Pasadena City College to UCLA
Nursing Transfer Plan
Semester-by-semester courses, IGETC requirements, and major prerequisites — verified from real articulation data.
From
Pasadena City College
To
UCLA
NursingGPA Reality Check
UCLA's published minimum GPA for Nursing transfer applicants is 3.5 — but that is the floor just to be considered, not a competitive number. The school receives over 6,000 applications for roughly 40 transfer seats, and admitted cohorts typically show GPAs in the 3.8–4.0 range. Your grades in the science prerequisites — Chemistry, Anatomy, and Physiology — carry the most weight, so a B in CHEM 1A hurts you more than a B in a humanities elective.
Transfer Alliance Program (TAP)
PCC is a confirmed Transfer Alliance Program (TAP) partner with UCLA, and earning TAP certification through PCC's Honors Program does signal academic rigor on your application. The catch: the Joe C. Wen School of Nursing formally opts out of TAP — it does not grant TAP applicants priority, and you cannot use Nursing as a TAP alternate major. Still, get certified — it gives you a legitimate backup major in the College of Letters and Science if your Nursing application is unsuccessful.
Major Requirements
Nursing B.S. (Joe C. Wen School of Nursing — Pre-Licensure) Major Preparation
Nursing B.S. (Joe C. Wen School of Nursing — Pre-Licensure) at UCLA
Courses at Pasadena City College that satisfy UCLA's Nursing major preparation, verified via ASSIST.org.
Students sometimes confuse the UCLA B.S. in Nursing with the MECN (Master's Entry Clinical Nurse) program — also offered by the Joe C. Wen School of Nursing — which is a graduate-level program for students who already hold a non-nursing bachelor's degree. If you are transferring from PCC without a prior degree, the B.S. Pre-Licensure program is the correct target.
| Course at Pasadena City College | Satisfies at UCLA | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CHEM 1A — General Chemistry I | CHEM 20A — General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHEM 1B — General Chemistry II | CHEM 20B — General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHEM 12A — Organic Chemistry I | CHEM 30A — Organic Chemistry | 5 |
| BIOL 3 — Introduction to Biology | LS 7A — Cell and Molecular Biology | 4 |
| No equivalent at Pasadena City College | LS 7C — Physiology and Human Biology | — |
| BIOL 25 — Human Anatomy | PHYSCI 3 — Human Anatomy | 4 |
| BIOL 26 — Human Physiology | PHYSCI 13 — Human Physiology | 4 |
Courses with no equivalent must be taken at UCLA after transfer. Factor this into your first-year course plan.
General Education
Foundation GE at Pasadena City College
Complete these five courses at Pasadena City 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 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 1A → CHEM 1B → CHEM 12A
All three chemistry prerequisites for UCLA Nursing must be taken in strict sequence across at least three semesters at PCC — start CHEM 1A in your very first semester or you will run out of time to complete Organic Chemistry before the transfer application deadline.
UCLA runs on quarters — PCC runs on semesters
One PCC semester of coursework is roughly equivalent to one and a half UCLA quarters, so the pace of upper-division nursing courses after transfer will feel noticeably faster — start building strong study habits now.
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 Isn't Optional for Nursing — It's Required
For most UCLA majors, IGETC is strongly recommended but not mandatory. Nursing is different: the Joe C. Wen School of Nursing requires full IGETC certification from California Community College applicants — partial IGETC is not accepted. At Pasadena City College, students who began college in Fall 2025 or later follow the new Cal-GETC pattern instead of IGETC, so check your catalog rights with a PCC counselor immediately — the pathway you're eligible for depends entirely on when you first enrolled.
UCLA Nursing Has No Articulated Course for LS 7C
One of the seven required nursing prerequisites — LS 7C (Physiology and Human Biology) — has no articulated equivalent at Pasadena City College. That means you cannot complete this requirement before transfer; UCLA expects you to address it after arrival or through another approved path. Confirm the current plan with a PCC transfer counselor and check directly with the School of Nursing, because arriving without a strategy for this gap can affect your standing in Year 1.
TAP Certification Won't Help You Into Nursing
The Transfer Alliance Program gives certified PCC Honors students priority consideration at UCLA — but the School of Nursing explicitly does not participate. You cannot use Nursing as your TAP alternate major, and TAP certification provides no admissions advantage for this specific program. Pursue TAP certification regardless, since it keeps a door open to College majors as a backup, but do not count on it to improve your odds in the Nursing applicant pool.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the transfer acceptance rate for UCLA Nursing from Pasadena City College?
UCLA's School of Nursing is one of the most competitive programs in the country — the overall transfer admit rate for Nursing hovers around 0.9%, with the school receiving over 6,000 applications annually for approximately 40 transfer seats. There is no published PCC-specific admit rate for this major, but the competition is the same regardless of your source school. Your grades in science prerequisites like CHEM 1A, BIOL 25, and BIOL 26 carry significant weight in the holistic review.
Does Pasadena City College have all the prerequisite courses for UCLA Nursing?
PCC covers six of the seven lower-division prerequisites for the UCLA Nursing B.S. — including CHEM 1A and 1B, CHEM 12A, BIOL 3, BIOL 25, and BIOL 26. The one gap is LS 7C (Physiology and Human Biology), which has no articulated equivalent at PCC according to ASSIST. Talk to a PCC transfer counselor and contact the UCLA School of Nursing directly about how to address this requirement before or after transfer.
Does the UCLA Transfer Alliance Program (TAP) help with Nursing admission from PCC?
Unfortunately, no — the Joe C. Wen School of Nursing explicitly does not participate in the Transfer Alliance Program, and TAP certification does not provide priority consideration or any formal advantage for Nursing applicants. PCC's Honors Program is still worth pursuing because TAP certification keeps a strong backup pathway open in UCLA's College of Letters and Science, but it will not improve your odds in the Nursing pool.
Is IGETC required or just recommended for UCLA Nursing transfers from PCC?
IGETC is actually required — not just recommended — for California Community College students applying to the UCLA School of Nursing. The program explicitly states that partial IGETC will not be accepted, so you must complete the full certification before transfer. Students at PCC who began in Fall 2025 or later should verify with a counselor whether they follow Cal-GETC instead of IGETC, as the patterns have changed.
What GPA do I need to transfer from Pasadena City College to UCLA Nursing?
The School of Nursing sets a hard minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 for all transferable coursework — higher than UCLA's campus-wide minimum of 3.0. In practice, admitted cohorts typically show GPAs in the 3.8–4.0 range. The school also notes that over 6,000 students apply for roughly 40 transfer seats each year, so sitting at the 3.5 minimum is not a competitive position.
Explore More
Related Transfer Plans
Transferring from Pasadena City College (PCC) to the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Nursing is one of the most challenging transfer pathways in California, and smart transfer planning starts well before you fill out the UC application. The Pre-Licensure B.S. in Nursing at UCLA admits only a limited number of transfer students each year — the school receives over 6,000 applications annually for roughly 40 open seats, and the program's transfer admit rate sits around 0.9%, making it among the most selective majors on campus. Students admitted to the cohort typically carry GPAs in the 3.8–4.0 range, which is well above the school's published minimum of 3.5. Major prerequisites at PCC include a full chemistry sequence — starting with CHEM 1A (General Chemistry I) — followed by organic chemistry and a two-course anatomy and physiology sequence. One critical gap that catches many PCC students off guard: LS 7C (Physiology and Human Biology) has no articulated equivalent at Pasadena City College, so you will need a plan to address that requirement. Unlike most UCLA majors, Nursing also requires full IGETC certification from California community college applicants — partial IGETC is not accepted. Although PCC is a Transfer Alliance Program partner with UCLA, the School of Nursing does not participate in TAP and the program offers no priority to TAP-certified applicants. Keeping track of all these moving parts — prerequisite chains, IGETC eligibility windows, articulation gaps, and application deadlines — is exactly where a tool like Pipeline helps: it lets PCC students build a personalized semester-by-semester plan that accounts for the specific courses, sequencing rules, and deadlines unique to the PCC-to-UCLA Nursing pathway.
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