<p>My story is a complicated one.
I was accepted to UCR out of high school and really wanted to attend. However I picked Cal Poly Pomona, a school I REALLY do not like. Part of it was I am nervous about college event though I had a 4.2 gpa and thought a cal state would be easier. Another part is I changed my mind senior year about what I wanted to do. I was going to do engineering but its just not what I like. Because of that I went to people close to me for their opinions and oddly almost everyone said cal poly because its "great". That confused me. I found out my mother had told those people to do so because she wants me to be an engineer!</p>
<p>Now I feel miserable because I am going to a school I did not even even want to apply to let alone attend. So my question is what should I do to be able to transfer to UCR ASAP!! The CC route is not going to work because my mother is convinced CPP is great.</p>
<p>UC generally only accepts junior transfers… that means you apply at the start of sophomore year (~30 semester credits completed) and you should have 60 credits completed by the time you transfer.</p>
<p>If you’ve already done a year at CPP, well, it’s much too late to apply for UC for this coming year, so you might as well start there for the next year. If you’ve already finished 2+ years, I’m not sure transferring would work out in your favor… you <em>might</em> hit issues with a unit cap since you’re coming from a 4 year school, and UC is going to expect you to stay for 2 years (50+ semester credits) anyways. If you haven’t actually started at CPP yet, I’d suggest giving it a chance before you decide to hate it. :P</p>
<p>Also, transfer admissions are a different game than freshman admissions. You need to make sure you’re on track with the pre-requisites for your intended major. assist.org should give you an idea of what classes you should be taking for that.</p>
<p>I checked on UCR’s transfer page and they allow sophomore transfers but in limited numbers. CPP is just not my environment from the students to the campus. UCR is just where I want to be for my undergrad!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t count on being able to transfer as a sophomore. My hunch is that those exemptions are for certain UC transfers, athletes, and students who are mist coveted for various reasons.</p>
<p>Don’t over estimate the information. Limited numbers could mean a literal handful. You shouldn’t ride all your hopes on that.</p>
<p>Most likely, you aren’t going to ucr until your junior year. The cheaper option would be cc, but the quicker option may be cpp since they aren’t impacted as far as classes go.</p>
<p>Why UCR though? I’m not downplaying it, but there isn’t much you can’t find at UCR or CPP vice versa. </p>
<p>Can you also give us some more information?</p>
<p>Did you just finish a year at CPP, or are you starting in the fall?
What is your new intended major?
If you do have a year of college complete, what is your GPA?</p>
<p>Ninjex summed up what I was going to say about CC, but I would add that it might be easier because the classes on ASSIST (<a href=“http://www.assist.org”>www.assist.org</a>) would match up. That way you wouldn’t have to guess which CPP classes will transfer.</p>
<p>I had more in that comment but not all of it was posted?
Anyway, I want to work in government dealing with policy. UCR has a public policy major instead of just political science at CPP. Either way I think I am going to go to grad school…</p>
<p>Thinking about it, my disliking of CPP comes from not wanting to go there in the first place and the situation for me having to go there. It might not be from the school, but I feel as long as I am a CPP student I will not be happy…</p>
<p>If you make the decision to be unhappy, then I’ll guarantee you will in fact be unhappy. If you make the decision to be open to the possibilities at CPP, then you will probably find things to enjoy, even if you don’t absolutely love it. At least for the next 2 years, it will be your home and your school. Take pride in that, and make the decision to be happy.</p>
<p>Okay, so you have a few options (probably dozens more than what I’m listing) :</p>
<p>A. Gap year and reapply to UCR this fall. You will very likely be readmitted, and you can spend the year off interning or working.</p>
<p>B. Community college and transfer to UCR. I personally feel that this would be the best and cheapest since your are set on Grad school. Depending on the number of AP credits you have, you could do it in one year. </p>
<p>C. Go to CPP for 1-2 years (UCs don’t care how many times you apply, so you can at least try as a sophomore transfer), and try to transfer from there to UCR.</p>
<p>D. Try CPP, realize you love it, and graduate from CPP. I know you feel like you won’t like CPP, but you never know. However, DO NOT start with the intention of transferring because you will not put down roots or get involved if you know you are leaving.</p>
<p>Some last points: 1) don’t get so hung up on the type of major offered. While UCR has a specific public policy major, there is no guarantee that a poli sci degree would be any different. It will just be a part of your Grad school application, in addition to experience, letters of rec, etc.
2) It sounds like you need to have a frank discussion with your mother about what is best for YOU and what YOU want to do. From your posts, (this is totally my opinion and might be completely wrong) you sound angry that she pushed you towards CPP instead of UCR. When you talk with her, try to not be angry and truly listen to her reasons for CPP over UCR. She might have reasons you didn’t consider.</p>
<p>@HeTheLostOne You need to stand up to your mother. That doesn’t mean you have to be rude, it just means that you have to have a long talk to her. Explain to her why you don’t want to go to Pomona and why you don’t want to become an engineer. Are you really going to let her decide what job you are going to take? What is next? Is she going to pick your spouse and where you’re going to live? Allowing her to pick your future career is just ridicules. This is a job that you are going to be doing for possible the next 30 or 40 years, and all for what? Just because your mother told you to major in engineering and to go to Pomona? </p>
<p>If you end up going to Pomona, there is no guarantee that you that you will be able to transfer to UCR. Remember, UCR gives preference to community college students in its admissions, so it is going to be an uphill battle transferring to UCR as a Pomona student. Also, if you do poorly at Pomona because you hate it, then it is going to be really hard to transfer out of it. Are you prepared to spend 4 years there? Because that is a strong possibility. It is also harder to get good grades at Pomona than at your local community college.</p>
<p>What I am trying to say is that you should do what is best for the long run, and that is going to UCR. If that means spending two years at a community college, then so be it. You should not be attending a four year university for any other reason other than to get your degree there. Obviously, this is not your intention. If your plan is to transfer out of Pomona, then this could really back fire on you. The worst case scenario is that you do poorly because you hate it, and then having to spend four years there. If I were you I would retract my SIR from Pomona and sign up at my local community college.</p>
<p>P.S. Sorry if I sounded like a jerk in the beginning. I didn’t say that to be rude. I said it because I really wanted to to realize what the choice you are making entails. </p>
<p>Don’t give up on college. Everything will be okay. Go to community college and do better than you’ve ever done before. You may be surprised what options you have.</p>
<p>@HeTheLostOne Why do you feel that way? You haven’t done anything that can’t be reversed. It might take a while, but you can still go to UCR. Going to a school that you don’t want, and using loans to pay for it, now that is a mistake that can’t be undone. Don’t give up! </p>
<p>@calbro
Community college isn’t the right route for everyone. It works great for some people, but the majority take several years to transfer, if they manage to transfer at all.</p>
<p>@HeTheLostOne
Don’t get discouraged. @luckie1367 laid out your options pretty well. You really need to have an honest conversation with yourself and with your mom about what you want and what is best for you today and your future. You should listen to what she has to say, but also make sure she really hear what you have to say.</p>
<p>IMO, you should go to CPP, and major in what YOU want major in. If you end up liking or even loving it, then you have the option to stay and graduate from there. If u end up not liking it, then during your sophomore year, you can apply to transfer. </p>
<p>@calguy @CollegeDropout1
No I did mess up. I knew what I wanted but didn’t follow through. My high school achivments of being 38 of 800+ students and As in ap and honors classes mean nothing now. I can’t lie to myself and say I’m saving money because I had a full ride. Everyone in my family is saying no to a cc. Now on here I’m told it’s almost impossible to transfer out of cpp. </p>
<p>@2016Candles
I’m not going to do engineering and she knows but I’m still at cpp. I’m set on working in puplic policy and the ucr program is very diff from political science at cpp. All I did is hinder my chances of getting where I want to be.</p>
<p>@2016Candles You’re one of the people on this forum who’s opinion I really value, but I have to disagree with you on this one. You said:</p>
<p>“Community college isn’t the right route for everyone. It works great for some people, but the majority take several years to transfer, if they manage to transfer at all.” </p>
<p>The main reason people don’t transfer at all or take very long to transfer is because they either lack motivation, or because they are bad students. Many people that go to community colleges are people that really have no interest in learning and are really just going to college because of parental pressure and/or society pressure that tells them everyone should go to college. Now there are some people that are really interested in learning and are motivated, and those are the people do transfer quickly. The OP said that he that he had a 4.2 GPA in high school, so he is a good student. He should have no trouble transferring in two years, or even in one, especially since his major doesn’t have many prerequisites. The community college route is a great for him. However, going to CCP will just make it harder for him to transfer to UCR. If he has his heart set on UCR, then transferring from a community college is the best way to do it, hands down!</p>