Transferring from a 4 year to a community college and confused on what is next

Transfer Students
1

This is a long post so I am sorry for that. If any of it is confusing, please let me know.

I am currently a sophomore at American University in Washington DC where I study Public Health. A month ago, my father and brother died in a car accident back home in California. It has been a rough month and I’ve made the decision that I rather be closer to my family in California so I have decided to transfer to my local community college in December.

I am trying to now prepare for the eventual transfer from my community college to a four year. But I am at kind of a disadvantage because of it being midyear along with the credit situation of being a sophomore.

As of the January, I will have 40 credits finished. (12 my first semester, 15 my second semester, and 13 this semester). I will also have two W’s on my transcript - Chinese I from first semester because I was going to receive an F and EMT this semester because I couldn’t handle the curriculum emotionally at this point. My GPA is most likely going to be a 3.3 although there is a chance it could be 3.4 but I am just trying to be realistic.

Here is my schedule from my four years here:

First Semester: (12 credits)
Chinese I – W
World Politics – A
Apple in the Global Economy – B+
College Writing – B
Programming for Non-Programmers – P
Microsoft Certification – P

(I took the last two to maintain full time student status after dropping Chinese, they are one credit courses. So in reality, of actual courses, you could say my credit load this semester was 9.

Second Semester: (15 credits)
Renaissance History – B
Intro to Health Promotion – B+
Intro to Public Health – B+
College Writing – B
Finite Mathematics – B

Third Semester: (13 credits w/o EMT)
Biology I – Likely B or B-
Pre-Calc – Likely A- or B+
Human Origins – Likely A
Global Health – Likely A
Emergency Medicine Technician – W

So I don’t have the GPA nor have the required courses to transfer to a UC in the Fall of 18 (not to mention the challenge of transferring from a 4 year to a UC) so I would have to wait until Fall '19. The only question is – would I go over my credit limit staying at a community college for the next year or would I just stop going for a semester until I could transfer and how would a college see that when reviewing my application?

I’ve also thought about transferring to USC or another private school in California. With a 3.3 GPA, my chances would be low. I could tell a sob story but I would prefer not to and the B’s would hurt me regardless. I am also a registered Native American with tribal background so I could always try to use that in my advantage but I am not sure how effective that would be.

Any advice on how to proceed? I don’t know how to move forward and the advising offices at my current college and the community college have not been helpful.

2

I am so sorry that this has happened to your family. Do you need to take classes the second semester or could you regroup while at home to determine best next path to CA universities? I believe they will not allow more than 60 credits for a transfer which one semester at a CC should put you at. What about CSUs? Would a transfer office at one of those be helpful?

3

With regard to transfer units: You can take over 60 units and get credit for the classes you take. How it works for UC: Limitations on Transfer Credits

Students will be granted up to 70 sem/105 qtr units of credit for lower division coursework completed at any institution or any combination of institutions. For units beyond the maximum, subject credit for appropriate coursework taken in excess of this unit limitation will be granted and may be used to satisfy requirements.

The CA public universities won’t be concerned about going over the 60, as they are all undergraduate units. So not need to worry about that piece of it.
The whole “credit limit” thing is kind of confusing the way it is often worded. The only issue would be if you had a lot UPPER division units—and in your case, you haven’t.

4

Also…if you wish to TAG to a UC from a community college, they usually want the last 30 units taken to have been taken at a community college… (even if it pushes you beyond 60 units) Check the UC website for specifics for each school’s TAG policy.

5

Also…if you wish to TAG to a UC from a community college, they usually want the last 30 units taken to have been taken at a community college… (even if it pushes you beyond 60 units) Check the UC website for specifics for each school’s TAG policy.