I’m going to start my first year of community college (Foothill College) this fall with full intention of transferring in two years to UCLA.
I’ve always seen myself as a bright student, but I was never really able to reach my full potential as a student during high school. My junior year of high school I decided that I was going to attend community college so that I could work on myself and my grades before being exposed to a completely new and daunting environment, and I have no regrets about my decision.
My only fear is that my high school counselors (who are wholly focused on cramming as many seniors into UCs and CSUs as possible) are withholding crucial information from me about community college and the necessary steps I must take to surpass my peers in academic excellence and achievement. Since I made this decision, I’ve been looking all across the web for advice on how to do well in community college, but I feel like they’re all dry tips without any true insight.
– For those of you who are on your way to UCLA or any other UC this fall as a transfer student, what tips do you have for the next generation of transfer hopefuls from California Community Colleges who are aiming for 4.0’s? Also, if you’re going into the Psychology major specifically from UCLA or UC Berkeley, can you give your stats? Thanks! –
I’ll be transferring to Berkeley in the Fall with a 4.0 (with a class in my major - Philosophy - taken at Berkeley). I know the transfer process like the back of my hand.
Community college is about developing good habits and putting in consistent effort. College is more conceptually demanding than high school, so you will be thinking about the material you learn more than you did. Everybody is capable of retaining information well - you just have to figure out what works best for you.
There is less busywork in college - traditional homework is often fairly rare. You definitely won’t be getting assignments that must be turned in the next day. Much of college work is reading. It’s always advised to do the required readings before the lecture (i.e. do the Classical Conditioning reading from your textbook before your professor lectures on the subject). I have been pretty lazy about doing this for most of my general education classes, but I generally keep up with reading in philosophy classes or English literature classes (my second passion). Doing readings ahead of time will make things easier for you.
Study what you’re interested in. You will have to complete all prerequisites for your major that Foothill offers. Check articulation agreements on assist.org. You should also complete IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum, I believe) - it’s an agreement from your CC and all UC’s that satisfies all of your general education requirements. As a Psych major, you will want to follow IGETC. It gives you leniency. Anyway, to give you an idea of what it’s like, here is Foothill’s IGETC pattern: http://www.foothill.edu/transfer/forms/current_transfer_ge_guide.pdf (4th page). There are many classes you can take to satisfy IGETC requirements - so pick classes that interest you. You’re more likely to perform well in classes that you’re interested in than classes you find dull. Use ratemyprofessor (google it) to avoid unnecessarily difficult professors.
Side note: Complete your English and Math requirements ASAP. UC Berkeley requires Calc I now, I believe - so you may want to take Calc.
Work efficiently. There is no coddling in college - you are expected to manage your work on your own. Maintain good study/life habits (no all-nighters, limit tasks to a specific amount of time - sleep well, eat well, and so on). I’ve found the Pomodoro Technique (google it) very helpful for beating procrastination. Do what works best for you.
Lastly, you will have to work very hard to maintain a 4.0, even if CC is not as difficult as UCLA. It’s not easy by any means.
So -
Stay on top of readings/assignments. Keeping a planner can help you stay organized. Keep all syllabi!
Take classes you’re interested in - and don’t overload on classes. 3 classes per quarter at Foothill will definitely keep you busy. Don’t take too many classes (especially difficult classes) your first semester - give yourself time to adjust.
Complete IGETC and all major requirements available to you. Major reqs differ between schools - it’s good to try to satisfy the requirements for numerous UC’s to keep your options open.
Work hard and efficiently.
Enjoy yourself!
Psych is capped at UCLA - so if you’re really determined that you want to go there, you’ll want to keep a 4.0, complete all major requirements available to you at Foothill, complete IGETC, and have some extracurriculars. This is the mentality I kept with Berkeley - I gave them no reason to reject me. Philosophy is far less competitive than Psychology for admission, though - even those with high GPAs have been denied from UCLA’s Psych program.
Umm I’ll touch one point not mentioned by goldencub. Don’t squander your financial aid if you get any, and this is more in general to anyone. When I received my first checks, it was the first time in my life where I received a nice sum. I should have saved it to make up for the net difference to attend UCLA, which is 9k.
Other than that, build up your resume. Get to know your teachers. There’s no such thing as being a teacher’s pet here. And if you can see if you can grade from them or become a tutor. By your second year, try to have a CV ready.
@goldencub@kamiture Thank you so much for your replies! Since I’ll be working while I’m in school, how many hours per day/week would you consider is a reasonable amount to work and still be able to have enough time to study thoroughly?
Any more than 20 hours and you’ll likely be ripping your hair out. Some people work full-time and go to school full-time, but that’s definitely not the norm. I worked ~6 hours per week - that, along with my EC activities, I had approximately 11 hours of committments per week (it was pretty manageable). Still - it may not seem like much, but those hours add up - and your grades should be your #1 priority.
@goldencub Okay, one last thing for now–how do you suggest building relationships with professors and counseling staff? Also, if I want to start a club, how will I know which professor I should ask to be the advisor? I wanted to start a Psi Beta chapter at Foothill.
I’m a psych major who is transferring to UCLA this year from De Anza (Foothill’s sister school) and the other commenters gave fantastic advice. The only thing I have to add it to let assist become your best friend. It tells you all the prereqs you need to take and it will make your life a whole lot easier.
I’ll just add that if you run into a teacher who isn’t so good at explaining things that there are many other resources to take advantage of, especially with math. Khan academy, Chegg, Wolfram Alpha, etc. Most of the basic concepts in any class you take have been explained ad nauseum on the internet.
I will be transferring to UCLA in the fall as a Poli Sci major, I did 2 years of community college, one year at Palomar, one year at Grossmont (50 miles away) in order to get all of my pre-reqs. I came right out of high school with one class of IB credit. I did 18 units my first semester, 17 my second and I worked 50 hours a week and maintained a 4.0. I am a good test taker, and I hated busywork in high school. Combined with my chronic laziness, I didn’t do too hot in high school. I liked the fend for yourself environment of community college, and I would recommend assessing your ability to retain spoken information. Quite frankly, many professors couldn’t care less if you come to class, but I would greatly recommend attending as many classes as possible and PARTICIPATE. Most classes have many opportunities to participate, and I make it my prerogative to ensure that every one of my professors knows my name by the second class meeting. I’ve felt that this has ensured that I have a relationship with the professor, and many of them take interest in students that they know care because they are dealing with a lot of students that couldn’t give less of a crap about the class. Don’t ask for too many favors though because professors will get annoyed, but do go the extra mile to impress them (just don’t be a pompous weenie about it). I would also recommend taking easier GE’s online because you won’t be wasting precious time in a class that could be spent focusing on another more difficult class.
And not to totally crap on your dreams but I would highly recommend any major but psychology… Check out this link, it will show you what percentage of people get in per major and psychology is only about 22% however I don’t know what your interests are, but something like anthropology is 56%. If you’re dead set on psychology be prepared to maintain at least a 3.7.
The IGETC and assist.org will be your bible for this process. Counselors are more often than not, useless. Try not to take anything outside of what you are told to by IGETC and Assist.
@Mont2LA Yeah, I mean in regards to how difficult it is to get into the Psych major at UCLA I’ve already done my preliminary research. In fact, a large chunk of the tips given here are of no surprise to me, like assist.org and IGETC. I’ve taken a few fend-for-yourself AP classes. Obviously they’re not the real deal, but they’ve given me an idea of what’s to be expected. My AP Psych class is especially like this, and I’m doing very well in it (98% as of this afternoon). In fact, I do way better in classes that require me to put in the extra effort to do well. I know that in order to achieve a 3.7 GPA (although I’m actually aiming for something between 3.86-3.9) I’m going to have to step up my game.
The thing is that I’ve already mapped out my EC’s, and considering my backstory (low-income; first-generation Nigerian-American citizen; woman), I have a lot more to showcase to the admissions officers than just my GPA. While grade point average is definitively given more weight than essays and EC’s at UCLA compared to Berkeley, which is supposed to have a more holistic approach to applicant selection, I know that with a solid academic and extracurricular file, I’m absolutely going to be a competitive applicant. How I’ll get there? Jeez, who knows? But it’d be pointless to go to UCLA if I’m not going for a program that I respect and that would make me really happy. I honestly think I can do it. I just need a little help getting there, you know?
note
When I was listing my backstory, I did not mean to imply that being a woman is an automatic perk to admissions officers. In fact, I have no idea what they would consider a perk.
The hardest (and most valuable) thing about college is that it is 100% up to you to succeed. You have to take full responsibility for showing up to class, doing the readings, turning essays in on time, etc. And just because you go to a CC does not mean you won’t be getting a quality education. I was a bit embarrassed at first to be going to a CC, but I’ve had an amazing experience and it was the smartest decision I made out of high school.
First, don’t get discouraged if you don’t transfer in two years. I did it in three, but it’s only made my experience all the more richer. Do you plan to work and go to school full time? They say 20 hrs/wk of studying for every 12 units, but if you need to make ends meet it’s not impossible to work more than 20 hours. Personally, I worked everywhere between 15-30 hours/wk while going to school and made it work. It took a lot of dedication and perseverance, but I’m sure it looked impressive on my application.
Don’t worry if you take some general eds and find out you’re more passionate about physics than psych. Everybody changes majors. But if psych is your intended major, don’t let the stats discourage you. I was admitted to UCLA’s comm department, which has about a 10% acceptance rate and I don’t have a 4.0.
Make sure your ECs are relevant to what you are interested in and try and take leadership roles. If possible, join the honor’s program at your CC. If you finish the certification, you can get TAP certified which allows you to choose a second major at UCLA and gives you priority at other schools.
Like @kamiture said, don’t spend all your loan money at once. Take out only what you need and not a penny more. Only spend it on tuition and books and rent if you need to. If you work while going to school, save, save, save, SAVE! It’ll come in handy once you transfer.
A note about books: while they are important, I’ve had classes where we didn’t open the book once and I still got an A. If you can’t afford the book, it’s probably on reserve at your school’s library or can be found online or rent from Amazon.
Professors can make all the difference in whether you like a class or not. Read reviews on ratemyprofessor before signing up for class but read it with a grain of salt. Assist is a like a pocket counselor, literally saved my life when I changed my major the semester I applied.
Most of all, just have a good time! CC can be a very enriching experience if you allow it. Have fun and party once in a while if you want! College is about developing yourself, but also about learning how to interact with others.
Btw, Cal and UCLA are really the only ones who read the personal statement. My gpa is a (high) 3.7, I have a few ECs (not many), and worked a lot during school but still got into UCLA and Cal. Just be honest and don’t sound arrogant. Also, I heard that self-reflection is an indicator of intelligence, but that’s something I developed through my years at a CC.
@goldencub I was told by my admissions counselors (including one who used to work at UCLA) that UCB and UCLA are the only ones who read them for admission. Some schools will read them for scholarships but for the most part getting in is largely a numbers game.
Disclaimer: only those reading the applications truly know what goes on after we submit the app, so nobody can say they know for sure about anything related to the process.
Your admissions counselors are mistaken. Refer to p. 36 (p.37 if you’re viewing going by the actual number of pages). The UCs that use the PS for admission purposes are Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCI, and UCM.
I agree that transfer admissions is primarily a numbers game, but there are definitely other UCs that read the personal statement. Also, given the fact that the UCs release information about how they select transfer students, we can definitely know about the transfer process.
