Are there any good schools that don’t require your high school transcripts/test scores after one year at a CC? I know thatt if you get your associate’s a lot of colleges (or at least the one’s I’ve looked at) usually don’t require those things, only college transcripts. I honestly don’t wanna stay at a CC for two years unless I have too (that’s saying if I don’t get accepted into any school somehow.)
I’d highly recommend to do your two years at your CC before transferring. Take it from me, the guy coming from a CC, straight A’s with decent extracurriculars, rejected at almost every university he applied to. One of the main reasons was the lack of an academic record, which placed emphasis on my somewhat poor high school grades.
I was in your position once, asked the same question myself. I received no answer, so I tried it. From one college applicant to another, don’t put yourself through that misery, unless you’re into it. Stick with your CC and get an AA. Get as close as you can to a 4.0, be part of PTK, clubs, volunteer events. Graduate with honors, try to get the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship. Build relationships with your professors.
Then, and only then, will you have about a 10% chance of getting into a selective university.
(Disclaimer, all of what I said is under the assumption that you want to do a super transfer into a very selective university. If you want to transfer an in-state school, check out their articulation agreements and credit requirements.)
Not necessarily a super selective university, the only top private school’s I’ve looked at were NYU & Cornell, the main schools I am looking at are UF, FSU, UCF (these are in state) UMich Ann Arbor, UNC Chapel Hil, UT Austin and UW Seattle.
and Baylor and TCU lol
Most of the schools you mentioned will look at your high school record if you try and transfer after one year of cc. When you apply you will have only one semester of cc grades and even a 4.0 will not make up for a bad high school GPA and test scores. I believe Cornell will look at it even after you get an AA.
@agoodfloridian thanks for the advice
so you would recommend two years and get my associate’s as well? @TomSrOfBoston
Yes
Awesome, so you’re also a good Floridian, huh? 
Alright, you’re allowed to transfer into FSU and UCF after one year, just keep those grades up. Make sure you check out any major-specific requirements before signing up for your classes. Your advisors are your best resources to find this out, as they’re familiar with the requirements of their state schools.
You need 60 transferable credits and an AA to get into UF, so that one is out of the books unfortunately.
How’s your financials looking? Are you a full pay student? If not, remove NYU, UMich, and UW Seattle from that list.
UMich offers transfer scholarships, but they’re insanely competitive and don’t cover the in-state / out of state difference.
UT Austin…Maybe, a biiiiig maybe. If your grades and activities are truly superb, you might get a transfer scholarship. If your scholarship surpasses 4000 dollars, you’re automatically qualified for in state tuition. This is difficult, but not impossible.
edit: Cornell promises to meet full financial need but that university would fall into my first comment. Don’t bother unless you have two years under your belt.
UNC Chapel Hill is one of two public universities in the US that meet full need for all admitted low-income students (the other being UVa). These are quite difficult to transfer into, but if after a year you feel as if you’ve done well, go for it.
I’m not familiar with Baylor or TCU’s financial aid policies, but I don’t remember seeing them on the various “Best financial aid” lists I’ve run across throughout this nightmare of a process.
Good luck, and keep that sanity in check, you’ll thank me later.
@AGoodFloridian finances aren’t really an issue if I do two years at a CC then transfer
Our D applied to transfer to a very competitive private U after she completed 1 semester of CC with a 3.8. She did submit her HS and CC transcripts and test scores–SAT and perfect GED. She was accepted to begin college after completing 3 semesters of CC for spring term.
Her HS counselor had advised her to wait until after she had completed at least 2 years of CC, but she decided to do things her way and has no regrets.
@HImom if you don’t mind me asking what were her high school stats and test scores like?
Her HS grades were maybe around a B or lower at an elite private prep HS. Her SAT test scores were around 600 or so for each subject, I think. She did get 4000 out of 4000 on GED, great recommendations from CC teachers and 3.8 gpa at CC.
She had no idea if she’d be admitted but figured she had only her effort and one admission fee to lose by applying. When she didn’t hear back for many months she guessed she would be rejected but was pleasantly surprised to be admitted.
She did skip SR year of HS and went from JR year of HS to GED to CC. She was planning to reapply the next admissions cycle if she was rejected and broaden her transfer search.
I don’t think you can make the blanket statement that one year of CC isn’t enough. I’ve worked with a LOT of students who transferred to top universities before receiving their AA degrees with terrible high school grades/test scores and excellent college grades.
There are a few things you may want to take into consideration, of course:
– The older you are (the farther removed from high school you are), the less your high school record matters. For example, a college may not be very impressed by a 19 year old with a 2.5 HS GPA and a 4.0 college GPA, but the same may not be true if the applicant were 29, had a decade of military experience behind him, etc.
– The quality of the courses matter. If you coasted through CC and took the bare minimum courses to graduate, that’s not going to look very impressive to elite colleges. If you went through an honors program, that’s different.
– They look into extracurriculars, work experience, life story, etc. All of those things matter.
@thetransfercoach Yes! ^^^ I’d just like to add that this not only applies to CC students, but 4-year transfer students as well!
Time heals most academic wounds. Putting distance between you and your high school academics will give you space grow not only academically, but personally as well.
As @thetransfercoach states, course load / rigor is important. a lot of schools (especially top schools) review all applications on a holistic basis. Admissions officers LOVE GPA growth. While the average transfer student isn’t going to have such a big hook like military experience, etc., Long-term GPA growth > Short-term GPA growth across the board.
This is one reason why a plethora of students applying after their first year get denied to their top choices. On top of the fact that their high school stats are detrimental to their admission chance, what can a student truly do in such a short time constraint (~6-8 months) to make themselves a compelling applicant? Chances are, not much.
So, if you seriously want to make your top choices a realistic goal, stay the two years.