<p>Hello,
I am going to start college in the fall of 2012. I have already taken a community college sociology course during this current summer, which I passed with an A. It was 17 weeks of material squeezed down into 4 weeks so it was very, very difficult and extremely time consuming. I have the options of going to a local community college that has a high reputation for transferring students to schools like UCLA, UC Berkeley, Columbia, etc. It is the #1 transfer rate in my local area. I also have the option of going to UC Santa Cruz in the fall and transferring (unless I magically fall in love with it and decide to stay there). My dream school is UCLA, but I also want to shoot for Columbia and possibly Princeton. I have some connections as well (very slight though). UCSC is not my dream school, and it is hard for me to picture myself there...but I do not want to miss out on the dorm experience. Making this choice has been eating me alive all summer long and I need to make a decision eventually. Overall, what I wanted to know was this: Is transferring to schools like UCLA/Berkeley/Columbia more difficult from a UC like UCSC or a community college? I want to make the best decision for my transfer. Thank you for any help and advice! :)</p>
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<p>P does not accept transfer students.</p>
<p>It is MUCH easier to transfer from a California Community College to a UC than to transfer from UC to another UC. The UCs are mandated to take CCC transfer students FIRST and then look at UC to UC transfers.</p>
<p>You will need 60 units before being allowed to transfer to a UC, so if you go first to UCSC you have a 2 year minimum stay. By that point, you will probably be very entrenched in that particular UC and transferring will be a fairly major upheaval… and that is only if you get accepted by another UC which is tough because they are busy looking at all those CCC students first!</p>
<p>Princeton does not take transfer students. Do your research before getting all stuck on a “dream.”</p>
<p>I would say either try to make UCSC your 4-year “home” and be open-minded about staying all four years… otherwise go to a CCC instead because all the UCs would still be a real possibility for transfer after 2 years (60 units).</p>