Bad Position? UC>CC>UC?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am in a bad hitch right now. Before I visit the universities that I have on my prospective list to have my transcripts and whatnot reviewed, I don't have much to go on. My university academic advisers were no help. No one has been, really. I decided to finally post here to get some insight.</p>

<p>I would now be going into my third year at UCSB as a Pre-Chemistry who failed to get into Chemical Engineering reasons being that it would be nearly impossible to catch up at this point. I blew off taking biology because I didn't need it for ChE but now I'm kind of screwed without it. I would hate to graduate with a degree in Chemistry. As it turns out I'm behind in general, not necessarily on credits but major pre-prerequisites. I wouldn't be able start my upper divisions this upcoming Fall in Chemistry or any biology related major that I had hopes of switching into. I tried to search for guidance. The departmental advisers didn't give me options other chalking up a random degree that would get me to graduate on time with less work. Because of my background, I can't afford to take ANY degree.</p>

<p>Besides having a tumultuous record with my math and science courses which is the main reason for me being behind, I started to have issues with being at the university. It wasn't the party culture. It felt like we were living in 'paradise' within a bubble that certain people, who could afford to be oblivious to the realities of the world, benefited from. I don't like to lie to myself. I'll leave it at that. I'm not trying to knock the school or other students. I've personally faced a lot of hardship while attending the university. I tried to be optimistic and go with the "college is what you make it" thing. It kind of doesn't work if you make the efforts and are constantly shut down. As minority in really short supply at the university, I was isolated and gradually became more jaded and apathetic. I do have myself to blame and obviously my academics have suffered. I know that I could and should be doing better.
I did take steps to fix the problems that I had by attending counseling and reaching out to an academic group that provided support and got me a tutor. </p>

<p>I probably should have left the year before, or a lot earlier, but I had no idea that withdrawing was an option. I thought that I should be grateful and honestly. it was a lot better than home in some ways. It had not crossed my mind. I finally withdrew from UCSB after my 2nd year being there. I had to or else I feared that my condition would deteriorate and I would flunk out for real. It would do more danger than good staying.</p>

<p>Currently I'm trying to 'save face'. I've accepted that I don't have what it takes to do Chemical Engineering or any sort of Engineering like Bio-engineering. I would be fine with doing Biochemistry and attempting to apply to Medical School in hopes to become a Psychiatrist. I wanted to come home and finish lower division at a local community college and then possibly transfer somewhere else. I'm aware of the unit cap. I don't have much room to move but with the remaining classes that I need to take, I'm kind of close to being a UC high-unit transfer but not quite. I would still be able to apply to Biochemistry.
My current GPA is a tiny bit above a 3.0 but as I've seen, that's not enough for me to get my foot into the door and be competitive. This is especially true if I have to apply this Fall with it. It would a dream to apply to UCLA, UCB, or UCD and the big wigs but I have to keep my options REALLY open and be realistic. I applied last year on the whim as a UC>UC and that was a guaranteed denial. I am foreseeing that this might take longer than I estimated because I would be missing a required class by next Spring. </p>

<p>Any feedback would be appreciated. This is a lot to read. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Let me put my best Dr. Phil Hat… </p>

<p>my main advice is to try to go back to Santa Barbara and finish you degree there. Going back to Community College is going to prevent you from graduating on time… even if it takes you a total of 5/6 years to graduate you will be in good shape…</p>

<p>If you really want to give transferring one more try then give your local community college a shot. You should be focusing on finishing your major pre-reqs… however keep in mind that with your GPA transferring is very unlikely.</p>

3

<p>The problem with CC is they are usually impacted in the higher level maths and sciences. CC students get around this by loading up on GEs which boosts the unit count, which further advanced the priority registration date. Without that benefit you–since you already have so many units–you’ll really struggle to get into the courses you need. Then even if you do take them, realistically you are looking into transferring into your local CSU. </p>

<p>I second dagoberto. </p>

4

<p>Thank you.</p>

<p>This is pretty grim. I won’t have all my classes done to apply for transfer this Fall but being real with myself and my failure to perform miracles, I don’t see my projected GPA to be that much better for next year’s application cycle. CSUs are fine but if that’s all that I have a shot at, I don’t know.
I always thought that if all else fails I’ll just suck it up and go back to UCSB but is this really worth it? I do see myself graduating within 5/6 years either way but of course nothing is certain.</p>

<p>I’ll be scheduling an appointment with the CC counselors asap. If they say that I’m being a complete idiot, I’ll quit on this and try applying for readmission yo UCSB. I have no idea how I’ll get the classes, like bio, that follow a stricter schedule and get filled up quickly. I’ve missed the most crucial pass times for everything.</p>

5

<p>@thrashed‌ I dont think graduating in 5/6 years is soo bad at all… many commnunity college students (including myself) took way more than 2 years to transfer to a UC… </p>

<p>I think that many people on this forum would agree that being a Chem major as UCSB is something to be proud off, If i had to guess (putting my Dr. Phil Hat) is that not getting into the UCSB’s college of engineering is affecting your self-worth/ego. We all go through that process… I had classmates at UCLA who are still upset about not getting into MIT… see if chemistry is something that you really love, if not you can always switch…</p>

6

<p>Lets see… with a gpa of 3.1, your chances at med school is very low. You would need a very high mcat and even then its a long shot. </p>

<p>As for CC, don’t do it, with your unit cap looming so close. Your registration date is not going to be so good, and you’re going to waste time taking GE and other useless classes trying to speed up the registration date. From experience, it took me a full year plus a winter and summer semester to get the units required to take General Chemistry. </p>

<p>From what it sounds like, you already have your chem requirements; however, having 0 units, you’ll be behind everyone that has not exceeded their 100 cc unit cap. Keep in mind, Premed is an over saturated market in CC’s and Molecular Biology tends to filled rather quickly, especially by priority reg kids. Assuming you do get in, the class will have an undesirable lab and/or lecture time, or undesirable teacher. With your lower GPA, you would want to maximize your gpa at a cc, with the undesirable times, it will lead to my next point.</p>

<p>Class conflicts. It’s not uncommon for different courses to be at the same time, like it is at university; however, since there are less available courses, at a cc, you will likely have to choose which class to take. Personally, I had to take physics later because it conflicted with my other major reqs.</p>

<p>With your math and science record, I’m assuming you haven’t finished your calc or physics requirements. Since you want to do biochem I think you can take the 1 year general physics option; however, scheduling is a potential challenge. At my CC, life sciences and physical sciences always had conflicting schedules, that is, bio and chem lectures and labs always conflicted with calc and physics lectures and labs. It was so much a problem, I had to go to two other CCs in order finish. And in my old CC, my story is not unique. It is common, and I suspect with budget cuts, its typical in for many CC students. </p>

<p>As for the UCB, UCD, or UCLA, its unlikely. A more realistic goal, would be a more forgiving UC such UCM, UCR and UCSC. The good news for you is, UCR and UCSC have very good biochem programs, so you wouldn’t be losing anything compared to the other schools you mentioned. Given your feelings on ucsb, ucr may be a good fit since it has lots of kids from different racial and socio-economic backgrounds. </p>

<p>In light of this, I feel the better alternative is completing UCSB, although its not the ideal situation, you can graduate, which isn’t a guarantee to the other alternatives. </p>

<p>As for graduating on time… Stem majors average beteween 4-6 years to graduate. </p>

<p>Good luck </p>

7

<p>I agree. It’s an ‘either-or’ type of situation. </p>

<p>There is no way that I’ll be able to transfer out of UCSB if I stay unless if I look at USC or private colleges. I could stay at UCSB and try transferring since CC status would not matter as much with them but I would not be able to pull off stellar grades in that environment, while there, to get the admittance. It’ll be the same case for the other UCs and a huge negative with me already being in the system. They would pretty much be out of the question also.</p>

<p>OR: I could just stay at UCSB and try finishing up 3 more years to finally graduate.
The issue is that it wasn’t doing me much good staying there and I had officially reached my ‘breaking point’ last quarter. The shooting definitely tipped the scale in my decision to withdraw.
I wouldn’t say it was ‘eye-awakening’ but I did realize that I’m not addressing what I really should be addressing and it needs to start happening now. I need to heal as a person, inside AND out, or this tumultuous pattern will persist and ruin my life or any bit of future that I had left for me. This is why I’d rather go home.</p>

<p>If I do CC:
I’m looking at two years before I can transfer.
To be honest I’m pretty clueless about the CSU system but I’m shooting for UCM, UCR, and UCSC(#1) as suggested. The UC>CC>UC worries me mainly about the unit cap and getting put over as a high unit transfer since my CC credits will add onto the UC ones that I already have from UCSB {like 90). I heard that they really don’t like that.</p>

<p>From what I’ve read, USC wouldn’t mind the amount of units I have but only a certain amount of them will transfer over. I’ll also need two or three extra GE classes because some of the GE’s that I’ve taken at UCSB aren’t on their approved list.
USC would another unrealistic choice and it would be a lot more expensive but it makes this a lot more bearable as the whole UC/CSU thing makes me feel hopeless.</p>

8

<p>I forgot to add: I could take a year off and then try going back to UCSB but I don’t think that it’ll do any good for what’s currently hanging in the balance.</p>

9

<p>At this point, it’s up to you. As you can see, no plan is perfect, each one has large disadvantages. You should think about it and make a pro-con list. How much is your personal experience worth? Is it worth the additional thousands you’ll pay? Is it worth the additional time you’ll spend? </p>

<p>Keep in mind, I don’t know what your situation is and how it is affecting you. I mean I understand how to it is to be an outsider (I’ve been a social outcast ever since I moved out my homeland) but I’ve grown used to the solitude. It’s obvious we are different, so your answer may not be the same as mine. </p>

<p>But at the end of the day, you’ll have to do what’s best for you. If you really can’t handle UCSB’s culture, then it would be a waste to stay there, since you won’t complete the program. This isn’t to lead you any direction; however, think long and hard to think what you should do. </p>