“… if taken there it will meet UC Berkeley’s American Cultures requirement.”
You’ve done your homework. SPCH 122 is an option at Contra Costa College, but I presume your son would rather take the History class. Is he a History major?
“My understanding is that if a student attends multiple community colleges, he or she would declare one of the colleges (as long as at least 12 credits are obtained there) as the college of record to certify the IGETC, etc.?”
IGETC is certified by one college, however you can use coursework from other CCs to certify IGETC as well. It’s best to talk about this with one’s counselor.
“… Berkeley City College students have at least some degree of preference in UC Berkeley admissions. I have not heard this anywhere else, except perhaps in hearing that Bay Area community college students in general might have some slight preference over other community colleges.”
I have heard this as well, but I can’t find any definitive source that would confirm this. BCC is a good CC, and sends many transfers to Cal - but this may just be because many BCC students are determined to transfer to Cal, and not because Cal has a preference for BCC students. At any rate, it is best to assume that even if there is a preference for BCC students, it is negligible, and that alone should not be a deciding factor.
“We have also thought that Contra Costa College might have some advantage due to its location, as I have read that the community college’s zip code can be taken into consideration. I have heard that UC Berkeley tries to balance out admissions from among community colleges, and since Contra Costa has a relatively low number of students accepted into UC Berkeley, having a 4.0 from there (which, so far, my son does) might offer some slight advantage over having a 4.0 from a college where more students are accepted into UC Berkeley.”
No, this is incorrect. I talked to a UC Berkeley admissions officer about this at length. There is no quota for students from certain areas or CCs. The most important factors for admission will be your son’s GPA, major prerequisite completion, and IGETC or GE completion. If he wants to go to BCC, then that’s great - but it won’t give him a real advantage in the admissions process. Competitive students come from many different CCs - so the CC your son chooses to attend ultimately does not matter.
“To answer your question, we live just about halfway in between the two schools (a little closer to BCC in miles, but a little closer to CCC in minutes due to getting through downtown Berkeley traffic to BCC as opposed to taking the freeway most of the way to CCC), although I suppose BCC would have a slight advantage in that my son could take the BART there.”
Parking in Berkeley is terrible. Absolutely terrible. If he chooses to attend BCC, BART is the best option. There is only residential parking near BCC, with 2 hour time limits - so, either he would have to move his car constantly (it’s a fairly long walk to the residential areas, too), or he would accumulate parking tickets. Oddly enough, getting occasional tickets is cheaper than parking in buildings ($2.50 or so per hour). I highly recommend BART - parking is $3 for the entire day, and the Downtown Berkeley station is less than a block from BCC. It’s extremely convenient - not as convenient as living near campus, but convenient nonetheless.
“He actually started a few classes at BCC a few years ago but ending up withdrawing from them due to some (now mostly resolved) trauma-related anxiety at the time. Because he has multiple W’s on his transcript from BCC, he decided to start over at CCC, but now that we realize he will have to report the W’s anyway on his transfer application, BCC is back to being an option.”
If the anxiety is somehow linked to his attending BCC, it’s probably best to avoid attending there. I’m guessing it’s not, but it’s worth mentioning.
As you know, the 3 W’s will have to be reported - but so long as they are explained in his application, and he didn’t make a habit of withdrawing from classes, they won’t negatively affect his application, really. Cal and the other UC’s recognize that a grade of ‘W’ can mean any number of things - so they seem to ignore them when they are isolated, generally.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what is it about BCC that you [do] like? And, are you planning to transfer? Thanks!”
BCC is the best CC in the Peralta system. I have attended Laney College and Merritt College, and BCC is entirely superior to both in overall quality of education (not to knock the other schools - Merritt has a strong AFRAM program, and Laney/COA have their merits).
BCC’s campus is rather nice - the classrooms are well-lit, etc. - it’s just a decently nice place to be. It’s also very close to UC Berkeley’s campus, which is great. I’ve made use of Cal’s libraries throughout my time at BCC (they’re beautiful, have great wifi, and are just overall excellent), as the BCC library isn’t the best. CC students can obtain a UCB library card for $25 (must be renewed every 6 months). Many of the libraries don’t check ID, so anyone really can go in some of them - but the library card allows one access to Cal’s books, and other documents. I recently researched certain things for my Contemporary Middle Eastern History class final paper (the class is at BCC, and it’s excellent). Needless to say, having access to the libraries at UCB is extremely beneficial.
The humanities/social science classes at BCC are generally very good. The English department is fantastic, the History department is strong - the Philosophy department is decent, but few CCs have good offerings in Philosophy. The classes I have taken have primarily been good, though.
Additionally, many of the students at BCC are extremely focused on transferring to Cal. As I’m sure you can imagine, this is a positive environment to be surrounded by. This is not to say that all BCC students are brilliant, but a sizable chunk of them are rather assiduous.
FWIW, I’m a Philosophy major, I have attended BCC, CCSF (overall better than BCC, but the commute is terrible - I’d rather be in Berkeley), Laney, Merritt, and Foothill College (online). Additionally, I took a requirement for my major at Cal last summer, and got an A, doing better than many Cal students. BCC prepared me fairly well for that sort of rigor, but Cal is definitely much more rigorous than BCC, generally. I also have a 4.0, hope to transfer to Cal in the Fall, and plan to go on to law school or graduate school after that. Let me know if you have any other questions regarding BCC, my experience, or the transfer process in general.