<p>And please don’t say that it’s better to transfer to a Cal state to a University because it actually isn’t. Please check out [Transfer</a> admission profile | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/irvine/transfer-profile/index.html]Transfer”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/irvine/transfer-profile/index.html). It states that 94% of transfer students are from a CC, therefore making it a safer viable option. Sorry that I keep bringing UCI, but i consider it heavily because of it’s medical studies. [Transfer</a> Admission Guarantee](<a href=“Apply | Office of Undergraduate Admissions | UCI”>Apply | Office of Undergraduate Admissions | UCI). It clearly states 3.4 and grades higher than a C. This TAG program needs to be exploited Lol. Many people don’t know about this because their counselors are greedy. They want them to attend higher UC’s straight from highschool for a more “prestigous” school that sends a lot of studets to these great universities.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Good students presumably encountered worse students in the library and other places around their high schools.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is not necessarily true that attending a more selective college means a better paying career.</p>
<p>Also, if you are a pre-med, you may want to reconsider starting at a CC, because some medical schools frown on taking pre-med courses at CCs.</p>
<p>UCB - that’s exatly my point But, now they are hogging a seat in a poly sci class you need too.</p>
<p>UCB is 100% correct about pay and med school. </p>
<p>One interesting stat - at most UCs, UCI included, they are just as selective for transfers as they are for freshmen. UCI has about 42% acceptance rate in both. UCB is about 20%. There are only so many seats…</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind the TAG rules can and do change. Some schools adjust the GPA and others have major specific requirements that can crop up the semester before you apply. As someone noted above, UCSD is pulling out entirely. </p>
<p>You are correct that transfering from a CSU to UCI would be difficult. I do think you under-estimate the eduation offered at many CSUs and over-estimate the magical powers of UCI. There are many paths to med school.</p>
<p>I don’t know if SDSU our Fullerton or Long Beach could meet your educational objectives. Perhaps they could. </p>
<p>TAG may be the right choice for you. I sincerely hope your plan works. Try not to get discouraged if it takes some extra time and have a fallback just in case.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind you are saving a very large pile of cash.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In high school, the less motivated students were sitting next to you in history, civics, health, and other courses.</p>
<p>Med school’s don’t frown on CC to UCs, what are you talking about? Cite your sourses please and thank you very much</p>
<p>of course they do. Academics are prestige hounds; its in their DNA.</p>
<p>As you rightfully point out, earning good grades in a judo is “easy.” So do you really believe that you (and I) are the only ones that know this? Do you really believe that grad schools don’t recognize that an A in Organic Chem earned at Podunk City College is not the same as an A from UCI? (Are you that naive?)</p>
<p>btw: to mitigate that asterisks of “easy” courses on your transcript, take upper division science classes at the four-year Uni and earn A’s.</p>
<p>I think the reason people say CC is easier than HS is because you are allowed take soft sciences like Marine Science or Geology instead of Physics or Chemistry + The highest math required is usually statistics instead of pre-calc or calc ab/bc (to be competitive) But if you want to get into a good major like Econ at UCLA or Engineering or something else then that distinction fades away.</p>
<p>Right now I am on track to get a 3.81 GPA by the end of the Winter Intersession. I’ve taken financial accounting, calculus 1, geology, microeconomics, etc. To get my As I have had to put work in. Every week we would have a Calc quiz and I would review all the homework questions, Likewise I had to memorize all the rock and mineral types for my geology test. If I had put this same kind of effort into HS I would easily have a 3.8+ UW GPA / a 4.4+ W GPA. As it stands I will have a good chance of getting into the schools I am applying but then again I would have too out of HS if I put this same effort in.</p>
<p>plenty of high schools offer Marine Science…plus, ‘easier than HS’ really depends on the HS and curriculum.</p>
<p>I have no doubt, for example, that our local judo is much easier than taking the typical AP courses in our HS. (Many seniors take 5.) OTOH, the regular College Prep curriculum doesn’t require much homework. (My son’s AP Euro teacher admitted to that when his son started at the same HS, but on the CP track.)</p>
<p>Ya but if you want to be competitive you can’t stop with marine science or biology at the HS level, you should go onto chem or physics. Likewise for math, you should go all the way to calc ap or even bc. If you remove the hard math or science classes I don’t think HS is all that hard either.</p>
<p>Overall, I’m speaking to the capable students who are trying so hard to get into top-notch UC b/c nowadays, to be competitive, a 4.0 GPA is required w/ a rigorous classload of 4+ AP classes and leadership positions/extracurriculars/sports. Not all those competitive students will make it into Berkeley, UCI, UCSB, etc. and so settle for lower tiers like Cal states, UCR,UCM, and so forth. You’ll be given a higher chance of getting into UCI, UCSB etc if you attend CC b/c as i linked above, 94% of transfer students are from a CC, and the best way I recommend from that is from the TAG program. It sucks that not many people are aware of it because counselors do not speak of this b/c they want you to head straight to a university(as they should) but don’t inform them of this program</p>
<p>I been thinking about it and the issue I’m having with this post is the notion of not having to “try so hard.” Your posts just come across as a kid wanting to take a short cut and claiming that going the CC route is just that. It’s not. It’s a viable path academically and financially but it still requires one to actually “try.” Believe it or not, a lot of kids really want to try and take pride in their work. Those kids tend not to have the hardest time getting into a UC. Even those we know that have to start at a CC for financial reasons are still trying hard largely due to self-respect. You feel good when you are doing well. </p>
<p>It’s not so hard to get into the UC’s. UCB, UCLA have acceptance rates under 30 percent. UCSD is about 35 percent but all the others are close to 50 percent or higher. UCI is 47 percent. That’s pretty darn good odds for an in-state kid whose done reasonably well in high school. They even recalculate GPA’s so that a kid with only 4 honors/AP classes can have the same GPA as a kid whose taken 12. </p>
<p>As for UCI, in the most recent national public university rankings, it’s 7th within the UC system. It’s Cal, UCLA, UCSD/UCD tied, UCSB, UCI, UCSC, UCR, UCM. UCI is a great school and ranked high nationally. We know a dozen kids there now that are thriving there. It’s just not quite as competitive and high ranking as you give it credit for within the UC system.</p>
<p>Correction, 6th in the system. Again, great school but def a mid-tier UC.</p>
<p>Some more info to help. The average GPA of incoming freshman at UCI is a 3.8. This means half the kids coming in don’t have a 4.0. The 75th percentile for SAT’s is in the 600’s for all categories. </p>
<p>All that equates to good students… not necessarily kids who are killing themselves in high school. </p>
<p>Reiterate… TAG program is great for lots of reasons! Kids who go straight in have their reasons too.</p>
<p>As a CC instructor, I just want to point out that not all California CC’s are equal in difficulty or quality. Don’t know what CC you’re talking about but at the CC I teach at a 4.0 is not remarkably easy. I know many, many students who have struggled in the rigorous math and science intro classes at the JC and have found UC or CSU classes to actually be easier. The TAG program is great but its not a slam dunk for most students. If it is a slam dunk for a student my experience suggests they had the goods to get directly into a UC but not the cash.</p>
<p>Lab317, I understand that not all CC’s are equal in difficulty or quality. However, if you look at the requirements for TAG(also noted that it is subject to change) [Transfer</a> Admission Guarantee](<a href=“Apply | Office of Undergraduate Admissions | UCI”>Apply | Office of Undergraduate Admissions | UCI), and browse within, the majors and the classes necessary are very low. I am not saying you will strive in UCI by heading CC first, but i’m saying TAG is very viable for a good student that got rejected to a school. In addition, I’m not stating how good UCI is, I’m just using it as an example for the schools.</p>
<p>I am going to add my two cents here and agree with ucb on this topic. TAG is a very acceptable program and can be done on time for academically prepared students. My D had several friends that opted for the TAG program after not getting into their chosen UC or finding out they needed loans for four years of UC with housing. One transferred to Cal after one year at CC and others went to UCLA, UCSD, and UCSB, after two years at CC. Our local CC is in south Orange county, it is competitive and offers priority registration to kids in the honors program. It has a very clear plan to follow for TAG and since UCI is the closest school it sends a large number of kids there. Like ucb said, these were very qualified kids that did not need remediation and met UC requirements while in HS. They all graduated from the UC they went to in two years.</p>
<p>There will always be kids with less motivation that can’t seem to get the job done but that is not the fault of the CCs.</p>
<p>I think there are two different discussions going on here. I read the first posts to be amazed that students currently able to go to UCs directly didn’t instead more often go to CC. My response as a Mom is that the kids want what they consider the ‘college experience’ to be, and yeah, that means classmates who are intellectually stimulating, as well as prestige as they personally rank it, but to be honest, it more absolutely means NOT living at home, thank you very much…</p>
<p>The CC in my town is excellent – always ranks high nationally – and I know of many students who were there much longer than 2 years because they couldn’t get the classes they needed. The impacted classes do a lottery, and all you can do is try over and over, every semester. You may never get the classes you need. It’s terrible. Unless you get lucky with that lottery. We have a neighbor whose son did, and after two years at the CC he went to Cal.</p>
<p>My sons would never have taken the CC route, though. Both wanted to go away to school, play their respective sports on an NCAA team, and have the dorm experience. To each his own.</p>