I can’t speak for @boooe, but my D had got the opportunity to choose between UCB, UCD, and UCSC after attending a CCC.
Thank you so much for the reply. We appreciate learning as much as we can about the CC transfer pathway. My kid is still not sure if she wants to try and shoot for her dream school or attend Cal/Davis in the fall. We are taking a trip up to NorCal next week for spring break so hopefully she can make a decision by then. Either way, I am relieved to know she has realistic options. Thank you again. This knowledge helps to make a stressful process easier to manage.
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I mean zero disrespect to this comment, but putting UCSD above Cal in any discussion beyond " student / beach life" is really interesting. Cal is and always will be the flagship school of the UC system. Yes, UCLA is great, as are Davis, UCSD, etc., but they will never be “The University of California.”
Did she get accepted to CAL and UCD, but not UCSD?
Ultimately, where she wants to go is her decision. I coached my kids to find the degree, the program, etc., and then shoot for the best ranked programs. That then determined which school(s) to apply.
Cal will always look the best on a resume - that perception will never go away.
In our house, we again will have the discussion of which UC. My son is FAR better suited to UCSC than UCD. The coast is just his vibe - we try to get there often. With that said, if Berkeley says “you are in” he will 100% go to Cal - no matter the costs. Those two years of not living in Santa Cruz, not feeling that vibe, are far less of value when compared to graduating from Cal and having the choices in life going forward.
Going to UCSC would be a fun academic experience, going to UCD would be a more traditional academic experience. Going to Cal is a life-altering, mind-expanding academic experience. (we saw that with D and her peers)
My answer is have her to to CCC, and get that 3.8-4.0, have her do additional community or academic work (tutoring, TA, sports if she does that), find work in a ‘community-added value type of role’), etc.
Have her shoot for the stars - see what happens
No disrespect felt. I am totally on your side. However, I have always preached to my kids to not get hung up on rankings. The best school is where they fit in and can succeed inside and outside of the classroom. I dont want my kids to feel that the measure of their academic accomplishments is dictated by the rank of the school they got into. I have known far too many kids who were absolutely crushed and demoralized because they didnt get into some ranked school.
And yes, she got into Cal, UCD, UCI but not UCSD. It is ultimately up to her and I want her to go to Cal for all the reasons you mentioned but I also want her to be happy and feel proud of whatever she goes.
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Impressive! list of schools to be accepted to. Congrats!
Telling a kid to go to a school they don’t want to go to simply for purposes of prestige is awful advice.
Can’t disagree with that at all - but it begs the follow-up question of “why even apply to a school they don’t want to attend?”
We see threads all the time asking about whether one should go to a high prestige or top ranked school vs. one that the student feels more comfortable at.
We are interested in this route for our son. He’s smart and would love to attend Cal but we know how difficult it is to get into via the straight-from-high-school route.
Also, we have four children to put through college (he’s our eldest) and we need to be wise with our money. We are in Sonoma County and our local community college, SRJC, is well-regarded, so we know it is a viable route.
My question is, did your daughter do OK as a transfer student, socially? I ask because I have heard that it is tough at UCs for transfers to make friends and find their niche.
I recently read a column in the Daily Californian (from 2017 or 2018, I believe) where the writer complained about lack of decent transfer housing. He said that the school did not really create opportunities to integrate the transfer students into the community at the school.
He also mentioned a friend who had transferred into UC Davis, and how she, too, was unhappy and having a hard time as a transfer.
I’d also read about this phenomenon in Jeff Selingo’s new book… he briefly touches upon CCs, but mentions that transfer students often have a tough time integrating into campus life, and that generally their satisfaction and happiness levels are lower than those kids who started as freshmen.
I do know that certain UCs do a better job of welcoming their transfers - UCLA in particular seems decent for transfer students. However, I’m also aware that UCLA is the hardest UC to get into.
Any info you can pass along regarding your daughter’s experience would be so helpful. We really want to go the 2 yr CC —> UC route, but worry that our kids would have a hard time making friends and feeling connected, especially if the school doesn’t put a lot of effort into integrating their transfers.
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The short answer is YES, she did very well socially! The longer and more complex answer is that she accomplished a good transition due to some unique circumstances. I will also say that EVERY student is unique, their college experience will be different.
So, with that said - here is what our situation was/is (we got a 2nd transfer into Cal!).
(D) - We live in the East Bay, and she attended DVC. Her GPA was 4.0, she worked (paid K-12 tutoring through a couple of the tutoring companies and later as an independent), worked a the city library, those kinds of things. She also took part of a couple of the Cal outreach programs at DVC. These programs begin the “UC - student” tie and I think the UC system looks much more favorably on transfer students who do these programs when compared to those that don’t. Finally, she also dated a couple of people who were going to Cal, went on campus for some social events, etc. So, she had some familiarity with the place when she was accepted. We (the family) are known to go to certain restaurants in the Oakland/Berkeley area just - well, we have been going to them for 10+years anyways.
When she was accepted, she jumped on taking the transfer student class through the Transfer Student Center (TSC - I’ll use this again and again). This is where she ‘found her tribe’. Her first semester she was a mentee for a Peer Mentor program. The next semester she was a Mentor, and for her final year at Cal, she was a Program Manager at the TSC. She was actually hired during the summer prior to her senior year to design and implement programs for the TSC. She also was on hiring committees that selected the next year’s Program Managers as well as selected to attend a national event on student transfer programs. She declined that and we are so happy as that event resulted in a number of covid cases. (dodged a bullet on that one!)
She became an integral part of the TSC, made life-long friends from other students at the TSC; not only fellow students, but the people who were her ‘bosses’ are now friends and peers. Classmates and study groups provided her second group of friends and social opportunities. Since we live close enough, she was a commuter. She likes my cooking, the laundry situation is great, safety was less of a concern, etc. It was the right situation.
Similarly, we have three kids. Our spacing has/had them all in college at the same time! Attending a local CCC was a requirement, not even a choice. So, again, her (and her brother’s experience will be different than your D’s.)
As for the transfer social/“college experience” as a whole - I’ll say yes that is an issue, but one that really doesn’t matter. Over the course of a lifetime, the first two years of college should not define a person, define their degree, etc. When they graduate and I as a Corporate Recruiter will not in any way lower my opinion based on going to a CC. In fact, I do the opposite. I LOVE candidates that went CC to the UC/CSU path. They are scrappier, they know how to grind, how to get it done for a greater goal. Am I the majority? Probably not. But, three, five and 10 years from graduation - her resume will always say UCB, and that alone will define her VS the social experience during her frosh and soph years.
Here is our scorecard
D1: Ohlone - SJSU '20 Cum Laude - Applying to top 25-level Grad Schools
D2: DVC - UCB '20 - Accepted to a top 25-level Grad School
S: DVC - UCB
While this is a small sample size, I like the academic results and I LOVE the financial results.
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Thanks so much for your response! I had not heard of the Transfer Student Center. That sounds amazing, and exactly the sort of thing I was hoping Cal had. I love hearing that she made life-long friends, there, too… obviously, this is what we want for our son, as well.
You are lucky that your daughter could commute! We actually used to live in Berkeley but moved out here about eight years ago. We love it, but it is a distance in terms of trekking to the more central Bay Area.
I am a bit concerned about my son living off campus in downtown Berkeley when he is only about 20 (the age he’ll be if/when he transfers). It would be one thing if he started as a freshman and had time to get used to the area (while living in a dorm, of course).
As a former resident, I know first-hand how dicey that area can be, crime-wise, and our son, coming from the country (we live out in the orchards and vineyards area of West Sonoma County), is not really very street savvy. We are also concerned with paying $$$$ for an apartment - obviously he will have roommate, but even a shared room must be pretty pricey. I would hope he would get into transfer housing, but it seems like a crapshoot.
Anyway, thank you again for your response! You definitely eased my mind regarding the social stuff.
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Another housing option at UCB is the BSC co-ops… low cost and mostly located on the north and southeast sides of campus. However, the wait list is long, so if interested, apply now. Living there in the summer will gain seniority points that will improve priority on the wait list.
https://bsc.coop/
This is a great option; thanks so much!
It really depends on major as well as school when it comes to transfers, with major mattering more than school when it comes to difficulty of transferring.
UC lays out the success rate in detail online.
This is good to know. Thanks so much!
This web page will help you with transfer admission selectivity of UC campuses and majors:
This is very helpful. Thank you!
We know a student who transferred to Cal very successfully— loves it. He lived at home but made a point of being very active at his community college. He joined the honors program, very involved in clubs, internships, etc. He also knew several people who went to Cal.
I also think advising/course planning is extremely important. There is no guaranteed transfer program for Cal, (there are for several other UCs)
Some community colleges are feeders, like Santa Monica for UCLA.
your kid is doing the right thing! 1) saves a lot of money, while getting good quality education (majority of the professors teaching at CC, also teach at UC’s and other cal states/private schools) 2) has another chance getting into dream school 3) in case she doesn’t, she can still TAG to UCI or UCD.