<p>Hello,
I'm on route to applying this upcoming semester for a handful of Universities. I have a couple in mind and wanted to know what you guys think my chances are. Also, if you guys have any suggestions on what schools would best fit my criteria, by all means let me know!</p>
<p>-Age:21
-Location: Los Angeles, California
-Nationality: Armenian (considered white/Caucasian)
-Major: Economics (also interested in Math but do not have all pre-reqs done for it)
-GPA: 3.3 (Will be bumped up to about 3.5 during the next few semesters before x-fer)
-Bi-Lingual(English and Armenian) but currently taking Spanish Classes
-First Generation College Student coming from a low income family.</p>
<p>E.C.'s: I'm really not sure if High School ECs are important for a transfer but i'm going to list them anyways</p>
<p>Highschool
-Bridge Program (took college courses during high school)
-Drama Club (Was done in my native language/ Had a lead role in the major play)
-School Band(Saxophonist)
-Worked part-time (subway and liquor store)</p>
<p>Community College
-Economics Club (board member)
-Math Pack (program allowing 2 calculus courses taken in 1 semester)
- Full Time/ Part Time work (Lenscrafters)
-ASA (Armenian Student Association)
-AYF( Armenian Youth Federation: Educates and partakes in events with the local youth)
-Basketball coach for 6th graders at my High School</p>
<p>There were a couple semesters where I didn't do as best as i could receiving a few Fs and Ws. It was partly due to my carelessness, full time job(Since money isn't abundant in my family), and the type of environment such as friends I hung around. Since those 3-4 semesters, I've gotten my act together and have received all As(Including retaking the Fs) for the following 3 semesters(About 25 units) since then. I plan to take about another 50 units until transferring and retaking 2 important classes: Econ 1A(A major requirement) and English 1A because i received Cs in them. I know it will not count towards my GPA but i just want to show myself that I'm not longer that idiot that f***ed up in school and is capable of getting As.
Also i have completed about 82 units of College Credits in which i believe most are transferable. So by the time around xfering comes i will be at about around 132 credits if not fewer. This is because i am going to take a couple more advanced math courses until i transfer.</p>
<p>Schools in Mind:
-All the UCs except Merced
-Claremont McKenna
-Pamona College
-Pepperdine
-Occidental College
-University of Texas-Austin
-Penn State
-Arizona State Uni.
-Boston College
-University of Rochester
-University of Michigan
-USC
-Syracuse </p>
<p>I know my chances of getting into UCLA and UCB aren't the greatest but what about the other schools. And honestly, do you guys even think its worth it for me to apply to the out of state colleges just for the sense of having better job opportunities graduating from a prestige school after undergrad. Also, financially would it even be worth pulling out a student loan for that?</p>
<p>As parents, we don’t really chance, but rather offer advice.</p>
<p>You will want to check my information, but most colleges will only accept about 60 transfer credits, or about half what’s needed to graduate. I think your best bet for advice would be the advising staff at your current school.</p>
<p>I’ve asked the advising staff at my school and they weren’t too aware of my chances at out of state and private schools. I’m just trying to narrow my choices down to the right ones, and also knowing other people’s opinions if its even worth going out of state, whether it be financially or academically(prestige wise). As parents what would you advise your child to do in this case coming from a lower income family? would you allow your child to pull a student loan and end up in debt just in order to get the best academic education from a prestige school available for better job opportunities, or would it be wiser to go somewhere local, even a UC(excluding UCLA or UCB since my chances are so slim), and file for a student loan later on for grad school, possibly a MBA.</p>
<p>Free advice…your list is fine but going OOS to any of these schools is not worth going into ANY debt. </p>
<p>Student loan limit for a junior is $7500 which will NOT cover the costs of those pricey out of state publics…or the private schools.</p>
<p>If you are anticipating needing financial aid, you need to check each school’s policies on awarding INSTITUTIONAL aid to transfer students. Some do…some don’t…and some offer limited aid to transfers.</p>
<p>If you are at a CC in CA, does your CC have any articulation agreements with any of the CA schools on your list? </p>
<p>Do you qualify for the Cal Grants? If so, stay IN CA.</p>
<p>Thnx for the info thumper. My CC does have an agreement called TAG(transfer admission guarantee)with most of the UCs. I will probably doing TAG for either USCB or UCI. And yes i do qualify for Cal Grants.</p>
<p>@olderwisermom:
Do you mean pre-reqs and all that? If so, at the end of this upcoming fall semester i will have all my pre-reqs done for all the UCs.</p>
<p>“Nationality: Armenian (considered white/Caucasian)”</p>
<p>Does this mean that you aren’t a US Citizen? If so, are you a legal permanent resident? Whether or not you qualify as a domestic applicant will change everything.</p>
<p>Nope, I’m a proud born US Citizen. Most people do not know what nationality Armenian is so i just clarified it. I like to consider Armenians as a minority of the white category lol</p>
<p>No, i have not taken any SAT subject tests, because I knew I was going to go to a CC right out of high school. For the fact that it was more financially sound going to a CC for GE clases</p>
<p>You are twenty one and will require a ‘few semesters’ before you are ready to transfer. From this I gather at least some of your education has been part-time. Depending on the school they may want to see successful full time semesters before they consider you a viable transfer applicant. They want to make sure you are ready for taking a full load at an academically rigorous university. Check each university you are looking at to see if this is a consideration. This way you can plan appropriately for the remainder of your cc experience.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that your right and they do consider the successes of full time semesters. But I’m going to explain my situation in my essays that I was juggling full time work and school, with my focus being on the former for financial reasons.</p>
<p>@perazziman:
Is it even worth it at this point? I’ve already established myself at a CC and have already pretty much finished my major and GE requirements. Wouldn’t only my GPA and ECs take into effect during admissions?</p>
<p>That’s fine. My point being, if you’ve been attending mainly part-time, you may not be a viable applicant if you don’t have successful full-time semesters to offer for consideration. Some schools will look at part-time semesters, while others want to see full-time. You should know if the school will even consider you a viable candidate before you put time, effort, and money into applications if you can’t offer full-time semesters for review. The other point being, if you still have several semesters to go and weren’t aware of this perhaps you’d want to go full time to accommodate this if schools you were interested in wanted full-time semesters for consideration.</p>
<p>For example, a degree in economics may require 30 hours of specific classes. A school may require that a certain percentage of that number be completed in residence on that campus. At the University of Missouri, for example, 21 of the 30 required hours must be completed on that campus.</p>
<p>A transfer would be worth it, if you have had a shift in attitude (as you are suggesting) and want to get a four year degree, followed by an MBA. I am assuming the cc offers lower level courses. So, regardless of how many credits you have accumulated, you will need atleast four more semesters of upper level courses at a four year college to graduate with a bachelors degree.</p>