Pasadena City College to UC Berkeley
Nursing Transfer Plan
Semester-by-semester courses, IGETC requirements, and major prerequisites — verified from real articulation data.
From
Pasadena City College
To
UC Berkeley
NursingGPA Reality Check
The minimum GPA to apply to UC Berkeley as a transfer is 3.0, but the middle 50% of admitted students landed between 3.61 and 3.96. For a pre-nursing pathway, where BSN programs themselves are intensely competitive, you should be targeting well above a 3.7 — especially in your science courses. ANAT 025, PSYO 001, MICR 002, and CHEM 001A are the courses that admissions committees for both UC Berkeley and downstream BSN programs will scrutinize most. Don't settle for Cs — they technically keep you eligible but make you uncompetitive.
UC Berkeley Community College Transfer Services (CCTS)
UC Berkeley does not participate in the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program — unlike UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, or UC Santa Cruz, there is no guaranteed admission route to Berkeley from PCC. However, you can enroll in UC Berkeley's free Community College Transfer Services (CCTS) program, which connects you with Transfer to Success webinars and a Berkeley student mentor, and lets you earn a certification you can reference in your UC application. Visit cep.berkeley.edu/ccts and complete the intake form to get started.
Major Requirements
Pre-Nursing (UC Berkeley Extension Pre-Nursing Preparatory Program — BSN pathway) Major Preparation
Pre-Nursing (UC Berkeley Extension Pre-Nursing Preparatory Program — BSN pathway) at UC Berkeley
Courses at Pasadena City College that satisfy UC Berkeley's Nursing major preparation, verified via ASSIST.org.
UC Berkeley does not offer a traditional undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing on its main campus. The pathway for aspiring nurses is through UC Berkeley Extension's Pre-Nursing Preparatory Program (PNPP), which prepares students to apply to external BSN programs — not a direct-admit nursing major. Students sometimes confuse this with Public Health (B.S.) in the School of Public Health, which is a separate, distinct program available through standard UC transfer admission.
| Course at Pasadena City College | Satisfies at UC Berkeley | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 001A — General Chemistry | General Chemistry prerequisite for pre-nursing sciences | 5 |
| BIOL 010A — Principles of Biology I | Introductory Biology — foundational science for pre-nursing pathway | 5 |
| ANAT 025 — Human Anatomy | Human Anatomy — required lower-division science for pre-nursing | 4 |
| PSYO 001 — Human Physiology | Human Physiology — required lower-division science for pre-nursing | 4 |
| MICR 002 — Microbiology | Microbiology — required lower-division science for pre-nursing | 4 |
| CHEM 002A — General, Organic, and Biochemistry | Organic and Biochemistry — required lower-division science for pre-nursing | 4 |
| PSYCH 001 — Introduction to Psychology | Psychology — general education and pre-nursing behavioral science requirement | 3 |
| STAT 050 — Elementary Statistics | Statistics — quantitative reasoning requirement for pre-nursing | 4 |
General Education
Foundation GE at Pasadena City College
Complete these five courses at Pasadena City College to start your UC Berkeley 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 002
Animal Biology
CHEM 001A
General Chemistry and Chemical Analysis I
HIST 001A
History of European Civilization to 1715
ENGL C1000
Academic Reading and Writing
ENGL C1001
Critical Thinking and Writing
| Area | Course at Pasadena City College | Units |
|---|---|---|
Life Science | BIOL 002 — Animal Biology | 4 |
Physical Science | CHEM 001A — General Chemistry and Chemical Analysis I | 5 |
Humanities | HIST 001A — History of European Civilization to 1715 | 3 |
English CompositionCCN | ENGL C1000 — Academic Reading and Writing | 4 |
Critical ThinkingCCN | ENGL C1001 — Critical Thinking and Writing | 4 |
CHEM 001A → CHEM 002A
CHEM 001A (General Chemistry) must be completed before you can enroll in CHEM 002A (General, Organic, and Biochemistry), making this a locked two-semester chain. If you delay CHEM 001A even one semester, your entire science prerequisite timeline gets pushed back and you may not finish all required coursework before your target application date.
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
IGETC Won't Cover Your Science Prereqs
A common mistake is assuming that finishing IGETC takes care of your major prep — it doesn't, and for the pre-nursing pathway this gap is especially costly. IGETC satisfies general education breadth, but courses like ANAT 025, PSYO 001, MICR 002, and CHEM 001A are separate requirements that must be completed on top of IGETC. Build your schedule so you're running GE and science prerequisites in parallel from your first semester, not sequentially.
PCC Has No Direct Articulation to a Berkeley Nursing Major
Unlike many other UC campuses, UC Berkeley does not offer a traditional undergraduate B.S. in Nursing that accepts transfer applicants through the standard UC application. This is unique to Berkeley among the UCs with nursing programs — and students who apply expecting a direct nursing admit are caught off guard. The realistic path runs through UC Berkeley Extension's Pre-Nursing Preparatory Program (PNPP) or pivots to a different UC campus that does have an undergraduate nursing major, such as UCLA or UC Irvine.
Chemistry Sequence Takes Two Full Semesters — Start Immediately
You need both CHEM 001A (General Chemistry) and CHEM 002A (General, Organic, and Biochemistry) before you're fully prepped for most BSN programs. Since CHEM 001A is a prerequisite for CHEM 002A, this is a minimum two-semester chain — and that's before you add anatomy, physiology, and microbiology on top. Students who don't start chemistry in their very first semester at PCC often find themselves a full year behind schedule.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Does UC Berkeley have a nursing major for transfer students from Pasadena City College?
UC Berkeley does not offer a traditional undergraduate B.S. in Nursing that accepts standard transfer applicants — this surprises a lot of PCC students who target Berkeley specifically. The pathway that does exist is through UC Berkeley Extension's Pre-Nursing Preparatory Program (PNPP), which helps students complete lower-division science prerequisites like ANAT 025 and MICR 002 before applying to external BSN programs. If you want a direct-admit nursing major at a UC, look at UCLA or UC Irvine instead.
What GPA do I need to transfer from Pasadena City College to UC Berkeley?
The technical minimum GPA for UC Berkeley transfer admission is 3.0, but the middle 50% of admitted transfer students for Fall 2025 had GPAs between 3.61 and 3.96. For a competitive pre-nursing profile, where your science GPA in courses like ANAT 025, PSYO 001, and CHEM 001A gets scrutinized by both Berkeley and downstream BSN programs, aiming below a 3.7 is a real risk. Treat the 3.0 floor as a disqualification threshold, not a target.
Does UC Berkeley participate in TAG for Pasadena City College nursing students?
No — UC Berkeley does not participate in the Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) program at all, regardless of your major or home community college. Six UCs offer TAG (Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz), but Berkeley is not among them. PCC students targeting Berkeley have no guaranteed admission option and must go through the standard competitive review process.
What science courses should I take at Pasadena City College to prepare for nursing?
The core science prerequisites you'll need are CHEM 001A (General Chemistry), CHEM 002A (General, Organic, and Biochemistry), ANAT 025 (Human Anatomy), PSYO 001 (Human Physiology), and MICR 002 (Microbiology) — all confirmed in PCC's own nursing program documentation. Start with CHEM 001A in your very first semester since it's a prerequisite to CHEM 002A, creating a two-semester chain that eats up your first year if you don't plan ahead. STAT 050 (Elementary Statistics) rounds out the quantitative requirement most BSN programs expect.
How many applicants transfer to UC Berkeley and what are my chances from Pasadena City College?
For Fall 2025, 23,322 students applied to UC Berkeley as transfer students and 24% were admitted overall — a rate that sounds encouraging until you factor in that nursing-pathway applicants are simultaneously competing for spots in external BSN programs with their own cutoffs. PCC is a well-regarded transfer feeder to Berkeley and consistently sends students to UC campuses, but UC Berkeley's lack of a direct nursing major means your planning needs to account for two separate competitive processes. Use UC TAP and CCTS early to make sure you're on track.
Explore More
Related Transfer Plans
Students at Pasadena City College (PCC) who are pursuing a nursing career and considering UC Berkeley face a planning challenge that most transfer guides don't explain clearly: UC Berkeley does not offer a traditional undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing through standard transfer admission. Instead, the realistic pre-nursing transfer planning pathway for PCC students targeting Berkeley runs through UC Berkeley Extension's Pre-Nursing Preparatory Program (PNPP), which helps students build the science foundation needed to apply to external BSN programs. For Fall 2025, UC Berkeley admitted 24% of its 23,322 transfer applicants overall, with a mid-50% GPA range of 3.61 to 3.96 — numbers that underscore just how competitive this process is even before factoring in BSN program requirements. PCC's pre-nursing major prerequisites include foundational science courses like CHEM 001A (General Chemistry), ANAT 025 (Human Anatomy), PSYO 001 (Human Physiology), and MICR 002 (Microbiology), each of which plays a direct role in both UC transfer eligibility and BSN program competitiveness. IGETC can handle general education breadth requirements, but it does not substitute for these major prerequisites — a critical distinction that catches many PCC students off guard during transfer planning. Students who enroll in CCTS, UC Berkeley's Community College Transfer Services program, get access to Transfer to Success webinars and a mentorship network that helps demystify the process. Tools like Pipeline help students at Pasadena City College build personalized academic plans that sequence IGETC alongside major prerequisites, flag prerequisite chains like CHEM 001A before CHEM 002A, and map out a realistic two-year timeline toward a competitive application.
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