Greetings!
Some of my background: I’m from Vietnam. I went to the US since Fall 2014 and graduated from high school in 2016. I’m currently attending a community college in Orange County, California and I want to transfer to Cal Poly SLO because of their reputation and scholarship offers.
Academic History: (I don’t know if any of the following would make me more competitive to SLO, so I will just list them out)
- Achieved a 'Special Recognition of Continued Outstanding Academic Achievement Given By the Authority of the Board of Trustees of … School District in 2015.
- Became member of National Honor Society 2016
- Became member of Alpha Gamma Sigma and Phi Theta Kappa honor societies in 2017.
Academic Status: (I have to remain a full-time [12 units minimum] student for my visa status).
- GPA: 4.0 and very determined to maintain.
- Originally Business Administration major, but switching to Computer Science this coming Fall 2017.
Extra Curriculum Activities:
- Member of honor societies as mentioned above.
- Was a member of Choir, Band, and Bell ensembles during High School.
- I am not working (because of my visa status and lack of experience to obtain OPT/CPT).
My questions:
- As an international student, I want to take advantage of OPT and CPT (practical training programs) to enhance my ability to earn a stable career in the end. Therefore, I want to earn an Associate Degree in Computer Science to be able to come into the workplace as soon as I can. At the same time, I will also be finishing transferable required (and desired) courses for SLO. Is this a good idea to be both earning an Associate and Transferring?
- Beside mandatory courses that I have to take, what does it take to maximize my competitiveness for SLO? For instance, My Speech professor encouraged me to join Speech and Debate team at my college. Will it help with my chances? Or does these 'extra' things have to be Computer Science major-focused/related? (simultaneously, I was discouraged that because English is my second language, I won't be able to excel in it; but I do really want to try something new/challenging).
- I was advised by a counselor to only take 3 classes (14 units/hours in total) this coming Fall 2017: Computer Science (5), Math (5), and English (4). With this 'tempo', I will be finishing all my courses by Fall 2020/ Spring 2021 (3.5-4 years), which I personally is a very long time. Should I take one more class to be able to finish earlier? Or should I 'keep it slow and steady,' to make sure I do (extremely) well in all courses and maintain my 4.0 GPA?
- If you think I should join Speech and Debate team, it will be an investment of time and effort, to balance with my major courses also. Is it worth the try?
- What other schools should I consider attending? Some I picked are UCSD, UCI, CSULB. Are these my best options, considering tuition fees, transfer chances and scholarship offers for international students? I would appreciate any other CSUs suggestions too (because they're cheaper than UCs)!
- Finally, I would appreciate any other comments/ suggestions/ recommendations.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration. 