Transferring as a non-traditional student, what are my options?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm majoring in a STEM field (Either engineering, computer science, math or physics, whatever school I get into when I transfer) after nearly 10 years out of high school. I'm going to be 28 years old, I honestly have no idea what to expect going into the transferring process. </p>

<p>Make no mistake, I was the worst possible student in high school. I did not get past Algebra 1 in High school but that was by choice, I excelled in school from middle school to freshman year of high school. But fell on my face in high school because I cared too much about partying and being a "cool kid" instead of my grades. I ended up graduating high school from a options based high school and not a normal high school which I haven't yet figured out how that'll look on my transcript.</p>

<p>I got a small inheritance when I was 16, which led to my downfall in my early 20s because I had money to fall back on even if I didn't go to college. It really screwed with my priorities growing up. </p>

<p>The reason I believe I can excel in a STEM field however is because I spent the last 8-9 years as a professional gamer (I was big into the pro halo, CS, DoTA, HoN for awhile) so I was exposed to computers at all times. I know HTML/CSS/JavaScript/Photoshop for making hobby sites from video games and I worked as a QA analyst at blizzard. While I was at blizzard I realize I would never get past 30k per year if I wanted a real career, I needed to go to college or learn to program(Java/C++/Python). I've been doing both for almost the past two years.</p>

<p>I have to say all the classes I've taken are pretty freakin' easy at CC. I thought Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry would be tough but it was nothing but memorization for most of my classes. I used Khan Academy to catch up in math and I skipped to Pre-Calc. I was really intimidated taking precal at first because I thought not taking a math class in over 10 years I would of been behind, but in actuality all the hours I toiled over on Khan Academy was a better learning tool than my math classes have been at CC thus far.</p>

<p>Now I don't know what to think going into transferring into a 4 year university, I'm aiming at UF, FSU, UCF, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCSB, UCB .. with my pipe dream being UCLA/Stanford, but I don't know if stanford is possible.</p>

<p>I have 4.0 with A's in Cal 1, Cal2, Physics w/ Cal 1 and working on Physics 2 this summer, taking Cal3 in the fall. I'm hoping to get an A in Cal3 but I know it'll be tough. Diff. Equations as well when I take it in the fall or spring. Not sure if I should take it with Cal 3, I figure if I put most of my effort and time into Cal 3 that's my best bet for getting the best grade possible. Mind you I've been taking the slow route by limiting my units to 12 a term so I could focus on my GPA as best as possible. I don't know if that'll burn me in a 4-year university when I have to really micromanage my time between projects and harder classes.</p>

<p>Should I bother taking the SAT and ACT for aiming at better schools? I passed the SAT ii japanese earlier this year with a 780 as my foreign language because I never finished my 2+ years of foreign language in high school. I'm a huge nerd who's into anime so I'm lucky I had taken an interest in japanese during my off-years before I started taking school seriously two years ago.</p>

<p>For anyone who wants any info about SAT ii japanese, It's about 300 kanji (simple kanji) and honestly it's fairly easy in comparison to the JLPT test. I think the JLPT 3 test is harder than the SAT ii jpn test.</p>

<p>Besides my rant,</p>

<p>tl;dr:</p>

<p>I'm a older non-traditional student looking to transfer, I have a 4.0 so far but haven't finished my AA still needing Cal 3 and physics2 to go, do I even have a chance at any elite colleges or should I focus on going to a state school? It's a pipe dream of mine to get into an elite school but I don't know if an old dude like me would get accepted or if I'm not ready for an elite school. </p>

<p>I technically have dual residency in two states because I grew up on the west coast, with my parents still living there and I moved to another state to live with my fiance, but I file my taxes in my home state for obvious reasons. I technically have a lot of options for schools but not sure what to think!</p>

2

<p>If you have a 4.0 at a community college, then yes, it’s certainly possible to transfer to the schools on your list (although Stanford will obviously be a reach). Have you completed all of the prerequisites needed to transfer to the UCs? </p>

<p>Also, though I know my school isn’t elite, I know plenty of 40+ year olds who transferred into my school after doing their gen eds at the community college. It’s certainly not unheard of, particularly at transfer friendly schools like the UCs and presumably FSU/UF. </p>

<p>Would your fiance be ok with moving across the country to attend college?</p>

3

<p>Your story is very similar to mine minus a few bits and pieces. I just turned 29, went to CC the last 3 years, got accepted into the University of Minnesota for computer engineering. I start at the UMN this Fall. I understand UMN isn’t MIT, but their college of science and engineering is still competitive to get in to.</p>

<p>I had a 4.0 in CC, calc 1-4, phyics w/ calc 1-2, chemistry, electives, etc. I did not get an AA, just changed majors far to often, hence why 3 years in CC.</p>

<p>As I was planning my transfer, I had some prestigious schools on my radar. I opted out of applying because I kept hearing everywhere they are hard to transfer into and I didn’t want to waste my money.</p>

<p>With a nice GPA alone you should be able to get into a decent school no problem.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

4

<p>You will definitely get into a number of schools on your list. Some of the ones on your list are just plain hard to get into and even if you don’t it does not reflect on your record, just that they have a lot of applicants and probably a limited number of slots (particularly in Engineering). Some schools may put you at the top of the list specifically because you are non-traditional. It is good for diversity and my experience is that students like you are determined to succeed because they understand what’s at stake.</p>

5

<p>I can speak for UF since I will start there as a transfer in the fall (non-traditional as well, 34 years old). If you want to apply for transfer to UF there are specific classes that have to have been taken at your CC. Mine were 4 fairly easy classes, but other majors can have more. They also have varying gpa requirements, which won’t be a problem for you with a 4.0. You also must have completed your AA before admission. Your HS performance will have nothing to do with admission nor will your SAT scores. Believe me lol…if it weren’t for summer school I wouldn’t have graduated HS. In fact, when my HS transcripts didn’t go through they admitted me without them since I didn’t do my foreign language in HS.
Also, I don’t know how it would be possible to have residency in 2 different states unless you’re military. You’re too old to use your parents residency and I know in Florida you need a FL DL that as issued at least a year before (even I had to pull driving records because I had renewed my license less than a year before and I’ve been a Florida resident since 1983 and have never held a license anywhere else). You also have to have a voter registration card or vehicle registered in FL. There are a few other documents that can be used, but I don’t remember exactly what they were. I don’t know how you could have those for 2 different states. Unless the state on the west coast has different residency requirements.</p>

6

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<p>Techinically, I think that means you maintain residency in one state only - most states do not count “moving to the state to attend school (while you happen to be with your fiance)” as residency, especially if you’ve never paid taxes to that state. I would reconsider looking into that. Some states would allow residency under these circumstances, but most would not. If your home state happens to be CA (and that’s where your parents still live and you’ve maintained that as your “home of record” and you’ve been filing CA state taxes/registered to vote there etc), then you most surely are a CA resident and that makes it considerably more likely you will be admitted into the CSU/UC system.</p>

<p>Anyway, with a 4.0 and as much major prerequisites completed as possible, you can expect to receive acceptances from most of the schools you listed. UCLA, UCB, and Stanford will use the “holistic” approach to your admission evaluation, which means numbers alone won’t get you there - typically applicants to these schools really try to show their passion for learning/education and/or their major with participation in those things outside of the classroom (i.e. internship, job, leadership in campus clubs, etc). Your time at Blizzard is an example, and that should definitely help you if you can reflect that in your personal statement/application essays. Your rigor or classes should also reflect positively. Have you done anything since you started school? Maybe you can consider a CS, or related science club on campus (lots of time the students in these clubs get together for projects), or you can look into part-time work in the field, if your schedule permits. Those experiences, and how you can express their importance in your writings, are usually what make an impact on your application to top schools like UCB, UCLA, and Stanford (Stanford itself is more of a lottery in terms of transfer applications anyway, but there are things you can do to make you case more appealing to them too).</p>

<p>In short:
Maintain that high GPA and knock out as many major prerequisites as possible according to assist (assist.org shows all the courses that your CC offeres that count as major prerequisites for different UCs - in CA anyway - so if you’re not going to CC in CA, then just maintain the GPA and don’t fret too much on specific major-related classes) and the UCs/CSUs are well within reach.</p>

<p>Determine if there is some way you can take your learning outside the classroom for the extra oomph needed for UCB/LA and Stanford. Most transfers to UCB/LA/Stanford will have 3.9+ GPAs, but when you demonstrate that you can work and keep the grades, then it makes you look even more prepared. My caveat, however, is to not take a job/internship/club commitment if it will begin to have an adverse effect on your grades. You grades are numero uno as those will be the best bet for the schools you’re looking into.</p>

<p>Also, I think SATs are required when applying to Stanford (even as a transfer), so you should look into testing dates for those. It’s not guaranteed, but somehow I imagine they will place less weight on the SAT score anyway, considering the applicant has a 4.0 from a rigorous course load and is involved in work/other things.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>EDIT: Personally, I would not retake the SAT if you’ve already done so in the past. I would just send in whatever SAT score I’ve received and let me GPA/Essays do the rest - schools will see the date you took the SATs and if it’s a number of years ago, then they don’t give a . . .</p>

7

<p>I’m a non-traditional student myself, not quite the same background though. I decided to start working after high school, and now, about 9 years after my graduation I am almost 27 and almost 30 credits into CC at 4.0. I am not looking for an Associates, but am well on my way to transferring to the University of Maryland. I have been looking to transfer in the Spring, but financially I don’t know if it is viable. I’m thinking I may apply and see what happens with Financial Aid. I’m now planning to transfer for next Fall as possibly a Physics and Math dual major.</p>

<p>I’m not sure what Math courses you need, but I’ve been told by my Calc II professor that Calc III and Linear Algebra in the same semester isn’t too bad, and that is what I’ll be doing this Fall along with Japanese I (I’ve self studied a little bit, but my drive hasn’t been great, the class should be pretty easy as its just kana). Not sure about taking Physics I yet though because it doesn’t transfer toward the Physics major at Maryland. I have a pre-transfer advising appointment tomorrow and that is going to be one of my main questions… what to take if the CC Physics courses are essentially useless for a Physics major.</p>

<p>Good luck with your transfer, I can’t imagine it would be too bad.</p>