<p>First off, I am not the user UC4me, however, I did get the idea of my username here from him after roaming these forums for a while. Hope you don't mind. ;)</p>
<p>I am currently a junior in high school and while my UC GPA isn't too bad (around 3.64), I've come to the unfortunate reality that I do not have a very good shot at UCLA (my all-time dream school) as I do not have any great extracurriculars or SAT scores (around 1750~1800 on avg). It seems like after all these years of dreaming to go to UCLA, that I'd be disappointing myself if I am not accepted and go somewhere else. Anyway, I've thought long and hard about this after finding these forums and doing a lot of research that this is what I want to do and I'm truly 100% dedicated to doing whatever in my power to do my absolute best at CC and transfer to UCLA after two years without any doubts.</p>
<p>Seeing as most people here have already spent their two years at a CCC and sent in their apps, what would you say is the best preparation (if any) for me to get ready at my CC (which has a high transfer rate to UCLA)? Are there any classes, other than AP classes, that would count as college credit? Foreign language perhaps, or is that only for high school?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance, you guys will probably see me active in these forums for a while now. :)</p>
<p>My advice, and the one thing i wish i did back in highschool is to take CC classes during your senior year. My highschool would clear seniors who were doing this and let them leave campus for 6th period. The cool thing was that alot of the kids doing this only had class meetings once a week, and at night, so they basically had a free pass to go home early and sleep.</p>
<p>Your highschool may be different but I’m sure you can work out something similar.</p>
<p>Considering that I’m ahead of my required credits, I think I can take off my 5th and 6th period anyway. I take it that by taking CC classes, you mean the general courses required in IGETC and not the major-specific ones? What’s the average schedule for these classes? (in terms of time/days per week)</p>
<p>Heck you could probably start taking intro to polisci if you wanted, just make sure if your gonna take a pre-req during high school you can get an A in it.</p>
<p>I suppose it would be best if you just got the gen-ed(igetc) stuff out of the way first though. </p>
<p>I don’t know about your CC but mine offers a good deal of night classes, for example once a week every Monday from 6:30 - 9:40. There’s also quite a few afternoon classes that meet twice a week with times like 2:00 - 3:30 or4:30 - 6:00, stuff like that.</p>
<p>I would go to Santa Monica City College in order to get into UCLA. They are the closest CC to UCLA and have a high transfer rate to UCLA. </p>
<p>Follow the course articulation found on Assist.org and don’t take too many classes your first semester. I made the mistake of doing that and now my GPA is no where near it should be (3.11) .</p>
<p>If I could do it all over again I would have attended my college (Moorpark College) and taken some classes at SMCC, as well as taken the honors courses to make myself TAP certified. If you go to UCLA’s website, they are more specific as to how many honors classes you should take to be certified. To my knowledge, I believe it’s 5 courses to be TAP certified.</p>
<p>Good luck. I wish I was in your position once again.</p>
<p>I would knock these right off the bat for starters:
-Two courses in English composition/critical thinking and writing
-One transferable math course that has a prerequisite of intermediate algebra or higher</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Follow IGETC (which you’re obviously familiar with)</p></li>
<li><p>Use [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to confirm you’re taking the right classes for major prep</p></li>
<li><p>Have two solid extracurriculars under your belt by the time you apply. It’s better to have just a few strong ones you’ve done for a long period of time than a bunch of random stuff here and there. </p></li>
<li><p>Use [url=<a href=“http://www.ratemyprofessor.com%5DRateMyProfessors.com%5B/url”>http://www.ratemyprofessor.com]RateMyProfessors.com[/url</a>] when choosing your classes.</p></li>
<li><p>Maintain a 3.8+ GPA. There is probably no reason you can’t get a 4.0, but things do happen.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I’m proud of you for making a mature decision and deciding to go to CC first. For most high school students, the peer pressure and stigma of CC is just too much. Many of them end up going to a campus that is not selective at all, and then realize what they’ve done and try and transfer to a UC later (which is very hard to do). Good for you for deciding to do the intelligent thing while still so young.</p>
<p>The CC I plan to go to actually is SMC because of its high transfer rate to UCLA and the fact that my brother is in his second year there and is awaiting to see if he’s accepted into the schools he applied to (UCLA, UCB, and UCSD) as a Business major. </p>
<p>I have heard that many people seem to take a lot of courses their first semester and it has hurt their GPA. What/how many courses do you suggest I take my first semester? My second? Do I just gradually raise my course load?</p>
<p>Just don’t make the mistake of going to a CC that doesn’t offer TAP. SMC does, and being TAP certified along with a stellar GPA increases your chances immensely. I can tell you’re motivated. As long as you keep your eyes on the prize, you’ll get into UCLA.</p>
<p>I will definitely be getting into TAP once I go to SMC as my brother is in the program as well. He applied as a business/econ major at UCLA and his GPA is right around 3.6 and is, again, in the TAP program. What are his chances of getting in? He applied to UCB and UCSD as well.</p>
<p>Just to add on to my previous question, what is your guys’ idea on a balanced course load (how many/what couses) that’s not exactly too light where it would look kinda bad on my app and not too heavy where it would hurt my GPA. Do you think I would have enough free time where I could go and get a part-time job?</p>
<p>And finally, what is your idea of two “solid extracurriculars”? Would getting a job while in CC count as one?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t take more than 12-15 units at first. Limit your course workload based on the rigor of the classes as well. Say you’re taking a Calc/Stats class that you know you’re probably going to have to work hard to get through. Don’t take another class that could potentially hurt your grade in that class, because math is a requirement that must be met. </p>
<p>Get all of the tougher classes out of the way. I did this..took English and Econ as well as Math within the first couple semesters and now this semester I just have cake classes, 16.5 units but since the classes are : intro to speech, intro to sociology, media and society, art appreciation, nutrition, and hip hop; I can deal with the course load and earn a decent grade in each class.</p>
<p>our school ( A CCC) says 95% of people w/ TAP get accepted to UCLA, so w/ it you would really have to screw up to not get accepted; my advisor also told me extracurriculars, personal statement etc. would have little if no affect on chances either, unless you are maybe one of the borderline students</p>
<p>So after browsing the thread it seems that the most important is GPA followed by IGETC and pre-reqs. Doesn’t sound too bad.</p>
<p>I hear it’s possible to transfer after one year in CC as long as I have the required units. I’m currently taking two AP classes this year and probably will take three next year if it is possible to transfer after just one year. Would it be difficult to transfer considering I do pass all 5 AP exams that I take while in high school? Do they look at your high school stats as well if you transfer as a coming sophomore?</p>
<p>SAT registration deadline is in a few days for the April test. With my mind already set on going to a CCC and transferring out, is there really ANY reason to take the test or is it just a waste of both my time and money? Haven’t taken the SAT2 Subject Tests yet either.</p>
.</p>