Mt. San Antonio College to UCLA
Nursing Transfer Plan
Semester-by-semester courses, IGETC requirements, and major prerequisites — verified from real articulation data.
From
Mt. San Antonio College
To
UCLA
NursingGPA Reality Check
UCLA's minimum transfer GPA is 3.0, but Nursing is the most competitive major on campus — with an admit rate around 0.9%, the published minimum is essentially irrelevant. Admitted transfers across all UCLA majors had a mid-50th percentile GPA of 3.77–4.00 in 2024, and Nursing applicants are expected to exceed that average. Your grades in CHEM 50, CHEM 51, BIOL 10, BIOL 11, and BIOL 22 carry the most weight — these are the science courses reviewers scrutinize first. Aim for A's across the board; a B in chemistry can cost you.
Transfer Alliance Program (TAP)
Mt. SAC participates in the UCLA Transfer Alliance Program (TAP), and TAP-certified students from Mt. SAC are 2–3 times more likely to be admitted to UCLA overall. The catch: the School of Nursing does not participate in TAP, so your Nursing application won't receive TAP priority. Still, earning TAP certification is a smart hedge — it lets you list a College of Letters and Science major as a competitive alternate if Nursing doesn't come through. To get certified, complete 15 units of Honors coursework with at least a 3.2 GPA in those courses and a 3.2 cumulative UC-transferable GPA, then sign your TAP Applicant Form in late January or mid-February.
Major Requirements
Nursing B.S. Prelicensure (Joe C. Wen School of Nursing) Major Preparation
Nursing B.S. Prelicensure (Joe C. Wen School of Nursing) at UCLA
Courses at Mt. San Antonio College that satisfy UCLA's Nursing major preparation, verified via ASSIST.org.
Students sometimes confuse the UCLA B.S. Nursing Prelicensure with the Master of Science Entry Clinical Nurse (MECN) program, which is a graduate-level pathway for students who already hold a non-nursing bachelor's degree. If you're coming from Mt. SAC and transferring as a junior, the B.S. Prelicensure is the correct track. The MECN is not a transfer option — it requires a completed bachelor's degree first.
| Course at Mt. San Antonio College | Satisfies at UCLA | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 50 — General Chemistry I | CHEM 14A — Atomic and Molecular Structure, Equilibria, Acids, and Bases | 5 |
| CHEM 51 — General Chemistry II | CHEM 14B — Thermodynamics, Electrochemistry, Kinetics, and Organic Chemistry | 5 |
| BIOL 10 — Human Anatomy | Physiological Science 3 — Human Anatomy | 4 |
| BIOL 11 — Human Physiology | Physiological Science 13 — Human Physiology | 4 |
| BIOL 22 — Microbiology | Microbiology 6 — Introductory Microbiology | 4 |
| PSYC 1A — General Psychology | Psychology 10 — General Psychology | 3 |
| MATH 110 — Elementary Statistics | Statistics 10 — Introduction to Statistical Reasoning | 4 |
| COMM 1A — Public Speaking | Communication Studies 1 — Principles of Oral Communication (recommended prep) | 3 |
General Education
Foundation GE at Mt. San Antonio College
Complete these five courses at Mt. San Antonio College to start your UCLA 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.
BIOL 1
General Biology
CHEM 10
Chemistry for Allied Health Majors
HIST 1
History of the United States
ENGL C1000
Academic Reading and Writing
ENGL C1001
Critical Thinking and Writing
| Area | Course at Mt. San Antonio College | Units |
|---|---|---|
Life Science | BIOL 1 — General Biology | 4 |
Physical Science | CHEM 10 — Chemistry for Allied Health Majors | 5 |
Humanities | HIST 1 — History of the United States | 3 |
English CompositionCCN | ENGL C1000 — Academic Reading and Writing | 4 |
Critical ThinkingCCN | ENGL C1001 — Critical Thinking and Writing | 4 |
CHEM 50 → CHEM 51 → BIOL 22
CHEM 50 must come before CHEM 51, and General Chemistry is a prerequisite for Microbiology (BIOL 22) — meaning this is a three-course chain where getting out of order pushes your entire application timeline back by a full semester or more.
Mt. SAC runs on semesters — UCLA runs on quarters
Budget for a real adjustment period: UCLA's quarter system compresses 10 weeks of material into the same space that takes 16 weeks at Mt. SAC, so the first quarter of upper-division nursing coursework will feel dramatically faster than anything you experienced at Mt. SAC.
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
TAP Won't Help Nursing — But Still Get It
A lot of Mt. SAC students assume that being TAP-certified boosts their UCLA Nursing application. It doesn't — the School of Nursing explicitly does not participate in TAP. What TAP does give you is a stronger alternate major option within the College of Letters and Science if Nursing doesn't pan out. Complete your 15 Honors units and keep your cumulative GPA at 3.2 or above to stay eligible, but build your Nursing application independently.
Chemistry Is the Bottleneck — Start Semester One
CHEM 50 and CHEM 51 are sequential, and CHEM 50 is also a recommended prerequisite for BIOL 22 (Microbiology). If you don't start CHEM 50 in your very first semester at Mt. SAC, your entire science sequence shifts back and you risk not finishing all prep before your application deadline. The chemistry chain is the longest prerequisite chain in this major — treat it as non-negotiable from day one.
Mt. SAC Runs Semesters — UCLA Runs Quarters
You'll complete your prep on a semester calendar, but UCLA's quarter system moves significantly faster once you arrive — 10-week quarters with the same volume of material as a 16-week semester. Upper-division nursing courses at UCLA hit hard in week two. Before you transfer, practice managing a faster pace by front-loading your Mt. SAC semesters with full science loads rather than spreading courses thin.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the chances of transferring from Mt. San Antonio College to UCLA Nursing?
Realistically, very slim — UCLA Nursing has an admit rate of around 0.9%, making it the most selective major on campus. That number applies across all transfer applicants, not just from Mt. SAC. Your best shot is completing every prep course (CHEM 50, CHEM 51, BIOL 10, BIOL 11, BIOL 22, PSYC 1A, and MATH 110) with A's before you apply.
Does the Mt. SAC TAP program help me get into UCLA Nursing?
No — the UCLA School of Nursing does not participate in the Transfer Alliance Program, so TAP certification does not give you priority consideration for Nursing. TAP is still worth pursuing as a Mt. SAC student because it can strengthen an alternate College of Letters and Science major application if your first choice doesn't come through. See an Honors counselor at Mt. SAC to find out which Honors courses count toward your 15-unit TAP requirement.
What GPA do I need to transfer from Mt. San Antonio College to UCLA Nursing?
UCLA's minimum is 3.0, but that won't get you into Nursing. Admitted UCLA transfer students across all majors had a mid-50th percentile GPA of 3.77–4.00 in 2024, and Nursing applicants are expected to be at or above that range. Courses like CHEM 50, BIOL 10, and BIOL 11 are weighted heavily by reviewers, so protecting your GPA in the science sequence is the single highest-leverage thing you can do.
What courses do I need to take at Mt. SAC to prepare for UCLA Nursing?
The core lower-division prep includes CHEM 50 (General Chemistry I), CHEM 51 (General Chemistry II), BIOL 10 (Human Anatomy), BIOL 11 (Human Physiology), BIOL 22 (Microbiology), PSYC 1A (General Psychology), and MATH 110 (Elementary Statistics). A communication course like COMM 1A is also strongly recommended. Check ASSIST.org for the most current articulation agreement between Mt. San Antonio College and UCLA.
Can I use IGETC to satisfy general education requirements when transferring to UCLA Nursing?
Yes — IGETC is accepted for the UCLA Nursing B.S. Prelicensure program. Completing IGETC at Mt. SAC clears most lower-division general education requirements so you can focus your energy at UCLA on upper-division nursing coursework. Make sure you complete IGETC certification before you transfer, as doing it piecemeal afterward is far more complicated.
Explore More
Related Transfer Plans
Planning a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) to UCLA for Nursing is one of the most ambitious academic paths a California community college student can pursue — and one that requires meticulous preparation well before the application opens. The UCLA Nursing B.S. Prelicensure program, housed in the Joe C. Wen School of Nursing, had an admit rate of approximately 0.9% for transfer students, making it the most selective major at a university where the overall transfer admit rate was 22.3% in 2024. Transfer planning for this pathway begins with the science sequence: CHEM 50 (General Chemistry I) at Mt. SAC must be completed in the first semester, since it feeds directly into CHEM 51 and is a prerequisite for BIOL 22 (Microbiology) — creating the longest prerequisite chain in the entire major prep curriculum. Additional lower-division major prerequisites include BIOL 10 (Human Anatomy), BIOL 11 (Human Physiology), PSYC 1A (General Psychology), and MATH 110 (Elementary Statistics), all of which articulate to specific UCLA equivalents per the ASSIST.org agreement between Mt. San Antonio College and UCLA. IGETC is accepted for this program, giving Mt. SAC students a clear path to satisfying general education requirements on the semester calendar before arriving at UCLA's faster-paced quarter system. While Mt. SAC participates in the UCLA Transfer Alliance Program (TAP), nursing students should be aware that the School of Nursing does not participate in TAP — priority consideration applies only to College of Letters and Science majors. Students who want to build a personalized, semester-by-semester course plan that maps every required prep course, tracks IGETC completion, and flags prerequisite conflicts before they happen can use Pipeline to generate a transfer roadmap specific to the Mt. SAC to UCLA Nursing pathway.
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