<p>OK so I'm currently ending my freshman year at NYU. after finding out about yet ANOTHER tuition hike my family has realized i seriously can't afford it.</p>
<p>i'm thinking of taking off the next semester and applying to Claremont McKenna for spring 09, or taking off a whole year and applying to Berkeley, USC, UCLA for fall 09.</p>
<p>i have a 3.4 now, probably a 3.6 after this semester. over my "break" i'd be working and volunteering. i have a stellar high school record (got into berkeley, usc, ucla, ucsd, etc but ended up at nyu for other reasons).</p>
<p>would taking a semester/year off hurt my chances?? i don't want to go into more debt just to transfer to a school i'd actually like..</p>
<p>Your reasons for taking time off are absolutely legitimate. Please do what you feel is best for you & your family. A well written essay will explain your situation, what you did with your time off, and what you have learned about yourself in the interim. If a school were to reject you based on what you have told us, then believe me ... you don't want to go to that school. Do what you need to do. You are what ... 18 or 19?? Believe me, you have a year to spare. Things will work out for you.</p>
<p>apes89 - on their admissions website, it says you can have less if you are transferring in as a lower division student - as long as you don't have your associate yet.</p>
<p>If you are an out of state student the chances of you getting into the UC system are pretty slim even with a great GPA and ECs, so I would take that into consideration.</p>
<p>i've considered taking a gap year if i'm not accepted to any of the schools i've applied to for transfer, but it's so expensive. health care, especially. i'd be paying like $500/month because i'd no longer be covered under my parents' insurance plan. have you thought of this? how do people afford gap years?!</p>
<p>lOvedisaster, I suggest you post this on the UC Transfer forum also. Since many of the schools you're considering are UCs, you'll find the most expertise, experience and guidance over there on how best to accomplish what you want.</p>
<p>Good luck with it. Seems like it should all work, but I'd want you to know the specific ins and outs of how to handle it with the UCs.</p>
<p>There is also a UC Admissions officer who sometimes posts there and I think posts on the UCDavis forum, so you could get great info from him (her?)</p>
<p>Why not take classes at a community college starting this summer, and continue on in the fall. If you dont get into CMC, then at least you would have completed the requisites for uc admissions, to enter as a junior in fall 09</p>
<p>i imagine you've taken at least a good 25-36 units at NYU, all you would need are 30 more(which can be done at a california community college) to qualify for admissions into a UC.</p>
<p>BTW community colleges can bring up your gpa. That way you could also apply for fall 09 at claremont, and enter as a junior instead of as a sophomore.</p>
<p>wouldn't going from a four-year to a community college look bad on my transcripts, though? i do have grad school to think about.. i'm nervous it would reflect badly.</p>
<p>No...a lot of people do it to save money once they realized that the first two years of college classes are really all the same anyways, just getting gen. ed. classes done. I switched from a four-year to a two-year and I've met plenty of people who have done the same.</p>
<p>I think there is a possibility that you are still considered an out of state student even though you are a California resident. I could be mistaken.</p>
<p>thanks for all the advice. i'm going to call a few admissions offices later in may to see if my chances are better for transfer by taking community college courses or just sticking out one more semester at NYU..</p>