Hi guys,
I had a talk with a counselor today. She asked me if I had applied for the Fall semester at LB. I said no, because I estimated that I won’t be getting everything done until the end of this fall. She said that if I want to register for the Spring, I must be accepted for the Fall semester first. Basically, I should have applied last October. I didn’t, because I was occupied with a bunch of work, and there were still many classes on my requirement list.
When I checked the LB website, it says that the deadline to apply is August. I am currently in my third year in college, and I intend to transfer after I am done with the Fall semester. Some people I know have already transferred in the Fall, so I am falling behind one semester. I don’t want to fall behind an entire year. Is it still possible? I have yet to apply for my degree, though I should have completed all the requirements after this semester.
What can I do? If I can’t transfer as soon as possible, I’ll get brain cancer and die of disappointment! 
Since Long Beach takes Spring transfers, you would have to apply before the deadline that is August 31st. You need to finish the Golden Four BEFORE this coming Fall though
So was my counselor wrong when she said that you have to sign up for the Fall semester to register for the Spring? And what is this Golden Four that you spoke of?
It’s not too late at this point, is it…?
It’s not too late to apply for Spring 2016. The golden four are basically pre-reqs that you need to finish the semester before you apply. It consists of an oral communication class, a critical thinking class, a math class, and a written communication class. Since you’re going to apply for Spring 2016, you would have to have finished those four requirements this Spring semester.
I already finished my English and Math requirements, and I am going to take oral communication class in the Fall. But there is no such thing as a written communication class in my college.
But you are saying that I needed to finish those classes right now? Not in the Fall? No way…
Written communications is just English Comp. I was provisionally accepted as a Spring transfer for a CSU while taking my oral Communications class in the fall. The problem was that the university wouldn’t/ couldn’t officially accept me until that grade was posted which wasn’t until late December- less than 2 weeks before school started. That meant I couldnt get my FA package, register for classes, or anything. It was not a good situation.
@2016Candles You were accepted Spring transfer for LB? When I applied for Spring 2014 a counselor from LB told me I would not get in because I did not finish the golden four during Spring 2013, which sucked for me :[ But i’m not sure if other CSUs are more lenient with those reqs.
No it wasn’t LB. I’m not saying it can happen for LB, my point was that even if it can happen, logistics may make it too difficult to really happen.
OK. I talked to another counselor and she said that registration for Spring isn’t open until August, which means I am not too late yet. But I need to take my communication study class in the summer. I have fee waiver for Fall and Spring, so would I have to pay for this class in Summer?
And also, what can guarantee that I will be accepted? I mean, I doubt I will be accepted just because I apply and have all the requirements, right? 
have you finished all of your golden fours?
Im trying to apply to long beach also but I dont have the critical thinking requirement finished.
@Jpyokoku The Golden Fours are pretty much essential! I was rejected to CSULB like 3 times as I didn’t want to take the communications class (I’m painfully shy). When I finally took the class, all of a sudden I was accepted. My stats were pretty much identical every single time I applied (4.0 GPA, some - but not all - major prep finished). So those Golden Fours are killer not to have =\
Those requirements are not called “golden four” at all CCs.
Yeah, I pretty much finished the requirements already, just one more geography class in the Fall then I am good to go. I am doing my application at the moment, and there’s a few questions I need to ask.
- Would it affect my chance if I apply early or late? The counselor I talked to said no, but I wonder...
- The application asks if I have any education credential objective. What is this for? I just put Japanese, since that's my major. Is this important, and can I change it later if needed?
- Apparently LB only offers Japanese BA, and not BS. So BA means that I will have to take more unrelated classes? I think BS requirements will concentrate more on the subject.
- I am not a citizen yet. I guess I should choose green card for my citizen status, but I don't know the exact date it was issued. It also says that my response contradicts each other. So I have to choose my original country?
No.
Education credential objective is whether you want to become a teacher.
BS is for science degrees. Did you follow Assist?
I believe your green card has the date. Or do you have a visa?
Thanks.
I put that I will apply for a credential at a later date. Is that important?
There wasn’t really any assist on the application. I just know that BS has you take courses that focus more on your major.
Let me double check with my mom when she gets back.
I’m on the page where it asks me to list all the courses that I am taking and planning to take. Fall semester doesn’t start until two more weeks. Can I just list all the Fall courses in section for current courses, and leave the other planning section blank? And when I fills out the name of the courses, it asks me what department they are from. I didn’t have enough space so I just put acronyms. Ex: Political Science belongs to GOVT department. Is that okay?
So you ARE going to eventually get a teaching credential to teach (Japanese) in public schools in CA? That is why you would say yes. Otherwise you are going to get a BA, a Bachelor of Arts degree. Japanese falls under that, not under Sciences.
Make sure if you use acronyms, that they match your transcript.
Um, no…? I don’t think I’ll get into teaching, so I should pick no instead? But then again, it also asks:
“If no degree or credential objective, please specify the graduate-level courses you wish to take for personal and professional growth.”
What am I supposed to answer here?
And then the college section asks what is my GPA and when did I earn my degree. I have been getting straight As for about 2 years now. Before that, I struggled with Calculus so my GPA took a hit. If we were to go by recent semesters, my GPA would be 4.0. But my unofficial transcript says my accumulative GPA is 3.7 something. So which one should I put? I have yet to earn my degree, but I completed all the requirements to apply for it.
I talked to a counselor and she said that I will need to wait until Final’s week to apply for a certification. A little unrelated here, but she mumbled about how it’s just a regular Japanese degree, not an Associate or anything. Wonder what that could mean. But anyway, is it okay if I put December 2015 for now?
Next, it asks me for my score on the GRE and TOEFL tests. I haven’t taken either one, nor did I ever hear about having to take them. Can I just leave them blank?
The next page asks for my work information.
“Include military service but omit summer and part-time work not relevant to your career or academic goal. Indicate your present employer, if currently employed.”
Uh… I am currently having part time job at the 99 cents store as a cashier. In no way does it relate to my career or goal. So do I skip this, too? The next section requires me to put information of three faculty members who know my qualifications. I don’t think anyone knows me that well, to be honest. So what do I do? And last part is the academic honor. I don’t have any special rewards or scholarships or anything. So… skip?
The last page asks me to:
“Write a brief statement (500 words/3500 characters or less including punctuation, but not spaces) describing your reason(s) for pursuing graduate or postbaccalaureate study. Include any additional information concerning your preparation that is pertinent to the objective specified.”
Is it asking me why I chose to pursue Japanese major? Any advice on what I should write about to make it interesting?
Sorry guys. I asked a bunch of questions so suddenly and derailed from the main thread, but I don’t know who or where else I can ask for help. 
Go back and your objective or goal is a degree, a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese. The rest should change. I didn’t help my daughter with the app so I don’t know about the rest. Your transfer advisor should be able to help you. Many CCs have workshops as well, but since you’re applying for spring, you need to seek help from the Transfer Center at your CC right away.
I did fix it to BA already. Nothing changed, really.
My college has a workshop, but it’s only opened on August 27, and just from 5-6 PM. I have to go to work at that time and day so I won’t be able to make it. I don’t have a transfer adviser, and I need to schedule an appointment with a transfer counselor if I want to ask them anything. Last time I talked to one, she directs me to the transfer center, see what day they are open. So nope, no help there, which I cold understand.
Anyone or anywhere else can help me? I could probably do it by myself, but I am not very confident. The essay is probably the most important factor for them to determine if I am accepted or not, I suppose.