<p>I have just graduated high school, and for awhile I had decided to attend UC Santa Cruz, but now I'm all a jumble again. The issue is that I'm not really decided on what I want to do/major in. For the longest time I wanted to be an astronaut/engineer for NASA, and I think I may still want to do that, but I'm also wanting to try writing and drama and all of that. I'm fairly talented at some of these things, but my greatest asset has been my work ethic. Even though mathy stuff might not come naturally to me, I work at it until it does, because I so enjoy the sciences. </p>
<p>So the question becomes...UCSC, or a community college in the Bay Area (such as College of Marin or Diablo Valley College)? For some reason, I am just really averse to attending Santa Cruz. It does have a wonderful astrophysics department, but I'm not even sure that's what I want to do anymore. On top of that, the GE requirements are so ridiculous that I wouldn't even get to "explore" my options until at least sophomore/junior year. As a freshman, I can only take three classes, one of which has to be a hippy-dippy core class. This means I could only take physics and calculus, both of which I've already taken before. I would not be able to take astronomy, or drama, or even English Literature. So much for exploration in college. </p>
<p>That said, I don't want to shortchange myself. My mom thinks I'm throwing away an opportunity, since she never got to go to a four year university right off the bat, and had to do CC for a bit. Maybe I am? I'm pretty clever and thoughtful, at least critical-thinking wise. I may not be a math whiz, but...not to brag, but I am one of top students in AP Lit, and not a bad hand at music theory either, because of my analysis skills. I say all this only to show that perhaps I would waste away at CC. Although, I do hear the College of Marin and DVC aren't bad (anyone got any stories about high-caliber kids going there?). </p>
<p>I don't care about the college experience. It's a non-issue for me. I only need advice about whether or not I'm making the right decision, or perhaps guidance towards people who could help me make the decision.</p>
<p>This doesn’t sound right. Isn’t UCSC on the quarter system? If so, your freshman year would consist of 3 quarters of 3-4 courses, or 9 to 12 different classes your freshman year.</p>
<p>UCSC is on the quarter system, so if you take three courses per quarter, you will take nine courses per year. If you take four courses per quarter, you will take twelve courses per year. It does seem that UCSC is generous with credit units (e.g. math courses that are 5 units at UCSC are 4 units at some other UCs), so you may be able to get away with taking four courses for 20 units instead of three courses for 15 units per quarter (but be prepared to drop one if the workload is too high).</p>
<p>If you have already taken the equivalent of college level math, couldn’t you start in a more advanced course?</p>
<p>Regarding “hippy dippy core class”, what do you mean?</p>
<p>The silly course is a small-school only, Stevenson course. It’s called “Self and Society.” Growing up in Berkeley, I know that this can mean nothing good. To me, that whole class just epitomizes how a 10 cent library card isn’t too far away from a college education. </p>
<p>I have already taken Calculus BC true, but if I were to do engineering I would want to retake it. Just to make sure everything is completely solid. I have a ton of AP Credits actually…something like 11 tests of credit. </p>
<p>But even if UCSC is on the quarter system, I would still take physics and math the whole year, because those courses aren’t single-quarter classes. The Stevenson course is a whole semester of bs.</p>
<p>Really I’m only just realizing how right everyone was about how you don’t do anything in your first two years of college, except to finish your GEs. And then, you have more freedom at a CC anyways. I’m only worried about the academics not being rigorous enough–woe be an ill-prepared STEM student, fresh out of CC!</p>
<p>You may find the small class more interesting than you fear. Are your concerns limited to academics, or are you starting to feel some anxiety about living away from home?</p>
<p>I went to UCSC and even was a Stevenson student but over 30 years ago. At that time all classes were 5 credit and you only took 3 a semester and yes, some of the classes were hippy dippy then of course :)</p>
<p>I can’t say how it is now but UCSC isn’t the right place for everyone. You really need to have that alternative type of personality and love of redwoods to be there. I did take some amazing classes but it is a cultural environment that has to suit you.</p>
<p>I also went to Cabrillo Jr. college in Soquel which I thought was a really good cc. Don’t know about the ones you mentioned. You could investigate which cc’s seem to be on a more direct path to engineering to find the more rigorous ones, like ones that have transfer programs as part of their curriculum. </p>
<p>I think you could start at a cc to get your focus and transfer to whatever 4 year school you find suits you. You should be more excited to attend the college of your choice and not feel like you settled. </p>
<p>For a few months I was incredibly depressed about leaving home, but I’ve gotten over it. In fact, I want to go somewhere like UCLA. Idiotically I didn’t apply there because I thought I knew everything last fall. I do not think that is the issue now though. </p>
<p>I’ve talked to some friends, and they do think I’m not the right type of person for UCSC. I’m a bit straight edge, and very anti-drug use. I would have loved to have gone to Berkeley, but I was rejected :O. So I’d either transfer there or to LA. Or maybe I’d even resume my love for astrophysics and go to UCSC after two years. </p>
<p>So you think I’m not being stupid about this? It wouldn’t be foolish to start at a CC?</p>
<p>I don’t think you are stupid but don’t make the same mistake second time around. Research several schools you think would suit your needs, not just UCLA but the basic: reach, safety and match and apply to several. Investigate their curriculums so you know what you would need to take at a cc. </p>
<p>I don’t know how CA does it now but here on the east coast there are some more direct entry programs so the idea is you go from a cc to a 4 yr schools in some sort of engineering track.</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like you would fit at UCSC and Santa Cruz is isolated. Its a trek to get to S.J. or S.F.</p>
<p>If you retake it, you may want to take the honors version (Math 20A-20B) to keep you interested.</p>
<p>Otherwise, you may want to put “Math 19A final exam” and “Math 19B final exam” into the search box at [University</a> of California, Santa Cruz](<a href=“http://www.ucsc.edu%5DUniversity”>http://www.ucsc.edu) so that you can check your knowledge of calculus as expected by UCSC’s Math Department. If you know everything well, then it is likely that retaking Math 19A-19B will be a waste of time and tuition.</p>
<p>As far as community colleges go, Diablo Valley tends to model a lot of courses on Berkeley courses, so you may find good course articulation with Berkeley (see [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) ). In many other cases, community colleges model their courses on those at a nearby UC or CSU. In some cases, you may need to take courses at more than on community college to maximize coverage of prerequisites for your major at a UC or CSU.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for replying and giving me advice. I will research the things you have told me. I wish I had cookies to give you all, because I feel a lot better and less unsteady about all of this.</p>
<p>Hobitthill, I hope you don’t mind I’m going to call you out on your post here. If you had simply stated that you were admitted into Astrophysics but were having second thoughts on the major due to your aptitude in writing and your interest in drama, I would direct you to research the Literature Dept at UCSC, which I believe has a pretty good reputation. I would tell you that a former alum currently is getting notable praise for a play she wrote which is currently at the Atlantic Theater in NYC. I would also point out to you that UCSC has a fairly active Theater Arts division, with some notable alum, plus being home to Shakespeare Santa Cruz. I would remind you that Santa Cruz as a UC campus is fairly flexible in allowing undergrad students to create their own majors, or major/minor combinations. I would also point out, as other parents have, that you are not taking 3 classes the entire year. You will take anywhere from 9-11 courses before the year is complete.</p>
<p>However, what I interpreted from your post is that you are saying ‘I don’t know what I want to do, but I believe I can do it somewhere much better than UCSC.’ It appears that Astrophysics is the only major UCSC has to offer that you consider worthy. You claim to be straight-edge and non-drugs, as if you can’t be that at Santa Cruz, but would consider Berkeley? You claim to want to explore options, but have already determined the “hippy-dippy” core course at Stevenson is a collosal waste of your time. Did you not research the core course of the college you chose to affiliate with? You express distaste for having to take a class that you don’t see a point to, in fact, you know exactly what the course will be about without having taken it. However, you are more than willing to take a class that you might have already tested out of (calculus) based on your high school performance? Where is the sense in that?</p>
<p>Ok, now that I’ve been hard on you, I will give you my advice. Clearly, it doesn’t sound like Santa Cruz is the right campus for you, AND THAT IS OKAY! You should be commended for recognizing that before you invest a year of your time, and a lot of money. Since you don’t care about the college experience, I believe CC is a good place for you. You can explore to your heart’s content, and dream of bigger things. You sound hardworking and motivated, so you should do just fine. Just be aware of a couple of things… many public schools in CA are beginning to pull the reigns in on their TAG programs. UCSD and Cal Poly SLO immediately come to mind. Also, depending on your overall plan, be advised that the CC classes you take may not be accepted by out of state graduate schools. I just became aware of this when a young woman I know informed me that the graduate programs she was applying to back East wouldn’t accept her SBCC credits, even though she graduated from UCSB having tagged through the SBCC/UCSB progression. Just something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>Final words, don’t be cajoled into a choice based on your mom’s wishes, or those of anyone else. Your college experience belongs to you, and part of growing up is having the courage to make the hard choices. Good luck.</p>
<p>Have you really investigated the offerings and culture at the cc’s you are interested in? As you know, California has made major cuts to all budgets but the cc’s are showing the effects in drastic reductions of classes, cut backs or even elimination of summer classes, and so on. In many cases, the classes retained are more core curriculum (feeding into UC GEs), so perhaps not the opportunity there to explore as you might wish. In addition, the composition of many Cal cc’s are students who a) are working full or part time to help with costs, b) were not as serious about their eduction in HS and trying to improve grades, work habits, c) took irregular paths (left another college, took time off to work, had a child and then later decided to attend cc, etc. It is not always easy to find a solid cohort of high achieving (11 APs), academically charged up peers, although of course they are there, too. I’m not knocking ccs, but do think you may need to consider what you are giving up when you say that you do not care about college culture at all. At cc’s, there will be much less sense of community (many students work, have other commitments) than at a university. If any of this gives you pause to consider, you are wise to think it over more.</p>
<p>What graduate school major? I know an example contrary to that claim where someone started at CC, transferred to Berkeley, graduated there, and later went on to a top (out of state) PhD program in his major.</p>
<p>Since CC courses are lower division, and PhD programs are likely much more interested in how you did in upper division courses and undergraduate research, it would seem odd if a PhD program had an issue with an applicant who started at CC but was a good applicant otherwise.</p>
<p>A couple of other departments that UCSC is well-known for: Computer Science/Computer Engineering, especially with regards to bioinformatics. Linguistics is also a good department. I don’t know if any of these are of interest to you. There is also a good spirit of cross-department collaboration at UCSC. Does astrobiology interest you at all? They are big on that too. And they have their own aquarium!! And really cool marine research!</p>
<p>UCSC is one of the most beautiful campuses in America, but it is a bit spread out. There is definitely a liberal culture, but also a lot of bright and motivated students. That might be something to consider. The California CCs have bright students too (and I have known plenty that started out there and then transfered to UCSC), as well as good teachers at the CCs (I have several friends who not only teach at CCs but do really interesting research in collaboration with professors at universities), but as far as students go, the CCs are more of a mixed bag in terms of ability and than the universities. Would who your peers make a difference to you? [I just noticed madbean has already addressed this issue. Great minds think alike!]</p>
<p>ucbalumnus: The young woman I mentioned is applying to dental schools but I don’t know specifically which ones back East. She shared the information with me when she heard my daughter is going directly to UC from high school. She told me she figured she’d save money going to SBCC first, since she knew she was going to be in school for a long time. She now regrets that decision because the schools on the East coast won’t accept her lower division classes. I was surprised because I thought a UCSB diploma is a UCSB diploma, but she said the transcripts are separate, and the East coast schools didn’t consider her lower division classes as meeting the undergraduate requirements. I know she was invited to interview with USC for their program, so I am assuming she did well in her undergraduate studies. I was so surprised to hear it was an issue, which is why I am passing it on.</p>
<p>Dental and medical schools may be different from PhD programs with respect to CC courses. It is commonly said on the pre-med forum that medical schools look down on pre-med courses taken at CCs, especially after one has matriculated to a four year school, on the assumption that it is easier to get high GPAs at CCs than four year schools (which does appear to be true between CCs and UCs at the highest GPA levels that are most relevant to medical school admissions, based on [University</a> of California: StatFinder](<a href=“http://statfinder.ucop.edu%5DUniversity”>http://statfinder.ucop.edu) – transfer students from CCs to UCs with 3.8 to 4.0 GPAs at CC tend to get 3.4 to 3.7 GPAs at UC).</p>
<p>The anti-CC stance of many medical schools is likely the reason for the existence of post-bac pre-med programs at four year schools, since the pre-med course work (mainly lower division science courses) could otherwise be taken at CCs.</p>
<p>College of Marin is not a good choice for someone who is looking for academic rigor. I know several students who had mediocre grades in HS and even THEY got so bored with COM after a few semesters that they dropped out. Santa Rosa JC has the reputation for being one of the best JC’s in the state, for what it’s worth. And I understand how you feel about UCSC. My son toured a lot of schools and liked most of them, but truly disliked UCSC, tucked away in the woods. Good luck.</p>
<p>According to it these are the best cc’s in calif</p>
<p>California
Coastline Community College Fountain Valley, CA
Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara, CA
Allan Hancock College Santa Maria, CA
San Joaquin Delta College Stockton, CA
Mt San Antonio College Walnut, CA</p>
<p>I agree spending some time researching a solid choice is important.</p>
<p>That’s very strange, unless the courses she took at SBCC were not premed/predent caliber. For example, Intro to Chem, as opposed to Gen Chem for premeds. Or, kinesiology instead of physiology. Or Physics (for Poets) as opposed to Physics for science majors. </p>
<p>No doubt that professional schools look askance at juco grades, but they do accept them if they fulfill the requirements. (They have to, since many disadvantaged students start out in the community college route.) Preprofessional types that start at a juco, can strengthen their grad app by acing upper division science courses at the four year Uni.</p>