Hello,
So I was waitlisted from UC Davis recently which was my top choice. My other option will be Cal Poly Pomona, but I definitely do not want to stay there. If that is where I end up I am already planning on transferring to Davis after my first year. My major at both places is animal biology. I know it really depends on the grades, credits, and classes I take, but let’s say everything in those departments are looking good. What are my chances of people able to transfer from CPP to Davis, compared to going to a CC? Honestly I really really do not want to go to a CC because I have worked incredibly hard in high school and I feel like I could’ve ended up in the same place without doing as much work and I don’t want it all to be wasted.
Thank You.
UC Davis like all the UC’s accept Junior level transfers of 60 semester/90 quarter units. You can TAG to UCD but you need to take the TAG required courses and maintain a specific GPA, plus you can only use TAG by going to a CCC.
It is possible to transfer from a CSU to UCD but again you may not be able to do it in a year due to transfer requirements.
Here is more information, but I if UCD is your goal, try the CCC TAG transfer option. You cannot TAG from a CSU.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/tag-matrix.pdf
Would it be possible to transfer from a CCC in one year?
If you have a ton of AP units, yes.
There are plenty of people who worked hard in HS but went to CC to save money and/or transfer to a better school. It’s an option worth considering.
I’m just here to second what @goldencub said whole heartedly.
“Honestly I really really do not want to go to a CC because I have worked incredibly hard in high school and I feel like I could’ve ended up in the same place without doing as much work and I don’t want it all to be wasted.”
This statement is pretty incorrect. How exactly would your work be wasted? You are well-prepared for college-level coursework and will have the same chance to transfer to a university of your choice at a CC.
It is the option I would personally take. But no the only option, of course. CPP offers advantages in that you have the opportunity to stay there for your baccalaureate degree if you change your mind and less struggle to try and get into classes. It is also more expensive.
Don’t let pride be a factor in your decision. My classmate at a CC has a 3.9 and is truing to transfer to Berkeley this Fall, CC can be a gateway to major success for you if you choose to make it so. You have time to think it over, talk to your family about it 
loool I love all the young high school kids thinking CC is below them
btw its much easier to transfer from a CCC to UC than it is from a 4yr to UC especially if you’re so smart and hard working
@bolognese
UC Davis already starting releasing decisions?!
@BlackPlasma: UCD has finished releasing decisions for Freshman applicants.
@BlackPlasma Only frosh, transfers gotta wait bc life
bolognese… Honestly this is what i have been hearing my entire high school career that a ccc is worse and to never choose that. Every single teacher has told me the same thing. So that is the only thing I knew. And I never said I was smart. If I was I wouldn’t be heartbroken over the fact that I was not good enough to be accepted at a UC.
@martinezk
Honestly bro, don’t worry about it. Personally I think that a CC is way better than any cal state as it provides a path to the UC’s. I’ve had people look down on me because I went to a CC and now two years later I hear that most of those people who went to a CSU and dropped out. Im the one laughing at them.
BlackPlasma-- were u able to receive a BA or BS in 2 years after transferring? And at a CC did u mostly take classes to take care of ur general ed?
@martinezk Okay, sorry I was a dick. I guess I’ve been out of high school long enough that all that stuff seems silly to me. I would’ve transferred sooner but I’ve had to work and do a lot of stuff that kept me from going to school for a while.
They tell you its bad because well, yeah its not the same experience as going to uni straight away. You don’t get the freshman parties, whatever else people talk about. They tell you its bad because some people get sucked into the quicksand that can be Comm. college and they never come out, they drop out, they fail classes but those are usually people who never cut it in high school either. They want to keep kids from going there and there is still a stigma with CC. Honestly though, I know so many smart students that come from low income or something crappy and they’re going to CC to save money. I was dating someone who got his Associates at a CCC(not necessary but some people choose to), transferred to UCI, did grad school at UCSD and now he’s doing his doctorate at UCSD as well. So like…just think about that.
If you really have a good head on your shoulders, which I feel like you do because you were aiming for UCs and are on the brink of getting accepted, then I think you should be just fine doing CC if you chose to do so. And yeah, UCs want you to be done in 2 years. The system is designed to be like that. You transfer with your min 60 units as a junior and then finish up= 2 more years unless you want to switch majors or something weird.
So depending on your major, you’re encouraged to knock out BS gen ed. classes and maybe do IGETC. Some STEM majors tell you not to do IGETC and to just do your math/science because those courses are unit heavy. You should do your homework on how CCC-UC transfers work, what each campus requires and then tailor your schedule to fufill those reqs. I’m sure you’ve heard about about TAG on here(if you haven’t, look it up) which is a really nice fallback if you’re able to do what they require. I urge to double check on this info because I am humanities and I’m not entirely 100% sure about that
I can’t stress enough doing your own homework. Sure, you can talk to CC counselors but I’ve been screwed over by misinformation. I’ve had better luck asking here and looking at the UC websites/assist.org.
Hopefully that helps a little 
…I hope you get in. Davis is my top choice too, just waiting for transfer decisions
oh and btw just because you got waitlisted doesn’t mean you suck/aren’t smart enough, it just means theres a ton of people applying and what they expect from high school grads is insane sometimes
Bolognese-- Thank you for all that information, i really appreciate it! And I totally agree, I have to do a lot of research on all of this before making a firm commitment. Thanks again!
CC is definitely the cheaper option, why pay for the tuition at CPP when you don’t intend on staying? You’ll be accumulating more debt on yourself once you do end up transferring. Swallow whatever false presumptions you have about a CC because whether you start at CPP or at a CC, you’re trying to acquire the same end goal which is to transfer to UCD. I’m at a CC and I tagged to UCD, the requirements to TAG for Davis aren’t difficult and you’ll be doing yourself a favor by loading up classes at a CC to complete them. To attend a CPP over a CC just because you think you’ll be “wasting” your hard work is pretty self righteous, but I see you’ve already gotten a ton of heat for that.
hey, just wanted to share my experience, since it seemed like I ended up in a similar situation as you.
I graduated from high school last year (c/o 2015) and I didn’t get into any of the schools I particularly wanted. I got into UCSC/CSUSJ but neither of them really made me feel like I wanted to be there. I was waitlisted at SB but didn’t get in, and appealed to Irvine but didn’t get in there either. I honestly cried a lot because I’d thought I was a pretty decent student (weighted above 3.70, which honestly isn’t the greatest but I had major upward trends and good test scores + ECs, so I thought I would have done a bit better), and I thought I “deserved better.”
I ended up going to a CCC, and I’ll be transferring in this fall 2016. I took 5 AP classes in high school, as well as some CCC classes during the summer, which put me at a pretty good place to transfer in 1 year. currently I’m taking 15 semester units (5 classes) + 1 other class online at a different CCC because I’d counted units wrong and needed something else. last semester I was able to get a 4.0 with 16 semester units (5 classes). I don’t know how your unit standing is, but you could definitely look into taking some this coming summer if you want, it might help you knock some GEs out of the way because I’ve heard there can be a lot for science majors. (I’m a communications major, if that helps)
honestly, I feel like CCC is easier than high school and I do sometimes wonder if, knowing the final outcome, if I shouldn’t have “tried so hard” in high school. however if I hadn’t “tried so hard” in high school, I probably wouldn’t have had all the AP/CCC units that I have now, and would have likely ended up spending 2 years at CCC (or maybe I would have just went to one of the schools I got into. I have no idea.) yeah, sometimes I do feel a bit bitter that I didn’t get in straight off the bat, especially when I hear about other people who got into “better” schools with lower stats/seemingly everything than me. I have no idea what goes on in the admissions process.
I would not recommend CCC if you’re the type of person who isn’t self-motivated, as I’ve unfortunately found that a lot of people in my classes are relatively unmotivated (the saying “Cs get degrees” is widely touted - not something that will get you to transfer into Davis, if that’s your goal). I do appreciate that (at least for my classes) I don’t have to go to a ton of discussions or anything like some of my friends at UCs have talked about. CCC is also loads cheaper, but you probably already knew that. I would say, though, that if you don’t think you’d be happy at CPP, save yourself the money and go to a CCC. I’m not gonna lie, it’s not that fun. I have no friends there (although some of that might be my own fault, I’m not the most sociable person) and you don’t get much of a sense of college culture or anything like that. some of your classmates may be old enough to be your parents, and sometimes that can be weird if you need to be speaking to them as peers. I don’t think that I’m necessarily a “better” or “changed” person because I went to CCC, but looking back on the choices available to me right after high school, I think this was the right one for me. I ended up getting a part time job since I had a fair amount of free time, and earning some money is always a nice perk. definitely look into your options!
sorry this was quite long, and I hope none of it came off as too pretentious or anything.
I had a very similar experience as well. I graduated in 2014 and was waitlisted from my top school (as well as rejected from a whole bunch of other schools). I considered going to Riverside even though I knew it would never make me happy and towards the end I decided on CC. It took me over a month to finally make that decision and during that month, I was overcome with so much emotion. The amount of disappointment and shame I felt made me cry a lot. I thought of CC as being just an extension of high school but I once I actually started attending, I realized that it really isn’t! I ended up enjoying the experience a lot more than I ever thought I would.
The classes are rigorous but the overall workload is easier than high school. If you want to get your GEs and lower division requirements done, it is very good option.The professors are supportive and they want to see you do your best. As far as the social life goes. I am going to be honest and say it sucks. You will miss out on the whole partying scene for the first year or two but once you transfer, you can join in on that stuff too. CC still has clubs and student government if that interests you.
CC really helps you become a responsible individual. Since there is no one holding you accountable for doing you work and taking the right classes, you have to be that person for yourself which I believe is a great skill to develop. On a side note: the hardest thing I had to overcome during the entire process was my own pride and jealousy. It is going to sting a bit to see all of you friends moving in and having fun while you are not but thats okay because its important to know how to deal with negative feelings anyway.
(Sorry if this this post was all over the place. I just felt like if sharing helped you in any way, it was better to do it than to stay silent)
I’ll give my input as well - it’s contrary to the above posters, so you’ll get a better idea of what CC is like (of course, it really depends on the CC/the class).
CC was definitely much harder than high school. There’s less busywork, sure - but deadlines came up quickly, and you’re expected to produce work of a much higher quality. Each CC semester class is equivalent to two semesters of a HS course. It’s paced more quickly.
For context, in my HS AP Literature course, we read somewhere around 6-7 books for the whole year, with ~20 pages per night at most, and all of the books were fairly short. In a literature course I took in CC (equivalent to English 45B at Cal), we read 6-7 books in the semester (1 every 1-3 weeks, depending on length). Dickens, Bronte, Austen, Twain, etc. The shortest book we read was Frankenstein, but it’s an excellent work within the time period the course covers, so of course we read it. We were also expected to churn out more mentally demanding work weekly, with three essays throughout the course. It wasn’t the most difficult thing in the world, but it was a huge step above any course I took in high school. Most of my CC classes (with the exception of a few easy ones) were similarly difficult. I also didn’t think the Cal course I took last summer had much more actual work than my CC courses - but it was more demanding than CC courses. For reference.
So, from my experience, community college has been significantly more rigorous and difficult than high school. I didn’t take as many AP classes as I should have (only one), but it seems to have been more difficult than most AP classes (with a few exceptions of extremely demanding teachers at my HS). I also think that many of the people who think CC is easier than HS aren’t taking difficult classes (of course intro classes are relatively easy), which everybody should be doing, to get the most out of the experience.
Anyway, I found high school to be generally boring and monotonous, but college has been difficult and more interesting. CC classes can be boring at times, but the same is true for some classes at any college.
Thank you goodkidmaadcity, i was just wondering if u knew which cc’s were better to transfer from? and were u able to finish in the two years?