Drop out of UCLA?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>Just wanted to come back here and get some advice as not many people in my life know what I'm going through right now, either not being transfers or just not aware of college troubles. </p>

<p>So, I just transferred to UCLA this fall from a CCC. I'm an English major and chose UCLA because it's an amazing school and because I got a full ride scholarship.</p>

<p>The problem that I'm having is that I'm not really enjoying my major half as much as I would like. I went to community college right after high school and started taking classes and figured I would become an English major primarily because I was good at writing essays and wrote for my school paper and for these reasons, the English major seemed suitable. CC was so easy for me that I was able to maintain a 4.0 in all my classes and I didn't have to read a quarter of the reading material assigned to me in my English classes. I just figured out the system and was able to get by. </p>

<p>Now, at UCLA, I've found that while my classes are not overwhelmingly difficult, I just don't enjoy what I have to do in my major. The few options I see after I graduate is teaching, law school or some type of writing job which are not easy to come by. My biggest problem is that I never had a chance to immerse myself in any other subject besides English because I wanted to get out of CC too quickly. Now I regret it and really want to drop out after this quarter, go back to Community College and see what else I like. I just don't feel satisfied and thinking realistically about the potential outcomes for this major, I think poking around and taking pre-reqs for something else might be much more beneficial in the future.</p>

<p>So, although I transferred to UCLA with a great GPA, have solid A's in my classes so far for fall quarter, and have a full ride, I'm considering going back to CC to try and explore what else I like because I just don't feel happy about my major. I hate doing the reading and I'm thinking that it will only get worse with each quarter..</p>

<p>Any advice???</p>

<p>Thanks guys..</p>

2

<p>Claymore,
dont do this. I hear its getting very hard to transfer from community college to UC’S in general and will continue to get harder. Stick with UCLA and be happy that you are there. You are going to be so proud of yourself that you got that UCLA diploma!!!</p>

3

<p>If you have a “full-ride scholarship” at UCLA, you can stay there and explore other majors (there are lots of majors at UCLA) while completing your GE requirements. No need to return to a cc - you wouldn’t be saving money, so what would the advantage be of returning to a cc?</p>

4

<p>Change your major now? Take full-time classes for this summer and next summer. You should be able to complete an entire new major easily.</p>

5

<p>There is a unit cap at UC schools. UCLA’s happens to be 216. Coming in with the max 105, that leaves me with 111 units to play around with. I’ve taken 15 of those already. There is no possible way to do all the pre-reqs for other majors that sound interesting to me and to complete their upper division requirements. Not to mention, it’s not easy to get into every major. I’m interested in computer science and academic reasons are the only thing that worries me right now, not money. It won’t cost me to go to community college and since I have an efc of 0 and don’t imagine that going up any time soon, I can’t imagine not getting a decent financial aid offer for my remaining 2 years just as I did everywhere else besides UCLA this past year. I don’t want to just finish my degree because it’s easy now and regret it later.</p>

6

<p>That’s something to consider iTransfer. Thanks for the advice.</p>

7

<p>Yes, iTransfer’s good advice was entirely different from my bad advice… too funny.</p>

8

<p>Really? I didn’t mean to offend you, it’s just that you seemed to get my primary objectives completely wrong. I don’t care about going back to community college to save money right now like you mentioned and not everyone who does so, does so because of money. I have no more GE left to complete, which is why I’m a transfer student. I don’t know if you realized that but thank you for advice nonetheless. I just didn’t consider that I could use my summers to complete a new major, it wasn’t something I thought of so I pointed that out.</p>

9

<p>I am not offended at all - just amused that you see one post telling you to just do another major at UCLA as different from another post telling you to just do another major at UCLA. (The “mom” part of my screen name probably causes a knee-jerk reaction that a cool “i” screen name does not.) And indeed, I acknowledged that the expense wasn’t a consideration by saying it would be the same at both. It looks to me like you are just trying to find an excuse to leave UCLA - you don’t need an excuse, you can just leave if you want to.</p>

10

<p>…
10char</p>

11

<p>What other majors do you have in mind exactly? Drop out and go for a more “difficult” major if need be. good luck with calculus though</p>

12

<p>UCLA has many academic, career and school counselors. Now that you are at UCLA it is time to access their expertise and get tested for career compatibility and really search out who you are. The fact that you are questioning your future and your major is EXACTLY what UCLA is designed to trigger in you. That is why you are there – self exploration. Take advantage of what services are available to you to get what you want out of UCLA. Stay put – explore within the system. That is unless you have decided for some reason that you do not deserve to attend a great school with a full ride. In that case, go back to a comfortable CC where you will be less challenged…</p>

13

<p>My friend works very hard trying to get into UCLA, and you are like the opposite of him. </p>

<p>serious: Change to the major that u like, or challenging major.</p>

14

<p>Stay as an English major and check out other classes. Just because you’re in English doesn’t mean you can’t try out biology/ computer science/ other classes. </p>

<p>You can even apply for medical school if you find that you like biology enough (one strategy for getting into med school is to be an easy humanities major such as political science and build the med school required classes). </p>

<p>There are people who wish they were in your situation, I know the feeling of not liking the major you chose but remember to consider all of your many options.</p>

15

<p>As soon as I read “full ride scholarship to UCLA” I got extremely angry at you for even thinking about dropping out. </p>

<p>Look, you’re tired of school. I know how that goes. But you are in a position that most people dream of. To squander that away because you don’t feel the same way you did in CC is complete ********.</p>

<p>Man up, take some classes outside of major, and explore in UCLA. Don’t you dare go back to Community College. </p>

<p>Jesus christ… Drop out from UCLA… Ay yay yay yay, what is this world coming to…</p>

16

<p>PLEASE STAY AT UCLA. It is getting harder to transfer to UC’S. Can you switch majors there?</p>

<p>Also, you can prob. do a post-baccc?</p>

17

<p>Unless you major in something specific that directly leads to a specific position after undergrad(ie engineering, accounting, nursing, architecture, etc.) you will still face the same problem (regardless of your major) of deciding what you want to do for a career/work/job/life after undergrad
Now that you have the chance, use UCLA’s career services. You can set up a same day appointment, and talk with a career counselor. You don’t have to go in knowing what you want to do, or where you will go with X major. The counselors are really really helpful, as are the academic advisors at UCLA. UCLA’s BruinView website lists plenty of job openings that don’t require specific majors from various employers who are hiring for entry level positions. Unless you want a specific job that requires specific skills, stop worrying about what you could do with a major. </p>

<p>In regards to the English major problem, nothing guarantees you that falling in love with philosophy, or geography, or history, or poli sci, or sociology, or what have you at a CC, will lead to you still being in love with the upper division courses once you transfer again and/or return to UCLA. Take the time to take upper division classes(that are not part of the English requirement, but that could fulfill the university/college upper division requirements), in other departments. Make sure to pick classes that you think could interest you or that you think could lead to you learning about something new. Keep an open mind.</p>

<p>I did this the first two quarters I was at UCLA(along with taking major requirements), and I realized I was in the wrong department when I realized how much of a drag it it felt to finish the requirements for a major whose classes I had no interest in.
If you speak a second language, or can read and write in one, take a look at Comparative Literature. It is probably the best major for those who don’t like the requirements of the English major (I know I didn’t, but I did love the elective classes offered-if you haven’t taken any of the electives, I highly recommend you do so. I’m talking about the courses that revolve around a theme, genre, etc). If you have the English lower division requirements completed, the Comp. Lit department might give you credit for it so that you don’t have to take time to finish their 2 lower division classes.
Also, another option could be just taking 4 random upper division classes in 4 different departments during the Winter quarter. This way you could get a real sense of what it would be like to major in X department. If you haven’t already noticed, the material taught at CC, does not give a good indication of how and what material will be covered at UCLA. If you happen to find yourself really liking one of the classes(and make sure it’s not because of the teacher), then consider it for a major. If you find yourself having to take lower division requirements for the major, then take a leave of absense for a quarter or two, and then go back to finish the major, that or if you have the time, then simply plan ahead and enroll in the lower division requirements alongside upper division requirements.</p>

<p>If you have further doubts/concerns, then I highly recommend you speak to an academic counselor. This literally can be done today/tomorrow. Just go to Murphy Hall, room A-316, as early as you can (starting at 8:30) and set up a same day appointment. One 30 minute session could really help you decide what you want to do(stay in the department, explore other majors, or go back to CC-and what the best way is to manage the logistics of it.</p>

18

<p>I agree with the 100% of people who recommend staying. UCLA? Free ride??? Hell graduating from ucla is great to put on job applications. Major wont set your job in stone. English isn’t that bad (despite the fact that I would never major in it). My older sister graduated from UCD with English. She worked for a bio firm in San Francisco and is now a tutor. TUTORS make hella cash but I’m now sure relative to post-university jobs. You can also travel abroad and teach English as well. Seeing as my sister got into a bio job (which she later quit) I would just stick with it, graduate and do what you want to do when you graduate. There are always options of things you can do after you finish college despite the major you choose. Apart from that though, take as many different classes that seem interesting as you can to browse around abit</p>

19

<p>Most of the comments are tearing you a new one for considering this and their arguments are justified.</p>

<p>Everyone feels a little burnt out every now and then, hell, I sometimes look at the dense readings for some of my classes and think to myself, “W t f am I doing?” These sentiments don’t last very long because I know that what you study in school doesn’t bind your career opportunities. English is a broad major and I think you’re wrong in your thinking that you’re going to be limited to law, writing jobs, etc. Here is evidence to prove that,</p>

<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/English.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/English.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Grind it out. You’re in a position to make decisions but don’t make an irrational decision for the sake of making a decision. I’m assuming time, money, and parental response aren’t too big of a deal in your situation so you have room to contemplate. Think it out, converse with family and friends, keep working hard, and in the end the decision is yours to make.</p>

20

<p>Most of the arguments here can be broken down into four main ideas:</p>

<ol>
<li>There is a realistic chance of you totally messing up if you go back to CCC.</li>
<li>You will lose a lot of prestige by dropping out of UCLA and going to CCC. Most people are trying desperately to get out, why would you want to get back in?</li>
<li>The job market/exit options for UCLA English grads is good enough to make staying worthwhile.</li>
<li>You don’t know what you want to do anyway, the time you spend figuring it out at CCC won’t be worth the benefit.</li>
</ol>

<p>You need to do extensive research and decide how each of these apply to you.</p>

<p>I went through something similar: I was admitted to UCB/UCLA for Fall '11 with History, though I didn’t get any significant amount of FinAid. I ended up staying at CCC because I didn’t like my career options and didn’t want to spend the rest of my college career studying History. It’s too early to say whether I made the right decision, but so far I don’t regret staying.</p>

<p>I will warn you though, if you end up going back to CCC, you’ll get crap from everyone that you tell.</p>