Transfer to Berkeley or come in as a freshman?!?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Hi everyone! So I recently got accepted to Berkeley for Spring 2014 as a pre-Haas/pre-business major. Since I got accepted for the spring, and FPF is filled up, I would attend a community college for the first semester/quarter of my freshman year. </p>

<p>My main issue right now, actually, is: Should I continue at a community college for my first two years (and then transfer to Berkeley), or should I go to Berkeley starting spring semester of my freshman year? </p>

<p>I know that to many of you reading this right now, I may sound insane. Why would I WANT to go to a community college if I've already been accepted to Berkeley? For many people at community colleges, Berkeley is the end result of community college; if I already have that end result offered to me, why would I reject and risk not getting into Berkeley in the future? Let me explain my reasoning.
1) I know the first two years consist mainly of GE's and pre-reqs, which can easily be taken at community colleges. At CC's, I would have to do half the work, AND I'd get much better grades as well as more individualized attention from professors. Personally, I don't understand the "downside" or "cons" of bypassing GE's by taking them at a CC instead of Cal.</p>

<p>2) I want to be a Business Administration major, and I really do not have a backup. This is because I want to go into accounting/investment banking, and the typical backup major, Econ, wouldn't provide me with the skills I need to go on in those fields. At Cal Day, I actually talked to a Cal advisor, and she told me NOT TO GO TO BERKELEY if I wanted to go into accounting because it wasn't guaranteed that I would get into Haas/get the classes I need (for certification exams and such). By applying as a third-year transfer student, I would be able to apply directly to Haas and see if I get admitted or not (as opposed to getting rejected and being left hanging).</p>

<p>--> Add on to that: I don't consider myself the super brainy or really intellectual type, which I know most of the pre-Haas kids are. Being pre-Haas, in my mind, is like being in high school all over again (it's like a "rat race" to reach a desired goal): you have to keep your grades really high, get involved in tons of EC's, do leadership positions, internships...etc... but unlike high school, you're competing with just Cal kids, aka some of the smartest kids in the country. To me, that's a lot of pressure and stress, and I don't know if I'd be able to do that.</p>

<p>3) When I was applying to schools, I thought I wanted to be a science major, so I applied to mainly science-strong schools (i.e. Davis, San Diego...etc). If given a second chance at applying, I would be able to apply to more business-strong schools (obviously Cal, USC, NYU...etc). </p>

<p>4) Going to community college for two years would be a "transition" period so to say. At this point in my life, I'm not ready to go to a really good business school if it is all the way across the country, like NYU, or Columbia (even if I do get accepted). Two years later, I believe that I would be ready to do that, if that's what was best for my career. </p>

<p>But I also realize the cons of this potential decision. I may not get into Berkeley at all, thereby losing out on one of the best opportunities I've ever been presented with. And also, I'll miss out on the traditional "college experience." I also know I'll have to deal with lots of people's judgments & criticisms but eh.</p>

<p>Please let me know if you know anyone whose done this (gotten in as a freshman but chosen to transfer)! I'd appreciate any opinions! Thanks :)</p>

2

<p>Whether you start at Berkeley or a CC, you’ll have to apply to the business major; in either case, you can also send in transfer applications to business majors at other schools.</p>

<p>However, if you start at Berkeley, you would retain the option of continuing in another major if you did not get into the business major either at Berkeley or some other school, while if you were a CC student who did not get in anywhere, you would need to figure something else to do for a year to try to apply again.</p>

<p>Other factors:

  • Cost may be different.
  • Some CCs may be rather difficult to get classes in, since CCs are open admission.
  • Check [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to see how well CC courses articulate to Berkeley and other UC/CSU courses for your desired majors.</p>
3

<p>I was in a similar position as you two years ago. I originally thought I was going to be a science major at the time of application, but had a change of mind and currently am considering accounting for myself. Since you want to go into accounting, what the advisor told you was right because at least if you applied as a transfer you’d know if you got into haas or not, and if you didn’t you could consider other schools that offer accounting programs.
But, to be admitted to Berkeley as a freshman is great, and something that I think you should not pass it up. If you really do not feel secured with your future going to Berkeley then community college sounds like a good alternative.
I am in my last of CC and you definitely get the attention you need from instructors, its easier, and you save lots of money. I’m not going to lie, it was not the most fun socially, but it is a sacrifice you make for your future.
As of today, I got into UCLA for Business Econ and Berkeley for Econ, I wish I applied to haas, but did not cause I was a class short. I am also waiting for USC right now which I applied for as Business.</p>

4

<p>Based on the reasons you’ve listed, community college sounds like a good plan.</p>

<p>Just thought I’d add that a motivated student can sometimes complete general requirements in less than two years at CC. My CC had an honors program which automatically enrolled students whose high school GPA was above a certain threshold. Students in the honors program had priority enrollment, so class availability was not an issue. Check to see if your CC has something similar.</p>

<p>As long as you do very well in CC and apply to several colleges in addition to Berkeley, you will likely have more options open to you when transferring, even if Berkeley isn’t one of them. By the way, the HAAS acceptance rate for transfers is ~20%, which is not too bad.</p>

<p>It’s a hard decision, but I think it’s both more reasonable and more desirable (in the long run) to transfer from a CC.</p>

5

<p>Transfer. I regret coming here as a freshman so much. Definitely not worth the money, and you get to skip all the weeder courses. Weeder courses are so much more stressful than upper divs. </p>

<p>Also the transfer rate for Haas is about 40% if you take into account the applications that were denied due to not completing the requirements.</p>

<p>I’d compete with community college students over berkeley students any day to get into haas.</p>

6

<p>I have a few opinions on this as I’m a transfer myself.</p>

<p>Grade and cost wise, I would recommend going to a cc to complete lower div requirements like the humanities and writing etc. just for the fact that it’s easier. However, depending on what you ultimately decide to major in, if your cc doesn’t teach the pre-reqs for that major well, you may have trouble later or retake them when you transfer. For example, I had a friend who transferred as an EECS major but the CS he learned at cc was garbage so he ended up taking the lower div 61 series at Berkeley anyways. I transferred as an MCB major but my cc taught the bio/chem/ochem courses well enough that I do fine. But even if you’re cc doens’t teach the subjects well, retaking only those courses at Berkeley is definitely not as bad as having to take all the breadth requirements and what not. I’m also sort of bias as I hate humanities classes. Also, as a side note, once you transfer your GPA becomes 0.00, so your cc GPA won’t boost your Berkeley GPA at all. </p>

<p>Another good thing about transferring is your exposure to college. Coming from a cc, you’ve already been exposed to education beyond the high school level (of course cc courses are not like Berkeley courses, but it is a step up from high school), so a jump from cc to Berkeley isn’t as big as high school to Berkeley academic wise. In short, I believe you will be more prepared.</p>

<p>On the other hand, you do miss out on that full blown college experience. You can still transfer into transfer dorms though and have a great experience probably (I never lived in the dorms so I couldn’t comment on it). That is another thing to consider that is not related to the academics at all but it will affect you. Will you be happy at a cc? With a bunch of your friends off living the college life, will it bother you at all that you passed up that opportunity? Will you have friends going to cc with you? I hope I’m not coming off rude in any way. These are just some things I think you should consider. I don’t think the choice between Berkeley and a cc should be based solely on academic reasons. It really depends on where your priorities are in your life at the moment. Like is a college experience worth more to you than a high GPA? It’s not like a high GPA isn’t attainable at Berkeley anyways. Maybe your priorities right now ARE based on academics for your future so you do want to make your choice based on academic reasons. Just some things to think about. I can only speak for myself, but knowing my degree will be made up of only half Berkeley classes isn’t the same as if it was made up of all Berkeley classes.</p>

7

<p>thank you all so much for your advice & responses. </p>

<p>@jacefromLA what happened about USC? Sorry if that sounded nosy; it’s just that I’m really curious about Marshall as well :)</p>

<p>@xfer123 I agree that I would be missing out on the college experience, but at this point, my grades/my future is what matters to me. I can try to make the most of the two years I do get of a real college experience, but I don’t think it should be tooo bad since most of my friends still live at home and go to either CC or the local state school!</p>

8

<p>As far as USC goes I am still waiting for a letter in the mail, but I can let you know later if I do get in or not. If you have any other questions for me, I can certainly try and help you out.</p>