I’m a psychology major transferring after my AAT n Fall. I’m a good student, but I’ve got no idea about what it’s like to be a full time upper division UC student. Anyone who has made this transition, I’d love to hear your thoughts and any advice you could share. I’m hoping to transfer to UCI, and II want to finish in 2 years … not 2 1/2 or 3, so is that possible? Thanks !!!
I am also curious about this. Most of my credits were taken at a CC that ran on the quarter system, so I feel lucky in that regard. I know that many CCC students have an issue transitioning from the semester system. I’m also a Psych major, hoping to attend UCLA this fall.
I’m not a psych major, but having transferred to UCLA a couple of years ago, I have to say that it’s mostly harder in the sense that the courses you take for your major will require deeper thought on your part. I think everyone gets used to that eventually. What’s more difficult to adjust to is the quarter system. Deadlines come by very quickly.
Just picture extending yourself ten times more than what you are doing at the CCC to get an A. UCLA isn’t the hardest UC, though. I have heard some crazy things about UCSD’s rigor.
My first quarter here, this is what I experienced:
Through the first 5 weeks or so, I was absolutely relieved when the professor said we were going to have a take home exam for the next unit. I was so happy when he said this! I took the take home exam with me and carried on throughout my day. I was very busy, so I didn’t even bother looking at it until I got home. When I sat down and finally took a look at it, the first of 5 questions stated, “Write a 15 page paper on the functional and structural properties on protein folding and why biologists may have concluded for them to be the fundamental component on genetic material”. This was just the FIRST question AND it was all due in a week.
Other than my experiences, there are multiple factors that makes the transition over to a UC really hard, especially for a transfer student:
1.) At the CCC, you’re competing with yourself. Here, at the UC, you’re competing with everyone else, whether it be grades, internships or part time jobs. Everyone here is relatively competitive. At the CCC, you’re “used to” getting A’s, but here at the UC, people really get discouraged and break down when they aren’t doing so well. Also, because everyone is so competitive, office hours are FILLED with lines out the room. At the CCC, no one goes to office hours but at the UC you better get up early if you want to be seen first.
2.) People are not as helpful at the UC than those at the CCC! At the CCC, generally, people form STUDY groups, and it doesn’t necessarily matter with whom, so be it they are good students. At the UC, however, people tend to work on their own or form very exclusive cliques. Classes can be very crowded at times, and I remember missing something the professor wrote down because there were people in the way (sometimes people have to stand up in the lecture hall because there are not enough seats). I asked an asian girl sitting next to me if should could share what he wrote down and she literally covered her paper and said, “What do you want”? This was the FIRST time I experienced the “shock” many transfer students face.
3.) Being a transfer student, you are going to deal with freshmen and people who came straight from a high school looking down upon you and judging your abilities as a student. I wasn’t a student yet at UCLA, but when I went on a campus tour, I overheard a girl who got in from high school say to a PROSPECTIVE transfer student, “Yeah, transfers get in because UCLA knows they will finish quickly and get out”. Yes, this is a fact but they way she presented it was so nasty and rude, in my opinion. Anyway, many students who came out of high school have this mentality, but that can easily be avoided so it is not that bad to deal with.
4.) The quarter system is just too fast sometimes.
5.) Professors at the UC aren’t “open” to rearrangements as much as CCC professors are. I was out sick for a week (had strep throat) and couldn’t come in contact with anyone. I told the professor about my situation, showed him a doctors note and everything. I asked if I could get some compensation for a later test day and he simply said no, and handed the paper back to me. Didn’t even acknowledge me thereafter. It was cool though, because I still got an A in his class.
There is more, but those were the ones that came to mind.
Also, it is VERY possible to finish in two years. I am graduating after two years, majoring in physiological sciences. It is possible, you can do it as well.
Well, I am transferring out of Cal State Fullerton, which is recognized for its merciless grading culture despite being a CSU even by a number of reputable university ranking sites.
However, the biggest thing about most universities that teach upper division studies is that most of those courses dive into theory rather than memorizing explicitly defined concepts. The last political science course that I took consisted of a series of argumentative essays. The last history course that I took also consisted of in-class essays. Now, I love presenting arguments, writing essays/short answer exams, etc. However, many people do struggle with those forms of evaluation.
@TheVisionary Yes, that is another thing: Say bye-bye to multiple choice exams! Most tests are strictly written; explain concepts, etc. I am speaking for phy sci department, though. Other departments may be different.
Damn @UCLAFFF. I knew I was going to have to work even harder and stay up more hours at a UC but reading your experience made me feel a little discouraged. Especially with that asian girl you posted about. Now I feel that when I do transfer it will be hard to meet some friends. Just damn.
@BlackPlasma Don’t ever lose sleep over academics! Sometimes it is necessary, I understand that. But I was able to get by without putting in too many all nighters in a quarter. I’d say I put in no more than three my last quarter, and that was only because I had to write papers, which I suck at.
But do not get discouraged! You will find a way to survive this system. I think it is also a little different for me because I was trying to get into medical school (Just got into a few MD schools, and was interviewed at UCLA, UCSF and UCI, can’t wait to hear back from them!) so I was always on the edge and “put myself” into these situations I have listed because I was absolutely desperate to not only survive, but do well!
But the point is, I transferred with a GPA lower than UCLA’s transfer admission requirements and here I am getting ready to attend, hopefully, a UC medical school. It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from, what you look like, who’s smarter than you, etc. What matters is how hard are you willing to work! People at the UC, especially at the bigger institutions (UCB, UCSD, UCLA, UCI, hell any UC) come to play, and sometimes they play dirty! I have met some of the smartest people here who fully understood lectures from just sitting there and listening to the professor talk, but I did not let that discourage me!
I will admit, there were times where I simply felt like I did not belong here, and I emailed many of my professors back at the CCC for guidance because I really felt like I did not belong in UCLA’s competitive environment. I was discouraged and felt I was only admitted out of pity due to my low GPA and personal circumstances, but I always reminded myself that the admissions counselors must have seen SOMETHING in me for them to accept me! Everyone who is admitted here is COMPLETELY capable of making it out, but I am not saying it is going to be easy, that is all. There were nights where I literally cried behind peoples backs, and in office hours lines. The pressure at times was incredibly forceful but you learn to push through it.
I hope I am not discouraging people, but only opening their eyes. A lot of people at the CC, quite frankly, believe they are the hottest things since sliced bread (I am sure you all know one or two people like this) because they are getting A’s. THEY will be the one’s who are up for a rude awakening, but not any of you because you won’t be going into this blindly!
And do not worry about not making friends here, it is almost impossible to be that miserable. You will have a social life. 
@UCLAFFF Thanks! I got my mood up, now im determined to get in the ring and punch those grades for a knockout A lol. Im just hoping to be doing great academically while at least being able to go eat out or watch a movie at the cinema with some friends every once in a while. Though I will admit, it is the paranoia of being left behind that pushes and motivates me so I don’t flunk out miserably. Hope to do well this coming fall.
Back when UC StatFinder was up, it showed that the transfer students with top-of-the-range prior college GPAs (3.8-4.0) tended to get 3.4-3.7 GPAs at UC. However, at lower GPA ranges (e.g. around 3.0), they tended to get similar GPAs at UC as they got at their prior colleges (which were mostly California CCs).
However, it is not just moving from CC to UC – transfer students are also moving from lower division to upper division courses, which many (even those who started at UC as frosh) find more intellectually difficult.
Ok well, I’ve gotten all As and am an older student who means business, however I do work hard to do well so I’m trying to imagine the new work load. I have more often than not been the top student in my classes. I am not saying that because I think I’m a bad ass or like transferring will be easy, I think it will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I hope I can hack it. I’m presently working with 3 midterm study guides I made and each covered enough info to require 10 + pages, do you guys do similar prep at the UC?. I would be going into the psychology program so any heads up on that or the culture at UCI would be great. Thank you all for your input and grueling stories lol, it basically confirms what I was hearing. I just need to keep a high enough GPA to get into grad school, so if I can keep over a 3.5 I will be very happy.
I cannot speak much about UCI, but it is a UC school so you’re going to have incredible rigor. It really doesn’t matter which UC you go to, it is an umbrella system that has similar curriculum across the board.
But my question for you is, out of those 10+ pages, are they just random facts that you could potentially regurgitate on a multiple choice exam or are they intellectual and integrative notes that combine current accepted concepts with new and developing theories? Here at the UC, we love research/theory and most, if not all of your professors will be doing ground breaking work in their field.
They will talk about the current research they are doing, or other practices that are going on across the world and will embedded the concepts from a textbook. But trust me, the textbook will be the easiest piece of literature you will read in your undergraduate studies. You are going into Psychology, a field that has an immense amount of research. Your professors (and I am basing this off my experiences in the physiological sciences department and relating it to what POTENTIONALLY happens in the psychology department) will go ahead and have you read fifteen and twenty-paged scientific articles that have words in every sentence you’ve never heard of. You will be expected to digest it, annotate it, write about it, extend on it, challenge it and even suggest a mechanism for better outcomes. What makes this incredibly difficult is the wording the publishers use and the time frame you have to complete the assignments. Furthermore, the articles you read will not always be a turnitin.com assignments, sometimes you will be tested on them.
My third quarter here, I had a professor who gave us ten articles and 6 of them were written assignments. Where do you think the other four showed up on? The test! And it wasn’t multiple choice. We had to again, write, extend, challenge and suggest a better mechanism for the article. And this was only ONE of the questions out of about three other questions. It was all written, no MC.
What makes the UC, or any university for that matter extremely challenging is that you only get two shots to prove yourself; two midterms. In CCC, there are dropped tests and extra credit. At UC, good luck with any of that! At CCC, you’re worried about getting A’s, at the UC, you’re only worried about getting through the quarter!
Take a look at this link here, do some research on a current field of psychology you are interested in and access the full text article for free. It should give you an idea on what kind of reading, on top of your textbook reading you will be expected to follow: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
For me, preparing for an exam requires that I annotate the textbook, go to the library, check out other books relevant to the topic at hand, research on it and try to relate it all. You would think this is harder to do than memorize, but it is actually more beneficial to your learning process. You retain concepts better when you can relate and actually understand concepts.
It’s great that people are thinking ahead of how to adjust, it’s a sign that you’ll be alert to differences and ready to do what it takes.
Honestly, it’s not as tough as you’re imagining. Even those studying engineering are able to get out more than this!
I imagine that you’ll then read thru these study guides a few times before the test? While making a study guide means you had to go back thru the text and class notes, this does sound like an excessive amount for a midterm most classes, as if you are capturing too much detail rather than key concepts. More importantly, reviewing the text (or summaries of the text and lectures) is one of the less effective ways to study for 2 reasons.
The first problem with your approach is that you can end up confusing familiarity with recall. After reading thru summaries a few times the material will be familiar and many people will conclude they know it. The problem is that on a test you need to recall definitions, themes, etc. You’d be far better off turning those notes into questions because the process of recall does two things: 1) shows you what you haven’t actually learned 2) the process of working to recall something strengthens memory far more than just rereading it.
The second problem with your approach is it implies the review happens before the test. Research shows that regular review is far more effective in retention. And in fact to achieve the same level of mastery may take less total time with this approach! Sound too good to be true? In Psychology there is the idea of a “forgetting curve”. If you forget something (or struggle to recall it) but then relearn it, the memory is strengthened. Each time you repeat the cycle the memory lasts longer. Approaches capitalizing on this are termed Spaced Repetition Systems (SRS). A simple approach is to make flashcards on each chapter and regularly study them, shuffling the deck (you want a random order). A better approach is to use free software such as Anki that implements a SRS for you and automatically reschedule items depending on how well you know them.
There is a book you ought to get called “Make it Stick” about the current research on how to learn. It has lots of tips for HS and college students and will discuss the concepts above and more.
As you progress in your studies you move into classes with greater emphasis on applying concepts, as others have mentioned. A great way to do this is to create imaginary setups where you apply what you’re studying. You just learned about classical conditioning. Ok, imagine you want to train the family dog to fetch the paper. Run thru how you’d do this. Innately this forces you to use the vocabulary you’re learning and the concepts: you need to think about schedules of reinforcement, reward vs punishment, shaping, etc. Then tweak the problem. What if the dog doesn’t respond to more than 3 treats a morning? What it it fetches every paper on the block for more rewards? Even implausible constraints help; what if rewards only work on even days? The point is that the more you wrestle with the ideas, the clearer they become in your own mind and the more enjoyable the class becomes. Rather than memorizing dry lists (“the 3 principles of classical conditioning are…”) you’re really learning something. Incidentally this makes even multiple-choice tests easier. When asked “which of the following is NOT part of classical conditioning?” you just think about your imaginary training and the answer is probably obvious. The next week when you learn about operant conditioning you ask yourself how to do it that way, how it differs from classical conditioning, etc. You can apply this approach of “what if” or “how would I” to lots of classes; econ, history, sociology, poli sci, you name it.
Out of curiosity, how many of you work 30+ hours per week while at a UC full-time?
I couldn’t imagine working that many hours. I only do ten at most. I’d say the maximum amount of hours you should work while on a full-time quarter system schedule is about 20 hours a week. I know people who do this but aren’t doing so well. Unlike CCC and Cal States, almost everyone is a full time student at the UC. There aren’t many night courses offered to accommodate for “working” students.
@incogneato Some people do it. It’s not advisable. Work study is a good option, though, where one could “work” at the reception desk at a library, for example, and study while checking ID cards, etc. That’s the only way in which I see working so many hours to be feasible - and still, I’m pretty sure they don’t generally offer so many hours for work study positions.
@UCLAFFF I think that might be my biggest concern right now. 
I’ve been working 40 hours (sometimes more) per week since starting CC (full-time on the quarter system) and I’ve been able to maintain a 4.0, but I’m worried about what will happen if I get into UCLA. I don’t have any financial support from anyone so I will have to pay for everything on my own. I don’t expect to keep a 4.0, but I know that I will need to work to keep paying our rent and bills. I still have very high expectations of myself, though! I imagine that might be something I would talk to an advisor about if I get in.
I appreciate the informative replies, thanks for taking the time to write them. I bring up the study guides to illustrate the amount of material on a test. In this case I have no idea how this professor tests, all I know is she told us not to worry about x y z and study everything else, which was plenty, it’s a biological psychology class. I am deleting my answers on the study guide on my PC and will go through it like you described. I had a class where all the test answers were long form essays where I had to insert a lot of different facts about the various topics, and for that exam I practiced like you described by using blank questions. When I was in the various math classes I’ve taken I always did practice exams on myself and it all helped to solidify the stuff in my memory, which I don’t have the worlds greatest memory unfortunately, though it’s served me well enough to do well at least in the CC environment. The tests are going to be mostly multi choice and some short essay. A lot of these courses are set up that way where you are essentially expected to memorize or at least be able to identify a definition. I appreciate the NCBI link, medical research is about as detailed as it gets I would imagine, I’m in a research methods course where I’m just learning how to really put research together. I’ve had to review articles in the past and search for them, and I’ve been able to pick them apart and summarize them fine from what I recall. I am worried though, that I will be overwhelmed at first by the abrupt change of not only pace but the rigor of the UC system. In my case I’m looking to keep my grades as close to all As as I can get them without losing my mind or being unable to do anything else in my life. I need good grades so I can apply to graduate school and stand a chance of getting in, and I know it will be likely harder at the UC than at a CSU, but I feel like it’s the right thing to do for me to attend the harder more challenging school, and I have a duty I believe to learn this information and overcome the obstacles because the end game is that I will be working with clients in mental health. I’m a guy who got a GED and dropped out of college in his 20s with an alcohol addiction. I’m almost 2 years sober and have been trying to go in a whole new direction, and so far it’s been great. I want to go into this ready as possible so that I can hit the ground running and perform. You have helped a lot with that as have the others who have posted on this topic, so thank you!
I couldn’t imagine working 40 hours a week at a UC, I just can’t. If you enroll full time at a UC school, it is like having a full time job. The inside and outside preparation to do well in courses will literally be like a full time job. I always advise people going into their first quarter at UCLA to not get involved in anything; if anything, I advise them to participate in exercise or down time such as hanging out with friends (MINIMALLY). Other clubs and activities, and if possible, work should not be delved into HEAVILY, if not AT ALL during your first quarter here because you want to adjust and understand the pace of the system when you first arrive.
You are in a different situation, however, and to give you the honest to God truth, it is going to be very difficult for you to stay afloat with a 40 hour per week job at UCLA. This suggests that you work at least 5 days out the week and are working eight or so hours on those days. How will you have time for class meetings? Most of the courses here, however, are scheduled from 9AM - 5PM, and we do not offer any courses later than that, so I do not see how you will be able to make it through this system when you’ll be working (an assumed 9-5 job). You can get away with not going to class sometimes, but how do you expect to put time into studying? You are going to be attending a UC school, a place where they will expect for you to put in a full time commitment into your studies. I am inspired by your ambitions, but am also worried.
Do you qualify for FAFSA? There is no reason for anyone to be working full time at a UC, especially with the great financial aid packages they offer to their students. You will also be offered housing if you have chosen that option on FAFSA
I have heard of full time workers at the CC, but that is understandable because those schools are less rigorous and more understanding of students that come from different walks of life. UCLA will take a lot more time than your CC does, and your grades should be a priority. One of my classes this quarter required ten books, and that’s nothing abnormal. This is a different ball park from the CC you’re used to studying at.
I understand that you must pay for your own expenses, but the best possible options I see for you is to either take out a loan (if you do not qualify for FAFSA), save, or never sleep. Maybe you should take a year off and save money before transferring because it will be really hard to pay for UCLA, and attend full time as both a student and worker. Or another alternative is to take out loans and pay off the debt later down the road. There are also Cal State schools, which are way cheaper and more flexible with students who are in your situation.
Maybe I don’t know enough about your situation, so sorry if I am being to harsh or not understanding.