<p>It's my second year in junior college and I applied to transfer for this coming Fall 2013. The problem is, I only applied for CSU's and did not apply for any Universities because they seemed unreachable to me. I am really regretting the fact that I did not apply to any Universities and right now I need to know what is the better step for me to take. </p>
<p>Major in Economics
Recently accepted into East Bay State University and Fullerton State University
CUMULATIVE GPA 3.314</p>
<p>I really want to transfer to a University(either UCSD or UCD) because I want to aim higher, as I am just recently realizing the importance of education.. which I know is very late.
What should I do at this point, should I wait to apply for UCSD/UCD or should I just accept East Bay's offer? </p>
<p>I would really appreciate any sort of advice on this because I really lack a lot of knowledge regarding colleges, but I am trying to quickly learn. Please let me know if any additional information is necessary!</p>
<p>Does your JC have a Transfer Advisor? Do you have an Academic Advisor? Go pay a visit to each of them, and get some help with this. You do not have to do it all on your own.</p>
<p>I’ve only talked to my counselor about this issue and they weren’t really that helpful. I’ll take your advice and see whether my college has such advisers. Thank you</p>
<p>Personal opinion & speculation - so please take it as that and nothing more. I am a returning college student (33y/o) who spent more than a decade building a career until the economy took a dive. During that time supervisors, Managers and VP’s told me to go back to school. It didn’t matter if I got an online degree in gender studies…just get a degree.
I think I would offer you that same advice. CSUF has an excellent business school and for you to earn an Bachelor’s in Economics from CSUF would be an accomplishment you could be proud of and definitely find work with. Secondly, you can go on to earn a masters from a UC if you truly cared too. In addition to all of that, you would need to bring up your GPA substantially to ensure a spot at the UC’s. if I were in your shoes, I would transfer to the CSU of my choice and start looking at grad schools shortly after. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight on this, but I don’t plan on attending grad school because I heard that a masters degree was not really necessary from a student attending UC Berkeley. I also believe that it would be more worthwhile to spend time gathering work experience rather than pursing a masters degree. </p>
<p>Regarding GPA, I realize that it is below the current minimum GPA, but I’m working hard this semester and will for Fall semester too if I decide to stay. Aside from reaching the minimum GPA for a college, what else should I be aware of?</p>
<p>The UC’s are known to be research schools - schools that pride themselves on preparing students for graduate school. Whereas the CSU’s provide a more hands on approach that prepares students to go right into the workforce. The professors at UC’s are primarily researchers and you will be in large classes dealing mostly with T.A’s and graduate students whereas CSU’s the professors are primarily teachers - meaning that this is and has been their primary profession. I don’t know where you got the idea that you don’t need a masters if you go to Berkeley, that’s silly. In all honesty, it sounds like you just want to go to a UC. Nothing wrong with that. You will get a good education, and if you stay one more year you can increase your GPA, sign a TAG agreement or TAP with some schools to increase your chances. One more year won’t hurt. Do what will make you happy and do it well - that’s what matters most.</p>
<p>I agree with SoCal. You don’t really have to go to a UC to get a good opportunity for a job. Any university can offer you different things than a cc, and in all sincerity, your education is what you make of it. Being a big fish in a small pond, for instance, has many perks of its own, like getting more attention from professors, getting the good internships, getting more grants, etc. Plus, research universities primarily do prepare students for grad school, so your education might be a bit more theoretical than practical. </p>
<p>But since you show an interest of going to a UC, then you’d probably be wise to raise your gpa a bit, and to work more. I don’t know about UCs specifically, but universities in general are awfully expensive, especially if you have to relocate and stay there. Is money not an issue for you? If it’s not, then this part might not be as critically important, but costs matter for mostly everyone anyway. Even if it wouldn’t set you back too much, it’d take away money you could otherwise invest, start a business with, buy a home with, etc. Just some more things to consider. </p>