<p>After much meditation, thought, and sacrifice, I have decided that I will attend Northampton Community College for the first two years of my college career. This is due to the fact that I was rejected from my number one university, Maryland. Also, it would help my mom (a single mom supporting 3 other kids) out tremendously since my family is solidly middle class. I was accepted as a biological sciences major in their honors program! This fact, along with the fact that Northampton is a top 50 CC nationally should look impressive on a transcript if I can keep a high enough GPA! Do you think if I work hard enough at Northampton, then maybe I can get into some top public universities? Here are the colleges that I'm considering:</p>
<p>Colleges that I'm definitely applying to: Penn State, Maryland, UDel, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Georgia, and Temple</p>
<p>Colleges that I might apply to depending on GPA: UVA, UNC-CH, Ohio State, Illinois, USC (the only private university I'm thinking of), and Florida</p>
<p>Congrats on your acceptance into the honors program! It will certainly help a lot! More rigorous course loads are always going to be beneficial in a college application. I’m in a community college right now, and planning on taking honors calculus and honors physics next year, so I’m in a similar situation.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses everyone! I am now very confident that I can get into my top 3 transfer choices (Penn State, Maryland, and Georgia) if I maintain a high enough GPA! To remain in the honors program, I must maintain at least a 3.5 GPA. Let’s say that my GPA was 3.5+ in these honors courses. Do you think that colleges will focus on my high school grades? Here are my stats:</p>
<p>-3.8 GPA in college-prep and honors courses
-1570/1060 M+CR superscored SAT (M:440;CR:620;W:510)</p>
<p>…and also, will joining Phi Beta Kappa (one of my goals) help my cause?</p>
<p>Have you looked into the other community colleges in PA not sure whether it’s feasible, geographically speaking but I know for fact that one of them has an articulation agreement with University of Pittsburgh. Which is very similar school to Maryland and penn st</p>
<p>As a sophomore transfer, more weight will be given to your high school record than first-semester CC grades. If you want to transfer in your sophomore year, you need to do some serious SAT prep over the summer.</p>
<p>Being in your honors program DEFINITELY helps! It shows that you have taken rigorous courses at your comm college. I’m in the honors program at my community college as well! :]</p>
<p>OP,
the idea of transferring into a 4 year University from a CC is a good one, EXCEPT that you are talking about applying to some OOS Public universities. OOS students usually are charged full freight at Public U’s, and Financial Aid is much harder to come by at public U’s for OOS transfer students .
You need to do a lot of research re FA before deciding to send in transfer applications to colleges you might not be able to afford to go to.
Go to the FA calculators at the universities you are considering to get an idea of what it will cost your family. And take a careful look at the U’s graduation requirements- some of the classes you are planning on taking at your CC may not transfer. </p>
<p>USC is different-in that they DO offer FA and even some merit scholarships to transfer students AND they do accept a lot [ 600+ / year] of transfer students.</p>
<p>FD- I know other students who have saved their families money by attending their local CC, and after doing well have transfered into excellent colleges. I think, if you transfer after 2 years- as a junior- you will be evaluated on your college performance- not high school- but check with an advisor at your school about this.
When you get to your school- take advantage of their advising system. They’ve done this countless times. I think doing well in honors will make a difference to the transfer school, and if not, it will be noted on your transcript for med schools to see.
I also agree that your state public schools will be better financially than OOS publics, but this looks like the best resource for information. You could even visit them before you start to plan your course.
[Transfer</a> Advising Services | Northampton Community College Serving the Lehigh Valley and beyond](<a href=“http://www.northampton.edu/Student-Resources/Academic-Advising/Transfer-Advising-Services.htm]Transfer”>http://www.northampton.edu/Student-Resources/Academic-Advising/Transfer-Advising-Services.htm)</p>
<p>@mtguy I plan on completing my Associate’s and the honors program before transferring to said colleges. Not only will it save my mom, a single mother, money, but it will prevent colleges from placing too much weight on my high school record.</p>
<p>@menloparkmom I totally agree that OOS publics are very risky financially, but Maryland is my dream school. On top of that, my off-campus housing will be paid for if I go to Maryland or UGA. I will definitely research FinAid and if my credits will transfer. And also, thanks for the info on USC! I will look further into possibly transferring there.</p>
<p>…Oh, and to correct a mistake, will joining Phi Theta Kappa, not Phi Beta Kappa, help my cause?</p>
<p>“On top of that, my off-campus housing will be paid for if I go to Maryland or UGA.”</p>
<p>Honey, The cost of housing and food will be FAR less than the cost of Tuition for OOS students at public U’s. With UG college tuition alone costing $35,000+ each year AND Med school costing an additional $45,000+ for 4 more years, you CANT AFFORD to have an expensive UG “dream” school, unless that dream school will pay for your education.
The time for a financial reality check is NOW. The papers are full of stories about unemployed or underemployed college graduates choking on thousands of dollars of college loans. Debt is NOT a joke. If med school is your ultimate dream, your need to know 2 things- only 50% of declared pre med applicants actually make it all the way to med school, and you CAN get into a med school from hundreds of different colleges without necessarily saddling yourself and/or your mom with tens of thousands of dollars of DEBT.
So be smart financially, and keep your future financial obligations [ i.e the amount of money you owe for your UG college education]- as low as possible.</p>
<p>Just a reminder that you are into Penn State now (with scholarships).</p>
<p>If you prefer Northampton and the money is feasible, try it. Go for small classes and good teachers, and learn all you can. You’ll need to pass the math placement, too, so work on that.</p>
<p>By the time you’ve finished med training, my doctor will have retired, and I’ll be looking for a replacement. If you stay in the area and are willing to take a very geriatric patient, I’ll look for you.</p>