Reverse Chance Me [transfer with 3.08 college GPA after two years of college, public health]

Transfer Students
1

I just finished my sophomore year at a historically women’s college on the East Coast, with no intention of returning. I will most likely take a semester or even a year off from college and apply to transfer for Spring 2024 or Fall 2024.

Here are my stats:

Demographics: Chinese-American female from California

Major: Public Health (or Environmental Health/Public Policy)
Minor: Dance (maybe)

College GPA (out of 4.0): 3.08

I failed a Music Theory class my second semester in my first year but I won’t major/minor in anything music-related.

High school GPA: 2.9UW/3.0W

I have no SAT/ACT

APs: World History, Music Theory, English Literature, Environmental Science, and Psychology
(school doesn’t offer IB or let students take more than 3 APs a year, don’t let freshmen take APs)

Extracurriculars (HS and College):

High school:

  • attended a very selective songwriting summer program held by the Grammys (12, summer before college)
  • Volunteer at Eating Disorder Resource Center (12)
  • Advocate for Eating Disorder Organization Project HEAL (12)
  • counselor-in-training at summer camp (11,12)
  • wrangler-in-training at summer camp (11)
  • rode horses recreationally (9,10,11,12)
  • volunteered at a horse ranch I went to (9,10,12)
  • played piano recreationally (9,10,11,12)
  • took singing lessons recreationally (12)
  • co-founder/coordinator of a club at my school (10)

College:

  • CDC intern
  • President of the Class of 2025
  • Vice President of Asian club
  • Social Media Chair and content creator for HerCampus college chapter
  • Member of an Acapella group and performed at concerts
  • Catalyst Leader (leadership program at my school)
  • worked at a fast food restaurant during the summer of 2022
  • Trainee at Korean music training academy
  • Awarded a $21k/year scholarship from my college

Additional Info: I was hospitalized for a week during the second semester of my first year for something pretty traumatic.

2

Do you want suggestions of colleges?

Have you considered a community college in CA, with an eventual transfer to a CSU or UC to complete your degree?

@gumbymom is this a possibility for this student?

3

It would be a possibility, depending on what level of college courses were previously taken. If no college courses taken are upper division (junior or senior level), then additional enrollment at a community college will not put the OP in danger of having too much college credit for a junior transfer (policies on that vary by campus), since lower division transfer credit is capped at 70 semester credit units (all courses taken can count for subject requirements). Note that this does mean that it will typically take 4 semesters after transfer to get from 70 to 120 units to graduate (though it may take 3 with overloading if the major does not have a 4 semester long sequence of prerequisites that need to be taken after transfer).

For a junior transfer to UC or CSU, SAT/ACT and high school GPA are not considered, though passing of specific high school courses may be relevant for some base-level requirements.

4

@ucbalumnus has given good information and advice regarding attending a CC or transfer to a CSU/UC if you want to return to California.

Transferring from an OOS university is given less priority than in-state CC transfers for the UC’s and CSU’s but if there are some lower division courses that need to be taken, going to a CC and then trying to transfer for Spring 2024 or Fall 2024 are possible.

UC Merced is the only UC that accepts Spring Transfers and the deadline is July 31, 2023 but there are several Cal States that will accept Spring Transfers.

The CSU Spring transfer application deadline is
​​August 1, 2023 – August 31, 2023.

You can look through the application to see which CSU’s accept Spring transfers and which majors are available. If you meet the requirements, you should apply. If not successful, you can then re -evaluate your options and reapply for Fall 2024.

With your current 3.08, I would target the Cal States but other UC’s might be possible if there are lower division classes you can take at a CC to boost your GPA for Fall transfer.

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/transfers-major

@mn69602 you have several discussions posted regarding your transfer chances and you have gotten a lot of good advice and options. I suggest you go into more detail about what you are looking for in a transfer college and if you are still considering returning to California as originally stated. UCI was one school mentioned but not possible with your current GPA. SJSU was another school noted by @ucbalumnus which is a very good option on your other discussion threads.

Has anything changed since these discussion threads were posted?

5

Sorry you had such a difficult experience at your first school. Are you able to point to particular attributes of the school that you want to avoid in the future?

What’s your maximum budget? I’m suspecting that full-paying for a private university or LAC may not be feasible, and it can be tough to get significant merit as a transfer, even with higher stats than yours. So I think the likelihood is that your best options will be public universities, either in California or in neighboring states, with WUE reciprocity for transfers.

I think the plan of enrolling at a CCC, both to fill in any gaps in your lower-division coursework (based on the requirements of your target programs) and to put yourself in a higher-priority group for transfer admission, will likely be your best bet. You can do this locally to your home, or, if you identify a 4-year program you strongly prefer and are reasonably sure you can be admitted to, you could consider establishing yourself nearby and starting at a community college in the same area. (This would allow you to start getting established socially, take open-enrollment summer classes at your target university, and further increase your odds of admission by attending a “local area” CC.)

For example… if you are most interested in the environmental health aspect of public health, San Diego State now has a specific degree track in this. Environmental Health Concentration | SDSU School of Public Health SDSU also has the lively social vibe that you’ve mentioned wanting, in one of your other threads. Impaction-wise, the transfer GPA threshold for both the Enviro Health track and the general Public Health track is only 2.9, so it’s a transfer plan you could solidly count on if you complete the prerequisites. Transfer Students | SDSU School of Public Health There are even privately-run dorms that house students from nearby CC’s as well as SDSU, so you could consider establishing yourself at one of these so that you’re already part of the broad student community and could complete your transfer without moving. (One example - there may be others: https://www.theessentialsdsu.com/ )

San Jose State’s Public Health major could be another great choice. B.S. in Public Health | Public Health and Recreation (The data science track would make you particularly employable, if that appeals - it’s certainly applicable to both environmental health and public policy.) As with SDSU, there are multiple local-area CC’s, and at several private dorm options that you don’t have to be matriculated at SJSU yet, to live in. https://thegradsanjose.com/ https://www.27north.com/

If you want a less urban, residential campus, Chico State is a lively place in a nice college town, with a public health major, so that could be one to consider also.

Just 15 miles outside of California’s borders, University of Nevada, Reno offers a public health major and gives the WUE discount to transfer students, so that might be an option to think about too.

Once you’re enrolled in a CCC, you can always apply to UC’s as well and see how that goes; but it’s the CSU’s that offer a guaranteed transfer path that lets you plan ahead with more confidence. And you’d get an excellent education at a school like SJSU, SDSU, or Chico. And of course you can transfer to any of these from a CC local to you; I just mentioned the plan of relocating near your desired school as a possibility because it could allow you to start establishing yourself sooner.

It doesn’t sound like you’re planning to start CC right away; what are you planning to do with your gap time?

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