<p>Hi all. I've been following the USC transfer posts for awhile, and now I'm in a situation where I want to eventually transfer into USC. I'm not sure if I should have posted in that section or not. Anyway I'm graduating from high school this upcoming June with a 3.6-3.7 gpa unweighted and a 1970 sat. USC has been my dream school (Marshall), and I was not accepted. I got into UCI, UCD, and SCU. I've been considering the cc route, and attempting to transfer to USC in the fall of '08. Would it better that I attend UCI and attempt to transfer to USC, or do the cc route and attempt to transfer? I know that I would need to find out which courses transfer with UCI because USC doesn't have an articulation agreement unlike the cc that I would attend. If I attended the cc I would be working as an assistant track coach for my high school, and as a personal trainer part time at the local gym. I feel that I would also be able to look for internships and other extracurriculars easier by staying local. These are some of the factors that have me leaning towards cc. Any opinions? Sorry for the long read. Thanks for any input provided.</p>
<p>I am kind of in your boat, but I think I might attend Cal then apply to Haas and Marshall see if I can get in. I was considering community college but people say transfer from a better university should have a better chance. I don't know about your case but I am sure people on this forum can provide some good advise.</p>
<p>me too..but i'm planning to go to sd and then transfer..but right now i'm not sure how i should plan my classes and summer..any suggestions?</p>
<p>All I'm doing so far is planning to get an internship over the summer hopefully for my congressman. If I decide to attend CC I'll start taking classes.</p>
<p>Cal to Haas has a 60% rate of admit and CC to Haas has a 26% rate of admittance for all eligible students. Going to Cal for Haas is a good idea. For USC, transferring from a better school can help, provided you have the grades (harder to attain since the school is harder right?).</p>
<p>***I do not know if USC gives priority to CC students like the UC's. Does anyone know??</p>
<p>I was going to apply for USC Marshall like you guys, so hopefully I can be of some help. I am generally writing this from the perspective of a junior level transfer, community college student at Pasadena City College.</p>
<p>Step 1.
Decide fast whether you want to attend CC or a 4 year, because summer registration has already started. Late registration leaves you with the horrible and difficult Professors, giving you a higher chance of a poor grades. Trust me, I graduated from one of the top ten high schools in California, and some of these professors are just impossible. I cannot comment for those transferring from a 4 year institution, so the rest of these steps are useless for ya.</p>
<p>Step 2.
Decide when you want to transfer. Do you want a junior transfer or sophomore transfer? The rule of thumb here is, the worse high school record you have, the more you'll want to aim for a junior level transfer. They will disregard your high school record and SAT's once you attain over 30 college semester units.</p>
<p>Step 3.
Go to the USC site, find your articulation agreement.
(More information here: <a href="http://www.marshall.usc.edu/web/Undergraduate.cfm?doc_id=3451%5B/url%5D">http://www.marshall.usc.edu/web/Undergraduate.cfm?doc_id=3451</a> )</p>
<p>Whip out an excel spreadsheet and begin plotting out your coursework. When you your schedule, pay close attention to:</p>
<p>WRIT 130/140 (English Composition 2, also a University requirement)
ECON 203 (Microeconomics)
ECON 205 (Macroeconomics)
MATH 118 or MATH 125 (Business Calculus) </p>
<p>These classes are very important, you should gauge your ability and plan accordingly. </p>
<p>You should aim to finish these classes before applications are turned in. If you manage to attain good grades before you first turn in your USC application, you will have an advantage over other students who scheduled these courses later on. College adcom's have a much easier time gauging your abilities if they can see the grades in your important classes. </p>
<p>Here's a strategy I used: If you know you will have trouble in Calculus, schedule breadth classes, and have a lighter unit load than usual. This helps by giving you more time to study for calc. </p>
<p>You will find your breadth classes in the articulation agreement found on the USC site. This should be finished for junior level transfers. </p>
<p>Becareful when picking classes too, some of them do not transfer. CC's also have courses that only exist during Spring and Fall, so again, be becareful when setting up classes during Winter/Summer semesters. Be sure to check old course catologues to see if the CC offers that specific course. You can also e-mail the instructor or dean to see if that class will be offer for the term you need. </p>
<p>Step 4.
Once you know your courses, go to ratemyprofessor.com. Find courses you are going to for this Summer, and choose the class with the Professor you'd like. Since it's your first semester, try to avoid Professors under 2 or even 3, unless you're very familiar with the subject already. Avoid Professors that are a joke (unless you're trying to give yourself extra time for another class), because they're just damaging to your future. </p>
<p>If all the classes are already filled, consider taking breadth classes for your first semester. There are many special topic breadth classes that hardly fill up. If your college gives you registration priority for having more completed units, then this is extremely helpful. By loading up on breadth classes, you can gain registration early enough so that you may enroll in good teachers for your required calculus or english classes. </p>
<p>At my CC, Pasadena City College, the students will fill these "good classes" much before the lower unit students even have a chance to register. You can bypass this problem by racking up units in the less impacted breadth courses. </p>
<p>Step 5.
Register, enroll, apply for finaid, familiarize yourself with tutoring services, and other services if needed.</p>
<p>Step 6.
Side research. There's a vast amount of successful USC transfer information here, check it out! I believe the average GPA for admits hovered around 3.71. Of course, you should always be aiming for a 4.0. I would also recommend taking a look at the application now, just to see what they ask for. You should also look into what EC's are helpful. Go out and do some EC's if you're not working...this is important.</p>
<p>should i take calc and some of the other req. courses this summer?</p>
<p>The general rule of thumb is, you should take the class if you know you can get an A in it. Calculus is known to be **extremely **hard during summer sessions. What's your math background?</p>
<p>Anyone aiming to transfer should always take summer sessions...it'll be easier on you later on. Having to squeeze many units in a semester later on is just torture.</p>
<p>Walnut I really want to thank you for all the insight. I thought I had it when I decided to attend SCU because it is close to home and gives me access to all my connections for internships/work. Now I think I really need to get out of here, and probably just attend Irvine. The problem is I don't know what extracurriculars I'll be able to do at Irvine. If I attended SCU I'd be working as an assistant coach for my high school track team and as a personal trainer, running track at SCU, and also probably an internship either for my congressman or a local museum. If I attend Irvine I'll still be able to run track and be a personal trainer. Are these even the right extracurriculars that you are referring to? Does running track as D1 athlete help me out on my transfer application? (I'm not good enough to be running for USC) Thanks for any input.</p>
<p>walnut, thank you very much for the information you provided, definitely something to keep at all time!</p>
<p>At the undergrad level, any EC will work. EC's that will stand out of course, are EC's that somehow not everyone can accomplish, IE a Gold Medal Congressional Award, bulge bracket summer internship, being nationally ranked for [sport], winning tournaments, etc.</p>
<p>These aren't necessary though. You can show them positive attributes by showing how you aided your family by working long hours to help pay the bills, overcoming some kind of adversity, taking care of a handicapped family member, etc.</p>
<p>USC, like nearly all other colleges, look for rounded individuals. If you look at the application, you'll notice a section that will ask for your favorite book, your favorite activity, your favorite TV show, or make your name into an acronym (I don't remember the questions much, but you get the point). The point of that is to see more dimensions of your character. Traits of passion, desire, dedication, altruism, diligence can be shown through any EC. </p>
<p>The "wrong" kind of EC's are joining clubs, and not doing much. </p>
<p>So what, you were a member of the math club, what did you do? Were you a cabinet member? Did you win any math competitions, etc? </p>
<p>Also, grades > EC's. Do just the right amount of EC's so that you will still be able to attain good grades. I've seen excellent candidates who were rejected because they went overboard on EC's.</p>
<p>***I noticed a retarded error in my first post here.</p>
<p>"Here's a strategy I used: If you know you will have trouble in Calculus, schedule breadth classes, and have a lighter unit load than usual. This helps by giving you more time to study for calc."</p>
<p>Should be changed to:</p>
<p>"Here's a strategy I used: If you know you will have trouble in Calculus, schedule less overall units, and have your other classes be breadth classes. Example: Calculus, Introductory Sociology, Introductory Speech, Intro _________ . </p>
<p>As opposed to a schedule like: Calculus, Biology w/lab, Chemistry w/lab, and Political Science.</p>
<p>This helps by giving you more time to study for calc."</p>
<p>One more thing, don't forget to utilize USC's awesome info helpline. </p>
<p>When you call and if the automated responses doesn't give you the answer you're looking for, mash the zero button a couple of times and you'll get connected to a counseler right away.</p>
<p>walnut thanks again for all the help. i definitely took your advice into mind when i roughly mapped out my first year at cc if i choose to go this route. i would plan on trying to get into usc the fall of '08 so i needed all the prereq done for marshall. i scheduled adv. calc for 2nd semester with micro econ and im not sure what ge (hopefully not a science im assuming?) and i may leave it at 3 courses to give me time for peer tutoring which i assume ill need because ive struggled with calc in high school. on a side note would 3 courses (11 credits) look bad considering i plan on taking 4 courses (12 units) first semester. this summer i plan on taking 2-3 courses (6-9 units) also.</p>
<p>Hrrm..what's advanced Calc? Are you talking about Calc II multivariable (Chapters 7 and beyond of Stewart's 5e Calculus I think)? You only need Calc I, a class you would do very well in since you took it already.</p>
<p>To answer your question: Probably not.</p>
<p>Now i'm no counseler, but a bad trait in the admissions process seems to be relative to your competition. In other words, if a significant amount of applicants took 9 units over summer and 12 over spring with courses of similar difficulty, and they all have a higher GPA than you, THEN it's a bad trait. I'm sure this is not the case, so you're fine. </p>
<p>This does expose a new risk though, if you achieve poor grades even with a light unit load, it will look bad.</p>
<p>There are factors that may excuse a lighter units load too. Some people must work full time, heavily involved in EC's, or have families, are ill...etc. Those who shine in the admissions process are those who can manage both difficult courses and EC's/or other relevant side stuff.</p>
<p>If you're the proactive type, you should also consider "pre-studying." I've seen a student talk to a professor of mine before summer started, for information on his Calculus class in the Fall. By doing this, he would be able to prepare for his Fall class during summer break. He would ask for a syllabus and homework sheet. He'd then pre-purchase the book and work up to at least halfway through the course, just as if he were in the course. Then when the actual semester starts in Fall, he would simply be reviewing the first couple of chapters, and advancing into the latter have of the course (since he finished the beginning portion over summer). The ultimate goal was to allow him to work full time status while attaining a 4.0.</p>