It's looking like I have to spend 4 years in a CC

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

Hi all,

Get ready for a long, convoluted post.

First off, here is a quick overview of my stats:

  • 4.0 GPA
  • I work 30+ hours a week at a consignment store
  • Brefly worked probably around ~50 hrs/week as a private piano instructor at a music academy
  • Selected to perform as a solo pianist with orchestra on 2 occasions
  • Extensive experience as an ensemble and orchestral violinist (including various leadership positions)

I graduated high school in June 2017 and started at a CCC right after that. However, I had to take 3 full semesters (Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019) off school due to severe health issues. The funny thing is, I overloaded on classes in my first two semesters (Summer 2017 and Fall 2017) and overloaded on AP classes in high school, so I literally only have 2 courses left to complete in order to finish the IGETC curriculum as of right now.

My original plan was to transfer as an English major to UCLA or UCB and pursue a career in law after that. However, after taking some college-level English classes, I’ve realized making work out of literature and writing sucks the joy out if it.

So, I’ve decided to change direction radically and go for a CS major. However, because I was so humanities-focused throughout my life and wasted so much time finishing the IGETC, I’m going to need at least 1.5 years to finish the transfer requirements for CS at UCLA (which is my target school due to the fact that I live on my own in LA and changing locations would be a huge financial/logistical hassle.) Thus, I would end up spending a total of 4 years in community college. And I’d really rather not unless I have a good chance of getting in.

So, I have a few questions:

A. Are my extracurriculars too random? As in, I don’t know if the people in the UCLA engineering department are too interested in the fact that I won blank music competition in blank year. And working in clothing retail is completely unrelated as well.

B. Is the fact that I will have attended community college for 4 years by the time I get to whatever UC(s) I apply to going to affect my chances of getting in?

C. Should I try to get involved in CS-related extracurriculars, or will my musical background serve as some kind of fun gimmick?

Thanks for any and all help!

2

I think your main concern right now should be getting high grades in the pre req courses for CS. I don’t know much about CS, because I’m an English major, but from what I’ve seen it’s all really impacted. So I’m not saying you can’t get in, it’s just that the grades you get for those CS classes are going to determine that, in my opinion. I would look at TAG for other UCs just as a back up plan.
Your ECs aren’t random. I wouldn’t worry about that because it’s a small part in the whole application. I didn’t have any ECs other than working part time in school and I was admitted to all 5 UCs I applied to, but of course everyone’s experience will be different. I wouldn’t leave any ECs out, no matter how random they seem to you.
Time spent won’t have an effect as far as I know. I was at CC for three years. Additionally, you had health issues, so you can explain that gap in the application anyway.
I’m sure CS ECs will strengthen your app, it’s just up to you if you will enjoy it.

3

Let’s see, you have enrolled in college for 1.5 semesters (counting summer as 0.5 semester). You expect to take 3 more semesters of college before transferring, for a total of 4.5 semesters, or slightly more than two academic years of college enrollment, spread over four calendar years due to three gap semesters. This does not on its own seem to be a problem for UC admissions (many UC transfer students are non-traditional students and others whose prior college enrollment was not four semesters in the two years immediately after high school).

Be aware that CS is a very competitive major at many UCs, including UCLA. See https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major . Obviously, maintaining a 4.0 college GPA will help. Be open to other UCs and CSUs that are near where you live as backup options in case you do not get into UCLA.

CS majors (and people working in computing) do have non-CS extracurriculars, including performing arts, so your extracurriculars should not be thought of as “mismatch”.

4

Yes, but not for admissions. So that you can dip your toe in the water and see how much you really like doing CS work. You’ll get a chance to find out which branches of the field interest you, or perhaps you find out you’d rather do something associated with computers rather than being an actual programmer.

5

@wonderbao Write your transfer essay about your Aha moment about why you wanted to switch majors because that seems to be something they are looking for. The schools like a diverse class so the fact that you have pursued other interests sets you apart. I would definitely seek opportunities for CS extracurriculars as @mikemac said to see how you truly like it, but also to show the school you have some experience.

6

Agree with the other comments, but I want to add that perhaps you’d want to temper your expectations and give yourself some breathing room. The admit rate for CS at UCLA is 8%, which, for context, is the same admit rate as MIT (I get that the application pool is different and so on, but it’s a useful thought exercise).

I’m not in CS but the admit rate for my major is coincidentally exactly the same as CS at UCLA, and I didn’t truly understand what 8% meant until I and the people I know got our decisions this spring. Plenty of my classmates with perfect or near-perfect GPAs got rejected, and I think the only healthy way to think about 8% is to treat it like a lottery.

Keep in mind that this is for people who have made it through the major prep courses. For CS, you’ll need two years of math, 1.5 years of physics, and a number of CS courses. At least at my CC, it is not easy to make it through the entire sequence with a perfect GPA, especially if you don’t have a strong math/science background.

I hope you don’t take my pessimism personally—I just want you and others in the same position to make plans with a healthy dose of reality in your system, and I think that starts with not mentally tying yourself to one of the most competitive majors and one of the most competitive UC campuses.