<p>Hey everyone! Ok…here goes…when I was 17, I decided I wanted to be a funeral director. There’s two schools that offer this in California, both community colleges. I went to Cypress College to pursue mortuary science, even though I had the grades and met all requirements for Cal State Long Beach (closest CSU school to me), aside from taking the SAT or ACT. I knew I was going to Cypress, so I didn’t bother taking them. Lazy me. Anyway, nine months away from graduating with my mortuary science AA, I dropped out. I hated the lab portion, as you could imagine. I also hated the classes near the end. So, now I sit with four W’s on my transcript and a 2.33 GPA. GREAT. I graduated high school with a 3.8, and I had a 3.7 after my first year of college, when I was still in GE’s.</p>
<p>So…I’ve decided to change my major to biology, and I want to get at least a bachelor’s degree. That’s all I’ll worry about for now…although I have aspirations to one day get higher degrees. I understand this major is impacted at CSU Fullerton, which is now my main school I want to go to, I think. I’d love Long Beach as well, but I think it will be equally as hard for me to get in to, for some reason. I don’t think I could get into Pomona, plus I think the drive would drive me crazy. I’m not very interested in Dominguez Hills or LA. I’ve toyed with the idea of going to UC Irvine, but I think it’s a LONG shot. I’m honestly worried about getting into a Cal State. With my awful grades and four W’s, I don’t have much hope. I do have to finish up my biology prereqs, so that is a chance for me to raise my GPA. My question…which college do you think I have the best chance of getting into? Should I just concede defeat and apply to private colleges? I’ll add that I live around Cypress, and I am going to stay at home, so I need somewhere I can realistically commute to. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>donna-
Geez, you studied Mortality Sciences for 2 years and you’re freaked out about commuting…
Why don’t you go visit the gc at Cypress College to see what options you have to transfer credits into a program like radiology tech, medical sonography
You can complete your AA in a year or so, get a paying job and figure out if you want/can afford to get a BS.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, Batilo. I guess I should have also added…I’m already on track for an Anthropology AA, and then I’m staying at Cypress to complete the transferable biology units. That’s already made up in my mind, as I’ve already seen a counselor. I’m not interested in any of the other programs at Cypress, as I’ve scoured over them MANY times, haha. I will be at Cypress for another three years doing all of this, but as you all know, it’s good to plan for the future early. Yes, I don’t like driving. I absolutely hate traffic (who doesn’t?) and I’ve never had to commute, so I’m not sure what is a realistic drive or not. I have a friend who goes to Cal Poly Pomona and she lives in the dorms because she told me it’s too far away to drive to every day, but on google maps, it says it’s only about 30 miles away, so that’s why I was wondering. Also, I got into a bad car accident a while back, so I’m also freaked out from driving because of that, but I’ll need to get over that. Also, not to sound elitist (really!), but money isn’t a factor here, so all schools are open, as long as I can get in.</p>
<p>If you still have three years to go before transfer, just focus on the grades you are getting, right now. Bump your GPA up to as high a value as you can, and apply to Fullerton and Long Beach as your preferred schools, Irvine as your stretch school (it could happen), and Northridge as your back-up school (provided it has a decent bio program).</p>