Is going through CC the right choice for me?

Applying to College
1

My situation is an unusual one.

I graduated in June at 16 years old (turned 16 in December) from a highly-ranked high school. I had high SAT scores (800M/800R/780W, 800 Physics, 800 Math 2, 780 Japanese w/ Listening), good AP scores (5 Phys B, 5 Phys C Mech, 5 Phys C E&M, 5 Calc BC, 5 Chem, 4 Lit, 4 NSL) and a 4.62 weighted GPA. However, my extracurriculars were somewhat lacking (didn’t stick with any one activity for over a year), my community service record was weak, and, extrapolating too much from my school’s admission statistics, I applied to too few schools (Stanford, MIT, Harvey Mudd, UC Berkeley, UCLA), all on computer science majors despite not having taken my school’s CS courses (reputation for not being taught very well). All five rejected me, and an appeal to UC Berkeley failed. Some of this might have been due to my age - in particular, a Harvey Mudd representative told me that I needed to do an interview or they wouldn’t accept me. I was planning to defer admission and take a gap year anyways, but my plan of finding an internship has been rockier than I expected - everyone wants current undergraduate students instead of gap year students, especially in computer science-related positions.

Now, I have a choice to make. I applied to all my schools from Maryland, but I moved into California shortly after graduation, so I would count as an in-state student applying to UCs for 2016, and UC Berkeley is my first choice, with the other UCs just behind. So, I’ve been trying to choose between two options:

a) Apply to all the UCs and some other California schools for 2016 (trying to stay close to home), get a less selective job, do community service and hope for the best.

b) Start taking classes at De Anza with summer classes at Berkeley as part of Berkeley’s Pathways to Four-Year Universities program and transfer later.

My family has money, but not big money, so the savings from CC would help, but I’m nervous about having my class choice restricted both at De Anza and at Berkeley, especially if I end up majoring in computer science. I plan to major in it because it’s the most profitable of my interests, but I’m still not really sure what I want to end up doing for a living (teaching in mathematics or science? economics? linguistics?), and I have the most passion for my art and music - neither of which I want to major in so I can stay financially stable. I worry that if computer science is too high-unit I won’t be able to branch out and explore those other interests during my years at Berkeley.

What should I do? Is it better to try my chances at the UCs again as an older and in-state student, or go through the more certain route of community college at the cost of some of my freedom and with a more fragmented college experience?

2

I would be careful taking classes at UC Berkeley if you haven’t yet attended any UC. If you’re going to choose community college it can mess up priority registration, financial aid, and when you actually apply to a UC you may get lower priority if you’ve already attended a four-year college before.

3

Post this in here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/

Seems like CC is the way to go. De Anza is a very good school, from what I hear. You may be able to transfer in just one year, considering how many units you have - I’m not sure though, because CS requires tons of courses. Post in the UC Transfers thread, there are bound to be CS people that can give you solid advice.

CS may be high unit, but it isn’t wholly impossible to minor in or otherwise pursue different interests you may have. You will have to take some general courses anyway.

Not sure if you would qualify as in-state - it’s surprisingly difficult to have that set in stone.

It does seem that you aren’t absolutely sure about what you want to major in. Perhaps you should take multiple different types of courses to see what best suits you. Don’t major in something simply because you think it will make you a lot of money - there are really endless possibilities, as cliche as that sounds. You’re 17 years old now, correct? It’s almost too young to know what you’ll want to do for the rest of your life. Try out different courses, make sure you do well in them all, and be open about what you want to pursue.

If you do decide to do CS, the Bay Area is an excellent place to be.