Hello, unfortunately for the Fall term of 2016 i wasn’t admitted into any UC school of my choice since my GPA was too low as a result of messing around one year of high school (regretted it ever since).
I went to a British Curriculum school and my GCSE grades (the year i decided to mess around with) were not very high, but not very low, definitely below average, but my AS-Level grades were above average (grade 11) and now, grade 12, my predicted grades for A2-Level are high above average. My ACT score was 30 with a STEM score of 34, and my SAT Subject Tests were 690 for Math II and 700 for Chemistry.
Still, literally because of that one year in high school, my GPA tanked below what’s needed to be considered for admission at a UC.
I read up some information on transferring to UC schools, and I read that applicants from community college in California take top priority as opposed to other students. I am still very fixated on going to UC schools, but my initial plan before reading up about this was to go to Penn State as I did receive admission there, and transfer after my freshman year to a UC school.
Seeing as community college will enable me a higher chance of admission to a UC school, I still am undecided whether or not I should go to Penn State and transfer to UC or go to Community College in California and transfer to UC.
Also, if someone could give me some information on how Community College actually works? Is it possible that i do 1 year at a community college then go into my sophomore year at a UC school? Or do i have to do 4 years at the UC school after completing 1 year at a community college? Also, if i were to do my freshman year at Penn State, will i transfer into a UC school as a sophomore?
UC favors California resident from CC for transfer after 2 years. They don’t allow to transfer after the first year.
If you are an international student then you will not have the same benefits although you can transfer.
I think it’s better to attend Penn State:
a. CC classes are not as rigorous as classes at UC. It may take longer time for transfer students to complete program in 4 years.
b. You will not be guaranteed to transfer to a top UC college like UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD.
c. Penn State engineering is very good. Penn State Chemical Engineering is on par with UCLA CE.
Will I be able to transfer from my freshman year at Penn State straight into sophomore year to my chosen UC school? The UCs I’m aiming for are UCB UCLA UCSB UCSD.
@needofadvice No. You must complete a minimum of 60 units (equivalent to 2 years) at a CC before being allowed to transfer to a UC. UC’s do not accept students with less than 60 units. They only accept junior transfers with preference given to California community college students.
You would attend a CC (or other college) for 2 years then transfer to a UC to complete your last 2 years ( junior and senior year).
So it’s not possible to do freshman year at another place then transfer for my next 3 years? That being said, is 60 units in 1 year manageable?
Which would you suggest doing?
@needofadvice No, the UC’s only allow 2nd year transfers (or 60 units which equal 2 years). You will have to transfer into a UC as a junior.
There have been students who have completed 60 units in a year (usually also having AP credits), but it isn’t possible for many others. You would also have to get approval from your community college to take that many units. I wouldn’t recommend it - you want to transfer to a UC with the highest grades possible.
I would suggest attending a community college and taking a normal load of classes (15 units) and doing your very best. Attend workshops at your community college on UC transfer’s, work with an adviser to develop an academic plan, and seek academic help asap to keep your gpa up. College Confidential (this website) has a forum for UC Transfers that is very informativehttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/
To be honest, I don’t quite understand the focus on attending a school in California, You have been admitted to a school that is well-respected, especially in engineering. USC and Penn State appear to be closely ranked for chemical engineering . My advise would be to enroll at Penn State with the expectation that you will stay there. You will get a great college experience at Penn State, which you would not get at a community college.
I agree completely, I still like Penn State as an option, but at this point, this is for information that would help a choice later on, if I didn’t like Penn State, for example.
Thank you all for your help! Very useful!
