<p>Hi,
I'm going to a CC in Cal next year, but still have no idea where I should go. Can anybody give me some recommendation? So far, I have considered:
Santa Monica
Santa Barbara
Foothill
Fullerton</p>
<p>Can anybody studying in these schools give me some advices?
Thanks</p>
<p>Where are you going to live next year? Convenience should be a major factor in deciding...as for which of those four, it really doesn't matter which you attend, as long as they can certify IGETC. Obviously, Santa Monica has the most transfers, but that's because there's so many students there. When you consider SMC, consider traffic on the West Side, etc. You could also try El Camino in Torrance. Good luck!</p>
<p>Go to a school that provides an honors program (TAP). I believe all of those CCCs you listed have this program.</p>
<p>I'm an international student.
My aunt lives near Fullerton College, so I can stay with her if I choose to attend Fullerton.
On the other hand, my goal after CC is to transfer to UCLA (and my dad's gonna drag me back to my home country if I don't make it into UCLA). We all know SMC has the most transfers to UCLA. However, attending SMC also means I will have to deal with housing, transportation,food...etc
So, would it help my chance for UCLA if I attend SMC, or it would be better to choose Fullerton and save money?
Besides, I'd like to hear about real experience from those who attend these schools, about student life, teaching staff,...etc. What I see on their websites are pretty much the same (for example, teaching staff: friendly, helpful, devoted).
Any advice is appreciated.</p>
<p>freelhc, what's ur major? I'll tell u if smc is for u.</p>
<p>If ucla is that important to u, most def join tap... almost guaranteed adm for non impacted majors.</p>
<p>I attend smc. :( :) I can tell u about it... some other time, i have to run.</p>
<p>Sweet. I'll probably major in Business. According to what I've been seeing in this forum, it's a competitive major to transfer, right? How are business classes (class size, quality...) at smc, do u know?
By the way, what is your major, highschoolda?
I'm looking forward to hearing about smc from you.</p>
<p>Foothill is a good school, as is De anza, where I was a student and they have awesome teachers. I can add a little about SMC, nice school, good facilities, quality teachers, all around it is awesome. The bad part about SMC is that it is very crowded, which makes it difficult to get into popular classes (which i'm not taking :)) and there is no parking! A parking permit costs $75 and it takes no less than 20 min. to find a space, even off campus. Still it's a quality school in the l.a. area, other good schools include Pasadena and Glendale, both with some manageable parking issues.</p>
<p>So Buerre, you was a student at Foothill, andyou're now attending SMC? Just a little curious, what motivates you to make that change?
About parking, I guess it's no big deal for me, since... I don't know how to drive yet:D. Probably just rely on public transportation. Yea, how is public transportation in that area?:)</p>
<p>freelhc, i agree w/ buerre about everything, except for his major getting quality classes is no prob. And finding parking at 8AM and for night classes is no prob at all. Some of the great campus resources include, free tutoring, modern computer, labs, variety of classes.</p>
<p>As for ur major. First UCLA doesn't have business major...
Here are some links that should be a big part of ur life.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>List of UCLA Major
<a href="http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/lsmajors.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/lsmajors.htm</a></p></li>
<li><p>STats for acceptnace to each major
<a href="http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/Tr_Prof05_mjr.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/Tr_Prof05_mjr.htm</a></p></li>
<li><p>articulation for each major from ur cc
assist.org</p></li>
<li><p>ratemyprofessors.com
proffesor rankings...
The closest major to business is econ. i guess. as u can c from links very compettive 3.75 average gpa, but u also got to have some ec, good personal statement, work expirience maybe. but one thing at a time.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>At SMC, i've taken econ classes, which are pretty easy. Calc classes are very hard, hope u're good at math.</p>
<p>joining tap will help b/c its an impacted major... u know.. U must take all the prereqs from assist.org to be compettive... But if u join tap at smc, u'll have to take some "specia" classes which might lower ur gpa. So take that into consideration. I know people who had 4.0 and still rejected b/c major is so competitve... don't mean to scare ya.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information, highschoolda
UCLA has Business Econs and Econs, I thought Business Economics is just like Business?
So econ classes are easy and Calc classes are very hard. OK, i'm not bad at Math. But i'm not sure how hard college-level math is...
Did u take those "specia" classes? Can u give me some examples of those classes in SMC?
You don't mean to but you indeed scared me, highschoolda. I hate to know that people who had 4.0 still got rejected at UCLA (I thought UC Berkeley is the only school "committed this crime") May be I should reconsider my major(Sigh). You know, I don't want to complete 2 years in CC and then...go home(In case UCLA rejected me:()</p>
<p>well, TAP requires special "honor classes", some of them are at the level of regular classes and some are little harder. u shouldn't have too much trouble in them i know a couple that are easy, Pol Scie 1 and Psych 1 are not dificult honor classes.</p>
<p>Yeah, u have to do what intrests u or what will give u a good career. Consider all the majors, i gave u stats of which majors are hard to get into and which are less dificult. </p>
<p>good luck.</p>
<p>Freelhc,
I like to move ;) and have actually taken classes at Foothill, San Jose, Glendale, Pierce, and SMC, so for questions about any of those campuses I have some knowledge. Although, less about the ones in N. Cali because I was only there for one quarter and one semester years ago.</p>
<p>Ranking best to worst -</p>
<h1>1 SMC (excellent public transportation. BBBs... Highschoolda knows :))</h1>
<p>San Jose
Foothill
Glendale (Great school, but not as good as the others)</p>
<h1>5 Pierce (horrible, the library alone makes it nearly useless as a college)</h1>
<p>I can provide my experience with some of the schools mentioned. If you are downright looking for the best school to prepare you for Cal, especially for business, I would recommend De Anza or Foothill mainly because you can try to obtain a finance job somewhere closeby like EY, PwC, etc.</p>
<p>Santa Barbara in my opinion is also an excellent school. Smaller than De Anza so it is easier to get into the classes you want and its set in a very serene/beatiful location.</p>
<p>There is also a thing called Regional Bias, which you might want to consider, where some of the UC's accept more students from local CC's. For an example, LA is a little more forgiving with SMC students. De Anza....well it does send a lot to berkeley but I think Diablo Valley is Cal's favorite.</p>
<p>i know that at fullerton, if you get honors certified and a certain GPA, they have a transfer agreement with UCLA</p>
<p>Alright, thanks to all you guys
Hmm...I know De Anza is a very good school. But as for business/econs, I doubt if I can stand any chance for Cal: School of Haas (admit rate 8%). It's just sooo competitive to get in. For that Regional Bias mschop mentioned, Santa Barbara will have the most transfers to UCSB, as Fullerton to USC Fullerton, right? So it seems SMC would be the best choice for me, considering my goal is UCLA.
Still, anybody have any advice for my housing problem? For Fullerton, i can stay with my aunt. For Santa Barbara, I know they have a private off-campus dorm called Tropicana Gardens. How about SMC or Foothill?</p>
<p>what's USC fullerton? i would say go with Fullerton since its close to your aunt...</p>
<p>Saddleback.</p>
<p>Sorry, just mistyped, hobofromdowntown
I mean CSU Fullerton. I know fullerton have transfer agreement with ucla, but Fullerton does not have many transfers to ucla, does it? SMC=> a better chance for ucla VS Fullerton=> save money.
I think i'll choose smc....hopefully it's a right decision. Otherwise, i'll be a disaster.</p>
<p>meh, i'd just go to the school thats the most convenient and try to get the highest GPA possible. is UCLA your only choice? you can't go to USC? Average transfer GPA to UCLA biz econ is about 3.7 or so...</p>
<p>u gota talk to ur dad, get into ucla w/ the most impacted major or go back to ur country is one of the worst scenarios i've ever heard.</p>