“The stigma of “just a cc” should pass. There’s so much of that among her peers and their parents, that they worked too hard or that there is some awful social stigma to be at a CC first especially at her ultra competitive high school. I think she will be happier in the long run getting a degree from her top choices than one of the “safety” schools where it was easier to get in as a freshman.”
Exactly that. Many of those peers are going to end up at a CC this fall themselves for any number of reasons. More will be at a CC by second semester or by next fall for any number of reasons.
I take it that your D is currently working in someone’s lab group. If she’s been commuting to do that while in HS, she can keep that position while at a local CC. That would buy her two more years of experience with this particular group, before having to join a different one if her transfer-to college/university is too far away to stay with her current P.I.
Quickly plan a “second look” trip to the back up schools. Contact the schools ahead of time to arrange with the appropriate bio faculty to meet with and tour each bio facility.
At this moment, her back-ups may not be appealing, but she may not have really given a fair consideration of those schools since her focus was on those other 4 schools. Maybe a second look could be enticing.
If she wants to be a researcher, she needs a PhD. Her plans should focus on how to best prepare for getting into grad school.
I wrote the post someone linked to earlier, about attending a CC local to the 4-year she wants to attend (in my post, for UCSB). My advice is to either do that or attend a 4-year that she gets into. Why? In order to get into a PhD program, she is going to need research experience and good letters of rec from profs. With 4 years in 1 place there is more time and opportunity to develop the relationships she needs. As a CC xfer living at home and then going to one of her 4 dream schools she will show up on campus as a junior and then have 1 year there to build up her resume before applying to grad school.
I like the UC Merced option. Is she UC eligible?
Maybe there are other CSUs that didn’t fill that she can look into. CSU Channel Islands?
Or take a year off and do research or whatever, and reapply next fall.
The stigma of “just a cc” is finally passing a bit. She came home feeling better, mainly because with so many fellow students in the same boat, CC just became a huge reality. Teachers have been giving the kids some pep talks that being rejected and waitlisted by so many UC/CSU is not the end of the world. A good portion of her classmates are in the same not accepted and waitlisted by desired schools. Knowing that others are facing that the same thoughts has helped her her see a bigger picture.
When she applied for out of state schools, it was just going through the motions, some offered no cost applications (so did a couple religious schools) so she applied not really thinking about living in another climate, far from any family. So faced with that, staying in California, going to a local CC, keep on track academically, try for a TAG method and apply again as a junior. She’s already made an appointment to see her school counselor to discuss it as well.
That’s great to hear! CC in my world (Knoxville, TN) is an excellent pathway for kids who will transfer to the university of TN or our state universities. Also, my older D spent one year at our CC and then headed to a state university. It was a good experience with excellent profs and much smaller classes than UTK.
^^^^^Forgot to mention she wasn’t happy about it at first either. Two of her friends went to out-of-state LACs and almost everyone else went to UTK. However, she did really well, met some new friends she’s still close to, and it set her up for acceptance into a BSN program which she’ll complete this May.
One consideration would be the education as a whole. Personally, I think four years at one place is better than two years at a CC and then two (hopefully) at a place that is perceived as being higher ranked. If she can go to one of her other four year choices, get immersed in the work there and do well, she’ll have a great opportunity to excel. My advice would be to consider, if at all possible, smaller places at which she’d have the chance to do some research with a staff member or as part of a dissertation project. Ultimately, this is the best preparation for a Ph.D., if that is her goal.
“major biology, career goal become a researcher in a specific field of biology. As for going to a 4 year then to a cc then apply to transfer seems like a lot of work to save face.”
in this case, the choice of the Grad. school is more important than college. Bio is taught very well at many schools, it is the most common major for the pre-meds. I do not see why she is so devasted. Her success will mostly depend on her efforts and NOT the college that she will attend. Her frustration is artificial, many who go for Bio, including the top kids who graduated #1 in their respective HS classes, choose to attend state public schools primarily for financial considerations and focus on Grad. School instead, Not much one can do with the Bio degree without Grad. School anyway.
For some fields of study, name of college may make a difference, while the “burden” of success is still on the student’s shoulders. Bio is not one of these fields. My D. was Zoology major (very much related to Bio major). She attended in-state public on full tuition Merit award. Her preparation for Grad. School was in no way inferior in comparison to those from Harvard and such, everybody was basically on the same footing. D. simply said: “I will do fine anywhere”. In addition, the opportunities for the Bio related research internships are absolutely everywhere. D. was working in the Med. Research lab for 2 summers while in HS and was interning tor 3 years in Med. (Bio) Research while at college. She had great choices of Grad. (Med.) Schools after graduating from her in-state public and so had others around her. What did they miss in college? Paying tuition - it is the best thing to miss. D’s experiences at her in-state public went way beyond our expectations. Now that she is graduating from the Med. School in May, she would choose the same college for herself, it was truly the perfect fit.
@Mindfully - one of the 4 year options (our local csu) has a 4 year graduation rate of something like 14% and is a commuter school. From our circle of friends with older kids, my observation is that many became frustrated with the lack of parking and the difficulties of getting GE classes that they either dropped out or went part time. Even our school counselor has said that we should plan that it would take 6 years to graduate locally. The smaller schools that she applied for are either out of state or religious and has decided that it wouldn’t be right for her in the long run.
@MiamiDAP - my D’s intention was schools that already had a strong grad program, one thing she learned from one of her mentors was that already being in a school that offers grad programs in that field will help her see the opportunities that are out there and meet other students and faculty that she may not have seen or met at a school that doesn’t have grad programs.
Anyway, after being a lurker for a long time, I do more than appreciate the wisdom of those who are comfortable to post frequently! Thanks!
Some of the WL’s this year at UCs are due to budget issues/a budget dispute. Unlike past years, once the budget issues are solved (ie., parents yell at the governor or something because so many of their kids can’t enroll… - current budget only allows for same number of freshmen as seniors departed, with numbers totally flat, if I understand correctly…) many WL kids would be admitted. So the colleges where she’s been wait-listed may turn out to admit her if she’s just a little patient.
No matter what, she can go to Merced, which isn’t so bad since it’s a UC with research opportunities and fewer students to overcrowd the professors.
Look at the cost of a UC for four years. Look at the cost of CC for two years (basically nothing) and the cost of a UC for two years. The savings would be considerable.
