I do have another question- since I am going for Bioengineering, which is a very intensive and rigorous program- won’t it hurt me to goin in at a junior level? I imagine I will be FAR behind the power curve compared with people who started at the freshman level. In that case it would make more sense to apply to UC Irvine Biology or Biomed and transfer after that to a Bioengineering program at another UC. Any opinions?
If you’re goal is geared toward UCLA then I think the consensus is Santa Monica College in SoCal. If you’re aiming for UC Berkeley, then Diablo Valley College in NorCal is probably the best.
That said there are numerous other colleges that are also pretty good for transferring to UC’s. Examples: De Anza, Santa Barbara City College? and other similar ones.
I also would add, without knowing the stats, that’s it’s probably much harder to get in as a sophomore.
To check on the California community colleges to see which have the best course coverage for your target majors and campuses:
- Go to http://www.assist.org .
- Click "Explore Majors".
- Click "Majors".
- Select Engineering in the drop-down.
- Select Bioengineering in the drop-down.
- Click the desired campus for the desired major.
- Select a community college in the drop-down.
- Click "Major Prep" in the row for the desired community college (other nearby ones are also listed).
You will get an articulation agreement like these:
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=DIABLO&ia=DIABLO&ria=UCB&oia=UCB&ay=15-16&dora=BIO=ENG
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=SMCC&ia=SMCC&ria=UCLA&oia=UCLA&ay=15-16&aay=14-15&dora=BIOENG
What you want to see is that most or all required courses at the UC or CSU are covered by courses at the community college. If you see a lot of “no course articulated”, try looking for other community colleges.
It is often the case that community colleges near a UC or CSU are the best candidates to look up to match less common courses at the UC or CSU.
“briank82 by chapter 33 I assume you mean post 9/11 and Montgomery? yes, but I am leaning towards post 9/11, both options are available to me right now though.”
Chapter 33 benefits are the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and Chapter 30 are the Montgomery.
It is smartest, overall, to exhaust your MGIB and then switch to Post 9/11, as it allows you to get an additional 12 months of education benefits. The issue with this though is that you won’t receive a full housing allowance (the BAH of the zip code of the school you attend) with the MGIB, just the Post 9/11. You get some living allowance, but it’s like $500 or something. The BAH for one of my schools is $1800, for one of the others (CCSF in SF) is $3900. Berkeley is a little north of $3000 I think.
So, A LOT of money to be had (tax free) just going to school with the Post 9/11. You can also use multiple schools, but one would be your “parent school” and that’s the school whose zip code is used to determine BAH.
In theory, you could go do CCSF for just one unit on campus (you HAVE to do at least one unit on campus per semester), and do the rest online and/or at a school local to you. Last semester I took one unit on campus at CCSF and took online classes and physical classes elsewhere as I live 50 miles away and where the cost of living was significantly cheaper. I was making $$$.