How hard is to get a high GPA in a CC?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
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<p>Bonjour fellow members, I have a question which has been lingering in my head. I was wondering how hard is to get straight A's in a CC? A little background: I'm a senior in high school, currently I've been applying to CSU's and a couple UC's but at the end I think I'm going to go to a CC. As for going to a CC, I plan to transfer to UCLA as a biology or astronomy major, not sure though. I mean I love science and space and I want to be a dentist or astrophysicist, not sure yet. </p>

<p>Here is my CC goals:
Get into the Honors Program
Try to get over a 3.7
Follow the UCLA req
Join clubs, maybe start an Astronomy club
And I don't know what else</p>

<p>So I am asking because I'm sure numerous of you have completed nearly 2 years of college and are trying to transfer. So is it hard to get a 4.0 in CC? And what are you doing to get into your intended school? Also any tips or advice? Thank you all, hope you have a enjoyable night or day or week or month or year.</p>

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<p>CCC’s are a joke studying 2-4 hours for a midterm was enough to get a 3.5+ GPA</p>

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<p>Thank you for response @jbLighty. Did you attend a CC? If so, how was your experience? How is UC Davis?</p>

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<p>School is what you make it. Difficulty depends on a lot of factors… scheduling, professors, your peers, etc. The classes themselves are far easier than anything you’ll take after transferring, but some courseloads are rough regardless. For example, I had schedule with 18 (19?) credits (chem, psych, 3 maths) during CC a couple years ago, and I’d say that was comparable to my 14 credit Berkeley EECS schedule now in terms of keeping up. But so long as you put in the work and have enough time to do everything, you can keep a high GPA at CC. At a UC… well, sometimes no matter how hard you work an A simply won’t happen.</p>

<p>Either way, build good study habits now. Make sure you understand the material, complete as many pre-reqs as you can, stay on top of things, etc. Even if classes are easy, make sure you know what’s going on, and don’t slack off!</p>

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<p>

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<p>One thing that is apparent from looking at ASSIST reports is that some CC courses are often inflated unit-wise. For example, calculus courses may be 5 units at some CCs, even though they are typically 4 units at UCs and CSUs.</p>

<p>But also, a schedule of chemistry, psychology, and three math courses has only one lab course, so the workload per unit is likely lighter than a fewer unit schedule with more lab courses.</p>

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<p>@failure622 thank you for your formal response. I just want to get a high GPA to be able to transfer to UCLA. UCLA is my dream school, it has always been. And I mean, I just want to get in and I’m content if I get a B at UCLA per se. But I need and want straight A’s at a CC. Thank you for your advice, sounds positive and motivating. So do you attend Berkeley? How is it going so far? What’s your major? What was your GPA at your CC?</p>

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<p>ucb: I guess the real issue is the variance in what classes require… that schedule was probably one of the hardest I took, simply because of the amount of work assigned and being rather technical. That’s one of the problems with CC, different professors/classes are worlds apart with what’s expected and how much work it’ll be. Also, that CC was pretty normal with credit counts, ~4 units per tech class. But regardless of what school someone’s at, if a standard schedule is 15 credits, the weights of classes reflect how much work it should be relative to others, I think. But depending on what you take, and what you take together, a CC schedule can be pretty demanding.</p>

<p>Bernard: I’m now a senior at Berkeley, my major is EECS (really just computer science). Apart from a lack of sleep this semester, it’s going pretty well… though my GPA has taken a bit of a hit from unrelated factors and poor schedule choices… also from everyone here just being really smart. Back at CC my GPA was in the 3.7-3.8 range when I applied, I think? I dunno, it’s been a while and I had coursework from multiple schools. You can get into UCs without a perfect GPA, though, so getting a B isn’t the end of the world.</p>

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<p>It’s completely subjective. As failure622 mentioned, there are many variables that are going to come into play. So many that it’s absurd to give you a generic response like “CC is super easy; it’s easy to get a 4.0” or “CC is really hard, it’s almost impossible to get a 4.0.” Ultimately when you finish CC and when you’re ready to transfer your CC experience is going to have been completely unique to you because as an individual you’re distinct and you’re going to make a series of innumerable decisions that no one else will ever replicate. </p>

<p>A few things that will determine how difficult CC will be for you are – your study habits, your intelligence, your interest in your classes, your major, your scheduling, your actual CC’s curriculum, your specific professors, your outside responsibilities, etc. Even if a majority of those factors are constant between individuals, just one or two can drastically change one person’s experience from another’s.</p>

<p>Personally, I’d say one of the biggest factors is just going to come down to your individual professors. Some instructors are difficult and some are easy. Some are wonderful educators that will inspire you and some probably shouldn’t be in front of a classroom. Some may teach/test like they’re still in high school and others will teach/test as if they’re at a four year university (and some will have already taught at that level). Usually in CC, for most classes there are a number of instructors that will teach the same course just in different sections or different semesters. So even at a less generalized level, the effort required to get an A in a specific class can be drastically different for two students of the same capabilities at the same CC. Let alone if you’re trying to compare the difficulty of getting a 4.0 in all classes between random college confidential users that may have different majors, that went to different CCs, and will have had completely different instructors along with their own unique strengths and weaknesses as students. </p>

<p>Now I realize that may not be a very satisfying answer for you, but that’s the reality of it. There really is no answer for such a subjective question.</p>

<p>In terms of advice, as someone that’s already transferred I could probably write a novel, but I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible. The difficult thing is it’s always hard responding to someone so early in the transfer process because there’s an enormous amount of information that you’re going to learn just going through CC. It would take hundreds of pages of text for anyone to try and transcribe their CC experience to get you up to speed. </p>

<p>Familiarize yourself with these resources:
[Transfer</a> | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/index.html]Transfer”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/index.html)
[Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“Welcome to ASSIST”>Welcome to ASSIST)
<a href=“https://www.admissions.ucla.edu%5B/url%5D”>https://www.admissions.ucla.edu</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/390953-uc-transfer-faq.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/390953-uc-transfer-faq.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If you go through all those resources before you start CC, you should be up to speed in terms of knowing how to transfer and what exactly you need to do in CC to maximize your chance of getting into the UC’s you want to. </p>

<p>General CC advice:

  • **Be proactive in the transfer process<a href=“asking%20questions%20here%20is%20a%20great%20start”>/b</a>. Try to find information for yourself online at the UC websites and on the UC application site.
  • Don’t take your counselors word for anything. They’re often oblivious and sometimes incompetent. I’m sure the majority of transfer students/applicants on these forums have a story about how their CC counselors have misinformed them or made their life unnecessarily more difficult at some point. Not that everything they say is wrong, just be sure to double check. If you have questions try to look up the answers yourself online. Or contact the admissions department directly at a UC. Go to the source. College confidential is a good resource too as you can get answers from multiple people. If there’s a consensus it’s probably accurate.<br>
  • Don’t be afraid to protect your GPA. Ideally, the ultimate goal for any class is to learn the actual material as best you can, but don’t be afraid to protect your GPA when you have to. Use resources like ratemyprofessor.com or other students to figure out which professors are difficult/easy and which are great/poor instructors. Try to find a nice balance between great educators and reasonable difficulty. Also don’t be afraid to drop a class or take a W if you aren’t going to get the grade you need (for UCLA / Berkeley that’s mostly A’s).<br>
  • If you can, choose your major early. It could save you from wasting time/money in CC and may improve your chances at transferring successfully. Don’t force yourself into a major early on if you’re still undecided, but just realize that if you’re picking your major the fall you’re applying that may be too late. Some majors, like engineering and sciences, have really lengthy transfer requirements that you need to start on your first semester in CC if you want to transfer in 2-3 years.
    -Don’t be deterred by overcrowded classes and waitlists. The reality is, unlike in high school, it’s really hard to get the classes you need, especially your first couple semesters in CC. There’s a massive shortage in funding for CC’s and as a result there’s way less space in classes than there is demand for them. Because of this a lot of people spend longer in CC than originally planned. 3-4 years can happen. If you want to avoid this you have to master how to crash courses and be perserverant. There are going to be a lot of classes that you need that you won’t be able to enroll in, so in order to get into the classes you need, show up to them anyway. Even if it looks futile and there are 100 people on the waitlist, if you show up week after week people will eventually drop and you should be able to get in eventually. I’ve never not been able to enroll in a class by doing this even if I was dead last on the wait list. Also, joining your schools honors program will usually give you priority registration which can help you in actually getting enrolled in classes. </p>

<p>That’s about all I have for you just now. Although there’s a lot more that can be said. I’ve already spent about an hour typing this, I guess because I have no life lol. Regardless, I hope it’s helpful. Feel free to ask any specific questions you want. Try to be as specific as possible to prevent me rambling or writing a dissertation about how subjective your experiences are going to be. </p>

<p>Also, one final piece of advice – keep asking questions on here. This website has been a great resource for all of us. Practically everything you need to know about transferring is on this forum in some facet. So if you keep asking questions until you don’t have any more, you should learn everything you could possibly want to know about CC and transferring and life beyond that.</p>

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<p>Astronomy and physics are under the same department at ucla (even same buildings) so the astronomy major is almost like astro-physics. You will spend a lot of time with physics majors so if u don’t like physics don’t come to UCLA. if you do then great!!!</p>

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<p>I don’t think it requires an incredible amount of intelligence to get a 4.0. It does require good study habits, and being willing to put your social life on hold many weekends. Also, as someone else pointed out, you have to use any resources you can to your advantage. Use ratemyprofessor EVERY TIME you sign up for a class. I cannot tell you how helpful this can be. Talk to your instructor whenever you have a question. Start assignments as soon as you get them, because you cannot predict how busy you will be as the deadline gets closer. Homework stacks up quickly, so don’t procrastinate. Make sure you know how to properly cite your work so you avoid plagiarism (I know that’s random, but it’s important).</p>

<p>All that said, getting a 4.0 is definitely doable if you make it your goal. I have a 4.0, but this is my third attempt at cc after two failed attempts (academic renewal is a lifesaver). I’m no genius, and didn’t have good grades in high school or anything. The only thing that’s changed is my motivation. I believe in you. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Are you serious? It’s not the CCC that will give you a high gpa. It’s YOU. Either you put in the effort or not. </p>

<p>This thread is a joke.</p>

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<p>Hey ocnative, you’re the guy who was wondering why people were so mean on here lol. Chill out.</p>

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<p>The OP is pretty much asking how hard CC is vs. high school vs. a 4-year university, which is a valid question.</p>

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<p>When UC Statfinder was up, transfer students from CCs with prior college GPA in the 3.8-4.0 range tended to have 3.4-3.7 GPA in their first year at UCs (varied somewhat by campus and major). However, the GPA difference disappeared at lower GPA ranges (so 3.0 or so prior college GPA tended to lead to similar GPA at UC).</p>

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<p>It’s pretty subjective. If you put in a little work, a 3.7+ is certainly obtainable depending on your major and which professors you get.</p>

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<p>There are some rough points when tests and papers and life events all seem to coincide in the same week, but as long as you are mildly intelligent, willing to work hard (the difficulty of my courses aren’t the concepts but the amount of work), and use ratemyprofessors to select a good combination of easy teachers and ones whose classes may be harder but from which you will learn a lot, you’ll absolutely be successful enough to transfer into UCLA. I suggest you choose the easier teachers for courses not related to your major since you’ll want to be as prepared as you can for the rigor of four-year university classes.</p>

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<p>I haven’t been online in quite awhile and I just finished reading the responses. Thank you for all the responses, especially @dilapidatedmind. All the responses helped and I’ve come to an understanding of how it is. </p>

<p>Recently, I finished applying to Cal States (applied to four only) and planning to apply to a couple UC’s. But I think at the end I will end up going to a community college and hopefully transferring to UCLA (my dream school) or UCSD. </p>

<p>Thank you again, hope you all have wonderful holidays. </p>

<p>I also responded to this thread because I still want to here more opinions on the subject.</p>

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<p>1st is your intelligence level & motivation. If you tried in HS could you have been a 3.8+ UW GPA student? If so then you can easily get a 4.0 in a MOST majors.</p>

<p>Now most has two factors.</p>

<p>1st is teacher. Some teachers are lot more rigorous that others. My current calc 1 class is very rigorous; It is university quality without a doubt. Other times the teacher is just poor and doesn’t explain anything well. Sometimes they are so-so and it’s luck/intelligence that will get you through the class.</p>

<p>2nd is even with a good teacher and good intelligence. If you take a course load like chem, calc based physics, calc and cs all in the same semester. You won’t find getting a 4.0 easy. IDK how it is at other CC but at mine a 3.0 is a B, 4.0 is an A. So if you get a 89%, that is a 3.0. Which makes that difference between an A and a B that much more important.</p>

<p>Right now I have a 3.65 gpa, I am taking 19 units this semester and I should have a 3.79 after, next winter I am taking 6 more so hopefully I will have a 3.81 GPA before transferring. I got lazy and got 2 Bs which dropped my GPA + I had one horrible teacher who I didn’t use rate my professor with so I ended up with a C. </p>

<p>High GPA in CC is very much doable but it’s not a 100% guarantee.</p>

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<p>CC was the best decision I’ve made. Ok maybe not the BEST. But it was an eye opener. I still don’t know what I really want to do. But I feel like if I went straight to a four year I would struggle. I now know how to manage my time and learned a different way to study. It was hard in my opinion. Some of the classes were way harder than the science classes at a UC. It all depends on what you make of it ofcourse.</p>

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<p>I would say overall it can be pretty easy to attain at least a 3.0 GPA without putting much effort. To get a 4.0 is not going to be hard, but not easy either. Like what most have said, Professors/Teachers/Instructors will really be where it makes the difference. However, it is also going to depend on your study habits, if you had good ones in high school and continue to carry it out at a CC then you should do just as well.</p>

<p>For me going to a CC was a good decision I’d have to say, not only financially, but because I got into all the schools of my choice. I did okay in high school, but hard work really paid off at CC to get into schools I liked.
I think the overall outcome of CC can provide a whole lot more especially because of the agreements of California CCs and the UCs. Just make a mature decision that will make you happy both now and after college.</p>