<p>Hey guys,
Here's my current ordeal. I'm a senior in high school and I'm trying to plan ahead by researching what I should do to transfer as quick as possible to UCLA in 2 years. I've heard numerous times about the TAP program but I'm not able to join the honors program because of my horrendous 2.7 GPA. What should I do? I don't want to risk not getting a 4.0 and lose my chance of going to my dream school. Please help!</p>
<p>Typically, community college honors programs require applicants to have at least a college GPA of 3.0, or perhaps a GPA as high as 3.5 and a certain minimum number of college units completed with such a GPA. It’ll vary at different schools.</p>
<p>And honors programs, while extremely helpful, aren’t necessary to get admitted to UCLA. As long as your GPA is north of 3.6~3.65, you should be a strong applicant for many majors. Many require a 3.7 or 3.8 to be very competitive, and a few require a 3.9 or more to be very competitive.</p>
<p>Your high school GPA shouldn’t affect your eligibility for admission into the honors program at your local community college. Just make sure to do very well in your first year there so that you can qualify; they most likely won’t reject you out of hand because you didn’t do well in high school.</p>
<p>What community college do you wish to attend? I can give you more helpful advice if you can tell me.</p>
<p>I’m sort of confused. So I’m able to join the honors program my sophomore year as long as my freshman year GPA meets the requirements? If I do so, am I still completing the honors program by the time I transfer? I’m planning on either joining IVC or OCC, I’ve heard that OCC has the best transfer rate in California or so I’ve been told. </p>
<p>Well, I don’t know if you’ll be able to join by sophomore year as opposed to the end of freshman year. It depends on the program. Look up the honors programs of those two colleges. They should have their own pages on the colleges’ websites. If not, visit the schools if you can and pick up brochures to learn more about them.</p>
<p>Also, honors programs typically don’t have extensive requirements for their members to reap their benefits in the admissions process. My school’s program merely required the completion of five honors classes and a minimum 3.1 GPA for TAP certification. The requirements vary, but from what I’ve seen, they’re similar to the requirements of my school’s program and don’t hinder students who wish to transfer in just 2 years.</p>
<p>In fact, my school’s program made it easier to transfer on time because I received priority registration privileges as a part of being a member. Perhaps the honors programs of IVC and OCC grants similar benefits to its members. You should research them.</p>
<p>Interesting, I did some research for OCC’s honor program but they don’t have any requirements? “Please note that honors courses are open to all students, whether or not they are enrolled in the Honors Program itself. In addition, there are no prerequisites for honors sections other than those that apply to non-honors sections of the same courses.” </p>
<p>@jrohazn </p>
<p>They may allow anyone to take honors classes, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll receive the benefits of membership in the program. You most likely will have to fill out an application and possibly submit letters of recommendation or something similar.</p>
<p>
Not to throw too much cold water here, but why is it you think you’re going to turn a HS 2.7 into an A in every college class? </p>
<p>I don’t want to discourage you from trying, I want you to improve, but I read this and it reminds me of the magical thinking we see all to often here (e.g. “I didn’t do too well in HS, but if I work really hard at my community college can I transfer to IVY?”) Unless you have a plan for what you’re going to do differently, it isn’t likely to happen. </p>
<p>And if you DO have such a plan, why not put it into place right NOW to test it out? Get all A’s (or nearly all A’s) your senior year in HS and you have a chance to give your new habits a test run to see what might need tweaking. But if you find yourself saying no need to do it now, you’ll turn on the juice once you start at CC, well…</p>
<p>Mikemac, that’s what I’m already trying to do. I’m trying to setup a different game plan by going to study groups with my friends, changing my study habits, etc so I can get used to getting A’s while I still can in high school so I can see if my goal is reasonable. I honestly am trying but I also want to try to set up a plan for community college so if I do manage to get A’s, I want the transfer to be as easy as possible which is why I asked this question. </p>
<p>Remember you can attend more than 1 CC at the same time. Criteria to enroll in an honors program is different at each school. Check out Santiago too.</p>
<p>
Glad to hear, this is exactly the right thing!</p>
<p>Its unfortunate that in 12 years of schooling, they are unlikely to devote even one day to telling you how to study effectively. Here are a few tips: [ul][<em>]There is a good book to read called “What Smart Students Know” that was written by a co-founder of the Princeton Review Prep schools. To do well you are going to have to spend time studying, more than you might think. [</em>]Good students find they spend 6-10 hours per week on each class in college, especially probable if it is a math/science class. [<em>]Spaced study is better for learning than trying to “cram”. You are much better off studying 90 minutes on each of 5 days then spending the same time on Sunday trying to catch up. [</em>]For many subjects there are workbooks such as the “Chemistry Problem Solver”. These are incredible tools and I don’t know why schools don’t pass them out along with the textbook. The chapters have worked problems, hundreds of them. There is no rule that says you can only do the assigned problems from your text. Using these books should be a big part of those hours previously mentioned. [<em>]There are free software tools such as Anki that implement spaced-repetition programs, proven to be the most efficient way to memorize things. [</em>]In college, get to know your profs. Not brown-nosing, but show your interest in your subjects and see if you can go farther. One day you may need recs and you want them to be strong and personal. [/ul]There are tons of websites you can visit for advice, and your college is likely to have a learning center as well. Two links to get you started are [On</a> Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/3zh9frh]On”>On Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student - Cal Newport) and [How</a> to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/aok5qn]How”>How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport) Read thru the story at [Teaching</a> linear algebra](<a href=“http://bentilly.blogspot.com/2009/09/teaching-linear-algebra.html]Teaching”>Random Observations: Teaching linear algebra) and see how that prof forced students to rehearse material with great results; the advice earlier focuses on doing that yourself. </p>
<p>The downfall of many students is confusing recognition with recall (won’t be a problem if you follow the advice above). When you do the homework you have the book right there and can thumb back to see how similar problems were solved. After a while the approaches become familiar, and then when you review the book before the test they may seem even more so, but as you’ve discovered once you face a test and can’t refer back you can’t recall what you need. Two academic links discussing this are</p>
<p>[Why</a> Students Think They Understand—When They Don’t](<a href=“http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/winter0304/willingham.cfm]Why”>Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Why Students Think They Understand—When They Don't) </p>
<p>[Practice</a> Makes Perfect—but Only If You Practice Beyond the Point of Perfection](<a href=“http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/spring2004/willingham.cfm]Practice”>Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Practice Makes Perfect—But Only If You Practice beyond the Point of Perfection)</p>
<p>Would going to multiple cc’s at the same time allow me to transfer to a UC in one year? </p>
<p>Would you be able to complete a minimum of 60 units, with a good GPA, made up of APs, IGETC, and major prereqs by the end of Summer 2016? Of course you’d want to include honors classes in these for TAP. The only flaw in the plan would be completing the requirements for TAP at a CC that allows honors units from another CC, in time to be sent to UCLA, which is around Febtuary 2016 for Fall 2016 start. Meaning, for TAP, you have Summer 2015 (not many honors classes are offered) and Fall 2015 to get into an honors program and complete it. I suppose you also have Spring 2015 and Intersession if you really want to work on doing this in a year.</p>
<p>Timing for transfer in 1 year means you plan to apply in Nov 2015 with completed courses on your app as well as planned courses through Spring 2016, maybe Summer 2016. What can you do between now and Summer 2015?</p>
<p>I’m not sure because I haven’t taken any AP’s in high school. Would not taking any AP’s hinder me from graduating within a year? </p>
<p>Those who have done the transfer in one year, usually have AP scores to meet IGETC reqts toward the minimum 60 units. You’re a high school senior so you probably won’t have time to take any CC classes starting in January. So theoretically you’d start in the summer. Two, possibly three classes may be doable but that’s only 6 to 8 units. This means you’d need 50+ more units starting Fall, intersession (1 class), and Spring - meaning 15 to 17 more classes - that’s 7 or 8 classes per semester which is way too much.</p>
<p>So if you don’t have any AP scores, then I would say it will be very difficult to transfer from a CC to a UC in one year. </p>
<p>Rethink and plan on transferring in two plus years.</p>
<p>Hmm, this might be a stupid question but here goes; would starting community college in the summer right after graduation affect the 2 year transfer compared to just starting in the fall or does it not matter? I would prefer starting in the summer to get it over with and transfer.</p>
<p>No, you just get started sooner. Some CCs have an early start program for HS seniors in which they can register for summer and fall earlier. You should map out your semesters with the classes you need especially for certain sequences of courses. </p>