CC transfers students' performance after transferring to a UC? I'm worried

<p>I was accepted into my dream UC as a community college transfer. I am excited beyond belief, but after doing some reading, I'm also deathly worried.</p>

<p>Obviously we all know that community college is much easier than an actual 4 year university, much less a reputable university such as a UC. Knowing that, I am willing to work twice as hard (although I know many people say this and never follow through). I received an easy 4.0 at the community college, and I definitely don't expect to replicate that at the UC, but I'm afraid of just how much I will drop? Obviously how well an individual does depends on..the individual, but the statistics don't seem to be too promising.
I've heard (this is obviously not official but just hearsay) that you can expect AT LEAST a one grade drop in gpa from CC to UC (4.0 to 3.0). Not only that...but I've even heard that cc transfer students rarely graduate! :(</p>

<p>The thing is, I'm pre-law, and it's imperative I get a good gpa (and yes I know all the dangers of pursuing law in this economy, I've researched it well and I will drop the idea of law school if I don't get a sufficient LSAT score). I'm not delusional, thinking I'll get a 4.0, but is a 3.5 totally unrealistic for a transfer student to shoot for? I would assume that major also plays a large part - my major is considered one of the "easy" liberal arts majors by the way. Obviously pursuing an engineering major would be 10x as hard.. </p>

<p>Besides all of this talk about statistics, I'd also like advice from cc transfers who have graduated successfully. How well did you guys do? What would you recommend I do? </p>

<p>I of course plan on utilizing all the available options for students such as tutors, study groups..is there anything else I haven't thought of?</p>

<p>Lastly..is there anyone else in my shoes who is also worried? Any type of input right now would be very helpful. I feel kind of hopeless which is ridiculous when I should be overjoyed by my acceptance. </p>

<p>Thank you very much for anyone who actually read this all the way through.</p>

<p>I think you’ll be fine. Contrary to popular belief, the difficulty of classes depends on the community college. Some community colleges are easier to excel at, and some are as difficult as the universities, with many community colleges in between.</p>

<p>From what I’ve heard, CC transfer students do just as well as those who were admitted as freshman. I don’t know who told you that CC students rarely graduate. That’s bull****.</p>

<p>In general, whether you’re a transfer student or not, earning a 3.5 GPA is pretty difficult, so you shouldn’t worry too much; you’re not at a disadvantage because you’re a transfer student.</p>

<p>Good luck, and congratulations on successfully transferring to your dream college. You’ll do fine. Don’t worry about it.</p>

<ol>
<li>Be happy! You got into a great UC!</li>
<li>Use RateMyProfessors to find classes/teachers.</li>
<li>Keep your time managed: be organized, and don’t side-track.</li>
</ol>

<p>The main thing is to just be motivated. Yes, school can be about how smart you are. But it’s also how determined and motivated you are to go where you want and do what you want. </p>

<p>That’s just my take. Congratulations on your acceptance at your UC!</p>

<p>One thing you have to keep in mind is that UCs grade with +s and -s, so to get an A in a class you need a 93%, not a 90%. An A- will factor into your grade as 3.7.</p>

<p>First of all thanks to everyone who left replies, you guys consoled me quite a bit. I think was just having a moment the other day. </p>

<p>And wow does the A+/- rule apply for all campuses and majors?</p>

<p>And what about curves? At first I thought only science/math classes had curves…do all classes have curves? I assume that’s one part of why it would make it so hard to get good grades??</p>

<p>Are 3.5 gpa’s very rare at UC’s then?</p>

<p>I believe all campuses are +/-. It’s definitely all majors. There are lots of curved classes outside of science and math.</p>

<p>3.5 is definitely doable. 4.0 is extremely difficult.</p>

<p>[University</a> of California: StatFinder](<a href=“http://statfinder.ucop.edu%5DUniversity”>http://statfinder.ucop.edu) can let you know how transfer students with specific ranges of prior college GPAs did in terms of GPA at the UC that they transfer to. But data only goes up to 2009.</p>

<p>For the various UCs, average graduation GPAs (counting only grades at the UC) of those 2005 CCC transfers with 3.80 to 4.00 prior college GPAs ranged from 3.45 (Berkeley, Santa Barbara) to 3.78 (Santa Cruz). You can further check specific type of majors and other characteristics. Of course, some students do better, and some students do worse.</p>