All A's with a few B's and 2 W's (Retook and got B's)
12 unit semesters
Horrible grades in high school
No job experience
No extracurricular
Early 20s
Math level: Algebra 2
Since starting my education at my community college I’ve changed my major about 3 times. At the moment I want to major in Business (Finance) and I’m positive this is what I want to do. My grades aren’t bad but I believe that the amount of units I have been taking is low compared to others competitive applicants. I haven’t been doing much with my life. I have never had a job and I don’t volunteer anywhere or participate in any clubs or organizations. Is it too late for me to transfer to a respectable university? My math level is pretty low as well and most universities require high levels of calculus to be considered for enrollment. I don’t want to spend a lot of time finishing these math courses and end up not getting accepted. At the moment I can finish up my general education and prerequisites for a small local state university which is know for grade inflation and generally not being great. My hopes are to get a decent undergraduate business education, work a few years, apply for a prestigious mba and eventually move up to a high paying finance job in NYC, Chicago, L.A., San Francisco, etc… I know this sounds dumb considering my stats but it is what it is. Is it too late for me? Should I just be realistic and drop out of college? Please help me out. Thank you.
It is certainly NOT too late for you. Your grades are quite good and whatever deficits you perceive in your academic record aren’t enough to seriously bar you from transferring to a good school.
I’d recommend creating some sort of plan of action with your school’s advising department/program so you have a good sense of what schools you want to transfer to, what their requirements are, and what classes you have left to fulfill such requirements.
Also, I recommend trying to procure some internship/volunteer/work experience - aside from the value it adds to your own career and academic aspirations, its also just a good way to spend free time and make some extra cash. Send out your resume to some places and see if you get any bites.
No, not unless you don’t want to be there anymore! I see no reason for you to drop out.
Get plugged in with your community college’s career center. Get an internship or some sort of job so that you can get a feel for a work atmosphere. Try a couple of different experiences if possible.
Regarding math - consider hiring a tutor if your CC’s free tutoring service isn’t enough. A good tutor is well worth it. You might be better at math than you think.
You have plenty of time and you’re not behind. Keep on keeping on!
@stapleton97 - OP is in their early twenties - not having ample work experience doesn’t mean their life is over. With enough determination and gumption, one can land decent internships in their field of interest. A lot of the “work experience” young people have is quite irrelevant in the long run anyways.
Thank you for the replies. I hope this doesn’t come off as an excuse because I definitely seen people in my situation do much better, but money is a huge factor. I can’t hire a tutor and my transportation is based solely on my parents. My entire life my family has lived under the poverty level and nobody in my family has finished college or even attended anything above the community college level. I don’t feel as I’m exactly struggling with math, I mostly learn by myself (the teachers here aren’t the greatest). The problem is that it’ll take me at least 5 semesters to get up the math level which is a prerequisite for most respectable business schools; I’ll need trig, pre-cal, cal 1, cal 2, cal 3, etc… Would it be worth the time to take these math courses and apply to better ranked schools or should I transfer to my local CSU and get a business degree from there? It’ll take me 3 semesters to transfer if I go to the CSU or around 8 if I want to apply to the better business schools and there isn’t a guarantee that I’ll be accepted. I’m just feeling a bit pressured by time… most students finish their bachelors by 22. I hope I’ll be able to finish it by at least 25.
Are you sure about the math progression past Calc 1 as far as entering business school (are you talking about undergraduate)? My high school son is dual enrolled and will take Calc 1 in the spring (high school senior year); otherwise he would start there his freshman year in college. My niece is engineering at Virginia Tech (tough major) and she started at Calc 1. Many of her classmates had taken both AP Calcs in high school but decided to do Calc 1 anyway. They progress on through the semesters.
I’m guessing you are in California. I’m hoping a knowledgeable California person will chime in.
I liked your idea of getting your bachelor’s and then aiming for a strong graduate program.
If it were me I’d move to the bachelor’s program ASAP, even if it’s not the ideal school (as long as it’s a decent accredited school).
Hang in there - hoping you find some clarity on this!
I wasn’t a good student in high school at all. My priorities weren’t where they needed to be and I never went up high in math; that’s the reason why I started at algebra in college. I am from California and the CSU’s here only require statistics and business math to transfer. I should be done with all prereqs in 3 semesters and be able to transfer. I’m just worried that a business degree from a small irrelevant California state school would be detrimental to my career. I’m planning to take 15-18 units next semester and continue with the same amount of coursework for the 2 semesters after as well. Really what I wanted to know was if finishing a business degree from a CSU was even worth it. It doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to get into a better undergraduate. It’ll take a lot longer and I’m pretty sure my lack of extracurricular and job experience is a deal breaker. By the way, business schools usually requires Calculus I for their math prerequisite. However, I need to take Calculus I, II, and III in my school to be able to satisfy the requirement for Calculus I. I’m guessing that Calculus I is just broken up into three different courses in my school or something along those lines. Thank you for the help.
It’s never too late, no matter when you get an education during your lifetime. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t finished a bachelor’s degree by 22. Neither will a lot of your high school peers (otherwise why would schools report 6 year graduation rates?). Sounds like you are doing extremely well given your high school background and other obstacles you’ve deal with.
My dad came from a very poor family with 9 siblings and he did his bachelor’s degree one course at a time when he could afford it, it took him my entire childhood to earn that degree the year before I graduated from high school. He was able to get a promotion at that point and then his company paid for him to get an MBA. He was about 38. You are never too old to work on an education. People like you have been working hard and doing it for decades.
Would you be able to commute to the CSU?
Orfalea (Cal Poly SLO) and SDSU are excellent CSUs for business.
What about trying to transfer to a UC?
What’s your budget? Would you be able to move?
Right now, if I understand correctly, you have 12 quarter units, or 4 courses completed with either A’s or B’s. Is that correct?
Have you looked into employment at your community college? They might have jobs on campus for you. If you have never worked before, then jobs at the library, gym or food service would be a good start. Many students graduate from CSUs in business and get decent jobs.
You are overestimating the amount I math you need. The very top schools, which probably is not what you are targeting anyway, only require Calc 1. I think a fair number of business schools don’t even require that. I attended a top business school that did require Calc 1, and did not use that knowledge even once the whole time in B-school. I just looked at Redlands, for example. They require statistics, but no Calc from what I can tell as a pre-requisite or a degree requirement.
I agree that getting some kind of part time campus job would be a very good idea. Sounds like you need the money, and any paid work experience would be good.
Most business programs only want 1 semester or 2 quarters of calc. Since you have algebra 2, all you need is precalculus, then calculus. Total, 2 semesters or 3 quarters. No big deal.
Regardless of whether this is true or not, you do realize that you can change this, right? Get involved, get a job, whatever you want. Complaining about it won’t change anything. Is there a reason why you can’t get extracurricular experience and/or a job? This might be especially worthwhile, if you find that you need to spend more time at community college only completing a couple of requirements. For example, if you’ve finished everything else but learn that you need to or want to complete more math classes, you could go to community college part-time and work part-time. Not only will that give you the experience you want, but it will also help you be in a better place financially after you transfer.
College is not a race. Many students get there at different times in their life and finish at different paces. What matters is that you want to go to a 4-year university. If that is what you want to do, then you certainly have no reason to stop.
As for whether or not a business degree at a CSU is worth it, that depends on a lot of different things, such as which CSU and what you actually want to do with that degree. Have you tried talking to your advisor for suggestions on what schools would be good to transfer to or how you can be come a competitive applicant for schools you want to get into? Does your school have a career center where you could ask these questions? Have you tried looking at the CSU’s you would apply to and see what types of jobs graduates have gone onto? Have you tried speaking to professionals in the field you want to enter about how important the name of your college is to your career aspirations? You may be surprised how many professionals are willing to answer a couple of questions via email or answer a few questions over a cup of coffee. Even mining another business student’s brain (someone who is further along in the process than you are, perhaps even a student getting their MBA) might help you answer some of your questions or find out how to do so yourself.