question about W's and BCC, CCC, DVC, COM, and CCSF

Parent Cafe
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<p>My son (age 20) has 6 W's (and no other grades) from the Peralta CC system (mostly BCC) obtained approximately between 2009 and 2011 and 1 W (and no other grades) from the College of Marin. He is planning to try CC again in the fall. He had A's in each class when he withdrew but has been dealing with trauma-related anxiety, depression, and sleep issues for several years, which led to him dropping classes each time. </p>

<p>It's is all a very long and convoluted story -- too much to explain -- but because of everything that happened, he stopped attending high school in 2009 and took the California High School Proficiency Exam. Because he has not had many of the required high school courses, community college is probably his best, probably only, initial option for college. He is very intelligent and was a great student prior to multiple life events that happened. He is also ambitious and his current plan is to major in some type of science or bioengineering and try to go to medical school or obtain a Ph.D. in chemistry or other science. He also has aspirations of transferring into what he would consider "a really good school." (I realize that is subjective, but those are his words.) </p>

<p>We currently live in between Berkeley City College and Contra Costa College. Right now, he are considering Contra Costa and/or Diablo Valley. DVC would be a drive 30-40 minute drive for us, and I would be transporting him, or he could take public transportation, which looks to be about 1 1/2 hours one way, which may not be feasible. CCSF is also an option, as it could be accessed by BART, if it does not close.</p>

<p>He and I have decided it would probably be best for him to start over where he will not have W's, considering he wants to try to apply to transfer into competitive universities and majors. Overall, however, he would prefer Berkeley City College, which he can easily get to by BART or a short drive. We have pretty much ruled that out because of the W's. Does anyone know if there would be any way he could start over at BCC without the W's? From what I have read, there probably is not, but I am wondering if there is something I don't know about. He has a psychologist who would be willing to provide documentation of the issues that led him to withdraw. If he can get rid of the W's, he wants to go to BCC. If not, he will consider CCC, DVC, CCSF, and/or College of Marin (where he does have 1 W). </p>

<p>Another question is, of these 5, which would be the best option?</p>

<p>CCC -- fairly close if we drive; not on BART; I've heard it may not be as good of a CC, but I could have heard wrong.</p>

<p>DVC -- not easily accessed by public transportation; 40 minute or so drive; but I've heard it is a very good school.</p>

<p>CCSF -- on BART, but longer ride.</p>

<p>College of Marin -- 1 W; across the bridge; I've heard it is a fairly good CC.</p>

<p>BCC -- on BART; would be my son's preference if he didn't have 6 W's.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Your son doesn’t get to drop Ws if he tries to transfer to a senior college. He will be asked for all grades at every college he has attended. And if he does try for a Ph.D. or med school he will have to include the Ws…or lie, which I don’t recommend.</p>

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<p>Med school apps (AMCAS) require ALL college grades to be entered when applying. They use a database search mechansim that upon applying will allow them to see all colleges a student has attended, regardless if credit has been obtained. If the schools find out (and they will) a student has lied he will be barred from attendance at said med schools.</p>

<p>The process is very, very thorough. Even classes that were attended as high school dual enrollment classes must be reported along with the corresponding class grade. Before the AMCAS is downloaded to the med schools AMCAS verification process involves matching up each and every class reported with a certified transcript from each school.</p>

<p>Again very, very thorough. CA med schools are some of the toughest, if not the most competitive state med school’s to apply to. There is a whole thread on the pre-med forum that addresses just this issue regarding CA med schools. Along with multiple threads on the disadvantages of taking ANY pre-med prereqs at a community college or during summer courses (meaning adcomms frown upon it).</p>

<p>MD schools however are not your son’s only option, DO schools do have grade forgiveness unlike MD schools. Another thread on the pre-med forum.</p>

<p>DVC had a great reputation when we were residing in the Bay area. Especially their STEM classes.</p>

<p>Kat
ps. am familiar with the med school app since son applied recently and is currently a med student</p>

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<p>If he has particular target majors and UC/CSU campuses in mind, he should look at [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to see which community colleges have the best coverage of the major prerequisites for the target majors and UC/CSU campuses. Because CCs often tend to target nearby UC/CSU campuses to emulate courses at, he may find good coverage of UC Berkeley courses at the Peralta CCs and DVC, but perhaps not as good coverage of less common courses for other UC/CSU campuses.</p>

<p>For transfer students, and for graduate or professional school, all college courses and grades will have to be reported.</p>

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<p>Thanks to those who responded.</p>

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<p>Could you please explain your abbreviations?</p>

7

<p>Yes, of course.</p>

<p>I think they are all spelled out in the post, but they are:</p>

<p>BCC=Berkeley City College
CCC=Contra Costa College
DVC=Diablo Vally College
CCSF=City College of San Francisco
COM=College of Marin
BART=Bay Area Rapid Transit
W=withdrawal</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

8

<p>It sounds like your son’s situation might have allowed him to take a medical leave of absence, which would look better than the Ws I suppose. In any case, from what I understand, Ws have no affect on a student’s GPA so it’s fortunate that he has Ws instead of Fs. Perhaps he needs to get a few completed courses under his belt to give him some confidence and some positive momentum. Maybe an online course would be a good first option. If he is able to complete a few semesters of classes and get some good grades (which he sounds very capable of), I would think those first semesters of all Ws would seem much less important to any future colleges he may want to transfer to.</p>

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<p>All California community colleges are seen to be about the same by UC/CSU so I would go to the one that is most convenient. As for the Ws, UC schools do not seem to care how many you have when you apply to transfer. There cases of students getting accepted at multiple UCs with over 20 Ws.</p>