A few Questions

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey everyone!</p>

<p>Well I am a senior in high school right now and I plan on moving to Boston when I graduate.(I currently reside in California, I know people/family out there) and plan on attending a local community college there. This is where the questions begin. As of right now, my high school gpa is a 2.9, I have been a major slacker but my SAT scores don't reflect that(2060), I'm a bright kid. I have just been unmotivated so my college choices are limited. Also, out of state tuition is out of my reach so I plan on achieving residency status before attempting a transfer. </p>

<p>First of all, on the UMASS Amherst website(where i plan on transferring) it states that if "one presents fewer than 27 credits prior to a transfer, high school academics and test scores will be evaluated." That seems like a low amount of credits for a transfer compared to the 60 credit requirement for transferring to a UC in CA. </p>

<p>-Will they honestly disregard my high school academics if I present < 30 credits? I would like to know this for I would like to transfer after one year.
-Right now, I am taking three AP classes, Lit, Macro, and Gov. As long as i pass the exams, which will not be a problem considering I have greatly improved my work habits and grades this year, how many credits are possible from these THREE AP classes?
-My guess is ~3 so let's say that I am awarded 9 college credits and take 18 credits my first semester at a community college, will UMASS or any other college for that matter take into account ALL of the previously mentioned hopeful credits?
-Lastly, only presenting the almost minimal number of credits, what will it take for me to improve my chances of becoming a successful transfer student? I know I have to keep my GPA up in the high 3 range but what else will help my chances?</p>

<p>Sorry for the dreadfully long post, but I really would appreciate some help!</p>

<p>-Dan</p>

2

<p>I don't think you'll have residency after only one semester, if that's what you're asking about. You probably need to live there at least one year to have residency.</p>

<p>You should check U Mass's website to see about how they award AP credit. It's somewhat different at every school. High scores on AP tests at some schools will sometimes give you two or even three classes, or they might not take certain AP tests (I doubt too many special circumstances though, given that it's a state school), so you'll have to find out their individual policy. It shouldn't be too hard to find. Also check the website to see if they allow transfer of AP credits and if they count them in the amount of credits obtained for when you transfer. If you can't find it on the internet, call/e-mail them. They'll know better than people on this board.</p>

<p>If they say they'll disregard high school and don't ask for any scores or transcripts from then, I say you're good to go after one year. Just make sure you don't have to achieve residency completely before you apply.</p>

<p>About improving your chances, U Mass seems like the kind of school that admits by the numbers, though I might be wrong (others will undoubtedly correct me if I am :)), so it would seem to me like they'd be strictly dependent on GPA. If they say they look at other stuff or I'm wrong about the aforementioned, you should try to get involved in some interesting extracurricular activities both on and off campus.</p>

<p>An alternative: California really has some excellent schools, so you may want to consider going to CC there and transferring into a UC, even if it takes longer. They will definitely disregard high school after two years of CC. But if you really don't want to, it shouldn't be too exceptionally hard to get into U Mass IF you can keep up a high CC GPA.</p>