<p>Thank you celloguy. I will check it out.</p>
<p>Melbusefi,</p>
<p>I had a math class with a lady in her late thirties when I was a freshman. She had transfered in after having been out of college for over ten years. She got her BA.</p>
<p>I mention this story to tell you that it can be done.</p>
<p>One thing I will say is that there are thousands of colleges. Don't limit yourself based on your perception of which colleges are the best. There are good schools that aren't in the top ten, top one-hundred, etc.</p>
<p>Have you looked at state schools? They will be less expensive once you become a resident, AND they can be excellent academically. Just look at U of Illinois.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>"Since I'm planning on proceeding in my education to Grad school and not just obtain a certificate, what I need to search for is not a JC with an excellant program in a specific area, but a competitive JC with an excellant Honors program and a very good reputation among top schools (in order of personal/financial-aid preference: Stanford, Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, UPenn, Harvard, and others) and I have the whole country (the 48 states at least) to find a Junior College that fits this critaria."</p>
<p>Just so you know, these aren't junior colleges. A junior college is a 2-year college.</p>
<p>But to get to the heart of what you're saying, you're incorrect. If you are planning to go to grad school, the grad schools care far more about the quality of the particular program, not the overall name prestige of the university. The same thing goes for picking grad schools - pick the best program, not the best name. Sometimes they go together, sometimes not. To get a good idea of universities with terrific programs in your area, check out their grad school standings in that major, and then balance out that information with finaid considerations and fit. The reason for this is that professors at the best programs tend to have the best connections; therefore, their letters of recommendation carry more weight. In grad school apps, numbers (GRE, GPA) are important, but not nearly as important as letters and writing samples. So please don't base everything on those USN&WR top ten. That matters far less than what you actually do with your undergrad experience.</p>
<p>To follow up on DeepSeek--it's fine to aim high, but everyone's chances at Top 10 schools are iffy. You can also get an excellent academic education at many colleges or univeristies (public as well as private) ranked between 20 and 50 , for example, and good strong work with known profs at these institutions will qualify you for the best grad programs--this path may turn out to be more realistic for you--so keep an open mind.</p>
<p>Mentioning the Grad thing confused everybody. sorry!
To clarify:</p>
<p>The names of schools I mentioned are the ones i desire to transfer to AFTER finding a good JC to get my A.A. from. i.e. I'm looking for a JC college that has a good reputation AMONG the good 4-year schools (i.e. I AM LOOKING FOR a JC with a good honors program, reigorous grading standards, and a relatively high rate of transfer to better 4-year colleges).</p>
<p>Regarding Cali JCs - not one of those top universities cares which particular JC you went to. They really don't. What they care about is how well you did at those JCs and what your letters of rec are like. They care how involved you get in your community. They care about your admissions essays. That's it. No one on the adcom looks at applications and says, "Well, person A looks good, but person B went to a much better JC."</p>
<p>You mean JC's honors' classes and programs are all at the same level of diffeculty? A 4.0 GPA from one JC is like a 4.0 from any other JC?</p>
<p>I'm asking because back when I took those classes at the local JC between 01-05 it was so easy to get an A in all of them if I only had som time to study.</p>
<p>Except Berkeley. The UCs do have articulation agreements with certain California JCs, so if Berkely is a goal, check with their articulation advisers about the JC path that leads to admission.</p>
<p>Sure. A given is that you should check with the colleges you want to matriculate to and find out about agreements, requirements, etc. From what I recall about my husband's experience (he transferred from American River to UCDavis for biochem and sports med before going into med school), and from what I know about my own experience transferring from JC to university, they treat JCs relatively equally - equally enough that it matters little which one you attend, as long as you meet the requirements and get excellent grades.</p>
<p>These websites may help a bit:
<a href="http://transfer.berkeley.edu/prospective.htm%5B/url%5D">http://transfer.berkeley.edu/prospective.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/1_3_transfers.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/1_3_transfers.html</a>
<a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit/transfer/application/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.yale.edu/admit/transfer/application/index.html</a>
<a href="http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/transindex.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissionsug.upenn.edu/applying/transindex.php</a>
<a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/admissions/transfer/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/admissions/transfer/index.html</a>
<a href="http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/transfer/%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/transfer/</a></p>
<p>If you attend a Cali JC, no one outside of CA will know anything about them, so all JCs will be on even footing. For universities within CA, you can check with their admissions office to see which JCs they recommend. That's not the kind of information anyone here will have.</p>
<p>Thank you celloguy - DespPhdSeek- pyewacket for your advice. it was a great help.</p>
<p>The links are in my Favorites already DPS ;)</p>
<p>The Ca JC's list in their course listing classes that transfer to the Cal States and which courses transfer to the UC's. The courses that transfer to a UC would probably transfer to a private college as well. All Ca JC's offer courses that are not transferable. Many are remedial courses in English writing and math.
At the JC that I have looked into the transfer agreements are clearly defined. The honors program also has transfer agreements with some private colleges. If you are interested in Ca schools check out the sites for each school as they can be slightly different.</p>
<p>mom60, your advice to check out individual sites is good. I can't agree, though, that "the transfer agreements are clearly defined." These have been open to interpretation and are constantly in flux (I've worked for a JC off and on for 20 years now, and my H does some of their articulation stats on a contract basis). Keeping track is a full-time job for an entire department.</p>
<p>As for listing classes that transfer -- yes, that's part of the course listing, based on current understanding of <em>California</em> colleges. No consideration (stated or implied) is given to private colleges. But certainly the course listings (which are online for most (all?) JCs) give a good indication of course rigor and potential transferability.</p>