<p>What CCC did you attend? I am having trouble looking for a good CCC. I want to transfer to UCLA after one/two years.</p>
<p>I haven’t transferred yet, but I just want to let you know that it doesn’t really matter what CC you attend for the purposes of admission or in regards to academic success.</p>
<p>I’d just look somewhere that has a TAP program depending on what your major is.</p>
<p>Use [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to check which CCs have the best coverage for your major at UCLA.</p>
<p>In other posts, you mentioned being a non-resident of California; California CCs (and UCLA) will cost more for you than for California residents.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus, yes! I am aware of that. 
I am just curious as to which ones to go to. My cousin says the counseling at De Anza is horrible but everything else is wonderful there.</p>
<p>Hello Hichristen! </p>
<p>I transferred to UCLA from Santa Monica College. As far as transferring to UCs, I am pretty sure that SMC has more transfers than any other school. </p>
<p>A few things to consider…
-SMC has great professors and once you transfer, you will be well prepared for a UC.
-When I was still at SMC, it was getting quite hard to enroll in classes (I believe this is still the case). Tough enrollment may impact your timeline.
-It is also a “harder” CC. There are some other CCs that are very lax with their grading and where it would be quite easy to attain a high GPA. </p>
<p>In any event, SMC is a great CC and I valued my time there. I got into UCLA as a political science major without TAP. SMC really helped to prepare me for the classes at UCLA and, as such, I have been able to maintain a 4.0 while here. Some may encourage you to go to a CC that will allow you to attain a high GPA with minimal effort, but there is quite a bit of value in going to a CC with some rigor. </p>
<p>Best of luck wherever you decide to attend :)</p>
<p>Most of the large CCC’s (10,000+ student enrollment) are going to be relatively the same and will offer you equal opportunity to transfer to UCLA or any other UC. The one thing I would really look into is making sure on Assist.org that the CC you’re going to attend offers all or most of the prereqs you need for your major. Also for UCLA attending a CC with a TAP certified honors program and completing TAP may help if you plan to transfer to a highly competitive major as it affords you the opportunity of being evaluated for a second major if you get rejected from your first choice major. You don’t need TAP to be admitted to UCLA, I didn’t complete it, but it’s useful if UCLA is your main target and there are similar majors you can apply to.</p>
<p>I attended multiple Los Angeles area CCC’s (PCC, GCC, LAVC, LACC, Mission College, and Pierce College) before getting accepted to UCLA in the 2012 cycle I can tell you that there really isn’t a substantial difference between any particular CC and the next. There are some universal truths about all CCC’s such as – parking will be terrible, counselors are unreliable, professors are hit and miss (use ratemyprofessor.com to find the best professors), your first few terms you’ll have low enrollment priority and may struggle to enroll in desired classes (especially lower level science/math classes), etc. That’s all going to be the same regardless of where you go. </p>
<p>However, the two most important things for admission at any UC, repeated ad nauseum on these forms, are GPA and prerequisite completion. So my advice is to attend a CC that offers the prerequisites you need (which should be most of CC’s) and pick one that doesn’t add any additional burden to you that might affect your grades. If you’re considering a CC that would require you to commute an hour each way to get there when there’s one that’s 10 minutes from home, pick the closer CC. Really the CC you pick isn’t going to be the decisive factor into your admission at the UC’s. If you have a good work ethic, are fairly intelligent, and have decent study habits you’re going to be fine regardless of the CC you’re at.</p>
<p>After seeing burks4tw post, I thought I should touch on the fact that the CC’s that are closest in proximity to a UC tend to have a fairly successful admit rate to them and are often linked to them e.g. UCLA and SMC, Berkeley and De Anza, UCI and IVC, UCSB and SBCC, etc. However, I wouldn’t go out of my way to attend one of them as they all are already overcrowded and you can really be successful transferring from any CC to any UC. Also the reason why those CC’s tend to send more transfers to those UC’s is because they have more students that attend them with the direct intent of transferring to that close UC so it makes the statistics a bit biased. Using SMC as an example, every year they send the most students directly to UCLA because they always have the most students that apply to UCLA among the CCC’s. They don’t necessarily have the highest admit percentage though which in any given year which tends to be around 30-35% and is about the same as most of the other big CC’s in the LA / OC area which is typically between 25-35% to UCLA. So I wouldn’t worry too much about picking a CC with the intent on transferring to UCLA. You directly mentioning De Anza suggests you likely live in the Bay Area and SMC and some of the other SoCal CC’s may statically send more students to UCLA than De Anza, but I really wouldn’t go as far as moving all the way across the state and leaving home just to attend a particular CC.</p>
<p>Regarding dilapidatedmind’s post, I wasn’t advocating that the OP move to attend any specific CC. The OP asked where accepted UCLA transfers had attended CC and I do believe that if you are in the LA area, SMC is the best CC to attend because of the quality of the professors. </p>
<p>I did stress in my post that I believe attending a CC that will prepare you for a UC is, in my opinion, most important. It is conjecture, but in my experience the people I know who have gone from SMC to UCLA (and UCB) have been able to maintain a GPA similar to what they had at CC and don’t have a difficult time adjusting to UCLA. However, there are multiple people I have come across in my time at UCLA from West LA College, Saddleback College, and even Orange Coast College that have struggled with both their GPAs and the rigor of the coursework. </p>
<p>Again, my experience is limited to SoCal and the above conjecture is limited to people I know/have met in the humanities/social sciences departments of UCLA. As dilapidatedmind noted, moving to attend a specific CC is inadvisable, as you would most likely be able to find a suitable CC close to where you live. However, I make no assumptions about where you live/intend to live once you move to CA (if you are in fact OOS), but if you do live in Los Angeles County… rah rah SMC :D.</p>
<p>Edit: If you want data regarding specific CCCs and transfer numbers, here is a website from the state that will give you mountains of data:
<a href=“http://www.cpec.ca.gov/OnLineData/TransferPathway.asp[/url]”>http://www.cpec.ca.gov/OnLineData/TransferPathway.asp</a></p>
<p>Hi burks4tw, I know you weren’t advocating for the OP to specifically move to attend SMC, so sorry if my last post seemed like I was suggesting that. I’ve just seen SMC and UCLA mentioned so frequently among potential CC students in the LA area that I felt it was something worth addressing once SMC was inevitably brought up in relation to UCLA. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people consider SMC as the “only” CC in the LA area to transfer to UCLA from when that’s just not the case. And I’ve known students that have gone to unnecessary lengths, like commuting 2+ hours in traffic along the 101/405 every day to attend SMC when there are, what I feel, are just as great local CC’s to transfer from. </p>
<p>In my experience Pierce, LAVC, and Glendale Community College (GCC) are all great CC’s in the valley with their share of exceptional faculty and I find it hard to believe SMC could offer a preparative experience so far beyond those three as to justify commuting hours in LA’s terrible traffic or moving to expensive West LA from elsewhere in the county for. Admittedly, I never attended SMC because it was just too far and too crowded for me, so I can’t directly compare experiences; however, Pierce (35.81%) and LAVC (38.81%) were even more successful than SMC (32.38%) admitting transfers to UCLA. GCC (28.07%) wasn’t far behind. [Profile</a> of Transfers from CA Cmty Colls - 13 Fall - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof13_CAcc.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof13_CAcc.htm) I would also put GCC’s Chem/Bio department up against any in the state. And the best educator I’ve had at any level, including at the UC 's, was my Calculus professor from there, who was recognized with the prestigious Hayward Award a few years back that honors the best CCC faculty in the state.</p>
<p>Last, I would say it’s a bit unfair to compare your success at UCLA with students from other colleges to try to compare the quality of community colleges, at least without addressing confounding variables like incoming GPA, study habits, age, etc. The fact that you’ve had a perfect 4.0 can suggest just as much about your own intelligence and work ethic as it does your CC preparation. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to downplay the quality of SMC, I’m sure SMC is a great CC and is often recognized as such by its alumni and various organizations and media. I just think the myth that SMC is vastly superior for transferring to UCLA than any other SoCal CC or others in the state needs to be debunked. It’s one of several quality CC’s in LA and around the state which can prepare you well for UCLA.</p>
<p>I agree with @dilpidatedmind, it doesn’t matter where you go. For example, my CC has very strong ties with Stanford University, so close that the director of the program I’m participating in the Stanford School of medicine (to develop a project for my community) advised me to get a letter of rec from our STEM director to get into any of their summer internships! And out of the thirty people participating in the program 9 are from my community college. This does not mean that if I wanted to apply for undergrad admissions I would get in, because they only accept about 20 students as transfer students (even with the strong ties with our school). Same applies to all of the UCs, they may have strong ties with a particular CC but that doesn’t mean they will give preference to them. Personally, I would just go to my closest CC get all my prerequisites completed using Assist, join clubs relevant to my major, get exposed to research (especially if you’re a STEM major) they absolutely love research, and get the highest grades possible in the most rigorous classes (if they offer honors courses, take them). If you do your best, you will be a strong applicant, regardless of your CC. Best of luck :)</p>
<p>ucastell is going to be the next great scientist/doctor, I swear lol</p>
<p>Hi everyone, I have a question: what is TAP? I have seen this mentioned so many times on this forum and I have no idea what it is!</p>
<p>You guys are WONDERFUL! Thanks for all the information! Yes, I will be living in the Bay Area (most likely), I am a U.S. territory resident but I am a U.S. citizen. It is more likely I’ll be living in the Bay Area than SoCal because I have more relatives in the north. UCB would be just as fine to get into as UCLA, but I’ve always loved UCLA’s campus! Thanks so much everyone! Such great help!</p>
<p>@hichristen</p>
<p>TAP stands for “Transfer Alliance Program.” It’s an honors program offered by many CCs that some students participate in to enhance their chances of admission to UCLA. It really helps.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley has a TAP program that some community colleges participate in but it’s different in nature.</p>
<p>@Cayton, is the TAP program offered at community colleges? I mean, is it that students take TAP courses at community colleges and put this down in their application? Is that how it works?</p>
<p>There’s a place to indicate you are tap certified. Then UCLA gives a list to the TAP advisor at your CC and they confirm with UCLA that you’ve completed the program.</p>
<p>@HiChristen here is a list of colleges that are participants in UCLA Tap.</p>
<p>[Transfer</a> Alliance Program - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/adm_cco/tap.htm]Transfer”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/adm_cco/tap.htm)</p>
<p>Once you get to one of these CC’s, you would go speak with the TAP/honors coordinator at the school and they will walk you thru the process. What U.S. territory are you a resident of?</p>
<p>Here is the list for UCB Tap. This one is geared more towards underprivileged/ underrepresented minority students.</p>
<p><a href=“http://cep.berkeley.edu/tap[/url]”>TAP | Center for Educational Partnerships;
<p>I hope this helps.</p>
<p>@Cayton</p>
<p>Yes, it’s offered at different CCs. There’s a spot on the application where you indicate that you participate in UCLA TAP. But the significant paperwork is done with a CC TAP counselor.</p>
<p>TAP is basically an honors curriculum that you’ll complete at your CC, which usually entails enrolling in honors sections of the same classes you’d take for IGETC or your major. Basically you take a couple honors courses and then you can be denoted as being TAP certified on your CC transcript. Then you’ll check off that you’ll be TAP certified on the UC application when you apply. </p>
<p>De Anza doesn’t have a TAP (for UCLA) program but neighboring CC’s like West Valley, Foothill, Skyline, etc do. The link stanx89 posted has a list of all the CC’s that participate in TAP and you can use this map to get a sense of geographically where they are.
<a href=“CaliforniaColleges.edu”>CaliforniaColleges.edu;
<p>Also be aware that you don’t have to take classes exclusively at one CC. Often the quickest way of transferring involves enrolling at multiple nearby CC’s and taking classes when you can get them. Typically when you’re a new CC student you won’t have high enrollment priority and it’ll often been the case that some of the classes you’ll want to take will be full before you’ve enrollment date. Enrolling at multiple CC’s will increase your chances of getting a course you may need.</p>