<p>I've just graduated from high school one year early (I'm 16), and intend to go to a community college and then transfer. Recently, I've become very interested in Occidental, and would like to go there to major in biology. What should I do and take at my community college to make myself more competitive for admission as a transfer student? Is Occidental considered a good college? Also, I just realized that Occidental is not a university. Sorry to sound completely retarded, but what is really the difference? Will it hurt my chances of going to Davis (for veterinary medicine) or USC (if I choose to go with business) for grad school? Also, this is kind of unrelated, but I read on their website that "first years and sophomores" are required to live in residence halls. However, I live about 15 minutes away, and by that time, I will be married, so will that rule still apply to me, or do transfers not count as "first years?" (yes, I'm engaged at 16 lol) Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>I can answer a couple of your questions. If you spend two years at community college you will transfer in as a junior, so you will not be required to live on campus.</p>
<p>Occidental is a Liberal Arts College (LAC). Liberal arts colleges primarily offer undergraduate degrees, with few or no post-graduate options, and focus a lot on liberal arts education: humanities, history, philosophy, etc. People interested in science go to LACs so they can get “more” out of their education.</p>
<p>One potential drawback of going Occidental is that they only offer BAs, no BSs. So you will end up with a BA in Biology. That is something that could make you less competitive applying to grad schools, but Occidental is a good school with a solid reputation. An advantage there is that you will have a chance to take classes at caltech.</p>
<p>Why are you interested in Occidental?</p>
<p>i thought starting with the class of 2013 people have to live on-campus up until senior year (so throughout junior year). yeah, oxy is a good college. college just means it’s focused on undergrad. you should be fine for grad school (placement is good). :)</p>
<p>There are a few different reasons why I’m interested in Occidental. Most importantly is because I’m really interested in majoring in Biology, because after undergrad I want to go to davis to be a vet. I originally was going to double major in business administration and biology, but obviously if I go to occidental I won’t be able to do that. As well, it’s very close to home, considering I live in Glendale. And I’ve heard that it’s a very good, competitive school. I will also have a family by that point, so it’s important to me that I live somewhere that won’t inconvenience either me or my fiance, and I feel that since we both live in glendale, we won’t have to move far, if at all.</p>
<p>But then I read on the website that if you get married or have a child that they require that you leave anyway. So I might have nothing to worry about regarding that.</p>
<p>yeah, i can’t imagine them forcing you to live there like the rest of the students.</p>
<p>They require you to leave? You mean live off campus?</p>
<p>they wont require you to. if you are married you can get that waived.</p>