<p>I live in Maine. I'm finishing my second year at a community college, but unfortunately I won't have an associate's degree at the end of this semester. I have basically cruised through school up until this point, no motivation or aspirations towards anything. But recently I have become incredibly passionate about environmental science. UC has several schools with undergrad environmental and earth science programs that are among the finest in the country. I've wanted to live in California ever since my family vacationed there last year, but now I have a bit of a reason to go. </p>
<p>I have no chance of being accepted to any of those schools with my current GPA/transcript. I've received A's and B
s in all of my classes other than a basic composition course, which I have abysmally failed three times. My GPA has been drastically affected by this and I am no longer able to retake the class. My mistakes were incredibly stupid and preventable, and not related to my ability in the subject. </p>
<p>I'm considering attending a CCC for one year but I don't know the specifics. Had I not tarnished my chances of a direct transfer, I still may have made this decision because it will allow me to acquire residency in the state, which will greatly reduce the tuition of a UC school. If I decide to go this route (and without many options remaining, I may have to) will I be able to transfer credits from my current CC to the CCC? The school I'm attending is fairly expensive as far as CC's go and I've already put a lot into it. I don't expect everything to transfer but the basic stuff would be nice, calculus, chem, etc... And then if I attend the CCC for a year or however many semesters, will my performance at the prior CC affect my application to a UC? </p>
<p>I greatly appreciate any insight. Thanks, everyone!</p>
<p>A) UCs will only factor in the passing grade attempt from courses which you fail
B) You can’t get residency while being an OOS student; you have to work for 1 yr first I believe. </p>
<p>You will have to take your transcripts from your current cc to the cc you would like to attend. There they will evaluate them and decide what they will accept and what they will not. You may be able to email unofficial ones since you are out of state.</p>
<p>In order to establish residency in California, a) your entire family (parents) will have to move to California or b) you have to be an independent student and “establish your residency” (work, file taxes, live in CA). There are also requirements to being an independent student, they list them on the FASFA website. I believe they include: be at least 25 years of age AND not be claimed on your parent’s taxes OR married OR have a dependent that receives half or more of your support.</p>
<p>@knhofto It doesn’t really matter what the CCC evaluates the CC credits as, unless you’re using prior coursework for CC pre-reqs or IGETC. In terms of UC pre-reqs, it won’t be officially evaluated until transfer time, and then it’ll be done by the UC.</p>
<p>And yes, UC will look at your grades from the OOS CC, and factor them into your GPA. At the CCC, you’ll have a shiny new GPA, but UC will want all your grades.</p>
<p>Residency: It’s not as easy as just being here for a year. That said, it’s possible to get instate tuition if you’ve only been here for a year, I did it but it was easier because I moved with my parents. The independence thing (be financially independent or move your whole family) is the most difficult part… you also need to show intent to stay, but that’s a bit easier. Here’s Berkeley’s page on residency: <a href=“http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Residency/establish.html”>http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Residency/establish.html</a></p>
<p>The good news is that being at a CCC for a year will get you CC priority, so that part of your plan works out okay!</p>
<p>Also, some generally good things to know for CCC -> UC:
Major pre-reqs are pretty important, check assist.org for your major. You can also use it to see which CCs have the most courses you require.</p>
<p>IGETC: This is a general ed thing, some UC’s and majors require it, some recommend, some say not to bother. You’ll have to check that individually for the schools you’re looking at, I think STEM majors are less likely to want it.</p>
<p>TAG: Transfer Admission Guarantee, if your GPA is good enough (3.0-3.4-ish?) you might be about to TAG a UC. Some have rules against students with OOS coursework, but I know I was able to TAG UCSC as a safety.</p>
<p>@failure622 IGETC/GE completion is why I told him to have his transcripts evaluated. He said he wanted to use as much of his previous coursework as possible. :)</p>
<p>So it looks like it will be nearly impossible for me to acquire academic residency, unless I decide to live there for two years prior to attending school, which is very unlikely.</p>
<p>Because I’ve failed my composition course three times I’ve extinguished any chance of a direct transfer from my current CC to a UC. So I think I will have to attend the CCC regardless. Many of them offer math and science courses which I have yet to take which is a plus.</p>
<p>@failure662 thank you very much for the helpful info. You mentioned that the UC will look at my transcript from the OOS CC. Will my failure in that course prevent me from getting in? Even if I retake it in the CCC and maintain a high GPA?</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the possibility of me being able to transfer to a school with say a 50% admission rate? This is not limited to UC schools. </p>