<p>Any transfer students last year want to share your first semester experience at the UC school you're attending. I know most people at UCs are either having finals week or done with finals by now.
I have one more final this Thursday. I see people at Cal are leaving the dorms/apartments with their luggages, and this really makes me want to go home. Apparently, I'll be the last one in my room to leave. Cal isn't as bad as I thought of it before. It's a lot of work and very challenging, but it's doable. I am not in danger of failing any class I took, and I'm pretty sure that I did well in some of my classes. Again, I'm a transfer student from community college, but that's not an excuse to suck. For those of you who are going to transfer to a UCs, I hope you all will get in the schools you want. Getting accepted is just the beginning; there's a long bumpy road ahead at UCs.</p>
<p>how is Cal?! haha im so interested~!! wat's ur major?!</p>
<p>so can you talk about some of the bumpy roads</p>
<p>I can't speak for all the UC transfer students, but I'll give some of my opinions about my first semester at Cal as a transfer student from community college.
I live in Unit 1, and I get along with most of the people on my floor. My floor mates and I have dinner/lunch together occasionally. Dorm life isn't as bad as many others say, at least it is a fun experience for me personally.
My classes are doable for me, and I do have time to rest/relax. The myth that you have to work hard to get a "C" at Berkeley doesn't apply to me. I work hard, and I'm gonna get "Bs" and hopefully "A". I spend much more time studying than I did in community college. I did extra problems for my two math courses and tried to finish whatever readings that were assigned in my History class.
I was lucky to have very helpful and understanding GSIs. They are brilliant, and they did help me a lot. Before coming to Cal, I happened to see lots of bad reviews about the GSIs. However, my experience with the GSIs have been positive.
I came to my math professors' office hours. This is something I never did at community college. I did read the textbooks, and I barely did this at community college. The classes I had are much more demanding and challenging than those at community college. The good thing is that my professors grade on a curve. However, the professors' grading is harder than those at CC.
My recipe to survive/succeed the first semester at Cal:
1) Go to lectures even if your classes are webcasted. This is a good habit to avoid being lazy.
2) Go to your professors' office hours if you don't get something in lectures or struggle with the homework.
3) Go to your GSIs when you need help with homework.
4) Go to the writing center if you are not a good writer and you're taking a class which requires writing essays. I went to the writing center twice this semester when I needed help with my two essays. Guess what? I got 2 A- on both papers.
5) Study, study, and study.
6) Go to a movie/party, watch a movie, or do something fun every weekend.
7) Be self-confident. Tell yourself that you're as good as the students who came to Cal their freshmen year. You can even do better.
That's all I have to say for today.</p>
<p>@Torrance: I'm a math major.</p>
<p>thanks for sharing your experience, i know its probably a whole new and different world at a UC than CC</p>
<p>thanks for the skinny...</p>
<p>thx for your school experience... i am not ready for Cal yet though haha</p>
<p>my first quarter as a 3rd year transfer at UCLA was amazing. Im living in a residential plaza, and it was just as social as any residence hall that I saw during my visits to friends who went to universities right away. my floor had "open door" contests, floor dinner nights, game nights, movie nights, etc the list goes on and on. almost everyone on the floor was very social and a group of 10 of us on average would go to eat every night. a lot of us are meeting up over break, there is talk of maybe a snowboarding day trip and dinners etc. </p>
<p>if you feel like you missed out on the whole "college" experience, if you can help it, live ON CAMPUS! no one thinks twice that you're a third year or a transfer! almost all the people i knew who transfered and lived off campus all said the same thing, that they couldn't seem to make new friends. in class there is no time to talk really, and after class most people don't really stick around. they are usually rushing to the library, to eat, to SLEEP (probably the most common), and they almost always have ear buds in and their ipods on. if you want the traditional social aspect of college, live on campus if you can!
there really is a gigantic mix of people, as to be expected, so if you feel like you don't fit in, trust me, there is a place for you at a university. there were probably 40 different nationalities represented on my floor alone! </p>
<p>the classes were definitely different. i'm a history major and in community college my classes were pretty similar in that they consisted of a few term papers, 6 or 8 multiple choice quizzes, and a midterm and a final, both multiple choice and short response with one long essay response. very "highschool". UCLA on the other hand...</p>
<p>one class required two 5 page papers, one 8 page paper, 1 research based 10 page paper, and two 3 page papers (all of my required page counts include double spacing, for anyone who might wonder?). this was all over a 10 week period, and while at the end it was a little much, it was very doable. the same class also had 6 books to read, mostly historical novels on the period. </p>
<p>another was lecture based, one mid term, one final, all essay, no multiple choice. very "college" stereotype.</p>
<p>my language class was nothing new really, it really depends on the language you take. if its any consolation, im white, took vietnamese, and got an A. its all what you put into it. </p>
<p>experiences may vary. i.e. most of the engineering majors on my floor were usually very preoccupied, but everyone had time to do their own thing. my roommate is chem engineering and he still found time to go to clubs and play video games, etc.</p>
<p>well i have one more semester of community college which would make it 3 years that it took me to transfer, even though i'm only taking 1 class and a PE class, hope it doesn't make a difference, i'll probably be hanging with people who graduated high school in 06 and maybe some in 05. I never understood the point of writing so many papers that takes so much time and research and then i guess one person just grades it.</p>
<p>thanks a lot stranger and passionate for the insight, particularly on the social and academic aspects.</p>
<p>@strongergodzilla, I'm also a transfer to UCLA and i must say that i really envy your social life. I wanted the dorms, but they gave me the apartments. i know quite a few other transfers who got the dorms even though they wanted the apartments. so ucla gives u what u DONT want!</p>
<p>"almost all the people i knew who transfered and lived off campus all said the same thing, that they couldn't seem to make new friends."
pretty much sums up me and my roommates. I at least tried a few different clubs and tried to make friends in my classes. I dont think my roommates joined ANY clubs, and 1 of them is actually a social guy</p>
<p>even though i did very well academically, i must say that there certainly was a difference in academic ability between the sophomores and junior transfers in my classes. the sophomores were aiming for A's while the transfers just wanted to pass.</p>
<p>I hated most of the time i spend at UCLA. It just was not for me. UCLA does not cater at all to adult students. They have no night classes. I support myself, i had to work and it was really hard to enjoy any of it. I lived far form campus too.... .i guess it would be great if you dont have tons of bills and can just enjoy the academic and social aspect of it.</p>
<p>wat?! they dont have night classes? that's lame...</p>
<p>they have some night labs, but not like lectures and so on. And not in math. Most math classes were like at 8am or 11am</p>
<p>I never saw a lecture at 7pm or even 6pm</p>
<p>Do most students work? I would like to transfer to Berkeley and am expecting to work part-time during my time there. Is this realistic?</p>
<p>yah sure... my friend @ berkeley is working at the book store!part time.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread, OP. I'm a Cal spring transfer student waiting to move in next week. Sounds like I'll have to step it up a notch...</p>
<p>For any of you who are older students (over 25) and considering transferring to Berkeley here is my experience:</p>
<p>I am not going to lie to you. It was very difficult my first semester, but you have to remember I am not only an older student but I worked full time and I am a parent. I did well in most of my classes but I did poorly in one of them, whick is difficult because you start your UC GPA w/ a 0.00 and whatever you get for your first semester there starts to shape your UC GPA since CCC GPA does not transfer. It was very difficult switching gears and I would have to say that the biggest change that I am still having a hard time adjusting to is having GSI's & sometimes just graders grade all of your work instead of the professors. One of my classes, more than half the class failed and was in the professor's office complaining about the grading policy of the individuals grading the papers. I can see why Passionate's experience as a math major went well because math is universal..I am in the social science (L&S dept) so all of our work is very subjective. </p>
<p>Although it was a rough the first semester, I have to say that I absolutely love Cal and do not regret my decision to go there. They have plenty of classes including evening classes, really fun decal classes (student taught classes), fantastic transfer programs (I practically live in the transfer center), fun clubs and groups, a great student-parent program and always plenty of things to do around campus and the bay area. I am never bored. They have a fantastic family student housing program which is where I live. Get on the waiting list now even if you haven't gotten accepted yet. You can sign up up to 2 years in advance.</p>
<p>my suggestions:
1.) really check out the professors before taking a class (this makes a huge difference)
2.) try to take one fun or decal class a semester.
3.) do all of the readings in your readers (trust me there is allot of reading!)
4.) if you can, go to all the lectures even if it's not required
5.) try to limit the amount of groups or clubs you join the first semester. They are allot of fun so I suggest getting involved but they are also time consuming.
6.) try to get into study groups w/ your classmates. I noticed that the classes I did well in were the classes I exchanged email/phone numbers w/ other students and worked on assignments together at the coffee houses or student lounges.
7.) like passionate said...have fun on the weekend ...there is plenty going on around campus and just a BART ride away from The City.
8.) try if possible to reduce your work hrs. I burned out working full time and at the very end of the semester reduced my hrs to very part time & am now sane.
Oh and btw no one cares what year you are or if you are a transfer student so that was never an issue. </p>
<p>Good luck everyone!</p>
<p>luvtoolearn,</p>
<p>Thanks for letting us know.</p>
<p>I've got a question. I'm an "older student", and I'm not a parent but I am a husband. The one thing that we're really not sure about yet is housing. Family housing seems pretty expensive, as well as most of the places right next to campus. What's your experience with regards to housing?</p>
<p>--Joe</p>
<p>I guess it has been a while since I posted, and I just wanted to kind of provide a recap of my experiences so far. I dont know why, I just felt compelled to vent and thought that this would be a good 'forum'(get it?) to do it in. I wanted to convey some of the thoughts and feelings that i've been experiencing over the past couple months, and maybe talk about some pre-perceptions.</p>
<p>1) Community College makes getting into a UC much easier.</p>
<p>This is, for the larger part, becoming more true. However, that actually depends on what you mean by 'getting in'. Since the majority of colleges admit purely by community college GPA and not by major, yes, doing decently well enough in community college gets you a ticket in a little easier then it was in high school. However, with the increasing competitiveness of the field from CC-to-UC, indeed, that this entire forum even exists, is testament to the fact that this very quickly will no longer be the case. This isnt even mentioning the majors that are impacted, the majors of which actually admit based on not only GPA and extracurriculars and essay as well. These majors are often more difficult or easily just as difficult to get into from community college as high school. As a person applying to the same competitive program with the same level of difficulty from high school to college, the entire dual process often takes a toll on the person involved, even if it is a second chance. My personal experience was with Haas, and although I had-in my belief, at least much better statistics then I had coming out of high school, I was rejected.</p>
<p>On a side note, for all the people who message me about Haas; there's really only one thing that has seemed to matter or make a really serious difference, and that's GPA. so if you're just starting out and in doubt, get a 4.0. that will get you the best chance possible.</p>
<p>2) Community College people are not as intelligent as people from the UC.</p>
<p>This has, for the larger part, been a very, very, serious bungling of intelligence. Too bad there's nobody to point fingers at. This is something I was told in CC consistently, and as I was being looked down from my high school peers for being at a CC, (coming from a competitive HS), I realized that the people around me who were being berated were really a lot more intelligent then they had been given credit for. Indeed, the one thing that I think is missing from the UC that really needs some attention is the absence of 'brilliant' people. I have met a great deal of smart people at UC, but it seems as though the brilliance of the people that I met at CC came from the harsh realities of real world experience, and determination to change their life and make it better. I think that the problem that we have is the whole 'they accept everyone so they cant be good'. Arguably, there isnt as great a focus on the traditional career aspirations that come with being at a 4-year school, but that doesn't necessarily meet the brightline of people not being 'as intelligent'. I think that some of the people I met in CC, like for example, the people that came to America after surviving total genocide in Sudan and Serbia, showed a great deal more heart and strength then any of the people who have the privilege of being at a UC. I think that these people, although they do not meet the 'intelligence' and 'prestige' standards, take brilliance to a whole new level altogether.</p>
<p>I guess I must just be spoiled. It's so weird to say that, but when you're around people really fighting for a better future using whatever resources they have, instead of being around people simply taking advantage of the resources that are present whether by a stroke of luck or placement, you tend to get a little cynical.</p>
<p>3) Community College to UC lacks the freshman experience, and is therefore a bad transition.--And/or it's so hard to transfer because you dont know anyone.</p>
<p>This I something I heard so ridiculously often from people that I was talking to about my experiences in community college that I just accepted it to be true. Looking back, I dont necessarily believe that the 'freshman experience' was really worth anything at all. The hard realities of community college forced me to grow at such an exponential rate beyond what I expected, like for instance-how the counselors are ALWAYS wrong and will never help you, how you have to seek out career advice on your own, how you need to be responsible entirely for your own education, since there is no external impetus to actually 'leave', or 'graduate' community college at a certain time, and notwithstanding the people that you meet, the people who have had exposure to things that you would never normally find at a traditional 4-year college who really begin to shape your life(if you choose to seek them out)...all of these things combined I think provided a much more enriching ''freshman'' experience then anything else I have encountered here at my UC. People here, for the large part, are sheltered. I don't mean that to be derogatory, just its the reality that most people at UC have their educations paid off for by thier parents. Student loans are significant, but the majority of the people you meet arent paying rent or electric bills on their own, or have jobs to solely support their eduction.</p>
<p>On another sidenote, the people that do, even at UC, are the people that need to be sought out. These are the gems in the rough. (more often, however, these are also community college students.)</p>
<p>But, I digress. The last thing I really wanted to address is the whole 'It's hard to transfer from community college' thing. Well, that one was right on the money. Reintroducing yourself entirely into a community where you have very little connections is a really difficult process. Sure, if you have friends there, it would be easier, but after 2 years those friendships often break down-and your friends have developed on a different level then you have. you come with different experiences, and different bondings-unless you have spent a significant amount of time with them, which I believe is a waste of the community college experience. It's a serious trip outside your comfort zone, and it is not easy if you dont have an established social and/or professional community. When I first asked the question in my orientation "Do people look at transfer students differently?" the whole auditorium kind of snickered. I guess the joke was on them. There is a de facto difference in the way that people from community college have developed and access opportunities, simply by thier exposure to a radically different environment and/or process. This, across the people I have talked to, has stayed consistent.</p>
<p>This is not to discourage, but it is to make a point. Those who come from community college into some of the more difficult UC programs tend to be far more successful and developed then people at their same stage of development when they transfer. This is natural. But that very transition, that very process is transforming, and if you are, like I was, experiencing transfer at a very different level of your comfort zone, it's going to be difficult.</p>
<p>For the most part, I think, transferring is not for the faint of heart. The majority of the people on this forum that I spoke to, that helped me, are 'determined' individuals, who seek out opportunities and become naturally different then most of their peers. I may be wrong on this, but if you are reading this, then you are a different kind of person then the masses at the UC, and you should remember that the time you spent at CC is not just time in the grind that you waste away, but time that you can really use to make a sincere and significant difference to your personality and ambitions and approach to education-setting yourself apart from the rest of the crowd.</p>
<p>And after you have transferred, be proud. One thing I can tell you for sure is that for the large part, the difference between you and high school students is that you did it absolutely 100% all on your own. Either out of necessity or choice, the accomplishment is 100% yours.</p>
<p>...I also reserve the right to delete this post in case I later feel it was some type of insane discourse driven from the bag of M&M's I just ate.</p>