UC Transfer Academic Update (TAU): What to Enter

UC Transfer Academic Update (TAU): What to Enter

Every fall 2027 UC transfer applicant must complete the Transfer Academic Update, even if nothing changed. It opens December 15, 2026 and the priority deadline is January 31, 2027. Enter your final fall 2026 grades and every course in progress or planned through summer 2027.

The TAU looks like paperwork. It is really the transfer applicant's second deadline. UC cannot promise that a campus will look at a TAU that arrives late, and at Berkeley the TAU is one of two mandatory January forms. Miss either form and your application is not reviewed. By the time the TAU opens, your UC transfer PIQs are already submitted, so this page is about the form only.

Every UC and campus page quoted below was checked on October 30, 2026. Pages that state no year are marked. Recheck the UC page when the form opens in December.

What the TAU is and who must file

UC's Transfer Academic Update page says: "After applying, transfer students are required to update their grades and course records." It closes the obvious loophole:

"Even if you do not have any in-progress or planned courses and your record of course grades was complete in your original application, you must log in to your application and complete the Transfer Academic Update."

For fall 2027 the page says: "TAUs need to include grades through fall 2026 and planned coursework through summer 2027. The priority deadline is January 31, 2027."

The form stays open after January 31, but that does not make a late TAU safe. UC's page says: "We cannot guarantee that a campus can go back to review an application if an additional TAU has been received after the priority deadline." The counselor guide adds: "Failure to submit the form may jeopardize a student's chances of admission."

Our view: treat January 31 as the real deadline and March 15 as the date the form stops working. The basis is the two sentences above. Nothing UC publishes promises a review of a late TAU.

What to enter, step by step

UC's instruction is: "You must provide your final grades from the previous term and list all courses in progress or planned for all terms before you expect to enroll." In practice, for fall 2027:

1. Final fall 2026 grades. Copy them from your transcript or grade report, not from memory. UCLA's Fall 2027 transfer guide asks for coursework "exactly as they appear on your transcript(s), including nontransferable courses, withdrawals, repeated courses, academic renewal". Use the same standard here.
2. Winter and spring 2027 courses in progress or planned. List the actual sections you enrolled in. If a planned course was cancelled, replace it.
3. Summer 2027 plans. List them if you have them. A UC Davis TAG holder should read the next section first.
4. Changes since November. UC lists the triggers: "If you add or drop a course, fail to earn a C or better in a course or enroll in a new college after you submit your application, log back in and update your information using the Transfer Academic Update (TAU)."
5. Submit once. UC asks you to "make every effort to submit a complete and accurate TAU by the priority deadline, and refrain from submitting multiple updates unless absolutely necessary."

If you hold a UC Davis TAG

The TAU is how Davis checks your contract. Its TAG decisions FAQ says to report coursework changes and grades "in January using the UC Transfer Academic Update". It also warns: "We might not review additional changes submitted after the initial TAU." The contract term that meets the TAU head-on is summer: "you may not use the summer term to complete courses or transferable units required for the UC Davis TAG." A planned summer course that your TAG requires is a problem, and the TAU will show it. Talk to your counselor before you submit. The other ways a TAG is lost are in the UC TAG PIQ guide.

Campus extras due the same week

The TAU is a UC form. Two campuses add their own January tasks on top of it. The Berkeley and UCLA transfer PIQ guide covers what each one asks you to write.

• Berkeley: the checklist (no year stated) says to "Complete two forms, one for UC Berkeley and one for the University of California". The Berkeley form appears in MAP@Berkeley "starting in January". Some majors outside Letters and Science and Computing, Data Science, and Society also need a "major prerequisite" form. "Failure to complete these mandatory forms will result in your application not being reviewed."
• Berkeley Haas: the Haas transfer page requires a supplemental application by January 31, including an essay question and a video interview. "If you do not submit a complete Haas supplemental application by January 31, your admission will be denied."
• UCLA TAP: certified Transfer Alliance Program students who want to add or change an alternate major must ask "no later than January 31" (no year stated).

Our recommendation: finish the TAU by mid-January. The Berkeley form, the Haas essay and video, and any TAP request then get the last two weeks.

The countercase: if your fall grades post late, wait for the official grade. A TAU built on a guessed grade is not the "complete and accurate" TAU UC asks for, and a second TAU to fix it is the multiple-update problem UC warns about.

A bad fall grade: what the TAU can and cannot carry

UC's TAU page talks about grades and courses only. It describes no essay or explanation field. So the TAU is not the place to explain a bad semester. Report the grade exactly.

Where context goes depends on when and where:

• In the original application. UCLA's guide says gaps, withdrawals and incompletes "are not necessarily viewed negatively. Use the Additional Comments box in the Academic History section of the UC Application to provide context." The sibling guide on UC transfer academic history comments covers what to write there.
• At Berkeley, for course-substitution questions. The Berkeley application FAQ says "You must use the space provided in the 'Comments' section of each form to explain your specific case."
• If you are admitted later. UC says: "If you receive an offer of admission, be sure to confirm with the campus admission office that they are aware of the deficient grade or schedule changes."

A below-C grade in a required course is also a condition problem after admission. What can get a UC transfer admission rescinded lists UCLA's reporting thresholds.

After the TAU

UC's decisions page says: "By January, each campus you applied to will email you to create a username and password for access to the campus' applicant portal." Fall 2027 transfer decisions arrive "anytime between March 1 and May 1." If you are admitted, the offer is "provisional until the campus receives your final official transcript". On UC's 2026–2027 calendar, admitted transfers submit the Statement of Intent to Register by June 1 and final transcripts by July 1. If a campus waitlists you, see UC transfer waitlists by campus.

Applying to the CSU too? See Cal State Apply vs UC transfer writing for the EOP deadline that falls two weeks earlier.

For the rest of the cycle calendar, see the UC PIQ 2026–2027 cycle guide.

Questions about the UC Transfer Academic Update

Do I need a TAU if nothing changed since I applied?

Yes. UC says that even if your record "was complete in your original application, you must log in to your application and complete the Transfer Academic Update."

Can I submit the TAU after January 31?

The counselor guide says the form "is open until March 15". UC also says it "cannot guarantee that a campus can go back to review an application if an additional TAU has been received after the priority deadline." Berkeley's checklist says a TAU after January 31 "is not guaranteed to be reviewed."

Should I submit a second TAU when a grade changes?

Only if it is necessary. UC asks applicants to "refrain from submitting multiple updates unless absolutely necessary." A failed course or a dropped class is the kind of change UC lists.

Does the TAU affect my UC Davis TAG?

Yes. Davis says "The UC application and updates reported on the initial TAU are considered" when it decides, and that it "might not review additional changes submitted after the initial TAU."

Where do I explain a bad grade?

Not in the TAU. Use the Academic History comments in your application, or, once admitted, the campus's own reporting process.

Get a free review of your additional comments

Get a free Quick Review of your additional comments against GradPilot's general additional-information rubric. It checks whether your explanation gives the reader the context they need and makes clear how far the circumstance reached. If you are still revising the required major question, use the UC transfer major preparation rubric.

More UC transfer guides:

• Berkeley and UCLA transfer PIQs: campus rules and the January 31 forms.
• UC transfer academic history comments: where to explain gaps and grades.
• College application essay guides: the full undergraduate collection.

Sources

Retrieved October 30, 2026, except where noted.

• University of California, Transfer academic update (fall 2027): requirement, what to include, priority deadline, late and multiple updates.
• University of California, Dates and deadlines (transfer) (2026–2027): December 15 opening, SIR June 1, transcripts July 1.
• University of California, Quick Reference Guide to UC Admissions (August 2026): form open until March 15, "may jeopardize".
• University of California, Admissions decisions (transfer) (fall 2027): portals, decision window, provisional offers.
• UC Davis, TAG decisions FAQ (no year stated; retrieved through a reader service because the site returned HTTP 403 to our client): TAU use, C or higher, summer rule.
• UC Berkeley Admissions, Transfer applicant checklist (no year stated): two mandatory forms, January 31.
• UC Berkeley Admissions, Application FAQs (fall 2027 references): comments section of each form.
• Berkeley Haas, Transfer Students (no year stated): supplemental application by January 31.
• UCLA Undergraduate Admission, UCLA Transfer Alliance Program (fall 2027 references): alternate-major changes by January 31.
• UCLA Undergraduate Admission, Transfer Fall 2027 Admission Guide (printed July 2026): report coursework as on transcripts; Additional Comments box.