Business freshman at CPP consider transferring out to CC, then to UC. Help is appreciated.

Transfer Students UC Transfers
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I made a post a few months ago about my situation and how I’ve considered transferring out. I’m currently a business admin student and I have taken ENG 110 (GE/Major Support), MAT 125 (GE/Major Support), CIS 101 (CPP Graduation requirement) and I’m currently taking HRT 255 (GE Area E), FRL 201 (Core Class), ENG 130, and ECON 201. I haven’t decided on what classes I’m taking yet next quarter since I haven’t committed to anything yet but have been recommended.

My experience here at CPP have been really bland.I just go to class and eat at LO. Clubs aren’t that prominent other than Greek life (I’m not into partying). There isn’t much sense of a community/pride since it’s a commuter school and sports teams aren’t D1-level so they don’t get as recognized like UCs. I guess the only really interesting thing about the campus is the BRIC, but working out isn’t my thing. My peers aren’t as intelligent as I expected (my residence hall average GPA was a 2.9 last quarter. I had a 3.85 which is sad since we took 12 quarter units and they were GEs). Also, the few friends I made here feel as disappointed about this school and my roommate happened to have transferred out 3 weeks ago since he strives on going to SLO/Berkeley.

All the advisers I’ve talked to haven’t been very encouraging/much help to me. When I talked with the first adviser in December, I signed up for the 4-year pledge, so that I could graduate ASAP. He provided me a 4-year graduation plan which is pretty inaccurate because there were a few classes that I was exempt from due to AP credit and there was also a class on my planner that isn’t taught anymore. I went to another adviser earlier this month and told her about the mistakes on my planner, so that she could revise it. I also told her about my transfer consideration, but she was passive aggressive about it and questioned why I would want a 4-year planner if I planned on transferring. I haven’t never committed to anything yet and I just wanted to look at all my options. I went to a different adviser today since registration was soon and wanted to talk over my options. Apparently, my second adviser never saved the planner into the system, so we had to go over what my classes were for Spring Quarter. She recommended ACC207/207A (Core), TOM 301 (Core), IBM (301), GE A1, but I heard that if I took too many Upper-Division level classes, I wouldn’t be able to attend UCs, which is why I’ve been reluctant to choose my classes. I told this adviser about my transfer consideration to a UC, but her response was that I would finish this quarter at CPP and do nothing at all for 2-3 months until summer/fall since my CC is on the semester system. She told me this because apparently, my CPP credits would not transfer to UCs, but I thought that my CPP credits would transfer to CC and then those credits would transfer to UCs. This is understandable since my core classes are different than those in UCs, but if I took GEs, wouldn’t they transfer?

The UCs I’ve been considering are UCB and ideally, UCI for business admin, but I heard it was like a 6% acceptance rate. I was also wondering if it’s possible to TAG still in my situation and only be at my CC for one year, which means that I would change my major to business econ since business admin is excluded from TAG at UCI and I could also try for business econ at UCLA. I’ve tried contacting the admission office at my CC and the lady just told me the registration process and that I could speak with a counselor on Walk-in Wednesday, but I wouldn’t be back in town until spring break in 6 weeks, which will be far after my Spring Quarter registration at CPP. Thanks for taking your time to reading this and I would appreciate any advice/help.

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I also went to CPP for a year, going through exact same dilemma you did. Check my post history if you want some context, but long story short I transferred to CC for same reasons you are considering: Prestige, Social Life, unmotivated classmates. Applying to transfer to UC’s this year to attend Fall 2017.

First of all, check out this link.

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major

Look at the schools and majors you are considering applying to. Be realistic about where you want to go and the transfer admit rates. UC Berkeley admitted 94 out of 1800 transfer applicants for Business Admin. You have to accept the reality that you probably won’t get in unless you have a 4.0, and even then the numbers are against you. Keep in mind that your GPA at Community College will be the same or slightly higher than that at CPP. If you are not OK with getting rejected from UCLA/UCB and OK with getting into UCI, transferring out would be a good option. If you are deadset into getting into Berkeley or UCLA, the reality is there’s a very good chance you’ll be rejected even if you have a 4.0.

If you do go the transfer route, you will for sure get into UCI based on your GPA. Your advisor is right about the upper division thing. While you’re at CPP, if you want to keep your options open, finish MAT 114/115/116 and Microecon and Macroecon, and Statistics 120, avoid upper division classes. Also knock out the other english class besides 110, I forgot what it was called. As a good rule, knock out general education classes that are very general (Things like Intro to Psych, Sociology, Philosophy). Don’t take GE classes like “Philosophy through Children’s Literature”.

Look, if I could go back and talk to my freshman Cal Poly Pomona self, I would say to him that you would be happy at both ways. If you’re turned off by crappy schools and classmates you will not have fun at community college. I also was in the 4 year pledge. I kept it a secret from my 4 year pledge advisors that I was considering transferring, because the 4 year pledge program is to graduate people quickly from CPP. Those like me and you who use it to get classes easy and get out are looked down upon by those 4 year pledge dudes.

Don’t take the 4-year pledge for granted. NO UC and very few other schools have it. It will allow you to get the nicest schedules, and the easiest professors for all your classes. There’s a very good case to stay at CPP, use your 4 year pledge to get a 4.0, and get into an Ivy League or top tier MBA program with your CPP gpa.

So it’s a stroke of luck I ran across this post. I’ve spent the last 2 years going through a lot of headaches deciding which of my CPP courses apply towards transfer and apply to UC’s. Without trying to sound arrogant, there’s a 75% chance I know more about the process you’re about to go through if you transfer out of CPP than any Counselor there. If you’d like, we can set up a skype call and discuss whether this a good choice for you or not. There are pros and cons to both routes.

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Hey, thanks for the reply, I really appreciate the post and advice. I’ll be interested in doing a skype call since my advisers weren’t much help with planning my 4 years. I have a few questions that you can answer over skype like which credits transfer and general questions like that. I was also wondering why I would need to take MAT 114/115/116 if they aren’t required for business admin at CPP. I’m more deadset towards UCI since it’s ideally within my reach. I also have questions regarding TAG,summer school, and possible attempting for business econ since UCLA doesn’t have a undergrad business econ. I hope that you can answer them over skype. Again, I really appreciate your time and help.

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Sure, no problem. I’m going to PM you my skype username and message me what days and times you’re online to talk.