Santa Clara University has been my favorite university for quite some time now. I was unfortunately denied admission, but regardless I’m still interested in attending SCU. I live in the Silicon Valley and I’m going into business, which is why I want to attend SCU so much. I was accepted to SJSU and that seems to be my best decision if I take the four year route as of now. I was wondering what my chances are if I were to attend SJSU for a year or two and then transfer to SCU? I have family who attended SCU by transferring from a CC, but what are the odds of me transferring from SJSU? I’ve heard that transferring from a CSU to a UC is almost impossible, but I’ve never heard much about a private because each private university has their own individual requirements, but if anyone has any info about this please let me know. It’s an extremely hard decision for me because I am extremely disappointed with my options and I feel as if I’ve worked hard enough to attend a 4 year. I don’t want to attend a CC because I want to be able to get that college experience that everyone talks about. I also feel as if I were to attend a four year university I’d be in a better atmosphere compared to at CC for two years. Of course if I have a better chance at transferring from a CC to SCU then I’ll definitely consider a CC… Thank you.
Hey there, I think I would be qualified to answer this because I’m also located in the Bay Area, and I just got accepted to SCU Leavey School of Business as a transfer student. I attended Foothill College (I’m sure you know about the school) for 2.5 years.
First of all I just wanted to point out what you said “I don’t want to attend a CC because I want to be able to get that college experience that everyone talks about.” Believe me, people who choose the so-called college experiences like that over academics usually end up regretting. I’ve met a lot of people from many other schools, and of course a lot of people from SJSU as well. Those that were busy pursuing the illusion of “college experience” realize much later that they actually haven’t changed or improved from the person they were years ago, academically, personally, or professionally. Some of them, whether joking or not, have made fun of community colleges or the fact that I was a community college student. It’s been a year since then, and they haven’t changed at all, just starting to look for internships when they are about to be seniors. Meanwhile, I worked hard and got accepted to SCU. Whatever it is that you meant by “college experience,” I assure you that you won’t be missing out on much. When I stayed in on weekends to study while my SJSU friends went partying was tough, but in retrospect I don’t regret one bit. In fact I think the way I’m living right now - studying what I love and learning to love what I have to study - is a much better, realistic, and worthy college experience. I still go to house parties/rave/clubs, though rarely, with friends from SJSU, Stanford, or Santa clara, so I really don’t know what it is that you are afraid of missing out on. Whatever it is, you can get that at community college too I’m sure.
I don’t know if transferring from SJSU is any easier, but I can tell you that it is probably not too different regarding acceptance rate. There are many things you need to take into consideration, but I just wanted to start off by clarifying that the biggest factor is not which school you choose but how hard you work in the next two years.
SJSU vs. CC
When I’m comparing the two schools in this post, I’m talking specifically with regards to your situation/major and not in general sense. For example, I might sound as if I’m saying SJSU is inferior, but that’s not true; SJSU is an excellent school if you are a STEM major, but not for business majors like us.
Cost: I don’t know how cheap/expensive SJSU is, but I’m guessing going to CC is cheaper.
Schedule/Flexibility: Since Foothill doesn’t offer bachelor’s degrees, there isn’t a specific curriculum that all the students follow. What that means: MOST of the classes that you need to take are going to be offered EVERY quarter. If it’s a 4-year uni, there may be classes that are only offered in one semester. On top of that, Foothill College offers online and evening classes.
Social/Student Life: SJSU will have a lot of stuff going on while students at Foothill College have to proactively get out there to meet people, make friends, or find things to do. There is very little interaction/engagement from students to school, and between students. However, I see that as a perfect academic environment that gives me minimal distractions, allowing me to focus on studying. Also, classes tend to be small, so you get more support from professors (if sought)
Safety: SJSU’s neighborhood is pretty sketch. My friend who lives in SJSU dorm said she hears gunshots sometimes. The very first time I went to SJ downtown, two guys literally got tased and then hit in the head with some blunt object - perhaps brass knuckles - right behind me and my friend (and it was 11 p.m. on Friday or Saturday on 1st street - a LOT of people were around, but nobody saw the attacker) I wouldn’t even walk around that area by myself and I’m a guy lol Seems irrelevant but believe me if it really wasn’t a considerable threat, I wouldn’t mention it.
Academics: I don’t know which is better, but I have never ever heard anything positive or negative about SJSU’s business program; if there were anything that could be considered positive by any measure, I would have heard it at some point. But again, I’m not a student there studying business so I could be wrong. As for Foothill, I’d say 75-80% of my friends who applied to Berkeley got in (Haas - Business) as transfers. All of my friends who got accepted to Cal are exceptionally motivated, with all of them being a president / VP of something. Three of my friends even transferred to UPenn and MIT. This isn’t to say that Foothill College will give you a comparative edge; this is to stress that nothing is impossible if you are willing to work for it. Going to Foothill College and being surrounded by those extraordinary individuals, I was inspired to do better in school and put in more effort.
Transfer: Foothill/De Anza College have transfer articulation with SCU. It’s an agreement between schools on what specific courses they want the applicants to complete before transferring and what sort of GPA the applicants should aim for. This is the articulation: https://www.scu.edu/registrar/undergraduate-transfer-credit-/
This made things a LOT easier for me because I knew exactly what courses to take and what GPA to shoot for.
Lastly: Personally I don’t understand why anyone would pick SJSU over Foothill or De Anza for business programs if they know that they want to transfer. It’s cheaper, smaller classes, more flexible classes/schedule, and transfer articulations that clearly list what classes to take and what GPA to shoot for. You will be rubbing shoulders with inspirational, driven, and motivated students, who may even inspire you somehow. Again, I’m not saying there are no bright minds at SJSU. But I don’t think any of my friends who transferred to MIT/UPenn/Cal would have picked SJSU over Foothill or De Anza. It’s not like they were filled with extreme confidence, either. Just like you, they didn’t know if they’d be able to get into those schools, but they worked so @%!Ing hard, and earned it. They simply worked like there’s no tomorrow, every day. I understand it’s scary, doesn’t have name value, and has absolutely no guarantee that you will successfully transfer. Just know that it’s possible to go anywhere, and it is within your power to decide where you will be attending two years from now.
Apologies, I pulled an all-nighter, so my grammar is pretty much non-existent.
fyi my stats http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/santa-clara-university/1838728-scu-transfers-2016-p1.html
hopefully it helps