Hey guys. I’m 16, in my 2nd semester of Community College (BioChemistry major) and am hoping to transfer to UC Berkeley or UCLA by Fall 2018. My GPA is currently around 3.75, and I know it isn’t high enough for Cal or UCLA, so I want to extend my stay in Community College by at least another semester in order for me to spread my classes out a little bit so I could focus on raising my GPA. My mom however, is trying to force me to take around 20 units per semester of information packed subjects (Advanced Biology, Physics, O-Chem and Calculus II.) My mom’s logic behind this is that she believes that the chances of me getting into Berkeley are so miniscule that there’s no point of me wasting a year trying to raise my GPA (she wants me to go to Davis instead). Going to Berkeley has literally been my dream since I was around 13, and I don’t want to give that dream up without a fight. What do you guys think I should do to convince my mom to allow me to transfer later? And if you guys have any tips on what to do to maximize my chances of getting into Berkeley (or UCLA), I would love to hear them. Thanks in advance for any feedback!
Is there a transfer curriculum that you have to take that includes writing, social sciences, history, etc?
How is the academic advising there? Can the transfer advisor explain to your mom what a better plan would be?
I think that UC Davis is a very good university. You can do very well with a degree from UC Davis. I think that you would find that UC Davis is academically as challenging as anything that you would want to take on.
A GPA of 3.75 in a community college does not convince me that you should want to go to Cal or UCLA. The top universities, including Cal and UCLA, are VERY academically tough.
I would say, do undergrad at UC Davis (if you get in). If you want to go on to graduate school or medical school, then try to do well enough at UC Davis that you can go to graduate school or medical school at Berkeley or UCLA. I think that the place to “fight” is for the grades to make this possible in the future.
Regardless of which school you transfer to, that’s a very tough schedule for a 16 year old. I’m not familiar with how academic advising and transfer plans work, but you need to talk to the right people and get that straightened out,
Snowball City: UC Berkeley and UCLA require you to complete the IGETC, which is kind of a general studies certification. It involves social sciences (Geography, History etc.), the Arts, English and Math etc.
My problem is that my mom wants me to go to UC Davis, which you don’t need to complete the IGETC to get into (you’re allowed to finish it once you are enrolled there.)
Completing the IGETC in my community college would mean that I would have to take 3 more classes than we were originally expecting, therefore adding at least a semester to my CC stay (which my mom is totally opposed to.)
Also, the counselling here isn’t great. The main counselor is from UC Davis, with UCLA and UC Berkeley advisors only coming in around once every couple of semesters.
DadTwoGirls: I have no doubt that UC Davis is a great university. In fact, it’s my 3rd choice after UCLA and UC Berkeley. My only problem is that I’m hoping to get around a 3.80-3.85 GPA by the time I finish Community College, which I do not really want to have spent so much time on to attend Davis (which only requires a 3.2 for GUARANTEED admission.)
I also want to transfer to Caltech for my Master’s, which I read is only possible for high-achievers at top-tier universities.
Lastly, I’m doing as many extra-curriculars as I can. I’ve completed a 160-hour internship with an electrical maintenance company, am hopefully going to do an internship in a lab, and am going to host several group-study Chemistry sessions (which counts as leadership building.) I’ve also got a great admissions essay to write about (For example, I had brain surgery and overcame a tumor in the 9th grade, which caused me to miss 6 months of school. I somehow still managed to get mostly B’s and A’s in my classes.)
“I also want to transfer to Caltech for my Master’s, which I read is only possible for high-achievers at top-tier universities.”
“High-achievers” is correct. When I did my Master’s at Stanford, the other students there has done their undergrad at a very wide range of other universities, some of which I am pretty sure were lower ranked than UC Davis.
I am sympathetic with your desire to spread things out a bit. There is a limit to how much a 16 year old (or a 20 year old) should be trying to do all at the same time. I am wondering how you got to community college at such a young age.
"My mom however, is trying to force me to take around 20 units per semester of information packed subjects (Advanced Biology, Physics, O-Chem and Calculus II.) "
Thinking about this a bit more: You are 16. This is probably too much even for a genius. You might want to tell your mom that you just can’t do it.
@DadTwoGirls, Community college doesn’t necessarily mean lower quality. My siblings and I worked our way through college so we were able to attend different types of colleges (community colleges as well as some pretty well known privates). I, personally, have attended 5 different universities. Some of my siblings have attended more. We’ve found that the academics of cc’s can vary as much as those of 4-year schools. I don’t know the CA schools so I can’t speak to the quality of their cc’s, but I think OP’s GPA is a good one, especially considering their age. You’re spot on about everything else, though, as usual.
You’re in college and you’re taking the classes. Don’t let your parents tell you what to take.
^ And tell your mom that the 20 credits idea is not what advisors recommend.
This isn’t about Berkley, it’s about whether a student should take 20 hours? No. I don’t know your school so you have to say what normal is - 15-17? But I can’t see any system with 20 not being taxing, particularly with those classes.
If a builder rushes a foundation and gets it done in a day, it might save time in construction of the house but it is not in the best interest of the house, homeowner, or builder long term to not spend proper time laying the foundation.
DadTwoGirls: I’m currently taking 18 units. I’m taking mostly General subjects (Philosophy, English Writing, Economics) along with some subjects for my major (General Chemistry and Calculus I.)
I’ve gotten a 3.8 GPA this semester, which my Mom thinks is really good (I know it should be better.) Her logic is that if I can get good grades in 18 units, two more wouldn’t make any difference. (She also saw that I slacked off a lot this semester. She thinks that if I improve my study habits I’ll be able to ace my subjects.)
I know this is flawed, because subjects like Biology and Physics are a lot more time consuming (not necessarily more difficult) than subjects like Philosophy and Economics. So much so that even the 2-unit difference (The advanced sciences are 5, whereas general is 3.) If I’m getting a 3.8 with these subjects (admittedly without much effort), I don’t particularly want to imagine what I would get with actually difficult ones.
Sportsman888: That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell my mom. The problem is, that to get GUARANTEED admission to UC Davis, you only need a 3.2. Her logic is, that even if I get a 3.85 GPA (which I know I can do), I still probably wouldn’t get into UCLA or Berkeley. She’d rather I save a year and attend Davis than let me risk it and try to attend Cal.
Another point is that if you’re applying to a competitive major, merely doing the minimum recommended for Davis won’t get you there. In short, if you’re applying to anything impacted or selective, you must have your IGETC completed in addition to your major courses.
Are you by any chance premed?
Because taking it slow is actually good for your future - med schools are very reticent with applicants under the age of 21. A 'young’s applicant is expected to beef up their research experience and take more advanced classes, especially if their university will let them take a few graduate science classes.
Applying to med school at age 18 or 19 would almost guarantee a rejection due to your age, Dougie Howser notwithstanding.
I think your mom is not accounting for the amount of time labs and their write ups take.
What do you do for fun and for downtime?
Don’t have a dream college have a dream life.
Do you like your current life? It sounds brutal and monolithic. Even your description of ECs (“counts as leadership”) don’t indicate anything other than pursuit of raw achievement. What brings you satisfaction.
Right now you are driving too fast in the left lane and are bound for a collision. More accurately, your mother is driving too fast in the left lane and you are a hood ornament!
You need to slow down and live a little. What do you do to feed the human emotional side. Medicine is not about science, it’s about people. Have you been in love? Do you read for fun? Are you curious? Are you happy?
I sympathize with you. At some point, you’re going to have to answer the question what really makes you happy. Achievement can only take you so far.
"My mom however, is trying to force me to take around 20 units per semester of information packed subjects (Advanced Biology, Physics, O-Chem and Calculus II.) "
Organic Chemistry is a very tough course. In pre-med programs, it is a classic “weeder out” class. There is another post on CC right now about a pre-med student who was doing very well until they ran into the buzz saw called Organic Chemistry. My daughter said at one point that it is the hardest course that she has ever taken in her life. Think of it as two courses because it is that hard (I was a math major and managed to avoid it, but everyone I have talked to has been consistent on this one).
For computer science or just about any form of engineering, Calculus is critically important and is the foundation of a very large percentage of what a student is going to do for the rest of their university experience. If you want to go into the"TEM" part of STEM, you need to learn this very, very well and should aim for an A+.
Advanced biology is also a tough course.
I think that each of these three courses have a difficulty and/or importance that exceeds the number of credits that they are listed at.
You are 16. Life is not a race and we should not be rushing to try to get to the end of it. I am not convinced that “I want to go to Berkeley” is the reason to avoid taking all of these at once. I think that “this is just too much” is the reason.
Why does your mom want you to transfer as soon as possible? Community colleges have lower tuition. Living in a dorm can be tougher on younger students.
I am wondering about the comment about “slacking off.” Does she want you to be overworked and miserable as a punishment?
You need a neurtral third party to discuss this with, such as an academic advisor or teacher or maybe a family member who has been to college recently (an older cousin or something?). In addition to the transfer advisors from the four year schools, doesn’t your community college offer regular academic advising?
3.75 is within the transfer admit 25th-75th percentile range from UCB MCB and UCLA biochemistry, although admit rates are quite low overall.
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major
For course planning, have you used http://www.assist.org ?