<p>Hello. I just graduated high school and I now attend a community college in SoCal. I want to be an aerospace engineer and I would like a really good/competitive job in that field.
I have a high school cum. gpa of about 3.29 while my a-g requirements/weighted is 3.94.
I would like to know what colleges i should look at for transfering to be near the top of the list for job picks and best prepare me for that field.
What companies I should look into?
What aerospace internships are recommended/available?
What courses should I take to get into Stanford, UCLA, CalPoly San Luis Obispo, Possibly Purdue, MIT & CalTech?
Which one of those (or others) should I aim for?
What are my chances of getting in (for my major)?
What extra curricular activities should I have? (Btw I'm on the x-country team)
What are your sugestions on maintaining a 4.0?
What are your suggestions on which college I should/could get into?
What else do I need to get there? (including: what books should I buy? what videos should I watch? what podcast should I subscribe to? what people should I talk to? where should I go for grad school?) (I prefer to go to school and also work in Southern CA)
How do I set up the next 2 years of my life to (get on the right path to) obtain my goals essentailly?</p>
<p>Truthfully most of these question should be ones you look up yourselves.</p>
<p>The best advice get a 4.0 in C.C then hope for the best</p>
<p>Get a 4.0 and do extracurriculars that blow people’s minds. No generic stuff. Win some scholarships and awards. Make sure you win a championship or two on the cross country team. This will get you in the safe side for UCLA. As for Stanford, MIT and Caltech, you will not gain admittance from a CC.</p>
<p>Don’t aim low. As they say, “Aim for the best, but expect the worst”. Follow that quote and you will be successful. Don’t aim for anything lower than a 4.0</p>
<p>For Stanford, Caltech, or MIT, get some real experience in the field. I would recommend trying to find work in a lab and staying there for your whole CC session. I had a friend who was admitted to Stanford. She was an international student and as far as I know, the most important factor to admission was the fact that she worked in a chem lab for two years and the person she worked under wrote a really good letter of rec to her (her major was chemical engineering).</p>
<p>IDK what ^^^Cupertinotransfr is talking about… but you can absolutely get into Stanford, MIT or Caltech from a CC. It’s just that it definitely is NEAR impossible, but this is true from any university - not just a CC.</p>
<p>The point to remember is that people DO get into each of these schools from Community Colleges across the nation, so why not make yourself one of these people? It would also be very smart to have a plan B, C, and D though.</p>
<p>Of course, starting off by asking a list of questions whose answers are readily available per your own search isn’t the best way to start…</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>Yeah, way to get his hopes up.</p>
<p>Alright thanks. My head isn’t in the clouds, I just want to achieve the best that i can. I am currnetly researching (and have been researching) all my inquisitions. Since most of you are a lot further than I am, you guys might have some unique advice from experience, over me just going off a google database. I know I will most likely not attend those top 3 schools, but why shouldn’t I try as if I were?
So… are there any peolple, internships or books that you guys could recommend that would assist me in that? What some exaples of amazing extra curricular activites?</p>
<p>
Since you mentioned you wanted to work in SoCal: [Lockheed</a> Martin<a href=“palmdale”>/url</a>, [url=<a href=“http://www.boeing.com/]Boeing[/url”>http://www.boeing.com/]Boeing[/url</a>] (palmdale), [url=<a href=“http://www.northropgrumman.com/]Northrop[/url”>http://www.northropgrumman.com/]Northrop[/url</a>] (palmdale), [url=<a href=“http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/]JPL[/url”>http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/]JPL[/url</a>] (pasadena), [url=<a href=“http://www.pw.utc.com/Products/Pratt+%26+Whitney+Rocketdyne]Pratt”>http://www.pw.utc.com/Products/Pratt+%26+Whitney+Rocketdyne]Pratt</a> & Whitney - Rocketdyne<a href=“canoga%20park”>/url</a></p>
<p>That’s all I can name off the top of my head, but I’m sure there are others. The SF Valley used to have a lot more aerospace but it moved out to other states.
Anything from the companies listed above (search their websites for openings)
-Calculus I, II, and III
-Differential Equations
-Linear Algebra<br>
-Complete calculus-based physics series with labs<br>
-A full year of general chemistry (not the intro stuff)
For the UCs, use [url=<a href=“http://assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://assist.org]Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aeronautics/skunkworks/]Lockheed”>Skunk Works® | Lockheed Martin) to see the exact classes you would need for AE.
-UCLA and UCSD both have strong aerospace programs and they are your best bet. Cal Poly SLO is also pretty strong.
Aerospace Engineering at UCSD is impacted starting 2011 but you should have a good chance at it if you complete the prereqs and keep a 3.5+
For UCLA you’ll need all the prereqs done also with at least a 3.75+
Get an internship if you can. This would not only help you get admitted but would also help when you are searching for a job. If you want to do some ECs, look into volunteering at robotics competitions (there are quite a few, see Vex robotics for example), and other physics/science events. Probably not too amazing of ECs though.
Do extra practice problems beyond what is required (mainly for physics), go to class. If you can afford it, be a full time student with the only possible work being an internship related to your field.
For transferring to non-UCs you should post your questions on [Transfer</a> Students - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/]Transfer”>Transfer Students - College Confidential Forums) as this current subforum is specifically about transferring to a UC.
</p>
<p>Not sure about books.
For grad school - same schools you were thinking about for undergrad.
MIT OpenCourseWave. (Free lecture notes, exams, and videos from MIT. No registration required.):
[Free</a> Online Course Materials | Aeronautics and Astronautics | MIT OpenCourseWare](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics-and-astronautics/]Free”>Search | MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials)
[Free</a> Online Course Materials | Mathematics | MIT OpenCourseWare](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/]Free”>Search | MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials)
[Free</a> Online Course Materials | Physics | MIT OpenCourseWare](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/]Free”>Search | MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials)
In brief, complete your prereqs (most important, once again see assist.org), keep a high GPA and finish your GE requirements before you transfer.</p>
<p>Edit: and a note about CalTech… you will need to take a physics-based test to transfer there. If you score high that’s good news for you. But the test is hard. <a href=“http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/applying/transfer[/url]”>http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/applying/transfer</a> Has about a 10% acceptance rate for people from CC’s. Still 10% is better than Stanford and MIT rates for transfers.</p>
<p>
“but you can absolutely get into Stanford, MIT or Caltech from a CC. It’s just that it definitely is NEAR impossible”</p>
<p>Yeah, look at him getting the OP’s hopes up. Do I need to quote it again?</p>
<p>Doesn’t MIT admit something like 10-20 transfers per year? You’d have to do something astounding to catch their eye.</p>