@myos1634 Dang. I was trying to decide between biology/zoogloy (Herpetology specifically, but no colleges really offer that) and something in business like marketing or finances. I’ve checked into some South East US schools such as University of Southern Alabama, Coastal Carolina and Troy University. All of which accept low GPAs. If I were to major in business, would there be ANY schools that would take me?
@MYOS1634 30,000 for tuition at a california community college?
Where are you from???
I’m from California and it does NOT EVEN COME CLOSE to that amount. Even for out of state students. It is a LOT cheaper. The only thing that costs is living.
to the OP: I recommend getting an apartment or living with someone else.
yes, YOU ARE FROM CALIFORNIA. You pay in-state rates, which are highly subsidized by CA taxpayers and only apply to California residents.
OP is OOS, not a California resident. And Cost of Attendance includes tuition, rent, food, utilities, books, transportation, personal expenses, health insurance. Sharing an apartment is a way to cut costs but housing around top Community Colleges is highly expensive (often $1,000 even for a shared apartment).
@myos1634 Ouch on the $1,000 even for a shared apartment. I don’t suppose a dorm at a CC would be much cheaper if any CCs offer it that is? Looking more and more like Arizona for me. I have a friend who has several extra rooms near a few CCs and near ASU and only wants $400 a month for rent. And there are hundreds of places with rent under $700-800 a month with several being much cheaper.
yes there are CA CCs with dorms. They don’t have a very good track record for transfers but why not?
At this point anyway, ASU sounds like a better idea…
@myos1634 Do most or all Cali CCs have agreements with the Cal State &/or UC system?
I actually don’t know; I know UCB, UCLA, and UCSD don’t, but that the other UCs have agreements with some CCs; as to which ones may have agreements with which UCs, or why students at some CCs never complete their requirements, you’d have to ask NorthCalParent or UCBalumnus or Gumbymom, because I really don’t know.
@myos1634 Thanks! I’ll find someone who might have any info on CA & AZ colleges that have agreements w/ Cal State schools and/or UCs. I know AZ has some agreements with Cali CCs for ASU and I think UA, but I could be wrong.
You could try NY community colleges and transfer through the articulation agreement with Cornell University College of agriculture and life sciences.they have a great animal science program there and you can minor in business at The dyson school.
^good idea. Find a CC that has an articulation agreement with Cornell, get straight A’s, get involved on campus, and transfer into Dyson… off you Wall Street you go 
@janizary @myos1634 Thanks for the idea! I just can’t even imagine myself at Cornell. Lol. Is it like a separate part of Cornell or something? I checked out their website, but couldn’t find too much on if they’re like the same as the very prestigious Cornell University. Besides from the NY CCs on their website, does Cornell University College of Agriculture & life sciences also have agreements with other CCs not in NY? Also I don’t think I’m personally cut for a school like Cornell. I’m nowhere near the level of the students that attend there.
@FutureHerper CALS is 100% part of THE Cornell University. If you check the entering freshman year stats for CALS, the average SAT is somewhere around a 1400+ and their GPA like a 3.8+. Some colleges at Cornell are partially state funded so tuition is cheaper and have articulation agreements with NY community colleges. I believe even a 3.5+ is a decent shot for CALS. There’s no reason for you to prosper at Cornell if you improve your work ethic. You can check out the transfer/articulation agreements at individual community colleges on their websites.
@janizary Is the SAT only math + CR or as a composite? I’m having a hard time distinguishing between the 2 when on the college websites they don’t mention if it is composite or just math + CR. I’d guess that the 1400+ is only math + CR. Also do you know if a college that has a deal with Cornell would also have deals with other universities in the US? I can’t find a way to check if a certain CC’s credits will transfer over to schools that don’t have agreements with them. (Ex: Will I be able to attend a CC in NY and transfer to CA schools? Or can I attend a CC in AZ and transfer to a school in NY?)
A bit off topic… But the Cal State requirements system is kind of confusing for me to understand. Do you happen to know anything about how it works? Their GPAs & SAT scores seem too low to be true according to Cappax.com & Collegeapps. When I go on the Cal State University website I see that for an OOS with a 2.6 GPA I would need a near perfect ACT or SAT (M+CR) to even have a chance at acceptance. Is there perhaps any way around that or am I pretty much sunk? Thanks.
No, a NYS CC would only have a deal with NYS “state” or “contract” universities, so Cornell CALS + SUNYs (Geneseo, Binghamton, etc). However, if you made the grade (3.75+ in college, preferably as close to a 4.0 in CC as possible), your HS record wouldn’t matter, it’d be associated with youth and immaturity and your CC record would be considered the “true” record of your work ethics and ability.
This is an example of results by major - calculate… but I’d advise picking one of the majors with a 2900 
http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-10079.12651.html
@myos1634 So just to clarify, there is basically no chance at all of me getting into Cal States as an OOS student? It almost doesn’t seem right, but then again I don’t make the rules. It was kind of confusing on their homepage. I saw on a few websites I mentioned before that a few students had sub par GPAs and still got in, but I guess they’re all in state athletes or something.
IF your GPA is below 2, no you can’t get into any Cal State. If your GPA is 2.5 and you have excellent test scores + choose a non impacted major (those with an index 2900) then your odds are okay.
@myos1634 Interesting. That is nearly impossible, but doable. University of Arizona doesn’t seem to have any specific requirements on their website other than just a 2.0 and I can’t have any missing credits or failed classes. Would strong SAT scores, strong ACT scores, lots of community service, my school’s reputation and other things such as my essay, LOR, etc get me in? UA is actually going to have a representative at a local college fair near me that I’m going to. I’ll be sure to ask tons of questions about their admissions.
SAT OR ACT. And the scores don’t even need to be THAT strong, I think that if you hit 24 or 25 you’re good (those are not low scores, but they’re not incredibly high either - hard but doable).
@myos1634 Does UA or ASU have a preference? I can get a 1550-1600 on SAT and plan on getting a private tutor to possibly bump that up to a 1700-1800. Also I figured I did no worse than a 24/25 on the ACT. Only part I did less than well on was reading because I spaced out way too much. I’ll retake it if I don’t get a 24+ composite as I know I can get at least that.
Also I heard UA has a reputation around this board of being a very easy school to get into. I can’t tell if that is a joke or serious. I see they do have a very high acceptance rate. So with a low-mid 2 GPA + 24/25 ACT I should get in?
Yes. 