What the Hell is Going On? HELP.

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>I just spent an HOUR fabricating my message on here, and deleted it all by mindlessly selecting "paste" instead of "copy"; the once overpopulated message thread box was then occupied by two words: Marty Feldman. God, how blood-boiling.</p>

<p>Anyway.</p>

<p>This is for you, transfer kid. For those of you who feel just like me; let's help eachother out, but first let's see if that's possible. Hear this:</p>

<p>I work 40 hours a week. I'm a Quality Control Specialist. I'm 18. A freshman in community college. I have a 4.0 GPA. Area of study: Film? Cognitive Science? In other words, clueless. I live at home. I have no extrenuating circumstances, no overcoming of adversity stories, no skydiving license, no nothing, no hope. </p>

<p>Sound familiar? Good, keep reading. If not, well keep reading anyway. </p>

<p>I've found my job to be crippling. It's a toxic environment; my company basks in cronyism and nepotism, the glass ceiling is so ubiquitous that I have to hunch over to keep my head from shattering it (joke).... I'm the youngest woman there, I'm just a KID and these people are archaic, frighteningly conservative, stale, and aerospace aerospace aerospacee. BORING moving on. </p>

<p>I'm there because I need money for university..</p>

<p>With a full time job, it will take me about FOUR years to accumulate all the GE's and mandatory Pre-reqs. </p>

<p>This is the problem. We tranfer folks crunch all our GE's into 2 years and hope to transfer with a desirable major in mind. Well...I fear that we are as unprepared as we were as seniors in high school. How can you possibly know what the hell you want to do with your life if you just take classes you already took in HS (your GEs) and then only a FEW from your 'desired' major?! And then you only have TWO much-anticipated university years? </p>

<p>Doesn't this sound a little unfair? Like you've been cheated both time and money? Bc if you still feel lost by the time you graduate...well shoot. </p>

<p>I need serious help. HOW CAN I POSSIBLY COMPETE WITH OTHER TRANSFERS WITH EQUIVALENT GPA's, LOADS OF E.C.s, EMT LICENSES, and TRANFORMATIONAL JOURNEYS HITCHHIKING ACCROSS THE AMERICAS?!</p>

<p>Should I quit my job? If so, should I pile my schedule with as many courses as allowable? And even then, where does that lead me? A place with more percievable direction and optimism? College isn't for everybody, right? Then how do all those people who don't know what the hell they're doing 'figure it all out'? Do they ever? </p>

<p>If I feel so crippled by nothing and everything all at once, should I take a gap semester and hope that some sort of backpacking trip in Bali will provide me with the crucible of character I've been looking for? Huh? </p>

<p>I'm surprised you read this far. Transfer kid, please help. Or father or mother, what do people do when they are so deathly afraid of routine but paradoxically afraid of taking huge risks as well? What do I DO?!</p>

<p>What did you do?</p>

2

<p>You’re only 18. I didn’t figure out what I wanted to do in my life until I was 21.5. From the time I turned 18 and until the age of 21, I dropped out of school, I tried to join the army, I took trips around California and pretty much just wasted time doing nothing. </p>

<p>Have you thought about what UC you want to attend?</p>

3

<p>If you live at home, quit your job and focus on school. Consider studying something with decent job opportunities, like engineering, as that’s essentially what a degree is for. If you want to explore the intricacies of Bohemian art, go to the library or google it. </p>

<p>You don’t need to backpack across the Indian subcontinent to realize a college education is a prerequisite for finding a job. What’s marketable and in demand in society, that you don’t find sucky and boring? Boom, there’s your epiphany.</p>

4

<p>This is how I feel right now. I don’t know what to do with my life. I feel like my friends have their lives figure out already and some figured it out before the senior year of high school</p>

5

<p>Lets negate that a transfer student must transfer in 2 years. At my CC (over 30k+, huge feeder in NorCal), it’s actually not as common as I thought. A lot transfer in 3-4 years. Partly because of the budget cuts which means less classes and also because many are unsure of their major.</p>

<p>The beauty of community college is that you aren’t forced to stick with one major. Students can go from computer science to business overnight (which is what I did) or whatever else major they choose. All at a fraction of the cost of a four year(this is not a knock against 4 years). There shouldn’t be this overwhelming pressure to choose a major or transfer within ‘X’ years. </p>

<p>If you’re not sure if you are committed to a specific major, do an internship in a relevant field. That will expose you to the environment. Maybe it’s accounting, working with a developer, maybe if you want to go to med school you decide to shadow a physician (I actually did this to see if I wanted to pursue medical), etc. That’s one way of finding out.
Also research, research, research. Before I switched to business/economics, I researched the hell out of it. I talked to corporate finance execs, accountants, research economists etc. and it gave me a good perspective. </p>

<p>If you feel that you really want to transfer in 2 years or ASAP, then there is no problem in quitting your full time job or switching to part time. I switched from full time to part time because I wanted to transfer in 3 instead of 4. Less money but I was more concerned with my future than making $8/HR even though the job was somewhat relevant to my major(only reason I didn’t quit). </p>

<p>Last point, on this website you notice that people have amazing ECs, 4.0s, excellent work experience, played basketball with Obama etc. This is not the norm. People on college confidential tend to be more motivated than the average community college student. They are looking to gain an edge in admissions, perfect their app, be ahead of the curve. CCers are a smart bunch. The average community college transfer student I talk to does not have ECs, relevant work experience but may have a pretty good GPA (think 3.4-3.7). </p>

<p>Don’t get too stressed about it.</p>

6

<p>Mermaker: so you don’t think those years you spent traveling and soul-searching were formative at all? :/</p>

<p>That’s upsetting. There had to be something that you did during those years that told you what you want by the time you hit 21(and a half??)?</p>

7

<p>art2CS:
Thanks for the lucid response. However, the mentality of going to college simply for a successful job seems like it would be incredibly dissapointing. I know several people with engineering degrees that are still looking for a decent, likable job. A few have had to re-evaluate their interest in the field itself. The point of the backpacking trip wasn’t for career exploration at all - it was for a mental cleanse. But you’re probably going to pursue your claim that you don’t need one of those either? Well, when IS it time to take those trips, when IS it the right time to just not constantly be thinking about school and work, school and work? When you retire? blah.</p>

8

<p>emprex:</p>

<p>I sincereley appreciate the depth of your response. I think you gave an exemplary reason to go to comm.coll. by using yourself as a spectacle. However, there is no overhwelming pressure for me to finish in two years. I didn’t make it clear I guess; I just want to get the hell out of this town, this school. I am not being challenged, the students here are crawling with mediocrity (none of them know what hard work is), and I feel when I am 24 and a sophmore at a 4-year…I will feel isolated from other students. I already feel isolated enough at CC, and it’ll probably be inevitable to feel the same when I transfer…so why wait 2 more years to make it even worse? </p>

<p>Now it seems like I’m doing this all to myself. I’m creating this overwhelming pressure and it’s not allowing me to see other, more healthier choices (like what you mentioned: screw the ‘X’ amount of years, and explore what you are interested in, no matter how long it takes). That sounds great, but I’m afraid that continuing to live in this environment will not be a good choice for me. </p>

<p>Time keeps moving forward, but I’m not. What is the cure? What will loading my schedule up with a bunch of classes even do for me, if I feel so lost? I don’t know, college just seems so unfufilling sometimes and I’m so anxious all the time. Erghhh</p>

9

<p>That’s not the message I was trying to convey with that story. In fact, It was the exact opposite. What I meant was that I didn’t find what I was looking for until I was 21. Since you’re only 18, you have plenty of time to find what you want to do in life. There’s no reason to worry about because you’ll find it sooner or later. In hindsight, it was a waste of time.</p>

10

<p>I think you are trying too hard to find something to major in. I’m like you in some ways. Also, I completely agree with mermaker.</p>

<p>Answer some of these questions</p>

<p>Are you interested in social sciences, math/science or humanaties?
what classes did you like in high school?
what classes do you struggle in?
what jobs do you have?
are you bad in math?
are you more hands-on?
are you a social or quiet person?
do you prefer logic over creativity?
do you value happiness or money more?</p>

11

<p>mermaker: You make it sound like I’m the idiot, here. You can’t call those years a waste if they were the prequel to your turning of age 21…law of causality. They helped you, either largely or marginally, and you ‘figured it out’. I appreciate your advice, but I’m a realist…repeating ‘oh, its okay, I’m only 18’ will create passiveness…and nothing can be done when you’re passive. I’m tired of being told I have plenty of time when there is a significant amount of effort involved in creating a path for yourself that will nourish you. I can’t just wait around until it all unravels before me, and I ‘find it sooner or later’. That’s just too easy to be reality.</p>

12

<p>A 4.0 with a job makes you much more competitive than someone with a “journey.” A job is an EC, it doesnt matter what type (though yours sounds impressive), any job shows dedication and a work ethic.</p>

<p>I work full time (sometimes 80 hours) and it took me 4 years to finish my GEs. This is not a race.</p>

<p>When you are a freshmen 4 years (or 2 years at each college) seems like nothing. I felt exactly like you when I first started. I wanted to stay in college forever. Trust me, you will get over this phase. </p>

<p>Focus on your GEs. They serve a purpose-to help you figure out what you want to do. You will find something that you are interested in. </p>

<p>Transferring to the UCs is not that competitive. You are really overreacting and all this will do is stress you out and hurt your grades. If you keep a 4.0 and complete all of the prereqs for a major than you are almost guaranteed to get into any school.</p>

<p>Unprepared? Unprepared compared to who? Every other junior who has only taken two years of college classes, almost all lower division and general ed? Of course you will be prepared for upper division work. Ive taken upper division work at a UC already, it is not that hard. It is exactly what 2 years at a community college will prepare you for.</p>

<p>Lastly, prestige is not everything. If you keep above a 3.2 you ARE guaranteed admission at 5-6 of the schools. That is enough.</p>

13

<p>If you want to get out of this town and the crowd that encompasses the school you are attending, then do it. No ones stopping you.</p>

14

<p>@OP: That’s exactly what college is for. </p>

<p>Case 1: Let’s say you start out as an idiot wanting to study art because that’s always been your passion. After you get your degree having been enlightened and challenged and fulfilled, you realize no one cares where you went to school for art, and you spend 8 hours a day out of your ever-dwindling life waiting tables. Yeah, you followed your heart and had a cathartic four years of bliss. Now you wait tables, and hope for an occasional commission of a painting of some fat guy and his fat family. </p>

<p>Case 2: You venture off on a “mental cleansing” backpacking excursion throughout SE Asia, hoping to find yourself. Bouts of dysentery and the occasional highway robbery aside, it was a great experience, and you decide to eschew traditional schooling and self-study mechanical engineering, which you developed a passion for during the times your bike chain sprocket was busted while fleeing Laotian hooligans with machetes. Realizing you need money to eat, you apply to big engineering firms who ask “Where’s your degree?”</p>

<p>Case 3: You come to the conclusion that life is nothing but eating, sleeping, pooping, and procreating. Given the structure of the society in which you were involuntarily placed, you find a field of study that offers a good likelihood of employment, perhaps nursing. Being a genuinely sympathetic and altruistic person, you find nursing to be enjoyable, while providing adequate funds to sustain yourself, and a family in the future. Two weeks out of the year you go on mini mental cleansing thingies to the Caribbean, Scandinavia and SE Asia (learning quickly how to say “take my wallet please don’t kill me” in Laotian).</p>

<p>By the way, were you raised in Uganda as a child soldier or something? What exactly is a mental cleanse?</p>

15

<p>I can’t totally relate to everything you’ve said, but boy do I know the feeling of “Wait, my grades are spectacular, but what on Earth do I want to major in?”</p>

<p>I reckon being the youngest woman in what I assume is a male-dominant work place, and with an impressive sounding job title, is actually pretty impressive and shows some major overcoming of adversity as a working woman. It may be boring, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t usable to you in explaining how motivated and hardworking you are to the UC. You’re “just a kid” in a male-dominated, ageist world kicking ass in terms of finding work. That tells them: that kid has gotta be hard-working… and really care about education, if she’s working that hard to get there. The balance of work and school is tough. I have many friends who continue to struggle with that. I can’t give too many words of advice because I was fortunate enough to not need to work.</p>

<p>I spent a year and a half in community college totally lost, and I even had the good luck of being at a quarter system school, meaning I had more chances to experiment with my classes. I took so many odd classes, I can’t even tell you. It’s a bit late in this case, but I wish high school students were told the truth: you need to know your major ASAP. Community college or not, apply yourself in and outside of school, figure out what you like before college. Sadly, no one tells you that and yeah, we get stuck with two years to figure out our life. Don’t consider community college non-university years. The experience is what you make of it. It’ll be a different college experience. That doesn’t make it any better or any worse.</p>

<p>So I just picked something… and I had a moment too, how can I compete? Students who have loads of E.C.’s, incredible internships, and in my case, work experience? Here’s the thing: it’s mostly about GPA. It doesn’t matter how many classes you took and how long you took. I had a classmate at UC Berkeley last semester who took… eight years, I believe she said. She was still accepted. I had a few clubs and officerships, volunteer work I only started the summer before I applied, and a slight hook with my family–with a GPA similar to yours (~3.92-3.94). I still got into UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB, UCI, etc.</p>

<p>Some people never figure it out. I just picked a major, and now I’m pressed for time in picking what I want to do next. That’s life. You figure it out, or you figure something else out. You may never find some perfect fit, but you will find something.</p>

16

<p>O_o dafuq? How did you come to that conclusion from that comment?</p>

17

<p>

A few comments, if I may. First, it is quite difficult to succeed in college, let along pick a career direction on top of that, if you are working 40 hours a week. You aren’t going to have the time to devote to your classes, to getting advice and direction from your profs and other resources on campus such as the career center, etc. Some people have no choice, but it sounds like you may. Have your parents filled out a sample FAFSA to see what they might be expected to contribute? There may be more financial aid available for you than you think, so your conclusion that you need to work this much to save for future college may not be accurate.</p>

<p>Second, you seem to be assuming major equals career. Well, sometimes. There are major such as nursing, accounting, engineering, etc that are focused on teaching skills that can directly put to use after graduation. The liberal arts, by contrast, teach more amorphous skills that don’t directly lead to a job but help you master “soft” skills needed for jobs traditionally filled by college grads or for enrolling in a professional school. So I think you are mistaken assuming that your classes are going to identify a career, at least for many students. </p>

<p>Figuring out what you want to do is, for many people, an iterative process rather than a single Eureka! moment. They attend talks about fields at their career center, they read the pamphlets about careers, they read books about career search, they talk to people in various fields, they get internships or do volunteer work to get exposure to various fields. Few people at 18 know what they want to do, and of those that do many end up changing their minds over the next few years. So not knowing is not a problem; doing nothing to change that is.</p>

18

<p>@mermaker, I feel the same way. I have no idea what OP is talking about.</p>

19

<p>@art2CS: I laughed. But, then felt as if everything must seem so transparent to you. And then I felt bad. No childhood trauma,
just tired of being tired. Thank you for the scenarios, you should be a writer because you’re much more clever than the average
drip at embellishing on your cynicism.</p>

<p>@newsoul: This was the most refreshing, and relevant comment I have ever read…like, ever. You did a lot less pushing than most,
and a lot more pulling… I’ve been attempting to help younger people in all ways possible to understand the “you need to know your
major ASAP” concept, but I always fail; I’m not savaged enough to illuminate the consequences of ‘not knowing’.
For some, it’s a complete failure to not realize the validity of this concept…they literally bumble along for the rest of their life with
uncontrollable uncertainty and pain. For others (like me), its just this intolerable affliction of ‘wait…everyone is drifting so far away
from any direction I am going…so, what am I? When do I stop being so introspective, and start doing things…when does the ‘doing’ happen?’
Thus, I feel it is my duty to inform (or warn) others of how awful it is to feel so stale and crippled by unreasonably pessimistic futuristic thinking. </p>

<p>Rambling…anyway. Your words were very comforting, particularly the ones that reflect your own difficulties. So, thank you. alot. </p>

<p>@mikemac: You’re right. I don’t need to work this much for university; however, I fear that quitting will give me the freedom to do plenty of constructive
things for myself …but none of those freedoms will be exercised. I will somehow conclude that the drone of blue collar life actually made me somewhat
more worthy of indulgence than non-blue collar life. So, I will choose not to do risky career exloration or fill up all that extra time with useful (yet selfish) activities.
I will just ruin myself without working. I just can’t, unless I quit for something that challenges
a completely different hemisphere of my brain ( the creative side, maybe?), I’m way too afraid to give up something that could be what’s preventing
me from, well, giving up entirely. Does that even make sense?</p>

<p>I hate to say I’m one to soak up every intelligently-written article I read…but I kind of am…so when you mentioned liberal arts education I immediately
reflected back to this article that scares the ***** out of me.
[Who</a> Killed the Liberal Arts? | The Weekly Standard](<a href=“http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/who-killed-liberal-arts_652007.html?page=3]Who”>http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/who-killed-liberal-arts_652007.html?page=3)</p>

<p>But otherwise, thank you for your advice - I appreciate it!</p>

<p>@emprex; @mermaker: yeah… I have no idea what OP is talking about either.</p>

20

<p>@OP: Just pick a major you think you’d like that would also lead to a job. It’s not that complicated. You’re only 18, and I guarantee you when you turn 30, you’ll daydream about designing and building a time machine just to travel back and punch yourself in the face for being dumb. The “doing” happens when you stop being whiny and scared of the uncertain and just get it done. </p>

<p>Sorry if I come across as cynical, but I thought the same kind of useless crap when I was 18, and just meandered around like an idiot for ten years, not sure of what to do. Just pick something, do your best, and see what happens. Lots of people (like Ugandan child soldiers) will never be afforded the privilege of attaining a formal education in the first place.</p>