Community College Success Stories

Transfer Students
142

<p>I think that going to a CC is such a good idea for many kids. It did work for me. I went back several times and actually had almost enough credits for 3/4 of my 4 year degree. Not all the right classes but a ton of extra’s. I changed what i was studying a few times and enjoyed all of those specialized classes that i took.</p>

<p>I went to HCC in Tampa. Hillsborough Community College. I also took some classes at Santa Fe CC. that i really liked. I kind of did it backwards and it took me much longer to finish than most folks.</p>

<p>I did finally manage to graduate to USF and get my degree. I don’t know about other states but from my understanding if you go to a CC in Florida you will automatically be accepted into a state school. </p>

<p>From someone that would have never been able to get into any university, being able to go to USF was really awesome. I think that the CC experience got me ready for university, and that it would work the same for other people too.</p>

143

<p>Congratulations to everyone who has worked to achieve their goals, you all deserve it way more than I do.Being as I have gotten into a school, here in my story:</p>

<p>I went to a great high school and did not take it seriously at all which left me with a 2.7 GPA (took honors and AP but didn’t study). I assumed I would get into my state flagship, but got wait listed with an option to go to a lesser state campus (I would only go to a flagship like an idiot). I also got no financial aid due to the amount of money my parents have, and they could only help me with a small portion of the total cost (classic middle class problem).</p>

<p>The only other school I got into was a “meh” out of state flagship that was really expensive and decided to go their (really mature I know, but I wanted the “college experience” because my friends were all leaving). I decided I would go to it for a semester and transfer to my instate school.Long story short, I ended my first semester with a 1.98 GPA and was placed on academic probation. I applied to the in state school I originally wanted to attend and was rejected (no surprise). I decided to go back to the out of state for another semester in hopes of having a huge GPA boost, but only raised my GPA to 2.3. I applied again to the in state flagship and was rejected.</p>

<p>After realizing what a dumb a** I was the entire time, I decided to transfer to community college for a year. I took ten classes and managed a 3.9 GPA while working. More than grades though, I grew up. I realized I wanted to change my major and really go after a career for the first time in my life. It also gave me a huge confidence boost academically that I never had in my academic career. I have gotten into everywhere I have applied so far, and financially community college will leave me with the same amount of debt as if I had gone instate the whole time. I wish I had just gone to community college from the beginning, but hindsight is always 20/20. To anyone reading this who is like I was, forgo the baseless stigma and stereotypes surrounding community college and go. I feel really fortunate for the second chance I was given and will never take for granted what I have because of it.</p>

144

<p>Congratulations to everyone who has achieved their goals! This is a great thread and highly inspirational. Here’s my story: I was quite distracted in high school and had my priorities all messed up. I didn’t work to my full potential and didn’t challenge myself at all, I would say I was a below average student. I took plenty of honors classes in high school but only one AP class. I was class of 2012 and graduated with a 2.8 weighted and 2.5 unweighted GPA. I’m currently attending a local community college and doing fairly well. I currently have a 4.0 cumulative GPA and I have an A in all the classes I’m taking this semester. I have 3 more semesters of community college and I hope to transfer to UNC in the fall of 2014. I also found a unique internship with AT&T and plan to save up some money and also put it on my transfer applications.</p>

145

<p>I’m 27, high school drop out. GED > 5 years in the Army (Infantry) > injury > depression > wife > kids > currently in 2nd semester at a CC, Treasurer on the student government. 3.5 last semester, looking at around a 3.0+ this semester. Took SATs this morning (awkward, but feel confident about the test) and I’m trying to go to one school, with a couple back up schools, just in case. UVa is my goal, but if I can’t get in there, I’m looking at UNC as a back up, but I can’t decide on any others yet. </p>

<p>I’m a 1st generation, non-traditionally aged, native american, student-government-office-holding, low-income, parent of 2 toddlers and an Army veteran. I absolutely have letters of recommendation from both the Dean of Student Services and the President of the college, but I could possibly get Mr. DeLong to write a letter of recommendation, by which time he should be a congressman. My grades are so-so, but I think the rest of it, combined with my sat score hopefully in the 1850-1900 range ( I feel like I rocked that test today, so maybe higher ) will get me into UVa. Applications go in before March, now that my SATs are finished I need to just keep working on these essays.</p>

146

<p>Hey everyone i live in Washington state and i am a freshman right now at my local community college. Next year i want to transfer to a university badly, the schools i am looking at are Washington state university, Eastern Washington university and Oregon state university. I am confused by the whole transferring process. Each school wants the applications in by February 1st or 2nd, So i dont understand? how are they supposed to see my whole year at cc? Do they not look at it? I hope they dont look at my high school records:/ i had a really hard time in high school, i had a bunch of family problems and then my dad died So i never was able to get good grades, i think my high school gpa was a 2.4. I want to go to a university so bad to make my dad proud but i dont know how i am supposed to get into one. P.S. my mom and dad are alumni at Eastern Washington University. I dont know if that will help my chances getting into EWU or not. Anyways any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!</p>

147

<p>One of the amazing topics ever in the forum ! OF COURSE BUMP ! :slight_smile:
But guys please write your GPA for transferring !</p>

148

<p>THAT’S SO AMAZING ! afazchas you did amazing job ! Congrats !</p>

149

<p>Did you really get into MIT? I want to go to MIT so bad, it’s been a dream of mine since I was little. I’m really into engineering specially, civil engineering that’s my major. I’m currently at CC and rocking a 4.0 gpa but what else can I do to increase my chances of getting in?</p>

150

<p>Hey guys.
My story is still being told but it sounds like so many posted before.
Went to a great high school but didn’t take advantage of my opportunity.
It wasn’t that the work was hard, i just didn’t care. I always did the work, I just always did it half-assed. Anyways, I graduated with a 2.92 gpa and got into schools but since I didn’t receive any aid I had to attend CC. I kicked and screamed but I think it was the best decision of my life. I saved a whole bunch of money and am now waiting to hear back from various schools I wouldve never been able to attend coming straight out of high school. I actually like my choices far more then the choices I had available when coming out of high school! My GPA is now a 3.78, many of which come from honors courses, and I am a member of phi theta kappa. In addition to this time at CC I have found my passion in photography and have had various internships that help showcase this. Below are my credentials; I cant wait for what the future holds! Anything is possible through hard work! This thread is exactly what I need when I feel anxious about it all.</p>

<p>HS GPA: 2.92 UW
SAT: 1760 (ehh)
College GPA: 3.78 (Will be 3.81 after this semester)
EC: DC Sports Fan Photographer, Small Marketing Firm, Part Time Job at California Tortilla, Photographer for Event at Capital, Videographer for countless music videos, Head-Photographer of Student-Run Journal at CC.
Applied to: UNC-CH, Syracuse University, UConn, UMD (Safety since I’m from MD), NYU, St. John’s University (Safety)</p>

151

<p>I love the stories. I did not read them all but the ones I did hit right at home with me. It is wonderful to read I am not the only person who is taking the CC route to a major university.</p>

<p>Highschool: Despite a strong push from my parents to do well in school and apply myself, all k-12, I never did. I found school boring and pointless. Regardless I graduated HS with a 2.47 gpa, rank 346/476. While in HS developed drug use patterns which did little to help my academic cause (not that I cared at the time).</p>

<p>College 1: Small school, enrolled to make my parents happy. Smoking pot was more important – got through both semesters, many W’s, ~ 2.x gpa, didn’t return for the following Fall semester.</p>

<p>College 2: A year after a miserable attempt at College 1, I enrolled at a local CC for round 2. Once again, smoking pot was more important – all W’s first semester, clearly did not return for Spring.</p>

<p>College 3: Two years after College 2 - similar stories as above but alcohol was the demon this time. I got through both semesters with a roughly 3.0 gpa, and a few W’s. Never returned for the following Fall semester.</p>

<p>College 4: Five years after college 3 - now in my late 20’s and sober. I figured I was at my last hope to get a college education rather than work at McDonalds the remainder of my life. I enrolled in a lab technician 2 year program. I thought this would be a decent fit as the few classes I did enjoy while in HS were math and science. I rolled through the first semester with a 4.0. At that point I began to believe I had the potential to receive a 4 year degree. I rolled through Spring semester with another 4.0. Off to College 5 I went, to start taking pre-engineering courses.</p>

<p>College 5: My current school (the #1 feeder CC to the major university in town). I am wrapping up my last semester. I have a 4.0 thus far, with no signs of that stopping. Classes completed include, calculus 1-4, physics with calculus 1-2, chemistry through organic, and obviously some generals. </p>

<p>I have submitted 3 transfer applications to respectable universities. I did not apply to anything too dreamy or prestigious. I did not feel I could get into anything too “dreamy” with my horrible past record. None the less, I have been admitted to 2 of the 3 thus far, still nervously waiting for my #1’s decision.</p>

<p>That is my story of how CC allowed me to go from nearly nothing to attending a university pursuing an engineering degree come Fall 2013. If I can make this happen, so can anyone. </p>

<p>My first semester at College 4 I had a professor give two tips on how to be successful in college. These tips have stuck with me since.</p>

<ol>
<li>Go to every class</li>
<li>Do ALL the required work</li>
</ol>

<p>That advice seem easy and obvious, but the majority of people I see struggling or dropping out are the ones who skip constantly, and the ones who can’t get the work done.</p>

152

<p>My story: I was a terrible student. I slept in class. I was always emotionally down and looked devastated all the time. Result: terrible GPA, little friends, no future, no college.</p>

<p>I attended community college. I felt that I needed to change. Something hit me and I realized that I needed to change. I could no longer live like I could.</p>

<p>So I worked hard.
Went to community college.
I got all As in my classes.
Graduated with a 4.0 GPA
Became a Valedictorian speaker for the graduating class
Earned tons of scholarships
Got into all the universities I applied for.</p>

<p>Transferred to Berkeley.
Now one of the top students there.
In a highly selective research program that pays me over 7 grand.
Lots of friends.
Intellectually driven.
People see me as heroic and imitable lol.</p>

<p>Now planning to go to Stanford for graduate school.</p>

<p>Very happy life :)</p>

153

<p>My story. I attended a extremely strict (christian) high school, which I hated! I won’t get into specifics, but lets just say I dreaded going to school - everyday was a nightmare. The majority of students came from wealthy families, or were deeply religious (missionary kids, pastor kids), so naturally anything fun like video games, music, television was from the DEVIL! Everyday we had chapel, similar to church - a little bible lesson, some praise songs, prayer. Then it was off to our first class - where we were force fed more religion. I’d say each class (math, science, history, ect…) was 50% religious mumbo jumbo, 25% pointless ********, and 25% actual science and math. I know this is probably just an excuse for not going straight to college, but this school jaded my perception of academia. Most of the time I would just tune out and draw in my notebook. As a result I had a borderline 2.0 GPA - I barely graduated HS. </p>

<p>While most of my classmates went off to college; I spent the next 7 years working. Naturally I hated academics, vowed never to return to school, and decided to immediately join the workforce. At age 17, straight out of high school, I landed a decent union job. I started at the very bottom and worked my way to the top a job that paid $26.50hrly. At age 25 I had a great job, I worked nights (graveyard shift) which somewhat sucked but kept me out of trouble, yet I wasn’t happy! Most of my co-workers had been working there for 20-30-40 years. Relatively speaking most were happy, but I felt stuck I wanted more out of life. So I decided to attend community college in my free time. The first three weeks I wanted to quit, I seriously contemplated quitting numerous times yet stuck it out. The first semester was definitely the hardest for me, but I made some friends and ended up with a 4.0GPA </p>

<p>Due to my job I ended up taking a bunch of online classes as well, and I sorta got addicted to academics. I figured I could finish 10x quicker taking online classes and on campus classes. So the following three semesters I completed 18 units, 21 units, and 18 units! I ended up in love with academics! As of writing this I have 70+ units completed, all lower-division G.E. and all lower-division course needed for two different majors (couldn’t decided what I wanted to major in). I applied to CSULB and CSUF for fall 2012, but failed to meet one requirement. Currently I’m finishing up a 3 unit course part of the golden 4, needed to transfer, while also completing the requirements for an AA degree. </p>

<p>About 6 months ago I lost my awesome job, due to company layoffs, and am so glad I decided to attend college. I applied as a transfer student to CSULB for Fall 2013 and was accepted =] Right now I’m planning to take 12 units during the summer upper-division G.E. and 1-2 courses in my major, if all goes well I should be graduating in 2014!</p>

<p>After completing my BA I plan to pursue a MA, and if the opportunity is there my ultimate goal is to obtain a PhD.</p>

154

<p>Non-trad started at a CC (4.0 through 27 credits) → transferred to a mediocre large state school for soph yr. (15 credits 4.0 - 17 in progress w/4.0 midterms) → just accepted to UPenn CAS</p>

<p>Started college Jan of last year @ CC, full load in summer school @ CC, transferred in late august to 4 yr school, and am sitting here 15 months later w/admission to the University of Pennsylvania…pretty much in shock still!</p>

<p>It can be done just keep grinding and make sure you get all A’s…rate my professor and myedu have helped me pick every course I’ve enrolled in along the way. USE THEM WISELY to achieve a 4.0 then anything is possible</p>

155

<p>For those who have attended a community college and a four-year university, how much easier is CC in terms of grading? I recognize that standard Calc II is taught quite similarly everywhere, but that CC students are graded more easily seems like a reasonable proposition since they have little competition. I am always surprised at the sheer number of CC 4.0s on here (and the lack of four-year 4.0 transfer students). Many CC students have low SAT scores in the 1800-2000 range to go along with their 4.0 gpas, which makes me further question the grading difficulty. </p>

<p>If it is quite a bit easier to get a high GPA in CC (and I think it is), do colleges take this into account? IMO, a 3.7-3.8 gpa at a four-year university is worth a 4.0 at CC.</p>

156

<p>highly dependent on specific teachers in my opinion. CC was filled w/many first generation students, immigrants, etc. who were inclined to work hard but were there due to financial considerations, also had its fair share of fresh outta HS directionless students. 4 yr state school is filled w/its share of students here to party and get laid. That being said humanities courses are considerably more daunting at the university level and there are certainly more ambitious peers here, particularly those in the honors college who bypassed top 30ish options for the free ride.</p>

<p>as far as a 3.7 uni gpa = 4.0 at CC inclined to point out that a 4.0 has no blemishes while the 3.7 does…if set on transferring don’t let your gpa be a hurdle and a 3.7 is a hurdle for the elite schools regardless of it being Uni vs. CC.</p>

157

<p>I’m in the honors college at my university, and if my GPA (3.8) were viewed in the same regard as a community college student’s 3.8, I would feel that it would be really unfair. This is one of the biggest things I am worried about in transferring.</p>

158

<p>reasonable concern to have in my opinion but it might be depending on where you’re applying. Again the 4.0 shows maxed out potential. I think honors college status carries little weight in the process to be honest. I have taken an honors course here at my uni and found the course to be more demanding work wise, but grading has been the same if not easier.</p>

159

<p>All of my grades are based on class distribution though. If I were at some community college and if I were being distributed against the bottom percentile of last year’s high school graduating class, I would come out with an A+ every time. Here, I was taking an intro physics class for physics majors (even though I’m not a physics major) and it was curved down to a 2.6 GPA! I ended that one with an A-.</p>

160

<p>probably not the wisest choice to make then in terms of class selection…if you’re applying to elite level schools and coming from a peer then I think a 3.8 is great. However, if you’re aiming to jump a lot like I am, maxing out shows you haven’t met your limit yet. A 3.8 gives them some indication of what you’re capable of, and if it’s not at a peer school it gives them reasons to deny admissions.</p>

161

<p>What on earth do you mean by ‘maxing out’? That’s exactly the opposite of what one should intend to do in university. Sure, I could take your advice and fill my schedule with intro psych, sociology, elementary calculus, and classics and get a 4.0 gpa, but that’s not worth a 3.5 GPa in real courses in my opinion.</p>