From Germany to a CC to transfer to a four-year university

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hello together,

At first I’ll give you a little overview:
I wasn’t always the best student actually I’ve never really cared about school. I even failed two classes…
But then I’ve really changed and just graduated from a higher secondary vocational school with a GPA of 2,1 out of 6,0.

My future plans are to apply to a Community College in California and then transfer to an four-year university of the UC System, preferably UCLA, UCSB or UCB, or USC. Maybe even an Out-of-State University which depends on the agreements of the CC with them. My intended Major is Geology.

I’ve looked for CCs and ended up vacillating between the Santa Monica College and the Santa Barbara City College. Does anyone have experience with these two?
I looked for reviews on them but there are as many good ones as bad ones and both have their points…
Right now I’m tending to SMC because of the higher transfer rates.

I’d really like to know what are you think of this plan and if you could give me any more tips.

2

It’s a fine plan if you can afford it. Neither community colleges nor University of California give financial aid to international students. As for SMC or SBC - both are fine schools and should be a good avenue for transfer. Both are also in expensive areas, do keep that in mind. Another option is going north, to Foothill College or De Anza College which are also respected and have transfer agreements with UC Berkeley and UC Davis, among others. But these are also located in expensive areas.

3

I would like to second the Foothill and De Anza suggestion. I have a graduate degree from Stanford and there’s still technical classes of interest for me at these community college. (Unlike most other community colleges, which only teach introductory classes.)

4

Okay thanks!
What do you guys think of the Pasadena city college? It’s a little bit cheaper than SMC and SBCC.

5

You will need to be sure that you will be able to pay all 4 years for your education. Community Colleges in California won’t give you any aid and the UC’s give very little aid. This is important, because if you decided going back to Germany during your studies you would have to start from the beginning again. Community Colleges aren’t recognized as higher institutions in Germany so you would simply not be able to transfer your college credits.