<p>Hey guys, I really need some advice from you guys.</p>
<p>Quick backstory. I graduated from UCSC with an Economics Major/Math Minor. Didn't really have STELLAR grades (had a few C's, mostly B's, a few A's, smoked weed a bunch.) Got out with a 3. something and hoped to get into a finance firm, but didn't get any significant leads. Got my teaching credentials and started teaching Alg2/Trig/Calculus at a high school for what I thought was decent money. I enjoyed my job, enjoyed seeing my students pass their AP Calc tests and think "Hey, I helped them accomplish that. I'm making a difference."</p>
<p>But truth of the matter is, I'm here making s flat 40k a year, while some engineering friend's I know are making 65-70k with big fat bonuses. I saved a bunch of money because I was pretty conservative with my paychecks, and now at the age of 26 I have a decent savings account set up. I look at that savings account everyday and wonder if I should take this gamble of going back to school.</p>
<p>I have enough to finance my own way through college (with a few loans of course). I'm thinking of starting fresh and go for a degree in Double E or Mechanical Engineering. I know the road is difficult, but this time I'm going to devote my entire time to studying. I know I can go back to UCSC and start working on another degree, but does anyone know if it's possible to go to a CC and transfer to a good engineering-oriented school like UCLA/Cal? </p>
<p>So to sum this all up.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Can I go to a CC and transfer over the credits I got from my Math minor? I believe I came out of it with a low 3.1 or something. Definitely nothing to write home about, but I don't want to start all over again. I'm pretty confident I know most of the Math I need to know (now how to actually apply it is a different story). </p></li>
<li><p>If I go to a CC, can I start fresh? Start with a new, clean GPA? There's a ton of courses such as O-chem, Physics, and Biology that I didn't even take at UCSC. I might as well take them with an untainted slate right? </p></li>
<li><p>How common are "mature" UC transfers? More specifically, how common are they at the TOP UC schools? I actually have some colleagues who quit their jobs in the high tech field to come teach (to live "a simpler life" they said), but they just got their credentials at some random, easy-to-get-into CSU. If I'm going to waste my hard-earned savings on another 3-year college tour, I definitely will only go for the best (UCLA, UCSD, UCB).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I don’t know much about this but the problem you’re going to run into is that you’re a 2nd Bachelor’s degree candidate. I think I saw something saying only about 15/120 UCI 2nd Bach applicants overall were accepted though going back to a CSU would be much easier. I have no idea about other schools. You’d probably have a better shot taking the pre-reqs someplace and then applying to Grad School. Just something you should look up.</p>
<p>I know a few ppl that got their BA or BS and then went to community college to take pharm pre-reqs and getting interviews almost everywhere (life experience etc). But going back to a UC for an undergrad usually doesn’t happen :/</p>
<p>You could private tutor in the summer to make up the $$.
Going rate is 1 dollar a minute for math tutors.
EZ money.</p>
<p>You were my teacher!</p>
<p>All the courses you taken so far will be counted for. You don’t have to start over.</p>
<p>You cannot get a clean slate and fresh start. So you are stuck with that GPA.</p>
<p>UCB school of engineering accepts 2nd bachelors. The thing really holding you back is your GPA.</p>
<p>I would try to get into a masters program at a CSU. You could probably find one that accepts you because of your math background. </p>
<p>I think a better investment would try for pharmacy school. Even if a with sub-par GPA, you could probably find one that will accept you. You are going to go to school for another 3-4 years and it better be worth it. If you get a bachelors in engineering you will start out a BS pay level. Will all that schooling you went through be worth that? If you are going to school for another 3-4 years you might as well aim higher.</p>
<p>I agree with iTransfer. I think something like pharm might be more practical than engineering (and still somewhat kind of related to your math background) considering that you already have a degree or you could just go to grad school for something else. It doesn’t seem like you hate math but more like you’re just looking for something that can boost your income. Accounting? Finance? Econ again? </p>
<p>Also, you can take all the pre-reqs for pharm at a CC (though you might have to hunt around a bit for some classes) and simultaneously keep your job. Downside: grad school might be expensive!</p>
<p>It’s a shame, this GPA definitely weighs on me a ton. I matured a lot during my 4 years of teaching, holding a real full-time job, and kick myself for not going the extra mile in college to get that A in Euclidean Geometry, or Multi-variable Calculus. I thought it was impossible at the time, but I just needed to study harder.</p>
<p>Pharmacy school was mentioned to me, but to be frank I wasn’t really interested in the subject. I’ll ask around a bit more at local CC’s who have UC connections (but any more advice will be greatly appreciated!) TBH, I honestly just want to start over at the CC level and see if I can get into UCB/UCLA’s School of Engineering. Start a career that I cab get excited about. If I fail, no big deal I can always fall back on my old job.</p>
<p>It’s kind of like Michael Jordan trying out baseball, you know?</p>
<p>“It’s kind of like Michael Jordan trying out baseball, you know?”</p>
<p>I don’t think that worked out too well, bud.</p>
<p>Isn’t there something where if there is a 5 year space between classes, the student qualifies to retake them? I’m probably thinking of something else…</p>
<p>Have you read Outliers? Obviously he needed 10k extra hours…</p>
<p>Have you thought about working in IT? Network engineering, database administration, and a whole host of other IT fields do not need any formal education. I am a junior in undergrad, and I work part-time in the on-campus IT office (network engineering group). All of the full-time staff have degrees in fine arts, geology, anthropology, etc.</p>
<p>The bottom of this page is about second bachelor’s degrees at Berkeley:
[General</a> Catalog - Undergraduate Education - Applying for Admission](<a href=“http://catalog.berkeley.edu/undergrad/admission.html]General”>http://catalog.berkeley.edu/undergrad/admission.html)</p>