Hi, I’m going to attend Penn State for the Fall 2015 semester as an econ major. I am now set on trying to transfer into actuarial science or at the very least statistics. But I am a california resident for 18 years and my parents will still live here when I go to penn state next month. Penn state is a great school for actuarial science but UCLA is better… and cheaper. What are my chances of transferring to UCLA as a junior from Penn State? Is it better to go to CCC and transfer to UCLA? How much better is it?
By far better to go to a CCC if you have your heart set on transferring to UCLA. There are pros and cons of either choice, I suppose.
Which CCC would you go to? Where would you live? Would you be okay with giving up the 4-year experience for two years before you transfer?
You shouldn’t attend Penn State if you can’t afford it for 4 years. It doesn’t seem wise to enter with the intent to transfer. But about transferring, you have 1-1/2 years of school to get through and examine your gpa for transfer chances. Also at that time you may be less inclined to leave. Also I don’t know how parallel the two programs are and if all the requirements will streamline into graduating in 4 years.
@BrownParent well both Penn State and UCLA have top 10 programs in actuarial science #6 and #4 respectively. I don’t mind graduating at Penn State. I’m perfectly content with that happening. But even if I do go to a CCC, there is always the risk of not getting into UCLA when transferring. At least at Penn State I am guaranteed some sort of degree.
@goldencub I would be going to Diablo Valley College in the bay area. I would live with my parents. I would not be okay with giving up the experience. That is mainly why I’m so hesitant about going to a CCC
Can you not take a gap year and reapply to UCLA? There is no need to pay OOS tuition at PSU if you don’t want to be there.
DVC is larger than most community colleges, and plenty of people live on campus, so it’s much more, er, intimate? If you have your heart set on UCLA, it is much better to go to a CCC (plus you’ll be saving a ton of money). If money isn’t a huge concern, then it may just be wiser to go to Penn State. Pretty much comes down to how you feel.
If you plan to live in CA after you graduate, it may be better to go try for UCLA. You’ll build connections and whatnot in the area, and the name is reputable here, regardless of Penn State being closely ranked (both are good schools).
https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_tr/Tr_Prof14_mjr.htm
You can find all of the stats regarding transfer rates to UCLA in any major you’re interested in. Just try to keep a high GPA, complete general ed and all prerequisites, and you’ll be good to go.
You WILL be giving up 2 years of living on your own, and that is part of the 4-year experience. It will not be the same, but DVC is such a large school that this may not be a real issue. It’s definitely less of a commuter school than other CC’s.
I think they are making it much easier to transfer from CC to UC going forward.
@goldencub do people generally settle down in the area of hte school they graduated from? I’d love to live in LA more than anywhere else but I have no problem graduating from Penn State.
My daughter has a friend graduated from Penn State, went there after high school, he is back in LA attending UCLA for graduate school. So I think you have no problem if you graduate from Penn State.
@DrGoogle did he go to grad school straight after undergrad or did he take a year or two off before? If he did take a year off, did he live in LA during those gap years? What exactly did he do in those gap years? Internship, part time job, etc?
His family is from this area, near LA but I think he went straight to grad school. But I have to look at his linkedin profile to be sure. Plus he has a girl friend so I doubt that he moved back home. I think he went straight to graduate school. He studied something like geology. But let me poke around his linkedin and I’ll let you know.
Edit to add that I poked around his linkedin profile and he went straight to graduate school after a brief summer off. He has since graduated from UCLA and is working.
It’s not a huge difference, it’s just that people often build a network during undergrad, and you would have that benefit if you attended UCLA (as classmates would likely stay in the area as well). Many in-state people do stay where they graduated from, from what I’ve heard at least. You can definitely go to Penn State and move back to CA. Not a problem at all, it was just a thought.