UCR vs CC

Transfer Students
1

Okay. So I’m currently deciding between UCR and CC. I would want to go to UCR because it has an actual business program, but I’m not entirely sure if I want to go into Accounting yet and UCR is in the middle of nowhere.
CC means I have to live at home and I’ve heard that it is difficult to work 20+ hours and take 12+ credits per semester.

What I’m wondering is -
how exactly does the TAG system work? As in if I maintain the requirements (I want to transfer to UCI) am i practically guaranteed a transfer or is it like high school where they handpick only few outstanding individuals?
Also, how difficult is the work at a CC? I’ve heard it’s relatively easy, but it’s just time management and priorities. I’d like to transfer out in less than two years.

2

The TAG system is just that, a guarantee on a contract. You must maintain a certain GPA, if I recall it is 3.4 for UC Irvine (which is honestly not that hard), and achieve a certain amount of units and complete certain classes by the end of the fall and spring before you transfer. However, you mentioned that you’re interested in business. The business major for UC Irvine is not a TAG major. Additionally, UC Irvine’s Business major is very competitive as a transfer student. You can find the yield by major here for transfers:
http://www.oir.uci.edu/files/adm/IA21-fall-transfers-select-yield-by-major.pdf
As you can see, for business admin, only 60 were admitted out of 1900 applicants. Just eyeballing the numbers, you might even be more likely to be accepted to Berkeley Hass than UCI Business Admin. Part of it is the culture, UCI doesn’t even want current students at UCI to change their major to Business.

To answer your question about the difficulty of CC, I’ll be honest, compared to my high school load (maximized with AP courses), CC was not challenging. This is not to say that it was true for all courses (my high level math courses were still fairly challenging) but I found IGETC courses and other gen ed courses very easy at community college.

3

UCR’s business program is solid, but if you go to CC, work very hard, etc., you may be able to transfer to Berkeley’s Haas School of Business or UCLA (Business Economics). Both are good options. You can also TAG to UCR’s Business program (provided you have a 3.5 and all major prep completed) - http://admissions.ucr.edu/WhyUCR/ourGuarantee#transferStudents

As @Burdened stated, TAG is a guarantee if you meet the criteria (which isn’t too difficult to do). You use TAG for one school (not the top 3 UC’s, or selective majors, like UCI’s Business Admin). Essentially, if you went to CC, you would probably TAG to UCR Business and have guaranteed admission there, and you would likely apply to other Business programs in the UC system, or even at USC. It is very competitive to transfer into highly ranked business programs, naturally - but if you do well (3.8+, some extracurriculars/jobs, all major prep completed, etc.), you should be in somewhere.

Generally, transfer admission (to the top UC’s) is less difficult than HS admission. They care primarily about your GPA, completion of prerequisites for the major (so you can graduate on time), and completion of general education requirements (although this varies - Haas doesn’t require GE’s to be completed, for example). Still, keeping a high GPA is no easy feat. The pace of college is significantly quicker than that of high school, higher quality work is expected, there’s much more reading, etc.

Personally, I found college to be a huge step up from high school - but I only took one AP class. Many CC classes are rather easy (i.e. most intro courses), but not all are. Also, many people who want to transfer to good schools or good programs go out of their way to take more challenging classes. Generally, the grading of CC classes is more lenient than their UC counterparts, but much of the same material is covered. There’s much more reading in UC classes, but if you do well in CC, you should do well after transferring.

Time management is extremely important for doing well in CC (and college in general).

Next time, post here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/

4

Sorry, I’m new so didn’t know about the UC transfer thread!
Wait so if UCI business is extremely selective, would it be easier to transfer to USC’s business school?
I’m still debating on Accounting or Nursing - which are completely different but nursing provides me the chance to be hands on.

Also - how is business not a TAG major? Where can I see the majors that are?
So if business is not a TAG major, does that mean even if I fit the criteria I won’t be guaranteed admission?

5

You can find the TAG matrix here
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/tag-matrix.pdf

It is not a TAG major because there is no GPA or other requirements they could place on it to guarantee admission. This is the same reason why UC Berkeley does not have offer TAG. They could make it a 4.0 TAG and they would still run out of seats (nor would they want to do that).

My insider info for UCI’s Business program (sibling alum): Irvine is pushing very very hard to make Business Admin an absolutely exceptional undergraduate program. I know of very few people that were accepted to Irvine Business Admin as a transfer. The one that I can think of was also accepted to Berkeley Hass and UCLA Business Econ.

Yes, in my opinion it would be easier to transfer into USC’s Marshall (or Leventhal if you choose accounting).

6

Wow… Alright thank you so much to the both of you! This really helps me in picking my decision.