convincing parents for me to go straight to uc

<p>so my rents are saying that i should go to city college for 2 years first for general education, instead of going straight to UC like i want to.
i figure i ve worked my ass off during high school and wanna go to a uc n truly get a good college experience.
how do i convince them that me going to a uc straight after high school is better?
thanks</p>

<p>Make a list of things you feel like you would be missing out on by going to a city college for the first two years.</p>

<p>lol Actually...it's the same thing. They basically teach you the same stuff for the first 2 years. Going to a city college would be better, financially. Hm...the only reason I can think of, why you would want to go to UC straight is to make friends early.</p>

<p>thing is i tried that...but nothing i seem to say works.
all they can see is that im wasting money by not going to city college first.
any advice on what i could possibly say to convince them otherwise?
thanks</p>

<p>See, I could come up with some stuff, but I kinda agree.</p>

<p>The first two years or so are all GE's anyway, so going to CC first would save a TON of money and you get the same education.</p>

<p>In fact, a lot of UCs let student teachers teach the GE's, so you might even get a better experience at a CC getting full profesors.</p>

<p>So unless you're going to pay for 2 years of UC tuition yourself (don't even try, it's ridiculously expensive)...you're kind of stuck.</p>

<p>thing is my parent said basically they like giving me 50k, i can use it for city collge n then 2 yrs for major at uc, or use it for 2 yrs of uc n then take a student load to pay for the other 2 years on my own.
So i dont know yet what i will do, but if i do decide to go to a UC straight, any ideas of what i could tell my rents?
thanks</p>

<p>Tell them how the transfer rates for City Colleges are abysmal...tell them if it went bad, you might be doomed to be working as a bus driver the rest of your life.</p>

<p>I understand where you're coming from. If I worked so incredibly hard in high school only to have it all thrown away by some moronic parents making me go to the lowest possible college in the world, I'd just run away. Pffft</p>

<p>That is such a CC point of view.</p>

<p>While I admit that none of us WANT to go to a City College at first...consider the following:</p>

<p>-Once you graduate and get your degree, no one will care that you went to a City College first. They probably won't even see that unless they look at your transcripts; all they care about is where you got your degree from.
-Some City Colleges have some excellent programs...in fact, the City College in my town is well-known for its outstanding fine art department and many kids from the surrounding High schools choose to go there to give their parents a financial break and participate in something they love.
-Running away is NEVER the answer. Despite what you might think, your parents do love you and running away will only cause them undue panick. If they really didn't care, they wouldn't be offering to help you pay for college at all.</p>

<p>yeh runnin away def something i wouldnt do, i know my rents care and want whats best and even nice enough to pay for half my tuition.
like i know that there are contracts i can sign so i can basically reserve a spot at the uc i want as long as i get good grades @ city in stuff, but i guess i still want the "college experience", yet my parents see that as me just wanting to pary and enjoy freedom on their payroll. so im trying to show them , that thats now how it,
yet all the hear or seem to want to hear is that im trying to get away from them and am selfish for wanting to have fun on their payroll n even if i take loan am a moron for wasting money.
any advice?</p>

<p>I went to a CC and had the most excellent college experience in my life but IF YOU TRULY WANT to go to a UC first, this is what you should say::</p>

<p>Going to a CC does help you save money BUT there are many risks as well. </p>

<p>1) Going to a CC does not guarantee that you can transfer later to a 4 year. Although you hear of many people transferring to a CC, in reality only 1 out of 4 people end up transferring to the school of their choice. </p>

<p>2) Although a small amount of people CAN transfer from a CC to a UC in 2 years, 85% of people end up spending 4-5 years at a community college in order to gain the required amount of units needed to transfer. This is because as more and more people go to CC, it is harder and harder for people to get an EARLY REGISTRATION DATE early enough to register for all the classes you need. There are often many cases where because one person wasn't able to register for 1 required class, it delayed their time to transfer out of the CC to a UC by 1-2 semesters. </p>

<p>3) Although there are AGREEMENTS between the CC and the UC system, sometimes the agreements DON'T MATCH UP fully and a student needs to retake those classes at the UC which causes students to not graduate in 4 years because they end up needing to take more classes than the people who went there since freshman year. </p>

<p>4) There are many majors where the class the UCs require students to take AREN'T OFFERED at the CC and so they need to WAIT until they go to the UC to take it. This is VERY BAD because once they are at the UC, they already have a lot of classes to take and not having taking certain classes in their 1st and 2nd year and having to take them once you transfer will DELAY students from graduating in 4 years. </p>

<p>5) Talking about SAVING MONEY--here's something you can tell your parents. UCs offer FULL 4 YEAR SCHOLARSHIPS to students WHO ENTER AS A FRESHMAN. Transfers aren't eligible to apply to these scholarships because they are already a junior and can't apply to them. So if you want to get a 4 year scholarship (which in many schools are called the President's Scholarship) you MUST ENTER the school as a freshman or else you can't apply. There are other scholarships that are ineligible to transfer students as well.</p>

<p>6) This goes the same with the HONOR'S PROGRAM. There are GREAT BENEFITS for being in the HONOR'S PROGRAM. The #1 reason is because you get priority registration and often extra support from the TOP PROFESSORS of your school. This means you honors program students get to register the earliest--earlier than seniors, or athletes which guarantees that you will never not get into a class you want to get into. Honor's programs allow you to be top of your class and usually there is a stipend (which is free money you don't have to pay back) to buy your books with if you are in it. You also get more help than regular students and YOU GET TO WORK WITH THE TOP people--the professors and other students. But, in order to be in the honors program, YOU MUST GO IN AS A FRESHMAN--you can't be in the honors program when you transfer as a junior. If your parents want you to be able to go to the TOP SCHOOLS when you pursue GRADUATE SCHOOL, being in the HONORS PROGRAM makes you shine!! But you need to be a freshman to be even eligible to apply. </p>

<p>7) CC transfer requirements are CONSTANTLY CHANGING. One year they might say you have to take such and such courses in order to transfer and next year they might add on a few courses or replace a few other courses with some other class. You as a CC student can't keep up with these changing requirements. It delays the time when you are able to transfer. On the other hand, when you are at the UC, you won't be responsible for the changes if they make any because they look at when you entered the school and that is how there measure what requirements you need to complete. You won't need to worry about classes that you have to take at a UC because you are already here and you can plan your 4 years since all the classes are available to you.</p>

<p>8) It is hard on the student to go to a UC after going to a CC because sometimes the load is completely different and the student has a hard time adjusting to a new environment. Many CC colleges are semester systems which means classes are 16 weeks long but most UC (except Berkeley) are quarter systems which means classes are 10 weeks long--which mean YOU DO A LOT MORE in a short period of time. Many students have a hard time adjusting to the quickness of this system. If a student is use to the 16 week classes but all of a sudden needs to learn the SAME AMOUNT OF INFORMATION in 10 weeks, it is very hard and the amount of HOMEWORK you get is 2x as much. This is hard and many students get lower GPAs after transfering. Sure--they can choose to take less classes, but that will cause them to NOT graduate in 5 years--which is NOW the average amount of time it takes to graduate from an UC. (NOT 4 years). </p>

<p>9) Most people who go to UCs not only need to get use to the course load but also to the new life style. They usually don't live at home and need to learn how to cook and budget their time. If you were to go in as a freshman, you would have MORE TIME to adjust to this new lifestyle. You would get to learn about the ZILLIONS of programs your school offers to help you be successfull and you would be able to participate more because you went there since your freshman year. When you transfer from a CC, before stepping on campus, you are 1/2 way done so you only have 2 years of time to get use to it instead of 4 years so it is a lot harder for you. Plus, because you need to learn how to do all this, you won't have the time to explore the programs offered at your school, understand how hard professors grade, and more importantly, it WILL BE HARD for you to have a good social life and volunteer to be in leadership positions in clubs (which is so important if you want to get good scholarships) because you don't have the time. </p>

<p>10) Many students like the UCs because they have great study abroad and student exchange programs where you can go to another country's university to study and get credit for it just as if you were already at a UC. But, in order for you to study abroad or do a student exchange, you need to have a stable GPA at the university. Usually you go as a junior because most freshmen and sophomores aren't eligible because the school doesn't have a solid record yet. If you transfer here, you decrease the chances of you studying abroad simply because the school doesn't have a strong record of your grades. Sure, you have your grades from the CC, but they don't trust that because those are classes you took not at the UC but at the CC. So it would be better to study at the UC from the freshmen year than go to a CC if you want to study abroad. </p>

<p>Those are things you should tell your parents if you want them to let you go to a UC. You might think it's ironic for me to tell you all this even though I had an excellent CC experience but I'm only trying to help you. If you asked me what then would be the reasons for going to a CC instead of straight to an UC, I would have a lot more than 10 reasons which would TOP this list because I do believe going to a CC is better but because YOU WANT TO GO TO A UC, then go ahead and take these advices. Good luck.</p>

<p>wow!!! thank you so much!!!!
i really think this will be very useful when i tell my parents:)</p>

<p>Glad to hear of it. Always pursue your dreams!!</p>

<p>you can get a job and pay for college yourself.</p>

<p>I think the study abroad opportunity is priceless. Explain to your parents that the experience you would gain through that type of a program would truly help you find yourself and discover your passions.</p>

<p>50k probably covers 2.5 years at a UC (in state). If, you could get some local scholarships (where i live there are TONS) that are worth maybe 1500$ each, you may be able to cover that 3rd year at a UC. In that case, you would only be asking your parents for 1 more year's worth of tuition, which is pretty reasonable.</p>

<p>Good luck in your noble endevors to convince your parents to let you do what you want with your life.</p>