Hello everyone,
Background:
I am a first time college student studying at my local California community college. I applied to many UCs in high school as a freshman admit, but I was unfortunately denied by all of the schools I wanted to go to (I got into UCSC but the program wasn’t great and the extra cost really wasn’t justified). I would say I am a pretty diligent and hardworking student (I got above a 4.0 unweighted in high school, was involved in many clubs, and have done musical competitions for about 10 years now) but I scored very low on my SAT. So, after all of that, I decided to go to CC. Now, my goal is to try again to get into a good UC scool for business. My eyes are set on the CAL Haas School of Business and the other UC business schools. However, I also have the option of going to my local CSU school which is SDSU.
Striving for the UC schools would require me to take significantly more courses which brings up my dilemma: should I take the extra courses and potentially waste time (and added stress) to get into the UCs or should I settle on SDSU (which I got into as a freshman admit) and take fewer courses. As of right now, I am getting As in all of my classes with the exception of one: I am struggling in a 5 unit calc I class. I bring this up to note that I could potentially not get a 4.0 in CC. However, I can pretty much say that I will get at least a 3.5 (an assumption based on my past grades).
In addition, with covid, there are not many opportunities for me to do outside work and extracurricular activities. As of right now, the only things outside of school that I’m involved in is music and my schools circle K club.
So, the question is:
Should I risk taking more courses (and also adding the risk of not getting in) when I know that I might not get perfect grades to get into the UC schools, or should I just settle with SDSU which is a safer bet and which requires fewer courses?
Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully some of you can add your opinion.
This is your decision.
Cost is always the driving factor in my family
If you goal has always been the UC’s, will you be satisfied with anything else? The UC’s will cost you more and living in the Bay area is expensive.
SDSU is a strong campus and is very competitive. “Settling” for SDSU is a bit of an insult to all of the students who have attended the lucrative business program at SDSU. True, it’s not Berkeley’s intense HAAS, and doesn’t carry the prestige you seek, but you need to go where you think you will fit.
Those are all important things to consider.
My intention was not to make SDSU seem like a bad school or anything, I just used the word “settle” because I had previously gotten in when I applied as a freshman. I was trying to imply that SDSU would be the lower risk school for me to go to.
Also to note: cost is not that big of a factor for me, as my parents have offered to pay for most of my education.
Thanks for your input!!
Agree about the condescending and entitled tone - but, here are my thoughts.
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major
That will give you some great data on UC transfers by campus and major.
One thing you will note - UCB accepts 6% of biz transfers so, it is a reach for everyone.
UCR is the only UC with Biz as a TAG major, not as prestigious but a more reasonable target for many. (72% admit rate).
SDSU is a really tough transfer admit for non-local applicants.
https://asir.sdsu.edu/admission-data/applications-by-major/
It looks like about 25% admit rate for biz transfers and 3.33 avg GPA but, that includes local applicants so, the non-local threshold is higher. As a non-local, a 3.5 is probably a coin toss.
Specifically for biz, most of the CSUs have very solid programs, even the less selective schools like SJ, SF and Sac have no trouble placing grads in good career jobs and grad schools.
I would probably target UCR with TAG while also applying to several other campuses - sure, include a couple of selective programs but also include more accessible targets. You don’t need to pick until you hear back from all of them.
Good luck.
Oof, my intention was not to sound entitled or condescending whatsoever. I was just giving y’all a description of where I currently stand academically. I apologize if it sounded that way–it was not my intention at all!
Anyways, thank you so much for the information and insight. I will definitely consider all of the things you brought up.
Thanks!
UCI also has an excellent undergraduate business school (Paul Merage School of Business). However the business school does not carry the elite status like Haas and is not a TAG participant. The Merage Business School is competitive to get in but easier to transfer to than Haas. UCI is located in the thriving LA/Orange County area with many employment opportunities.
If you are hoping to transfer to SDSU or a UC for business, it appears that you would still take the same number of courses. The only stress would be getting the grades for a UC. I would also believe SDSU business school is fairly competitive for admission. For grades, UCB > UCI > UCR = SDSU.
FYI: SDSU is not a given just because you got in as a freshman admit.
Also, taking more classes at the CC for UC admission is not a waste. Every transferable class you take and pass at CC is one less class you’ll have to take once at the UC.
Best of luck to you! Oh, and you probably know this, but in CA, admission rates are more favorable for transfer students than for freshman admits. You’ll have some good choices.