build a realistic school list that includes UC campuses that do offer TAG as backups.
Complete All Three Biology Courses — Partial Credit Is Zero Credit
This is a rule that trips up a surprising number of DVC transfer students: UCSD will only grant credit for BILD 1, BILD 2, and BILD 3 if you complete the entire BIOL 107 / 108 / 109 series at the community college. Finishing BIOL 107 and 108 but skipping BIOL 109 because 'you'll finish it at UCSD' means UCSD grants you zero equivalency credit for any of the three courses. You'd arrive needing to take lower-division biology as a junior, which eats into your upper-division unit requirements and delays graduation.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
How competitive is it to transfer from Diablo Valley College to UCSD for Biology?
Very competitive. Biology is one of UCSD's explicitly capped, most selective majors — in one recent cycle, only about 237 of 900 Biology transfer applicants were admitted campus-wide, roughly a 26% admit rate. The overall UCSD transfer rate sits around 54%, so Biology admits at a substantially lower rate than the campus average. Your GPA in the major prep sequence — especially BIOL 107, 108, and 109 — will be the primary factor reviewers look at.
Does Diablo Valley College have a TAG agreement with UC San Diego?
No. UC San Diego does not participate in the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program. TAG is available at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz — but not UCSD. Every DVC student applying to UCSD Biology competes in the same holistic review pool, with no guaranteed admission track available.
What courses do I need to take at Diablo Valley College to transfer into UCSD Biology?
You need to complete the full DVC biology series (BIOL 107, 108, and 109), both semesters of General Chemistry (CHEM 108 and 109), both semesters of Organic Chemistry (CHEM 228 and 229), and two semesters of Calculus (MATH 180 and 181). UCSD will only grant BILD 1/2/3 equivalency credit if you finish all three biology courses at DVC — partial completion earns zero credit. That's nine major prep courses total, so start mapping this out your very first semester.
Is IGETC accepted for UCSD Biology transfers from Diablo Valley College?
Yes, IGETC is accepted at UCSD for most of its residential colleges, and completing it at DVC can help streamline your general education requirements once you transfer. However, if you're assigned to Revelle College at UCSD, additional math and science GE requirements apply beyond standard IGETC. Confirm your college assignment early and check with a DVC counselor to make sure your IGETC plan covers what UCSD actually requires.
What GPA do I need to transfer from Diablo Valley College to UCSD as a Biology major?
The UC system's minimum transferable GPA is 3.0, but for UCSD Biology that floor is misleading. Admitted transfer students campuswide show a mid-50th percentile GPA range of 3.46 to 3.92, and Biology is among UCSD's most competitive majors. A realistic target GPA in your major prep courses — CHEM 108, CHEM 109, BIOL 107, and the rest of the sequence — is 3.7 or above if you want to be a competitive applicant.
Explore More
Related Transfer Plans
Transferring from Diablo Valley College (DVC) to UC San Diego (UCSD) as a Biology major is one of the most rigorous and rewarding transfer pathways in the California community college system. UCSD's School of Biological Sciences houses six distinct Biology B.S. degrees — including General Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology, and Ecology Behavior and Evolution — and all of them are capped, selective majors. In a recent admissions cycle, only roughly 26% of Biology transfer applicants across California were admitted, making thoughtful transfer planning essential from your very first semester at DVC. Students pursuing this path must complete a demanding set of major prerequisites: the full General Biology series (BIOL 107, 108, and 109), two semesters of General Chemistry (CHEM 108 and 109), two semesters of Organic Chemistry (CHEM 228 and 229), and two semesters of Calculus (MATH 180 and 181). Critically, UCSD will only award credit for BILD 1, BILD 2, and BILD 3 — the equivalent of DVC's BIOL 107 through 109 — if students complete the entire three-course sequence at the community college; partial completion earns zero equivalency credit. IGETC, the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum, is accepted at UCSD and can help DVC students satisfy lower-division general education requirements before transfer, freeing up time at UCSD to focus on upper-division major coursework. The admitted transfer GPA range at UCSD runs from 3.46 to 3.92 overall, with Biology applicants typically needing to aim higher given the major's selective status. Because DVC operates on semesters while UCSD runs on quarters, the adjustment to a faster academic pace is real — students who have built strong study habits across DVC's longer course terms tend to adapt more smoothly. Tools like Pipeline help students at Diablo Valley College build personalized, semester-by-semester transfer plans that account for prerequisite chains, IGETC completion, and major preparation timelines — so nothing falls through the cracks on the path to UC San Diego.
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