Community College advice!

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am an international student beginning my studies this fall at a California community college.
I've read numerous post here about successful transfers from community colleges to prestigous universities.</p>

<p>Therefor I would like to hear your advice. I'm not familuar with the system at all so I don't know what it takes.</p>

<p>I want to hear study advice, what courses or pre reqs to take, social activities etc.</p>

<p>Bear in mind that I will be a finance major aiming for an As. degree in Finance.</p>

2

<p>Choose the toughest teachers, get to know and respect them - if they believe in you, they will guide you through the process and write solid recommendation letters.</p>

<p>For every hour officially scheduled as class, set aside 4 additional for homework (I didn't do this, but boy, would that have been less stressful than the night-before method).</p>

<p>Follow the IGETC. Transferring into UC:s isn't a very good deal for international students, but the IGETC will make sure the private colleges you apply to - more open-minded to internationals, better with financial aid - can transfer as many credits as possible.</p>

<p>I did transfer into a prestigeous university, but I'm not sure how much of a help I can be. I didn't pick the smart GE classes I should've, I didn't do that much EC:s, I didn't overextend myself to get an on-campus job. I've handled my time at cc somewhat sloppily given that there ARE a lot of opportunities available, and I'd probably be somewhat of the exception. But basically: get involved in your community. It might be in organized campus groups, or more independently as I did.</p>

<p>Enroll in the Honors Program as soon as you can. Even with this, getting that A isn't very hard at a cc, relatively speaking: this is why it's important you distinguish yourself to professors by going above and beyond expectations. Especially with professors that still teach at academically rigorous UC:s alongside the cc, having their honest estimate on where and how far you can go is invaluable.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>First you should determine which universities you wish to attend. This means considering whether you actually WANT to transfer out of your current college. You may end up liking it there. If not, choose the ones which you think will be best for you, rather than the most prestigious. Remember to have some colleges to fall back upon (which you're likely to be admitted to), not just "reach" schools (ones which very few people are likely to be admitted to). Remember, just because a school's name is prestigious/recognizable does not mean it will be the best for you, or the best to study your intended major at. Other than that I think if you search this board you can find the advice you're looking for. You'll need a near-perfect GPA, 700+ test scores are advisable, and a number of extracurricular activities. You'll need to find a way to articulate in your transfer essay what about your college you do not like, and what the potential transfer college offers.</p>

<p>But, it would be better to enter college in the Fall with an open mind. Maybe you'll find that you like it there, so give it a chance.</p>

4

<p>In terms of classes, I think it depends. If you're going to try and transfer after the first year, you're going to have to show them you can do some tough work. Maybe attempt some 300 level classes (or maybe, and I say that hesitantly, some 400 level) in your second semester. You want to show them you can handle the work in your major, but at the same time consider that all your classes may not transfer. General Education (Gen Ed) classes typically are the easiest to transfer. Contact the colleges you're looking at for some more insight on which classes to take. They probably won't be too helpful, but it's worth a try.</p>

5

<p>CX3, the OP was talking about a community college. These are two-year, and most traditional students enter these with the intention of a 4-year institution transfer.</p>

6

<p>Well, guess I neglected to pay attention to the thread title. The majority of what I posted is still relevant, however.</p>

7

<p>Don't do honors courses. They will make you work a lot more and you may end up getting a B instead of an A when schools really don't seem to care one way or another.</p>

<p>Take math/science courses. Stick to basic liberal arts courses (english, history) and avoid stuff that is less likely to transfer (art history, english lit, etc.). I disagree a/b taking the hardest teachers. Be sure to challenge yourself enough that you'll be ready for w/e college you transfer to, but don't go seeking out the most difficult teachers if you're more likely to get a B. Colleges don't care how hard it was for you if you don't have close to a 4.0 - this is almost a requirement for a CC student to transfer to a top university. </p>

<p>Take standardized tests (I recommend the ACT), study hard and do very well. It will reinforce your (hopefully) high GPA. Try and get a leadership position. These typically aren't difficult to get at a CC b/c a large portion of the student body isn't looking to have a competitive app/just wants to go to school and then go do w/e they usually would. For instance, I only had to run against 2 other ppl for President of Student Government position, and I'm glad to have attained it as it was good experience as well as a great EC. </p>

<p>Always have a backup. Good job going to a California community college. Be sure to complete certain requirements/maintain a high GPA and you can transfer to UCLA / Berkeley if you're lucky.</p>

8

<p>Hey I hope that you do very well. the community college experience is definitely different from the traditional path, especially at 17 or 18 when you are fresh out of high school and have to work/etc while you are in school.</p>

<p>My biggest suggestion to you in terms of any extracurriculars you would like to do that you think would GET you into the school of your deams remember that </p>

<p>a) its always your grades that GET you in, the ECs are just the icing on the cake
b)QUALITY not QUANTITY of ECs... dont be like me... i was involved like like 30,000 activities and just ened up burning myself out.... comapre me to frrph... he did no extracurricular activities to speak of (or at least thats what he said) and he got into yale... i didnt. i think that should say enough about the system and what they are REALLY looking ffor...</p>

<p>Anyway, thsoe are my big tips, but hey keep in touch. We are all here rooting for you! I am going to Cornell next semester and I will def tell you how it goes, etc. </p>

<p>Ill send you a PM with my email addy... keep in touch!</p>

<p>Oh and I forgot! One BIG advantage that attending a community college has over the traditional route is that you CAN get plenty of transfer scholarships. </p>

<p>I would definitely join PTK if you have the opportunity (dont listen to what other peope on this forum say- they really DO NOT know what they are talking about when it comes to this). You can get some scholarships at schools just by being in PTK. And you can apply for things specific to PTK members like the USA Today All academic team and It seems to have given a leg up to the people who applied to THE transfer scholarship - The jack kent cooke scholarship where you can get 30K a year type in "Jack Kent Cooke foundation scholarships in google and look for undergraduate transfer scholarship" - you can apply to this regardless of your "citizen ship status"...</p>

<p>Ayway, best of luck and maybe we will be seeing you going to Berkely or LA or even Stanford next year!</p>

9

<p>"
For every hour officially scheduled as class, set aside 4 additional for homework (I didn't do this, but boy, would that have been less stressful than the night-before method).
"</p>

<p>HAHAHAHA, everyone talks about this rule. (or the 3 hour -1 hour rule)</p>

<p>It's impossible...and rarely anyone does it.</p>

10

<p>I was a Chapter President for PTK. Helped me to get into Brown I'm sure.</p>

11

<p>Well, vcoleman, to be fair I did get involved in my school community, I just didn't have any titles to show for it. I did things like holding lectures, TA stuff, attend events, helped where I could with different campus organizations etc. </p>

<p>Probably the main thing is, I was extremely politically active before coming here - 24/7, and very serious about it. I didn't think of these things as "EC:s", but yeah, I guess you could consider them as strong such especially because I didn't rely on any one official outlet to define my involvement. People show their passion differently - I had already gone through years and years of loyalty to a single organization, and felt there were so many different ways of organizing around these issues (leftist stuff). At the community college I am at now, for me, that turned out to be talking to my peers about issues they didn't know about, yet (I felt) were acutely important. Neither SFJ nor MSA really had any experience with those questions, so I just went on a lecture rampage instead.</p>

<p>I hope people don't look at my case and then think, oh, I can scrap EC:s as a transfer student -- I do think it's about quality and how much you put in and get out of your opportunities (timewise, school-sponsored activitywise), just like you said.</p>

<p>Stay away from resumepadders! Unless you get involved with groups like PTK as a way of helping good projects come to fruition (I hate to say it as I find them slightly elitist - at least at my campus - but they have had some good things going lately), and actively pursue their scholarships, it's not going to mean anything beyond $65 less in your wallet.</p>

<p>At the end of the day, every school is different. Yale, for example, has a very strong emphasis on independent, creative, politically conscious thought (at least that's the perception that drew me in :) ); other "prestigeous" institutions are very different. I ended up rejected at Dartmouth, and realized a week after sending in the application (and researching it a bit more) that it'd be a disasterous fit to the point where I knew I'd never ever go there, acceptance letter or not. It was the only non-quirky/political college I applied to, and I feel a little embarrassed I'd even put it on the list. </p>

<p>"Fit" isn't just a comforting cliche, especially with private schools: they know what they're doing. They're looking for a certain kind of kid that is also looking for a certain kind of institution for mutual benefit. Bottom line, ask yourself what kind of school you're looking for, then do your research.</p>

12

<p>PTK is what you make of it. I was able to speak at freshman orientation, do city cleanups, campus beautification, attend honors topic and leadership conferences, organize canned food drives, show screenings of certain movies, etc. Was a great experience.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]

For every hour officially scheduled as class, set aside 4 additional for homework

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Also, keep in mind, that's really just a general outline of what you should do. Most kids don't do it, and a lot of classes really vary on time spent doing homework or studying. For my Calculus 2 class, I easily spent 2-3 hours a night studying and doing homework, while for one of my Liberal Arts classes (same number of credits), I studied at most 5 hours the entire semester.</p>