Hello,
Between the two community colleges, I have had a tough time deciding on which one I should attend. I am thinking about transferring out of either one within two years to a top university.
De Anza has a better transfer rate and uses a quarter system, whereas Ohlone uses a semester system but has a lower transfer rate.
Additionally, both community colleges have their own similar TAG agreements.
My question is: Does it matter which community college I go to if I want to transfer to a good University? If I maintain a good GPA in either one will my chances be the same, or will colleges favor a quarter system university like De Anza over Ohlone?
I think the answer of which school is better, it depends. What I would do is to go to assist.org, figure out your desired major(s) and see what courses articulate to your desired UC. For example, Berkeley. If there are a lot more from one CC over another, that’s the one to go to.
For example, for Computer Science, both schools articulate the CS61B class, but whereas Ohlone articulated completely if you take the data structures and C++ class, the DeAnza one is only a partial articulation - even after taking the data structure and programming class, you still need to take CS47B. Neither school has an articulation for CS61A, and both schools have the same articulation for the math classes.
We know quite a few people who do well at Ohlone and wind up going to Berkeley. And I’m sure the same is true of DeAnza. If you have close to 4.0 GPA, your chances will be good from either place.
In terms of quarter versus semester system, you are more likely to find one-to-one (as opposed to series-to-series) coverage when the CC and CSU/UC are on the same system. But check http://www.assist.org to see the actual articulation.
UCB and UCM are on the semester system, but the other UCs are on the quarter system. Most CSUs are on the semester system, and most of the rest are converting to the semester system.