Transfer with or w/o a Foreign Language? Also a "Which School" question...

Transfer Students
1

I am a current student at a community college in Michigan. I would like to transfer to a four-year school, preferably the University of Michigan. They require 2 years of a foreign language. They do not allow you to transfer part of the two years in, it is a four-semester fluency or nothing at all, in terms of accepted transfer credits.

I can take the four semesters at my community college, but I will have to start this semester and extend my time at my CC by at least one semester. I can finish my associates in three semesters otherwise.

So, question #1 - should I bite the bullet and extend my time at my CC in order to be a more competitive transfer student? I CAN take my foreign language classes once I transfer, so it is not like I will never again have the opportunity to take them. To be honest, I almost want to put them off because I am not sure I will be great at it. And, what if I take them and screw up my (fairly decent) GPA?

And now, question #2 - I never thought it would be possible to get into a decent school as a transfer from a community college. But now that I have been researching here, I have hope! So I decided I should try for the University of Michigan which has an amazing graduate Sociology program (three-way tie for 1st with Princeton and UC Berkeley). And, it is in my backyard. Now, that being said, if I could get into a “better” school like an Ivy League school, would it be better to go to the school that has the top-rated grad program in my (expected) field so I can make a name during my undergrad time and maybe get into my ideal graduate program or go to an Ivy League school during undergrad to have that automatic name recognition and possible higher pay, etc. associated with an Ivy League school and then apply to the U of M after I graduate?

Now, this is all assuming that I were to be accepted into both the University of Michigan AND an Ivy League school.

Thanks for any help and advice!

2

“if I could get into a “better” school like an Ivy League school, would it be better to go to the school that has the top-rated grad program in my (expected) field so I can make a name during my undergrad time and maybe get into my ideal graduate program”

Mostly no to this part. In my experience the students in the graduate programs in top-named schools come from a very wide variety of undergraduate schools. When I was a graduate student at a highly selective west coast university, I don’t recall there being two students from the same undergraduate school for any school except for Rutgers, and that might have been a fluke largely due to there being a large Bell Labs contingent at my school back then. What the graduate students at the top-ranked university had in common was a very strong GPA as an undergraduate.

Also, getting into any Ivy League school as a transfer student is an extremely long shot.

If you are going into a field where graduate school is needed (which includes sociology), then you need to minimize debt for undergrad. The University of Michigan and Michigan State are great schools and if they are in-state should be relatively affordable if you can get in.

3

https://admissions.umich.edu/apply/transfer-students/additional-information-lsa-transfer-students says the following:

Where does it say that the fourth semester must be completed before transfer?

4

Thanks for the replies! Here is the specific language information listed for the community college I attend (Henry Ford College):

Language: Achieve 4th term proficiency through course completion or placement exam
Complete one of:
French (FRE): 232
German (GER): 232
Spanish (SPN): *232

232 is the 4th semester at HFC.

Here is the link. I may have interpreted it incorrectly. Also, this is what the website says for individual language classes that transfer from HFC to UM: FRENCH 232: ONLY APPLICABLE FOR NEW TRANSFER STUDENTS

https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/prospective-students/transfer/transfer-pathways/community-college-transfer-pathfinders/pathfinder-for-henry-ford-college.html

My first semester is something of a wash, as I have changed programs and took some of thos required courses to get a degree (a technology class, a wellness class, etc) and some of those classes do not transfer. Additionally, I had surgery and was a little too ambitious as to how capable I would be and when to return to school, so I got one B in Spring and one B in Summer (neither Summer or Spring had a +/- grading scale, so these are sad, flat B’s.). So, my GPA is now 3.781.

5

As I read the requirement, you have to pass either the 232 course or a proficiency exam. That would mean that you can take whatever courses you like that will either place you into and prepare you to succeed in 232, or that will give you the skills needed to do well on the proficiency exam. You aren’t obliged to get through all of the classes at just one place.

Since you are at a CC that normally feeds students into the MIniversities, I’m sure the transfer advisor can help you determine which FL classes will work for you.

Did you take any FL in high school? You might not need to start with the lowest level class at your CC.

6

I took some Spanish in high school, but at this time (and location) French and Arabic are the most useful to me. I might be able to hustle through some of the Spanish, but I think starting over would be more useful.