Help with decision: CC or back to 4 year?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read about my situation and to (hopefully) provide some suggestions / advice.</p>

<p>There are a number of posts describing similar situations to mine, however I am hoping for some opinions on what I should do and realistically, what chances I have for success (should I decide to transfer).</p>

<p>I graduated from high school a few years ago, went to UC Irvine for 2 years, and spent the majority of my time there not studying. Of course I regret not applying myself but all excuses aside, I am now a much different person (and student) and I hope to correct my past mistakes by applying myself now. However, my situation is unique in that I did not accumulate many units from UC Irvine (in 2 years I believe I have around 12 semester units' worth of grades from school). The majority of my classes resulted in F's and W's (F's because I didn't bother withdrawing from the courses, stupid I know) but on the bright side, I have a lot of "room" to work with. So, after 2 years @ UCI, I dropped out, and took a year off from school. This fall semester I returned to a local community college and have started a full semester of courses to get back into the routine of school. Now, here is my question(s):</p>

<p>Do I go back to UC Irvine after this semester and try to start fresh and hope I can study hard and graduate from UC Irvine?</p>

<p>or</p>

<p>Do I stay @ my current community college for 2 years, finish up my GE's and requirements to transfer, and apply to a bunch of other in-state and out-of-state schools (mostly privates)?</p>

<p>I know the one thing people on this forum hate most is listening to kids whine about having bad grades in the past and how they're going to change their lives and get 4.0's for the next 5 semesters and then try to transfer to Cornell or Dartmouth, but realistically, I can see myself maintaining an upward positive grade trend and probably doing substantially better @ this current community college than most students here. </p>

<p>Do I have a shot at a decent private school (in-state or out-of-state)? I know some board members have great success stories, similar situations to mine and transferring to USC after a nice run @ a community college, so I'm hoping for some input and some honest advice. Please help and thanks again for for taking your time to help a nervous (but optimistic) student!</p>

<ul>
<li>Flower</li>
</ul>

2

<p>First question, what are the financial considerations? In-state or out-of-state privates will cost a ton more than either 2 years of cc plus UCI or any other UC/CSU.</p>

<p>Now for my own reactions: it is too soon to tell. I do believe you will do better this time around, but we need to see the actual results of (at least) your first cc term to give you any opinions about what your chances are.</p>

<p>I also reacted to the way you put this question
[quote]
Do I go back to UC Irvine after this semester and try to start fresh and hope I can study hard and graduate from UC Irvine?

[/quote]
I'm not sure if you meant to word it exactly as you did, whether it was a Freudian slip, or whether the actual wording is meaningless.... but if you are in the mode of "hoping" you can study hard, then I think it is too soon for you to make a move. In that case, I would suggest you stay at the cc, actually study hard and do well, and evaluate what 4-year school might be right for you after you finish at the cc.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Hi Andale!
Thank you for your quick response.</p>

<p>I do understand that in-state and out-of-state privates will cost more than my current community college and UC Irvine, but I am trying not to worry about the money aspect. I am blessed in that my parents are able to pay for some (if not most) of my college tuition; it's just up to me to get to a school that will be a good fit.</p>

<p>Thank you for your provided support and though I don't know you save for a few exchanges I've read while anonymously browsing these forums, your words of encouragement are already helping. I understand it's too soon to tell but again I assure everyone my bad stint at UCI is a direct result of my bad decisions, not because of my inability to compete at the collegiate level. If this helps, I have some stats for you Andale (or any other reader) so that you can provide some more insight into my situation.</p>

<p>Competitive public California high school
GPA @ graduation: ~3.8 weighted / ~3.2 unweighted
Lots of honors / AP</p>

<p>SAT I - 1430 out of 1600 (720 math, 710 verbal)
SAT II - something like 700 math 1c, 700 writing, 800 foreign language</p>

<p>College acceptances (senior year of high school):
all UC's (minus UCLA, Berkeley), NYU, Pepperdine.</p>

<p>Again, not to try to justify my high school GPA but I didn't study as much as I should have - my SAT scores are a result of many weekends spent at an SAT prep academy (lol, I guess they do work)</p>

<p>Right now I have 4 classes @ community college (12 units) and currently I know where I stand in 3 of my 4 classes: </p>

<p>2nd English composition course - A
English (creative writing / short story writing) - A
Intro philosophy - A minus
Intro to poli sci - No clue (take midterm on Thursday)</p>

<p>So that's where I stand Andale... I don't know if I should be addressing my posts to you from now on or just PM you or something haha.. but you're the first reply so I'm giving you (hopefully) what you need to make a better assessment of what I should do / need to do / can do (options).</p>

<p>As far as the Freudian slip, I guess it came out that way because nothing's guaranteed - but as far as my study habits are concerned, I've made a drastic improvement because I have finally realized what many students realize:</p>

<p>studying = good grades = good school = money</p>

<p>not studying = bad grades = not good / bad school = less money</p>

<p>I guess I meant to write " Do I go back to UCI after this semester and declare a new major, start fresh, and study hard / graduate from UCI? "</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help and I hope to hear back soon!</p>

<ul>
<li>Flower</li>
</ul>

4

<p>You clearly have what it takes.</p>

<p>I think you should be a little less casual about the cost factor, especially in the current economic environment. If you parents will not pay for most of the cost, you could really be saddled with burdensome loans.</p>

<p>It sounds like you'd prefer to go back to UCI over staying at the ccc. So.... why not? If you're confident that you'll apply yourself, than I am too ;). And the overall cost of the UCI degree would be very appealing compared to any private U. All of the UCs have strong reputations.</p>

5

<p>Hey again Andale.</p>

<p>You really are a super moderator lol! But anyways... thanks again for the timely response.</p>

<p>It's not that I "prefer" to go back to UCI - I understand that UCI (and pretty much any other UC school) is a great bargain and that some of the lesser known UCs (UCSD, UC Irvine, UC Davis, etc) are gaining some recognition in the world of academia... however, if I had any say as to how all of this panned out, I'd much rather prefer to stay @ this community college for a year or two (however long it takes) and successfully transfer to USC. That would be ideal. </p>

<p>A dilemma:
If I choose to do GE's at my community college, then apply to transfer to private schools and I don't get into any schools and decide to go back to UC Irvine then, not only would I have lost out on lower division courses (@ UC Irvine) for a chance to raise my UC gpa (because they would be taken at community college) but I'd also have less units to take at Irvine to potentially raise my gpa. It's so risky either way; either I commit to community college and risk it for a chance @ USC or I just go back to UC Irvine and start from scratch there. </p>

<p>What to do...</p>

<p>I guess it all comes down to what I REALLY want... if I'm okay with going to UCI and graduating from there, or if I truly want to transfer to a new environment (USC). </p>

<p>Another thing I just realized Andale...</p>

<p>If I go back to UC Irvine for Spring quarter of this academic year (2008-2009) and start "fresh" there, that means I'll be enrolled at UCI for 1 quarter this year, and potentially another 2 full years till I graduate. That's roughly $60,000 for 2 years of tuition / fees / room&board @ UC Irvine, not to mention that's IF I finish all my GE's quickly and graduate on time. If that's the case, wouldn't it be worth it to consider doing GE's at community college then transferring to USC to finish up in 2 years? I know it'll be more expensive but not disgustingly so. </p>

<p>I guess what it all boils down to is whether or not there's a chance for me to end up at USC as a successful transfer student. I know right now I'm at rock bottom, but if I can muster up the focus to have a few great semesters in community college is there any way I can make it to USC? Even with my past academic mistakes? If so, what would it truly take?</p>

<p>This is a lot for you (or anyone) to read; I'm thankful for your help. Let me know what you think about all of this because you've been such a great help already. Thanks again in advance Andale!</p>

<ul>
<li>Flower</li>
</ul>

6

<p>You're out of my league now, FLWR.</p>

<p>You might post this question on the UC Transfer subforum. Folks over there are pretty knowledgeable about all ccc transfer scenarios, including to USC.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for all of your help Andale.</p>