<p>I am just curious, I am not senior right now, but will probably by looking at other chance threads, will probably make third tier UC schools, like SC, R, and M, and high CAL States. I was just wondering, what would be better? Going to Riverside for 4 years per say, or going to community college, and then transferring to UCLA and getting a UCLA degree. </p>
<p>What are the pros and cons of both?</p>
<p>I can see why community college would be really good:
Easy 2 years to start with
Hard 2 years to finish and get your diploma from a good school
save money</p>
<p>UCR:
4 Solid pretty good years of education
Better socially, can make friends and hang out for 4 years
You get the freshmen experience of living in the dorm and stuff</p>
<p>So what are the pros and cons of both. I would definately go to UCR, but just considering it. Do people do that?</p>
<p>Also, it’s harder to transfer from UCR or a Cal State to LA than CC to LA right?</p>
<p>so why doesn’t everyone go to cc then get a UCLA degree??</p>
<p>You mean go to CC for the sake of getting into UCLA? I don't know, seems pretty foolish. I could see CC for people whose circumstances warrant it, but to simply do it for a school's name? I feel that you would be missing so much for such a trivial reason. If UCLA was that important to me, I would rather risk the more difficult UC to UC transfer than miss out on making friends and experincing normal college life. </p>
<p>Plus, the whole concept of "Oh! If I go to CC I can get into the college I couldn't get into the first time!" as a big myth. CC isn't going to automatically get you a spot into some big name university. And I don't think those two years would be some kind of cake walk either. I can imagine that it would be hard to stay focused in such an environment and that going from CC to a UC could be a difficult challenge. You didn't use your freshman/sophomores years to get used to the university life. </p>
<p>Like I said earlier, CC is a great option for people whose circumstances need it, but just for a name? I'd go to UCR in a second. :/</p>
<p>"so why doesn't everyone go to cc then get a UCLA degree??" you ask?</p>
<p>Because going to UCLA from a CC isn't easy =p you have to have a near 4.0 gpa (3.7 to 3.8ish), and don't think that CC is easy either</p>
<p>and honestly, if you can't get good grades in high school enough for UCLA, what makes you think you can get it in college? How would you all of a sudden change your work habit ?=P life altering experience? yeah people dont change that often..they become unmotivated b/c of CC surroundings( don't underestimate CC cirriculum i say =p)</p>
<p>Besides, it's not the name that gets you somewhere, it's the person. Imo you could be as successful at UCR as someone at UCLA. Besides..undergraduate isn't that important..</p>
<p>GRADUATE degree is more important from a school like UCLA</p>
<p>Doesn't matter much if u go to UCR for UNDERGRAD.( as long as you do well, i assume)</p>
<p>But yeah, overall, transferring from CC to UCLA isn't easy..shouldn't gamble like that and waste your college experience for the first 2 years.</p>
<p>yeah alright, a friend today told me how his brother barely tried through highschool, went to cc for 2 yeras and is now successfull at uc irvine. i was just wondering how many people do that and stuff.. i am deffinatly not going to do it, just wondering about it.</p>
<p>Path 1 - Good grades in high school with high test scores, working your butt off for two years and finishing off strong. Difficulty : HARD</p>
<p>Path 2 - CC for two years, getting pretty much straight A's. Take the harder CC classes and get TAP certified. Difficulty: Medium</p>
<p>Path 3 - UC transfer to UCLA. Get pretty much straight A's and take classes towards your major. Diffulty: Medium</p>
<p>Notice none of these options are "easy." Getting straight A's anywhere is difficult. Your gonna have a couple bad teachers whereever you go, and you might even be better off at UC. </p>
<p>As far as your friend and Irvine. Irvine is much easier to transfer to then UCLA. UCLA is among the top 25 national Universities in the U.S. Like others have said, your graduate degree is more important. Though if you were not considering CC anyways, I am not sure why you posed the question. I hope I gave you a thorough answer though.</p>
<p>I think the idea that you need all A's for a UC->UCLA isn't necessarily true. I've seen transfer applicants get in with a 3.5, no problem. That's not say you shouldn't go for straight A's, of course!</p>
<p>The average gpa of UC transfers admitted to UCLA is something like a 3.56. This number seems to go up every year. In two years, it is likely to be a 3.6. When you consider how many classes you will take in the first year of schooling, there is not much room to get B's. "Pretty much all A's" means 1 B, 2 max.</p>
<p>I've yet to hear back from UCI, but if I get in there I'll probably go. I got into UCR but I have no desire to go there. If I get rejected from UCI I'll probably take the CC route and try for UCSD or UCLA. So yeah that's what I'm doing.</p>