Can I transfer after one year, instead of two?

Transfer Students
1

<p>So I just got rejected from 9/10 of the colleges to which I applied. And the one that I got accepted to is too expensive for me to attend. Which makes community college the only option.</p>

<p>Is it possible to be ready to transfer from a community college in one year?</p>

<p>I will have loads of AP credits:
5 on AP Psych (junior)
5 on APUSH (junior
4 on AP Lang (junior)
4 on AP Euro (sophomore)
3 on AP Bio (sophomore)
will be taking Gov, Macro, Art History, World History, Calc AB, and Lit this year</p>

<p>Could I accumulate enough credits to transfer in one year? Also, could I earn an Associate's Degree in one year?</p>

<p>In addition, is this plan even advisable? My high school GPA was really my downfall in this admissions process (3.18 UW, 4.06 W), and I got a D in my Calculus class first semester.Will one year of a great college GPA be able to make me competitive, or is two years necessary? Or will my high school GPA doom me once more, regardless of how much time I spend at a community college before applying as a transfer?</p>

<p>I'm looking to transfer to UC Berkeley, or privates such as UChicago, Columbia, and Georgetown.</p>

<p>And finally, what else can I do to increase my chances at transfers to extremely selective schools?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for reading through this long post, and for helping out a senior that is somewhat unsure of where to go from here.</p>

2

<p>You can transfer after one semester, but I don’t know how effective that would be in your situation.</p>

3

<p>Do you think two semesters would suffice, or would I have to go for two years to even attempt to compensate for my high school GPA?</p>

<p>Or is it absolutely no use at all, and I couldn’t get in even after two years?</p>

<p>This is assuming I do very well at community college.</p>

4

<p>I applied to transfer after one year in community college with a horrible high school record. I’ve already gotten into one school that I applied to (a top 125 liberal arts school), so it can definitely be done. </p>

<p>Most schools put more emphasis on your high school record if you’re transferring after one year, rather than two. They’ll also want to see your SAT score if you only have one year of college behind you. </p>

<p>I suppose that a student with a 4.0 gpa after two years of college is more competitive than a student with a 4.0 after one year of college. But the difference is fairly minimal – one year of good grades in college is a fairly good predictor that you’ll continue to do well, and there have been many, many students who have successfully transferred to elite universities after just one year of community college.</p>

<p>You also asked if it’s possible to get an Associate’s degree in a year. Theoretically, yes, though expect to have a fair amount of work if you also want to maintain good grades. Most Associate’s degrees require around 60 (sometimes a bit more, maybe 64 or so) credits. 12 credits is considered a full time load, though many students take 15 credits each semester. If you took 21 credits each semester, plus as many credits as possible this summer, you might be able to pull it off. But 21 credits is a ton – my friend is doing it, and though community college classes are fairly easy, they still require work. My friend does homework almost constantly, and she tends to get a lot of B’s. I have no doubt that if she lowered her load to 12 or 15 credits, she’d be at the top of all her classes. </p>

<p>Having an Associate’s degree won’t affect college admissions too much. (To say that clearer – having more credits under your belt would probably help you, having an official degree won’t.) I’d probably focus on taking a medium-sized load of challenging classes and getting a 4.0 than a huge load of relatively easy classes and getting B’s and C’s.</p>

<p>But whatever you decide to do (1 vs 2 years), I think the community college route is completely advisable. It’s cheaper, the material is exactly the same, and you’ll have small class sizes with no TA’s. A lot of universities even actively try to admit community college students – there’s definitely no bias that cc students are less prepared or smart.</p>

<p>And, finally (whew! sorry this is so long!), don’t worry too much about your high school grades. They’re obviously not out-of-this-world amazing, but they’re not terrible. I would think that as long as you put in the effort to get a 3.7 or 3.8 in your community college classes, you’d have a strong shot at the universities you mentioned. Ad-coms like to see growth in transfer students, so going from a 3.0 to a higher GPA wouldn’t be a bad thing. </p>

<p>I guess what I’m trying to say is, your high school GPA won’t be your downfall. Even if you’re only transferring after one year, colleges put the most emphasis on college performance.</p>

5

<p>Wow. Thanks handgrenades. That has been the most helpful reply I’ve ever received on these forums. </p>

<p>I think I will follow your advice and go to community college for a year, and then attempt to transfer. And if that doesn’t work out, I’ll try again in another year. </p>

<p>And congratulations on your acceptance. :)</p>

6

<p>handgenades gave you some good advice/information. I thought I’d mention, though, that in my state, you are guaranteed admission to the 4-year state publics if you get an AA degree from a community college in the state. The community colleges are good sources of information on transferring, if you go that route.</p>

<p>Also, in early May each year, there is a group called the National Association of College Admissions Counseling that releases a survey of 4-year colleges that still have openings for the fall semester. You’d be surprised at the number of schools that still have space available. You won’t find that the really highly ranked schools – like Georgetown – have openings, but there are some good schools on the list that might be worth a look.</p>

<p>Here’s the website: [NACAC</a> Homepage](<a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/Pages/default.aspx]NACAC”>http://www.nacacnet.org/Pages/default.aspx)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>Definitely possible !!</p>

<p>Thats exactly what i did. I hate CC and i busted my butt off senior year of highschool and first year of college ( I applied fall of my first semester in CC ) and am just getting decisions.
Also, keep in mind im a biochem / prechem major. </p>

<p>So far my admissions status is ive been accepted 2 for 2 . i have 4 more to hear from still but most are end of april/may and USC (june, which is really annoying since you have to give the UC’s a decision by June 1st. :confused: )</p>

<p>So far, you are WAY more qualified than I was when I applied and I still got in. I DID, bust my A** of LITERALLY. Fall i was taking 21 units, winter intersession ( both bio anc calc 1 ) 10 units , and this spring ( right now ) im at a whopping 25 units. Its stressful, manageable, but still worth gettting out of CC. my passing grade in just 4 AP courses ( stats, enviro, art history, and lit) counted for appx 30 units ( and thats already half ) and you have MUCH more than that. My stats class didnt even matter anyways since im biochem and I have to do all the way to differentiable equations anyway. </p>

<p>Point blank : You can do it, its definitely possible. and one more thing : DO NOT LISTEN TO COLLEGE COUNSELORS ( they want you to stay there, and CC is a trap). Most people stay for longer than 2 years because theyre told you can transfer in 2 years no matter what ( and they dont have ANY prerequisites for the lower division classes). Pre reqs are the biggest pain, and keep you in the CC longer. Make sure you look at Assist.org (this webstie is better than ANY college counselor at a CC). If you want to go to berkeley, put your major and school your coming from into assist and itll give you EXACTLY what you need to transfer . SInce you want to attend “extremely selective schools,” make sure you know each ones extremely selective requirements.Each school is different i.e. for USC even though I’m a bicohem major, they make you take weird general Ed courses, such as chicano studies. Make a spread sheet if you need to. Plan out exactly which course you need to take in that one year to transfer successfully (itll tell you on assist.)-> this takes time, sit down for a day and do this, do your research on all schools planning to attend. Also, keep your priorities in mind (if your top choice is UCB, do the requirements most needed from their first, or ones that coincide with the prereqs of diff colleges).</p>

<p>Main req’s : is 60-90 units ( closer to 90 would be more competitive, but youre not too far off). keep in mind these are ALL the major prereqs. they dont ALL need to be completed to transfer. (I know for UCLA its only 6, if you go on the website for berkeley transfer, they say the exact amount of those). of cpurse good grades ( i have a 3.8 , straight A’s and one C in a 5 unit course) and EC’s and a bomb personal statement and youll for sure get in. </p>

<p>Work hard, play hard. take fall, winter, and summer classes ( as much as you can handle) and make sure you know your major and courses you need to take. Do well in these courses and you will be absolutely fine. </p>

<p>I know this was an novel/spiel but I dont want anyone to have to suffer being in community college more than they need to. Its impossible to have a social life (especially when all your friends are off to real universities), the age gap is horrible, and having taken university courses ( alot of the time it doesnt prepare you). The only ONE good thing about CC is, is that their are some teachers who truly, truly care about each individual student, their success, and their education and i dont regret the one year I was at CC, but im glad to be out and getting on with my life in the Fall.</p>

8

<p>I’ve only skimmed the other posts, so I’m sorry if this has already been brought up, but keep in mind than in addition to needed 60-62 credits total for an Associate’s, most community colleges require that at least some number or percentage of those credits be earned AT that school. I think my CC requires ~45/60 be earned from there, which is usually more than one year of coursework.</p>