The deal is that you didn’t read the replies. I will repeat it again My parents doesn’t want me to have a gap year.
Even if it would mean you would be on more of the correct schedule for American college admissions? Here the majority of the students join in the fall. Joining in the spring may be difficult for making friends sometimes.
I am not sure why everyone is so critical. People have different priorities. Community College to UC is not a bad option if the student can afford a UC, wants to graduate from a reputable university with international name recognition, and may not be competitive for direct entry to a UC or similar university. A homestay program is not a bad housing option either, especially at a community college where dorms are not available. (I lived with host families for a year myself.)
Unlike universities whose class schedules are geared towards fall entry, I can say from personal experience that the San Mateo Community Colleges design their class schedules so that (almost) every program can be meaningfully started in any term, including the spring or summer.
And what’s the fuss about making friends? I have made friends at community college even though I am only taking one class a term.
And there’s extracurriculars too. I don’t know if this is true for all community colleges, but the San Mateo district has competitive athletic teams and a plethora of student-run clubs.
I would like to point out though that it may not be possible or make sense to transfer to a UC in a spring term. If you do start a CA community college in the spring, plan to spend 5 semesters at a CC before transferring.
Thank you for understanding. Your information answered most of my doubts.
I’m planning to maybe do my units in the summer, so I can finish it asap. Is it really necessary to do 5 semesters because it’s not possible to transfer to UC during spring or is it to pass their requirements? Thanks!
I believe that UCs require at least 60 transferable credits from their community college transfer applicants (different rules apply if you were to transfer from another 4-year university), and only admit transfer students for the fall semester. But you should double-check that.
Instead of doing 5 semesters at a CC, it may make sense to do 4 semesters (starting in the spring) and then do an extended internship / get a job for half a year before you transfer. If you go the community transfer route, you’d get 12 months of OPT for your Associate’s degree and another 12 months for your Bachelor’s degree. That would allow you to get some meaningful pre-graduation work experience without eating into your post-graduation (Bachelor) OPT time.
Oh that’s quite a good plan. Thanks! Either way I will do 3 months of full time in my country before getting enrolled into spring I guess
You’re not allowed to enroll in any post-secondary classes if you apply as a freshman. If you spend 3 months at a college in your country, you will no longer be considered for freshman admission (and you may be rescinded for Spring).
I actually think that homestays would alleviate a lot of problems since your host family would presumably be locatd within one hour of the college campus, on a public transportation route, and would take care of dinner (or would take you shopping along with them I suppose? Check conditions).
I really don’t think the UC’s are a good value OOS for undergraduates - at OOS/international rates you could get into a private university where there wouldn’t be 400 people in your classes and where you’d have an actual personal adviser, but I guess that’s your choice.
I would look into the TC3-> Cornell path though, since 2 years at Cornell would likely be as prestigious in your country, and offer better learning conditions than a UC. (TC3 has dorms)
@MYOS1634 I think there is an misunderstanding. I meant “full time” as working not studying in college, my fault for not making it clear.
I will check the conditions with the host family, if I’m planning to go CC in CA
I will definitely check out TC3, but isn’t New York is around the same cost of CA or maybe even higher in price? Thank you!!
State universities in New York are much cheaper than the UC’s.
Cornell is likely a bit more expensive than the UC’s, but at least for the costs you get a private education, with better facilities, a personal adviser, smaller classes, academic support, no overcrowding/impossibility to take classes/difficulty in finishing “on time”, etc.
Total cost of attendance (including tuition, fees, room, board, books, personal expenses, transportation)
TC3+ SUNY (total for 4 years): ($25,000 X2) + (34,000 X2) = $118,000
TC3+ Cornell (total for 4 years): ($25,000 X2) + (62,000 X2) = $174,000
CA CC+ UC (total for 4 years - unlikely): ($26,000 X2) + ($56,000 X2) = $164,000
CA CC + UC (total for 5 years - more likely): ($26,000 X2) + ($56,000 X3) = $220,000
@MYOS1634 thanks for the information! Really helpful. I will show it to my parents so they can take into consideration. Also, could you explain why it’s likely to do 5 years in UC, so I can explain to my parents when they ask and for myself understating
As has been said above, UC’s have suffered big budget cuts that affect primarily undergraduates. It means there are more students for fewer professors, and more students with fewer classes and class sections. Students all have a set of classes they need to take (requirements). Often, there are more students who need to take the class than spaces in the class. So, you can’t take the classes you need, and you end up spending more time in school until you"ve been able to take all your required classes. Also, when you’re in a big room with 400, 700, or 1,000 students, or if you follow the class on a tv screen because there wasn’t enough money to create three separate sections of the class with three professors, it’s harder to stay focused and you may have more trouble understanding; if you don’t understand, there will be a big line waiting for the professor and the professor will have less time to explain (or may have no time at all).
You may also not know what classes you’re supposed to take and, because you don’t have a personal adviser, you may not take the right classes.
Those are the most common reasons why students have trouble graduating in 4 years.
MYOS, aren’t you a bit overly dramatic? Berkeley has a 4-year graduation rate of 73%, UCLA of 74%. The vast majority of students are graduating on time.
I am guessing that the 1000-students-in-a-single-lecture thing is more likely an issue for lower-level courses taken by many students (such as calculus), which the OP would be taking at a CC anyway. Are there bottlenecks in the upper-level courses in specific majors? THAT would be useful information to have.
There’s dedicated academic advising offices with same-day 15-minute appointments, next-week 30-minute appointments and phone availability for immediate questions. There’s a printed college catalog that spells out all requirements for each major, general education requirements, and the prerequisites for each course. Most (if not every) department also publish a recommended sequence of courses for the major. Many professors in each department are intimately familiar with the department’s curriculum and can give advice on course selection and major planning as well. (Professors have historically been my best source of advice, even though none of them were “officially” designated as an academic adviser.)
I am fully willing to believe that some students fall through the cracks if they are not actively seeking out advice. But are you saying that it may not be possible to get the advice you need even though you are making an effort to get information? THAT would be concerning to me.
I would like to point out that Cornell is an extremely selective private university with no particular preference for community college transfers.
Case in point: in fall 2016, Cornell expects to enroll 56 transfer students from NY community colleges, out of 619 transfer students total. (That’s just 9% from in-state community colleges.)
In contrast, Berkeley admitted 4,551 transfer students, 91% of them from CA community colleges. UCLA admitted 5,747 transfer students, 93% from CA community colleges.
Only attend a community college in NY if you would be content to finish your degree at a SUNY.
“I would like to point out that Cornell is an extremely selective private university with no particular preference for community college transfers.”
My mom told me the same thing about private university can is not really enforced by the state law (something like that)
Would you say CA is probably one of the best states to enter a prestigious name university by transferring from CC? Could you provide other states CC that’s worth considering? Thank you
California is definitely one of the better states for the CC + university transfer route, if your goal is to get a degree from a “prestigious” university.
Other states with renown public universities include Washington, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia and North Carolina. (Also Texas, but Austin admits relatively few community college transfers.) I don’t know off of the top of my head how easy it is to transfer from a community college to the state flagship in each of these states, or whether the state flagship offers the degree(s) you are interested in.
Do the UCs even offer a “fashion” major? I know Berkeley and UCLA have architecture. @Yunbw.be sure to read about the additional transfer requirements (a portfolio, for example) needed to get into the architecture programs at each school.
Without a doubt California wins hands down on the cc to prestigious public front. Virginia is also very good for that.
What about Richard Bland?
Florida is another one- the TCC2FSU is a TAG or Santa Fe College to UF are pretty good programs.
Both Florida and Virginia flagships have lower international tuition than UC’s.
The budget cuts are affecting the UC undergraduate experience. It’s especially obvious if you compare to the situation pre Recession. Go to UCB and see. Or read the Daily Californian. Or go ask people, administrators, professors, seniors, graduate students, lab assistants. They’ll likely tell you the university remains incredible but the undergraduate experience has become “less” than optimal even for a public university.
Yes, there are very large upper level classes. Discussion section numbers which used to be 24-25 may reach 30 now. It’s difficult to see professors (because they may have 500-1,000 students.) Registration can be difficult when there are too many students trying to get into specific classes. Meeting with someone for 10mn may not yield the same result as The phenomenon existed in the past, but it’s hard to think it decreased with less funding, and logic would make it so the huge cuts enacted in the past few years would have an impact. You can find class size reports online, then you need to increase these (especially if those are from 2013).
All in all, UC’s and even CSU’s remain a good value at instate costs, and the CC-> UC option is great for Californians. But for an 18 year old coming from abroad and paying private-school prices, I’m really not sure it’s a good idea.
Hopefully OP will score well on his/her ACT this Saturday and the need to attend a CC won’t arise, or will be complemented by a variety of applications in addition to the CC.
@MYOS1634 I will apply to one of the VCCS colleges or RBC, depends if I planning to go university of Virginia. I don’t think I will go Florida, I will put it under consideration. I might try University of Michigan, since I got a friend living in there. Thank you!
You could use the CC-> flagship route as a back up but don’t cross out 4-year colleges quite yet.
I will first apply CC as backup and when I receive my score then I will see how it goes.