<p>Hi, I'm planning on going to a CC and transferring in two years. I mainly want to transfer to UC Irvine or UCLA. I'm from San Diego, but want to go to Orange Coast College because I've done some research, and it is the school that the UC's accept the most out of all of the other community colleges. Palomar, San Diego Mesa and Miramar colleges are near my place, but UCI or UCLA doesn't accept a lot of people from there. Here's where I got this information from: California</a> Postsecondary Education Commission - Transfer Pathway Charts</p>
<p>My question is, is it a bad idea to go to a CC that is far away from where I live? I don't know if this is true, but does it matter which CC I go to? Do UC schools give preference over some CC? Or does it not matter which CC I go to as long as I do good in them? It seems like CC near the UC schools are the schools where the UC accepts them the most.</p>
<p>I know I will have to share an apartment and buy food and stuff, but it is still pretty cheap compared to attending a UC with dorms for the first two years right? I'm not sure how my parents will think of me going to a CC some place far, since they really don't like CC at all and think me going some place far, especially for a CC, is a stupid decision. </p>
<p>I also want to go to get away from my parents and from San Diego. So it would be a plus. </p>
<p>Any suggestions for me? I either have three options. Go to CSUSM (which I already SIR'd to), go to my local CC, or go to Orange Coast College.</p>
<p>Bad idea. Going to a cc just because they accept more people to UC’s imo is not worth it, if you truly are motivated and talented enough you should get into the UC no matter which cc you attend. Be realistic with yourself. In my experience the cc does not matter so much as your gpa and performance, all these cc’s are accredited and their units transfer do they not? Why would one have greater weight than the others?
Seems like you are looking for a shortcut in transferring. There are no shortcuts, there is only hard work and careful planning. I was in your shoes once having to choose between UCM or cc and transfer. Chose the cc and 2 years later I’m going to UCLA. It’s your call but if I were you, I’d choose the local cc because there is no feeling greater than transferring into your dream school rather than being stuck somewhere knowing you could’ve done much better.</p>
<p>You didn’t account for the fact that OCC is one of the biggest CC’s in California and as a result has more students that apply to the UC’s than other medium/small community colleges. What’s more important than the gross number of transfers that OCC may have to the UC’s is their admit rate, the percentage of those that apply that get admitted relative to other CC’s. According to UCLA’s admission website OCC’s admit rate (31.30%) was only slightly higher than Mesa (23.91%), Miramar (26.42%), and Palomar College (29.42%) in 2012. It was also lower than both Grossmont College (34.94%) and MiraCosta (32.16%) in San Diego county.</p>
<p>Personally, as someone that attended five different CC’s in the LA area before being enrolling at UCLA and then going to UCSD, I’m a big believer in the notion that it really doesn’t matter what CC you go to as long as they offer courses that sufficiently articulate over to the UC you’re interested in. That’s usually the case for all of the large major CC’s in California, although some of the smaller CC’s who enroll less than 10000 students may have less resources, but most large / medium CC’s in California are going to be the same to transfer from. If you have the exact same GPA, extracurriculars, etc it’s not going to matter what CC you put down on your UC application. In addition, the admission statistics seem to reflect that as well. UCLA admissions seems to be the only one that publishes comprehensive breakdowns for their admission rate so that’s what I usually reference, but you’ll notice that most large CC’s have an admission rate between 20-35% to UCLA and they all vary annually. The same CC may have an admission rate of 35% one year and then 25% the next because the students just vary. There’s no one CC that seems to consistently have the highest transfer rate to UCLA, not even SMC which is within 5 miles of UCLA and is kind of known as a feeder school to UCLA. They send the most students by far, but their admit rate is not the highest year in and year out. </p>
<p>You’re right that there tends to be a trend with CC’s that are closer to a UC. But I think that has more to do with the fact that the CC’s that are closest to those UC’s tend to model their curriculum to get students into that one UC and tend to have more resources with the UC’s. That being said, if all things are equal between two applicants it appears that the UC admission departments don’t have any preference in admitting students from one CC over the other.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would just go to your local CC. It will also help if you join your CC’s Transfer Alliance Program (TAP), it’s an honors program that allows you priority consideration at UCLA. Most major CCC’s have them. If you really want to transfer to a UC, going to a California community college over a CSU is your best bet because CCC students get priority consideration over four year university applicants during admission and they have articulation agreements and other programs like TAG and TAP that make it much easier to transfer than from a CSU. If you feel like you really need to get away from your parents and be independent that’s something to consider. But if you plan to go to a different CC because you think your chances are going to be significantly better applying from there, that’s probably not a good reason to do so.</p>
<p>You are right. The main reason I want to go to a far away CC is because I want to be independent and away from my parents. I want to explore a lot of things and work my very best in order to transfer. My parents are always yelling at me at how much of a failure I am. This really gets me down and I feel like I can’t do anything. I want to just get away…and start a new life with a fresh new start. I honestly can’t stand my parents anymore. I feel like if I attend Orange Coast, I’ll be a better person overall while still having the opportunity to transfer to a great UC. It’s sort of like a win-win except my parents having to be a little extra more money for my shared apartments and food.</p>
<p>If I would have know about the UCLA and TAP program with LA CC’s I would have done it. To late for me, but I would have also lived in LA which I would have always wanted to do and had a for sure job. Although I didn’t if all your reasons are legitimate go for it, although you can save a lot more money at home.</p>
<p>What if they don’t want to pay extra for you to have an apartment and expenses while going to cc?
Gut it out, make a 4.0, study at your local cc, get a job, and then you will have options to transfer to UCs.
Your advantage is that you have 3 comm colleges to get all the classes you need to TAP or TAG.
They will stop bugging you if you make good grades in cc, make your own spending money and basically Take Care Of Business.
You can’t run away from your problems.</p>
I want to explore a lot of things and work my very best in order to transfer. My parents are always yelling at me at how much of a failure I am. This really gets me down and I feel like I can’t do anything. I want to just get away…and start a new life with a fresh new start. I honestly can’t stand my parents anymore. I feel like if I attend Orange Coast, I’ll be a better person overall while still having the opportunity to transfer to a great UC. It’s sort of like a win-win except my parents having to be a little extra more money for my shared apartments and food.</p>