Hi, I don’t know if these forums are still active, but I am having some trouble deciding on the cc I want to attend. I was deciding on a college but realized I can not afford the student debt as I am applying individually. For those who have attended these colleges, I would like some advice. I went to a private high school so generally the education shouldn’t be an issue. For me can you guys compare the UC transfer programs they offer and which ones are better? I know that Foothill and De Anza are quarter basis and that West Valley is semester, and I have no problem with that. But which of these offers better and easier transfer programs for the UC shstem? Besides that a social life is also a factor to me because I believe that I can achieve my goals, so why not have some friends and be socially active. How’s the social life like at these colleges? Is it easy to make friends in one college than the other? Will I be able to build friendships and connections in my life for future business opportunities? I am a hardcore extravert and yes I can focus on school but the social life is also a factor in the cc I am choosing. Keeping these in mind, which college is best fit for me? Sorry to keep this so long but I’ve been in a dilemma since I can no longer go to the private college I was planning to go to.
I’ll be straightforward about this. De Anza has the highest transfer rates in the state. Last year they had more Berkeley transfers than West Valley had ENTIRE transfers. The quarter system is one of the biggest loopholes there is, that’s how I was able to transfer in 1 year. De Anza has more classes, way more easy GE’s, and a much, muuuchhh better reputation. That matters when transferring.
The downsides to De Anza are that for STEM classes, the teachers usually suck and/or it’s very difficult to actually get classes. Also, the social scene is nonexistent. Nobody is really trying to make friends, not long last ones anyways. It’s a place to do ur stuff and go home and transfer out ASAP. West Valley has a far nicer campus, less demand for classes, and you will have a much more enjoyable time there.
Also, Foothill and De Anza are sister schools, and Foothill has some of the easiest GE classes to have ever existed. Where you want to go all depends on what your goal is. I’ll tell you this, the “connections” you make at CC are useless, for the most part. CC isn’t the place to try and make friends and have a good time. It’s great that you’re very extroverted, but use those skills when you transfer out to a real university.
If you want to go to UCB or UCLA and other top tier schools, and want to get out of CC ASAP, which I highly recommend, then go to De Anza. As long as you’re not a CS or Engineering major, you can easily TAG to any good tier 2 UC and have very, very great chances of getting into Tier 1 schools. WVC will probably be more fun, and you might have a happier time there, but in the scope of your long term success, De Anza will leave you better off.
This is my honest opinion, others might disagree. Transfer rates do not lie though. I got in from De Anza with only 25 units completed when I applied, finished 75 more in Fall/Winter/Spring quarters, and got into UC Berkeley less than a 1 year after starting at De Anza. This would have been impossible from West Valley.
Do with this information as you wish. Best of luck to ya.
Use https://www.assist.org to see which community college has the best coverage for lower division courses for your major at your target UCs and CSUs.
Note that, out of UCs and CSUs, the quarter system campuses are (a) all UCs except UCB and UCM, and (b) CPSLO. If your community college and UC/CSU are on different calendars, you may have to ensure that you take complete sequences of courses (e.g. math, chemistry, physics) before transfer to avoid ending up with partial coverage of a course after transfer and having to repeat part of the course to get the rest of the material.