Non-traditional Transfer Student bad transcripts transfer issue?

Transfer Students
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<p>Here's the background story: I'm 27 with an Associates Degree from a Community College in NJ with a 3.0 GPA at graduation back in 2005. I applied to a 4 year Division I school last fall (2011) to complete my bachelors and needless to say I ended up withdrawing after that semester. I had two F's in 300 level classes for a major I no longer want to pursue (History for secondary education) I got an A in a 200 level science course and a C in a 100 level Math course. I felt like a failure but I want to try again. Just not at the same school. </p>

<p>I plan on moving in September to California. I want to apply to one of the state schools for a communications bachelors degree. Regardless of the reasons for me attempting a bachelors degree later in life.. and the fact that I did this at a time when I was laid off from work but failed due to the fact that I haven't been in school in so long. I still want to finish my degree. So here is the questions I need advice on....</p>

<p>Being that I now have a 1.6 GPA from my 4 year school I have ruined all chances of being accepted to schools like UC Berkley, USC, UCLA etc. A suggestion someone gave me was to enter the school of my choice as a "non-matriculated" student and take necessary courses toward my actual degree. After a Year, since I will only attempt this as a part time student and be working full time I will be able to claim California Residency and hopefully have proven I am capable of the 3.0 or high GPA to then attempt to actually apply as a transfer student to the University. I have not talked to any admissions counselors yet at this time. I am set on moving to California in the fall of this year.</p>

<p>Any advice on this topic from someone who is an ADULT would be greatly appreciated; not just opinions from anyone under the age of 24 who would clearly not have any experience or advice to give my situation so please save your comments for other threads.</p>

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<p>If you want input only from adults, you might be better off posting your question on the Parents forum. </p>

<p>If you are interested in any of the UCs, the subforum under this one, UC Transfers would be your best bet as members there know the UC system which is unique. </p>

<p>I’m not sure how you delineate between ‘advice’ and ‘opinions’, or why your line is drawn at 24 yo. Such stipulations might limit your ability to gain information.</p>

3

<p>It will be very hard to claim California residency if you are taking classes at a CA college at the same time you are trying to earn your residency. Be sure to look into each college for what they require in order for you to have your claim of residency approved. </p>

<p>The CSUs look ONLY at cumulative GPA (and having the right GE pre-reqs done, the “golden four” which includes math, science with lab, english comp and communication). For that reason, you can simply attend a cheap California Community College (CCC) and try to rebuild your gpa. The CSUs don’t care if you take the classes at Harvard, at their own CSU or at a CCC… they just crunch the GPA numbers and if it is high enough for that particular incoming year (since it is all gpa-rank based), you get in. HOWEVER…</p>

<p>However, and this is a big however, you will considered an out of state student (OOS) unless/until you earn in-state residency, which will be near impossible if you are taking classes. As an OOS student, you are given last priority at the CSUs… they will fill up with in-state students until full and if there is leftover room will start looking at the OOS students.</p>

<p>Even if you gain residency, you would also be categorized as a non-local transfer. Basically most CSUs give priority to local transfers–students who have earned the majority of their credits from the local CCC to their campus. Since you will inevitably always have MORE OOS credits than any that you might pick up from a CCC or CSU, even as a resident you are still “non-local” in the in-state stakes.</p>

<p>So – I assume you have about a 2.8 total gpa? Look to CSUs that are A) not too full and are not impacted in the major you want to transfer into B) where a 2.8 makes the cut-off for your particular major even for OOS or non-local transfers. Many CSUs post their gpa cut-offs, search for words like “impaction” and “transfer” for the CSUs.</p>

<p>UCs will be tough with a 2.8 or a 3.0 – and for now, if you take so many credits as to have more than about 80 - 90 credits from the combo of 4-year and other colleges as you seem to have, you are classified then as a “senior transfer” and DISQUALIFIED without any appeal. The UCs are not taking senior transfers from students with any 4-year college credits. This may change in the future so keep an eye out, but for now, it is a problem. The exact cut off for units to be a senior transfer is DIFFERENT for each UC, so look it up in fine print, but it ranges between 80 - 90.</p>

<p>I have no opinions. And all my advice is to simply read the fine print and understand very clearly what all the regulations are for in-state residency, transfer, etc for EACH COLLEGE in California… the rules are all very similar, but there are slight variations for each as I outlined above.</p>

<p>The CA public system is tanking because of budget cuts so what would have been an easy transfer for you about 5 years ago is now tricky.</p>

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<p>What if I just work for a year, acquire residency and then apply? The main factor I’m worried about is the transcripts and getting in. I plan on permanently living in California the rest of my life. I just want to finish school because I know it will make my career situation more stable.</p>

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<p>The issues are </p>

<p>1) gaining residency for tuition purposes
2) getting accepted into a CA college</p>

<p>It seems like, at least from what I can read, if you cut ties from the old state, establish residency in A (driver’s license, taxes, etc), you may be able to get residency status for college. However, you will need to be self-supporting/have a job… can you get a job out here in CA and support yourself? In any case, I would still dig for real life cases to see what other students had to do and what worked or didn’t work… in any case, you have to be established for 365 days… so you need to get the stuff (driver license, etc) rolling asap when you arrive or it may take you longer than 365 days before you’d qualify.</p>

<p>Getting into a CA college with a 2.8 as an OOS student will be tough. And since applications are due almost a FULL YEAR before you actually enroll, if you want “in state” transfer status it may take 1 year to wait to become an in-state student (a non-local to any of the CSUs though per my prior post)…then you apply and if accepted still have to wait almost another full year before you start the classes for a total of about 2 years.</p>

<p>For example, if you need “in-state” status for transfer priority (vs being in the last bucket as an OOS student with only a 2.8)</p>

<p>Move to CA in August of 2012.
Gain “residency” status by August of 2013 for the purpose of applying as an in-state student for transfer priority over OOS students
Apply in October 2013 to get into a CSU or UC
(get accepted/notification in Spring 2014)
Enroll in classes September 2014
=2 years total</p>

<p>I think if you come to California in August of 2012 and APPLY for colleges in October of 2012, you blow the idea that you came to California for reasons OTHER than attending college. Almost every college residency thing I’ve read has one of the criteria for getting in-state residency for tuition breaks states one must NOT be applying for residency just for the sake of college tuition breaks. Applying for college within that first 365 days sort of shoots yourself in the foot I believe.</p>

<p>So, plan on likely a 2 year process from start to finish- AND having to “prove” it as well (driver license, rental, a job that supports you). CA is broke. Trust me, they are looking for extra tuition monies and will be scrutinizing an application for residency tuition.</p>

<p>Can you get in with a 2.8 from your prior transcripts? Some CSUs, most likely. BUT you need to start researching what the GPA cut-offs are for your major at each college. Start websearching. Here’s a start:</p>

<p><a href=“collegetocareers.com | NS record”>collegetocareers.com | NS record;

<p><a href=“http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1013.html[/url]”>http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1013.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In 2011 it was reported one needed a 3.1 for Communications at SJSU… but if you link off of it the 2012 was reported at only a 2.6 - so there seems to be a bit of a luck of the year as well.</p>

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<p>What’s up college buddy? Your story sounds pretty similar to mine, only I did all my failing in California at the community college level. I’ve been back at community college for a while trying to rebuild my GPA and I’m planning to transfer to a CSU next fall. By then I’m hoping my overall GPA will be close to a 3.0. </p>

<p>I was also thinking about a UC, but the reality for me is that they are more competitive, more selective, and generally speaking more impacted. Plus they had more GE requirements, so I nixed UCSC from my list to focus on the CSUs I liked. I’m not saying you have to do the same, but for me I think it was a good decision.</p>

<p>Something else to consider: where in CA are you hoping to settle? Do you want to find your ideal CSU first and move there, or move to a city and then move again to a CSU? Make sure you research the area you’re moving to. I live in Fresno, we have Fresno State here. Cost of living here is very low for California. Rent is low for the state as well. Fresno also has horrible pollution, bad weather, some truly nasty areas, horrid sprawl, and last I checked is sitting at around 17.4% unemployment. There are a lot of places with better employment prospects and better climates, but you better believe you’ll be paying for it. Do your best to get to know the area, and if you’ve never been to California I highly recommend you make the trip out to check out the places you think you want to move to in person.</p>

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<p>Thanks annikasorrensen that actually sounds like the most feasible plan at this point. Fullofpop I’ve been to cali many times. Only so cal though I have family in Anaheim, Newport, and Santa Barbara. Getting there and getting a job via one of them (entry level) I can do. Staying with them for a month or so I can do until I find something on craigslist with roommates. Its all doable. It was just the going back to school part that I was most concerned with. I will of course change my drivers license my phone number everything. I don’t want to reside let alone ever return to NJ if i can help it. My family here can fly to me to to see me. I have no other ties here or reason to stay. I should have done this when I was 18 and graduated from high school but it took me 9 years and a bunch of mistakes to realize I should have went with my dream from the get go. Even if i was unemployed there now I still would have been established and able to continue my education in the mean time.</p>