<p>For my fellow 2008 transfer admits.
Congratulations to all of you that have heard from the college of your dreams!
If that didn’t exactly happen… I’m sure your second choice is still a very highly recognized amazing school. And you’re gonna love it! After all that hard work you all deserve it :)</p>
<p>I just want to know how the TIMING worked for everyone that applied last year (since transfer applicants must apply a year earlier before their first quarter of school).</p>
<li><p>When did you start writing your personal essays? What were your essays regarding? (I see a lot of “I would give my essay a 9 or 10. It’s DAMN good”).</p></li>
<li><p>IGETC? HONORS? TAG? TAP<I’m dying to know this one most!!
Did you finish your pre-reqs?</p></li>
<li><p>GPA and MAJOR pleeeeeeeeeeze</p></li>
<li><p>schools applied/admitted</p></li>
<li><p>A word of advice or encouragement for this year’s applicants?
What would you have differently if you were to do the whole transfer process again?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I would appreciate it SO MUCH for any advice.
And don’t feel pressured to answer all the questions, you don’t have to share your grades or your schools at all if you’re not comfortable!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>To be perfectly honest I started working on my essay about 2 days before the deadline; i had the most difficult time figuring out what I wanted say in that essay. [which i don't recommend] I focused on the community work that I have done and how it related to my interest in my intended major.</p></li>
<li><p>I have not finished the IGETC, my last 2 classes will be finished this semester. i did finish all my pre reqs with a 4.0 (expect ucla I got a B in one class they wanted)</p></li>
<li><p>3.75/ Political Science
Applied to: USC, UCB, UCLA, UCSC, UCD, UCI, UCR
Accepted: UCB, UCSC, UCD, UCI, UCR
Rejected: UCLA
Pending: USC</p></li>
<li><p>Try to maintain your GPA as close as possible to a 4.0; if you get w's explain your reason. i would have perhaps started on my essay earlier. Make sure you have strong EC's; finish your pre reqs asap, that was the most important part for me, oh your pre req's should recieve a 4.0 gpa. [it is your major after all]</p></li>
</ol>
<p>also, don't freak out so much on the essay, as long as you convey your individual self well on that essay you should be good. make sure they get a sense of who you are. stand out in a non-bragging kind of way.</p>
<p>You should really utilize your Christmas break to work out your applications, especially your essays. If you wait until afterward, you'll be swamped trying to do the other things that beef up your application -- maintaining the 4.0 (or whatever), doing ECs, getting good recommendations. The quality of your app will suffer if you wait until the last minute, so give yourself some time over Christmas to really plan through your reasons for transferring and all that. It really helped me out. </p>
<p>I don't know what all those abbreviations you used are; guessing they're a UC thing, because none of my schools had "prereqs". I was in the Honors program at my school, though. Stats: 4.0 after first semester (will also have a 4.0 this semester too) at a small private school in TX. Major: Theatre and English. I applied to and was admitted to: Whitman, Conn College, Centre, Hendrix, and Bennington. I'm still waiting to hear back from Kenyon, Sarah Lawrence, and Skidmore. </p>
<p>It's great that you're starting your research early. Since I was applying to so many schools with various requirements and deadlines, I made a binder with pocket dividers for each school. I wrote down deadlines, dates that I had mailed pieces of my app, dates of various emails I sent to each school, etc. It was really helpful in keeping me organized. Good luck!</p>
<p>i started doing everything on christmas break and even before that (i was really miserable and it was a good way to get my mind off school but its not necessary to do so early). I wrote my essay about how my favorite class in college was also my most difficult, and how that inspired me and made me realize i want more out of my education. I also talked about how i wanted a smaller, liberal arts background and i liked the philospohy of being well rounded instead of being professional in one area.
the most important things to do are to get the best grades you can in challenging classes (while still keeping them in general areas so that the credits will transfer) and to form good relationships with professors who can write good recs. its important to have someone who can put in a good word. colleges appreciate an upward trend too!
EC's in college are important too, but dont worry about having a million things. I had two really important things (volunteer work and a job working with children because im a possible education major), and thats really all you need. just pick a thing or two and be really dedicated.
i have gotten into conn college as well, and im still waiting on wesleyan, vassar, and brandeis. hope this helps and best of luck!</p>
<ol>
<li>IGETC? HONORS? TAG? TAP<I'm dying to know this one most!!</li>
</ol>
<p>The Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum, or IGETC, is the list of courses you have to take before you are able to transfer to a UC or CSU (IGETC lists the courses for both). Now, note that it only lists the BASIC REQUIRED courses. In addition to it, you must take other courses to add up to a total of 60 units/credits. The additional courses should be what each specific UC or CSU requires for your intended major (you can find a list of theses courses in your school's counseling center), and any "left over" needed credits afterwards are free reign for any other classes you have interest in, assuming they are transferrable courses to the UC and/or CSU systems (this is typically specified in the course description). You must follow the IGETC to transfer- it is what your school certifies you have completed so you qualify as a junior when you transfer. University</a> of California - Admissions</p>
<p>TAP and honors go hand-in-hand. TAP stands for "Transfer Alliance Program" and is, in a sense, a deal UCLA has made with community colleges. I am not sure if it is the same deal with all community colleges, but Fullerton and Cypress both require a GPA of 3.5 to qualify. The way it works at these 2 schools is you keep a GPA of 3.5 and above for your freshman year and apply for the honor's program. Then, for your sophomore year you still keep a GPA of 3.5 and above and take some honors classes. If you do this, you qualify for TAP, which has something like 80 or 90% success rate for transferring to UCLA. Also, I know that Fullerton uses TAP with other UC's. I'm not too savvy on those details though. But I hope this helps a little!! UCLA</a> Undergrad Admissions: Transfer Alliance Program</p>
<p>simplycyn, thank you so much for sharing your experience!
it must be a bummer to be rejected by UCLA.. that's my dream school!
but not by BERKELEY!! :)
I bet your USC acceptance letter is on its way!</p>
<p>pretzelbreaker, your idea w/ the binder for keeping college stuff organized is SOOOOOOO great! I'm going to steal it :)
wow thank you so much, hope you get the all best results soon!!</p>
<p>milkdud thank you!
You really planned well, having volunteer and work experience with children to really make your schoolwork shine.
And I agree with your idea about being a well-rounded person instead of being focused in one area only!</p>
<p>armymj84 I'm so glad you put up all the info for people that aren't familiar with the CCC program... Thanks for contributing your time and knowledge! :)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Didn't figure out that I wanted to transfer until a few weeks before the deadline...theres no reason why a couple 500 word essays should take months to write...dont fret on it. they probably dont even count much when it comes down to it. transfer admissions seems to be based on numbers for the most part. Do fret about your GPA though...</p></li>
<li><p>no idea what those are!</p></li>
<li><p>3.95/Cornell U./History major
Applied to GWU and Georgetown. Accepted to GWU, Gtown pending.</p></li>
<li><p>Seriously try not to think about it much right now. It's been bad enough for me waiting from February until now. I cant imagine how bad it would be if I had known I wanted to transfer a year in advance! My other bit of advice would be to do as many apps as you have time for (and for schools you would actually consider going to)...I think I'd be feeling better about the process if I had finished more apps and were waiting on more answers. I didn't really have time to do more apps, but if you have time, you definitely should. You'll feel better around this time next year if you make out as many apps as you can.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>aw thanks Elgguj! you're so right. I'm already freakin out about it...
I think I'm gonna try to relax for now, but it's great to hear from other transfer students! thank you!</p>
