Last year I took 4 - 5 classes per quarter, but these past two quarters I’ve only been able to take 2 transferable, 1 non-transferable (last quarter, so 3 in total) and 3 transferable and 1 non-transferrable this quarter (4 in total). Do you think that will affect my admissions in any way, especially for the more competitive schools like Cal? I’ve finished all my major reqs and IGETC stuff so I’m just trying to dabble more with extra curriculars and classes of my interest at this point.
Educational gaps are a point of scrutiny with the transcript evaluations. (As it’s a sign of possibly omitted transcripts / records.) Unit loads on the other hand can’t be used against you. Especially in your case as you can’t be penalized for completing all your requirements early.
Possible negatives to consider with a low unit load: UC Davis TAG due to their full time requirement and risking losing your CCC priority status if and only if you dual enroll with a non-CCC institution.
@SDGoldenBear Would educational gaps affect my chance ? I do have a few years of educational gaps here and there during my CC careers but mostly due to work and other life obligations. I have generally lighter unit load throughout my years in CC. My GPA is very solid and am going to CC full time currently as it’s my final year before transferring.
Do you think the UCs will view my gaps and light unit load negatively??
Thanks
@ssnewman You should be fine as long as you have a valid reason added in the additional comment section.
@ssnewman Educational gaps just need to be explained, that is all. It isn’t an issue and isn’t negative, they just want to know what was going on.
@ssnewman Your unit load can’t be factored negatively.
Regarding the gaps: it might depending on the school you applied to and frequency of the said gaps.
For all of the UCs (especially Cal and UCLA), transfers are expected to graduate quickly. As institutions they lose a lot if a student overstays and takes up resources that could be used for someone else. Because of this they are very cautious when dealing with applicants with excessive and/or unexplained educational gaps as it’s a sign of a higher risk of overstaying and has a significant correlation with graduation rate.
That said, one or two gaps between periods of major academic progress shouldn’t be too much of a concern with adequate rationale (as @itakenotes & @briank82 mentioned).
^^ agreed.
And everyone is so different, it just depends on how you explain it. I graduated high school in 2004 and started and stopped going to community college a few times for several different reasons … things like I joined the military, I was in a serious car accident, I was working full time, etc.
You have ample room and opportunities to show them why you weren’t attending school and why it isn’t an issue.
@briank82 that sounds exactly like my reason for all the gaps in my education. I graduated high school in 2002, tried to go to community college after I moved out of my parents house and to a completely new city, but I just wasn’t ready. Tried to go back a few times but working multiple jobs got in the way and I couldn’t keep attending classes… except I wasn’t aware I had to drop the class myself, so I received some F’s in classes because I forgot to drop the class myself and had to eventually get AR. I also got in a serious car accident and working full-time meant it had to take priority over going to school.
It feels nice to hear someone who had a similar experience.
You (and I) aren’t alone in what they’ll see, as so many transfer students I think come in with non-traditional backgrounds … military, re-entry, etc etc.