<p>Well, long story short, I am not happy in my current University, so I have applied to transfer to a couple of schools. However, since I am only a freshman, my options were very limited (I want to go to a larger school in CA, but the top UC's and CSU's do not take sophomore transfers in my major)</p>
<p>I ended up applying to only ONE in California (USC), but I am worried about not getting in.</p>
<p>My question is..would it be incredibly bad to transfer from a 4 year university to a community college, only to transfer back to university?? I really REALLY want to stay in California, but it's not worth risking my future (I am looking to get into a top tier law school).</p>
<p>People do this all the time. Don’t worry about it. Stop by the CCC closest to you, and talk with the admissions office and the transfer advisors to get some ideas about how it could work in your case.</p>
<p>yup, I’m currently taking classes at a local community college, on a leave from an ivy. I’m applying to transfer to other universities. It’s no big deal, but you might want to take a leave from your current university instead of withdrawing yourself just in case you want to go back/ don’t get into the schools you apply for transfer. You can send me a personal message if you want more info, I’m happy to help.</p>
<p>I have done exactly this. My parents wanted to save money so I transferred out of my college, when to a community college and got my associates, and now am back at a (different) university. It’s no big deal. </p>
<p>I will say that it was a mildly negative experience for me, only because the classes were incredibly easy compared to my old university’s classes, and it kind of felt like I was in high school again. That is most likely just dependent on the community college you go to though. Overall, the experience didn’t bother me too much.</p>
<p>wow i guess this is more common than i thought haha.</p>
<p>thanks for your input I figured cc would probably feel much more different than a university but wasn’t sure. it’s good to hear it worked out now I have proof for my parents! and i’ve never even heard of taking a leave lol but I probably won’t do that because I REALLY wanna get out of this school.</p>
<p>has anyone else gone through this and been accepted to/attended some type of grad school? I’m worried for applications transferring too many times may appear inconsistent…:/</p>
<p>Grad schools look at your grades and the courses that they were earned in. They won’t care that you have attended three (or more) schools on the way to your degree. They want evidence that you can perform at the graduate level. Which means that your GRE score, your letters of recommendation, your statement of purpose, any research/publications/related work experience will all be taken into account as well.</p>
<p>I thought it was unusual… until I did it myself.</p>
<p>I attended freshman year at USC, but due to money problems (and having to transfer as a sophomore), I transferred back to a community college. I’m now transferring in the spring to SDSU. Not as great of a school, but much more affordable (and hey, grad school is what matters in the end haha)</p>
<p>To me, community college classes are a bit easier, and the class size is smaller (though at USC class sizes weren’t that large to begin with compared to other schools in CA, esp the UC’s and CSU’s). Instead of living on-campus or right off-campus, most students commute, so that’s a bit different. But that’s about it for changes to me at least. </p>
<p>Although I didn’t attend a traditional university, I did attend a 4 year private school(art school) for 2.5 years. I ended up leaving art school and enrolled at multiple california community colleges to get my general ed done in the shortest amount of time possible(art school general ed is different from any regular college/university’s general ed). I ended up transferring into UCLA this past fall. It’s possible. I honestly think it’s the better option than settling for a school that you probably can get into as a transfer for sophomore standing(with the exceptions being: USC/Claremont Schools/Stanford etc).
If you plan on attending CC, make sure that you become educated in what is required to transfer for your prospective major and in general the general ed(IGETC for UCs). By mapping out in advance the classes you need to take, you will end up not having to waste time at CC. Also make sure you pring your University’s transcripts to your community college to see if any of those courses will count towards IGETC, or USC’s general education plan.</p>