<p>I am thinking about transferring from NYU to a community college in order to increase my chances of successfully transferring to UCLA fall 2009. I would like to go to community college in the LA area because of internship opportunities and the like. Which community college in LA (that does TAP) is the most pleasant to be at (neighborhood, other students, etc.)? Where have you have a positive experience?</p>
<p>I live in the Los Angeles area, and can give you the "quick and dirty" list of the schools closest to UCLA, but haven't attended any: Santa Monica City College - nice location and the closest to UCLA; Pierce College (Woodland Hills) and Valley College (Van Nuys area) - both are in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley, are relatively "safe" in terms of environs, and very very very warm during the summer months. Because of the Los Angeles traffic, I'd suggest finding a school closest to your internship opportunities. As far as the TAP program, my recollection is all the colleges participate, but the information is certainly on their websites. Best of luck.</p>
<p>SMC has the highest UCLA xfer rate, followed by El Camino College (which I attend and got into UCLA from) in Torrance (south of Santa Monica by 30min). Both are excellent schools, I prefer El Camino though.</p>
<p>PCC (pasadena city college) is not too far and has the second highest admits to UCLA. its also got a good scholars program to help you as well</p>
<p>SMC has the highest number of transfers, as they have the most applicants to UCLA. but percentage wise, there is only a 1/10th to 1/100th of difference in percentage from Pierce and SMC.</p>
<p>SMC has messed up parking and AWFUL traffic that makes attending it a chore.</p>
<p>i live pretty much the same distance from SMC and Pierce. I chose to attend pierce due to parking and convenience.</p>
<p>PCC, pasadena, is a really good choice, though.</p>
<p>But I imagine you mean Los Angeles/LA, not the Valley. As you want to be able to go to downtown and be in the heart of the city, not cursing traffic for 25 minutes to an hour.</p>
<p>If that's the case, then I suggest LACC (Los Angeles City College). It's IN los angeles, probably the next best choice as far as location goes, versus SMC.</p>
<p>If you think "I can handle bad parking," then you just haven't seen SMC. They have no cap on parking passes, anyone can buy one. Yet the fail to mention that they have a very limited number of spaces.</p>
<p>Any other reason to choose LACC over SMC than parking? I'm kind of deciding between the two for when I enroll full-time and parking really isn't an issue seeing as how I'll be commuting. Just for the record, SMC is 8 miles from my house and LACC is 4 miles. The thing that's holding me back from just enrolling at LACC is that I always hear of the great Scholars Program and professors at SMC.</p>
<p>try them all out and see which one you like best.</p>
<p>I did that in San diego, i went to 5 different community colleges in 3 districts.</p>
<p>
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I live in the Los Angeles area, and can give you the "quick and dirty"
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<p>Sounds hot. Where do you wanna meet up?</p>
<p>okay thanks a lot for the input. I think it would be between SMC and LACC if I decided to make the switch. location is definitely key for me, I want something right in the heart of LA and I HATE driving/parking. one reason I will be sad to leave new york...</p>
<p>You HATE driving/parking because of new york. I miss my freaking car so bad since i moved here(New York) but i would never consider driving here..... my hubby takes me out to long island to the burbs so i can drive around and go to malls and feel like home. </p>
<p>Gosh LA is going to be such a big change for you, have u been there b4? </p>
<p>LA is like a fake city compared to new york.</p>
<p>yeah I've been there...I went to high school in california. you're right, LA is very different from new york, and not in a good way. I really don't like the way I feel when I'm there, like I'm constantly being judged. and there's this bizarre obsession with celebrity culture...gahh.</p>
<p>But I figure it's worth it if I save $50-100,000. Maybe. Oh well.</p>
<p>glendale community college - excellent bio/chem department - majority got into UCLA n UCB</p>
<p>nyu-what a ****ing joke.
that sick sick tuition and them not even cracking the top 20 for US News Best Colleges.
what a value!</p>
<p>go to pCC =) i go to pcc and i got accepted by UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCI and USC</p>
<p>@itchy: I know. I am a stupid, stupid girl for choosing a mediocre school I cannot afford. dumb me.</p>
<p>thanks for the tips everyone. I'm definitely taking it all in. la here I come?</p>
<p>If it's between LACC and SMC then I'd go to SMC. I don't think LACC has any advantage over SMC other than parking. SMC has a nice campus, great professors (personally I've had PhD's from Yale, Stanford and MIT), a good TAP/honors program and good transfer rates.</p>
<p>PCC would be the only CC in the LA area that I might choose over SMC.</p>
<p>I agree with Thomas -- LACC is in a sort of sketchy area, as well.</p>
<p>{Incidentally, I hope you NYers are enjoying that 107 degree, 90% humidity weather. So very real!}</p>
<p>I go to Moorpark Community college and live in the San Fernando Valley. Its an extremely easy drive and in a really pretty, safe area.</p>
<p>I don't know about the admit rate coming from College of the Canyons in Valencia, but I attend this community college over the summer while I am enrolled in a private 4 year highly ranked college. I love the school, I love the professors, and the campus is gorgeous. They help you set up internships, jobs, etc, and it really is very friendly, easy to medium parking (you will always be able to find a spot, it just might be a little bit of a walk), good athletic teams and all that. It's about 30-45 minutes away from LA with regular traffic. Offers any class you can think of. I have earned 44 units (possibly 50 by the end of summer) at this college and I plan on continuing each summer in the future and even after I graduate. Good luck!</p>