Hello Guys!
I’m a Canadian Citizen, soon to graduate from high school this summer, and my family is going to move to California, not too far from Sacramento, and I have to enroll in a community college to start my post-secondary education and to ultimately transfer to a UC, preferably Berkeley or Davis in premed related courses. Due to our location, there aren’t many “Big Name” community colleges close by, and therefore I will have to undergo 45 minutes of daily driving to and 45 minutes of driving back from a fairly reputable college,“Las Positas”, or I can choose to attend a college near by, “San Joaquin Delta College”. Please help me decide which college I should enroll in. If I go to Las Positas, I may be getting a better education since there will be more competition and an overall better quality of professors, on the other hand if I choose to attend the college close by, I will definitely save time, but it would be quite possible that the education I receive there would not prepare me to do well in a UC college. I know that going to one college over another will not factor into my admission decision for a UC, but I also know that by attending a harder cc, I will be more prepared as a student in a UC college. Another thing that I wanted to discuss was the availability of UC transferable courses in each school, is it horrendously difficult to attain UC pre-requisites in the schools mentioned? Is getting your pre-requisites completed easier in a school where there is less competition? So basically this is the predicament I am stuck in for the time being and I really need advise from those of you who have attended the above mentioned colleges or have experiences revolving around what I discussed above.
Thanks in advance.
I would further like to state that the different tuition fees of both schools is something I don’t care about.
Furthermore, am I too late to even get into a community college, was I supposed to apply before? Even if I do get in, do you guys think I will be able to get the courses that I want, considering the fact that I may be too late?
Ok, here’s the easy way to do this. I wouldn’t worry about the quality of the education. At the end of the day it’s all about grades. In my mind, anyway, there won’t be such a massive shift in learning mode to warrant a 90 minute commute.
Go to assist.org. Pick a few UC campuses you are interested in. Then start by choosing one of the CCCs and the major/s you are interested in. See how many courses that CCC has to fulfill the major pre-reqs. The courses from the CCC are on the right. If it says not articulated it means the CCC doesn’t offer a matching course.
Do it with the other CCC. Assuming your closer CCC has everything just do it all there. You’re fine. If that CCC is missing a course or two or three and they’re at the other CCC, you can pick those ones up there or certain other ones that better fit your schedule.
You can go to both CCCs. The UC won’t care.
Here’s a list of CCC-UC pathways.
http://ucop.edu/transfer-action-team/appendix-3/3-uc-transfer-enrollment-by-ccc.pdf
Thanks for the reply^, I’m sorry that I actually didn’t specify why I need quality education, frankly, its because I want to attend medical school after undergrad, and to do that I need to do very good in both, my community college and the UC I will transfer to, it’s quite a possibility that I will not do so well in my UC if I go to an easier community college.
Look above. I just added the transfer path list. You can take all the math at the farther, and General Ed at the closer.
Well moreover… Is it too late for me to even get the courses I want? I still haven’t applied to a cc.
For fall? No, you’re fine. Just enroll now. You need to do a couple of placement tests (english and math). The first semester is always hardest getting classes. You could start in summer, which is usually easier to get in to.
BTW, I looked. Both those CCCs are pretty equally matched in the report.
thanks for your replies Lindy!
More feedback from others would be appreciated, especially from those who attended these schools.
Didn’t attend either, but I would like to second Lindy’s posts.
Also throwing assist.org into the mix, which may help you decide. For example, if one CC has way more classes for your major vs the other.
Also, TAG: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/guarantee/
And TAG at Davis: http://tag.ucdavis.edu/
I already mentioned assist, luckie. 
Oops, sorry @lindyk8 ! I have dead eyes from working nigh shift, didn’t mean to be redundant ! 8-}
I’m just joking. I do it all the time but I don’t have work as an excuse. I tend to skim.