Transfer advice - california/ florida

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi everyone !
I am currently a first semester freshman attending a local community college in California.
I have only lived here for just over a year, so i'm really not THAT familiar with the California School System.. My original plan was to go back to Florida (where i'm from) and attend a college there, but that plan was eaten up when i realized it would be 50grand a year to attend the school I wanted to in Florida, so I thought I would attend a local community college until I figured it out. </p>

<p>I'm not ONE HUNDRED PERCENT sure, but I'm leaning towards majoring in computer science.
I recently spoke with a counselor at my school as we tried to figure an educational plan out and I asked about the difference between UCs and CSUs. I thought I wanted to attend a UC, because they're better ranked, but she told me UCs are theoretical schools, for those who want to do RESEARCH, or become a professor, etc. and CSUs, are typically for kinesthetic learners, (i'm definitely a hands on learner) and those who would want to work for a company or actually run their own business..</p>

<p>SO, with that being said. I'M COMPLETELY LOST. Because I don't want to RESEARCH computer science at say UCSD.. I actually wanted to DO it.. I'd love to work for a company like Google one day. So, is this true.. ? Being as I'd rather DO than RESEARCH.. would I be better off at a CSU rather than a UC... ? If so which ? If really unfamilar with the CSUs....</p>

<p>OKAY, SECONDLY. FLORIDA.
I REALLY WANT TO GO BACK TO FLORIDA..... I feel like I would be a million times happier there, ever since I moved out to California, I have been extremely depressed, and if money wasn't an issue, I would be attending school in Florida without a doubt.. </p>

<p>So, I went back and did some research. I targeted a school with a lower out of state tuition than the Florida school I chose last year, USF. I'd REALLY love to go to FSU, but they're a tad bit more expensive, anyways, lets analyze USF (university of south florida) for now. They have an out of state sticker price of 15k. And when you add it all up, out of state at USF, or in state at say UCSD. The price totals to approx 30,000 for each school... USF equaling two or three grand more than UCSD would. So the price is relatively similar..</p>

<p>But the problem is, WHAT IS BEST FOR MY FUTURE.. Do i rough it out and figure out a school in Cali to attend ? Or do I go back to Florida. My parents have it in their head that if i obtain a degree in florida, but actually want to live in California after school, I'm going to have trouble getting a job here with a Florida degree. What about grad school ? Are my chances pretty much eliminated from attending a grad school in Cali with a Degree out of state ?</p>

<p>SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME.... any advice is appreciated. I'm SOO LOST !</p>

2

<p>I do not know what to tell you. </p>

<p>But I do know for sure that both Florida (most especially South Florida) and California have one of the nicest transfer systems going when it comes to Community College. I envy all of you at both places just soo much :)</p>

<p>If you are in Community College now over in California, then just take it slow. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Your first semester, eh? Relax. Take it easy and just try your best academically and then think of your transfer options over the winter break. What is your courseload?</p>

3

<p>I’m currently taking 14 units.
English 100, stats, intro to object oriented programming, & econ.</p>

<p>I know i’m first semester, but I still feel so pressed for time, like I need to figure everything out RIGHT now. The educational plan my counselor drew up consisted of 89 units… and I don’t even know how it’s possible to attain that many units prior to transfer because, you can only take 18 units max a semester, and that has to be SO hard… I was taking 17, but I dropped a class in fear I couldn’t handle it…</p>

4

<p>Your counselor is full of hoo-ey. While what she said is technically true, it really doesn’t reflect the reality of the student experience and more importantly, after-graduation hiring. CCC counselors, as a rule, are complete idiots–most of them are busy shuttling the CCC students to the nearby CSU and they know nothing about the UCs or the privates. I can not can not can not stress how incompetent 98% of CCC counselors are and to avoid them whenever possible.</p>

<p>GO TO A UC. You won’t be stuck “researching” at a UC unless you want that specific kind of experience and seek it out. The UCs have more prestige. At the end of the day, hiring managers at Google etc will value a UC degree more than a CSU degree (Cal Poly SLO an exception to that rule). </p>

<p>The UCs are more selective, and thus, overall, the student body more competitive and advanced.</p>

<p>I do think staying in CA is better if you want to work out here. You should be getting jobs/internships right now while you are in school and definitely in the summers. My son at UC Berkeley had an internship the first summer and fulltime work the next summer as a programmer at a Silicon Valley networking company. These will likely leverage into fulltime employment opportunities after graduation–he’s a leg up already.</p>

5

<p>oh wow, well that makes me feel a lot better, because she really made me feel like if I ended up attending a UC, I’d basically have trouble after college getting a job. I hate even talking to these stupid counselors, but it’s mandatory at my school to do so…
But yeah, she was trying to set me up to transfer straight to CSU San Marcos… and I was like. uh… I don’t want to go there… and she was like OH ! okay, we’ll set you on track for UCSD. because san marcos and UCSD are basically their “linked in” universities… </p>

<p>Thank you ann !</p>

6

<p>I swear these CCC counselors get paid in kick-backs to shuttle the CCC students to the local feeder CSUs/UCs. LOL. That state of affairs is of course, extremely limiting, especially if a student has the stats and the financial ability to consider privates or to move away and go to a college outside the local area.</p>

<p>My guess is that CCC counselors are trained only for the local transfers and are told by their higher ups to stick to the “tried and true” formula of keeping the students local. It would take a lot of money and training for the CCC counselors to learn about the entire UC/CSU system and be aware of all the nuances campus to campus, not to mention the “hassle” of being familiar with the private colleges up and down the state of California. The CCC counselors aim to be “experts” for a transfer to the local CSU (and maybe the nearest UC) and nothing more, it seems.</p>

<p>Ugh, CSU San Marcos is one of the worst CSUs. Look at CSU Cal Poly and SJSU instead.</p>

<p>For the UCs, it depends on your GPA. UCLA and Berk are tops but require a very competitive GPA. UC Davis is a very solid school for computer science as well.</p>

<p>If you want to transfer to Berkeley EECS, note that they do NOT recommend the IGETC pattern–so do your legwork on that.</p>

7

<p>I agree 100 percent… Ever since I moved to California, I’ve literally felt exactly that. That the counselors get paid to ship students off to the nearest school. Even as a high school senior, my counselor kept pushing my nearest local community college, and we got into many disagreements because I wanted to attend a University rather than a local CCC. (I had a 4.14 gpa and felt, well, if i was going to end up going to a CC, why did I work so hard in the first place during high school…) But, I ended up at a CCC anyway -__- </p>

<p>I will definitely look into the CSUs you suggested, as well as the computer science departments of the UCs. I really appreciate your advice and thank you a ton ! I know Berkeley is like THE top school in the UC system, so I mean, why not aim high… I just feel like my counselor is going to look at me like a COMPLETE idiot when if I say I want to aim for Cal… </p>

<p>But, how exactly does that work per se ? if UCB doesn’t recommend IGETC… but other UCs do… and i DON’T actually get into berkeley… doesn’t that leave me, out of options… ?</p>

8

<p>For CCC transfer students who are interested in say, UC Davis AND UC Berkeley EECS they have a choice to make: put all their eggs in one basket and complete just one path (IGETC vs the Berkeley EECS path) OR try to do both of the paths. It is a bit of a conundrum, especially for EECS. Do recall there is a Comp Sci program at Berkeley that through the Letters and Science school (LS) – so do your research about whether or not you want your Comp Sci degree through LS or EECS. I believe you get a BA on the LS side and a BS on the EECS side. And applying through the LS side is easier and IGETC would be fine. However, not everyone is happy with the LS/BA side so it has to match your educational goals.</p>

<p>I am not sure what transfer students do when they have both, say, UC Davis and Berkeley on their radar. They may go 3 years to CCC to complete both sets of transfer requirements. Or go bust for Berkeley first and if that doesn’t work, then spend another year completing IGETC.</p>

<p>See how your grades shake out. If you have a 4.0 at CCC (or at least a 3.8) then putting all your eggs into the Berkeley basket isn’t too bad a gamble. If you find yourself at a 3.5 or lower, then you may want to seriously consider a wider range of the UCs instead.</p>