Community College vs CSU vs Lower UC

State Forums
1

<p>Hi, this upcoming semester I will be a senior and I really need help deciding if I should go to a community college(smc or west la), a cal state, or a lower level uc. I am a guy in case it matters.</p>

<p>My Uw gpa from freshman year was(you dont count pe correct?): 2.8 first semester and 3 second semester
My weighted gpa from freshman year was: 3.0 and 3.2</p>

<p>My Uw gpa from sophmore year was: 3.2 first semester and 2.8 second semester
My weighted gpa from sophmore year was: 3.6 first semester and 3.2 second semester</p>

<p>My uw gpa from junior year was: 3.67 both semesters
My weighted gpa was: 4.0 both semesters</p>

<p>In my senior year I think I can get a 3.8 unweighted and a 4.0 weighted(I am only taking ap literature next year and my schedule is pretty easy). I am also planning to take the sat at least twice, maybe 3 times, I think I can a 1900-2000. </p>

<p>I dont have much or any extracurriculars except that I have a job(this summer until next year), and about 40 hours of community service(at the library, but I think i tmay say city community service).</p>

<p>My case for going to community college is that it saves money, it allows me to spend 2 years figuring out what I like because I dont know my major, and I can transfer to a much better school such as ucla. </p>

<p>My case for going to a csu or uc is that it is a 4 year experience, and it lets me maybe get a head start at my major if I can figure out what I want to major in early on. </p>

<p>Please tell me your opinions on what I should do and list some good schools for me, I prefer to stay in california, but name other schools as well. Some majors/programs I may be interested in are business, management, environmental studies, environmental engineering, and maybe even pharmacy. </p>

<p>Thank you</p>

2

<p>It will help to have SAT scores. You really only have 1 more opportunity to take the SAT before applications are due - have you taken it already and what were your scores?</p>

<p>It doesn’t make sense to get a head start on your major if you don’t know what that is. Maybe you can focus on GE requirements and get those out of the way. </p>

<p>You don’t say your financial situation, but a CC is much less expensive than a CSU or UC. If finances are tight, it may make sense to go the CC route. If you do well, you will have many more options re: UCs.</p>

<p>FWIW, UC Santa Barbara is known for environmental studies. Many schools have business majors. Not sure about pharmacy: you could google to find out which UCs have a pharmacy major. </p>

<p>If you do go to a CC, make sure that your courses are UC transferable. Not every CC course transfers, and the requirements are more stringent to transfer into a UC than a CSU.</p>

3

<p>You’ve got pretty solid grades and would probably be a good candidate for most CSUs. (probably not Cal Poly SLO or SDSU) We’d need to see your SAT scores to know for sure. Unless you really kill the SAT, I think you’ll have trouble with any UC other than Merced.</p>

<p>CSUs and UCs really focus on college prep courses Soph and Jr years to calculate your GPA. You should be able to calculate your weighted CSU GPA. This is the number they look at.
[CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - High School Students - GPA Calculator](<a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU)</p>

<p>CSUs don’t consider extracurriculars so, don’t worry about ‘getting hours’ for that reason. If you want to volunteer because you support a cause, great. Otherwise, get a job, make a few bucks and gain some valuable experience. </p>

<p>I would encourage you to apply to a wide array of schools. A couple of UCs and 4-5 CSUs. If you are in N Cal, try UC Merced, SC and maybe SB, for CSUs try Chico, Sonoma, Sac, SJSU and maybe Monterey. See who accepts you and select the best match from that list.</p>

<p>I’m not convinced CCs are the money saver they are cracked up to be. Most CC kids I talk to can’t get their courses and take longer than 2 years to transfer. Few wind up at their dream schools. That extra year (or 2) out of the workforce is what’s really expensive. CSU tuition is about $7k/yr. </p>

<p>Research the ‘success rate’ of your local CC, many are shockingly low.
[2013</a> Student Success Scorecard](<a href=“http://scorecard.cccco.edu/scorecard.aspx]2013”>2019 Student Success Scorecard)</p>

<p>IMHO the 4 year experience is HUGE for most kids. You simply can’t get that as a transfer. </p>

<p>Despite what your counselors tell you, transfering to a top school like UCLA is not easy. If you get all the required courses, you need to ace ever one of them. There are about 20k applicants for 5k seats. It is still very competitive. See this link for a profile.</p>

<p>[Profile</a> of Admitted Transfer Students, Fall 2013 - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Adm_tr/Tr_Prof13.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Adm_tr/Tr_Prof13.htm)</p>

<p>Nice work on your grades! You have clearly focused and improved each year. There are many good 4 year schools available to you. My advice is focus there and make the most of it.</p>

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<p>I am going to a community college right now. I can say it is very cheap. I am going to school for practically nothing. I have enjoyed it but I think it can be harder to transfer to universities. It also is taking me a longer time to transfer. The average student transfers in 3yrs. I know people who have been there 4 or 5yrs. I say as long as you can afford it I would go to csu or uc. If you can’t then check out the cc’s but beware.</p>

5

<p>Community college is an extremely cheap and effective option; if you do really good in community college you can easily transfer into one of the higher tier UCs</p>