<p>I had a very hard time in freshman year at my university and am currently on a leave of absence. Very recently, I’ve decided that I do not want to go back to my school after this gap year and am hoping to transfer to a different school, most likely a UC. </p>
<p>I’m trying to gather information about the transfer process and am stuck at two fundamental questions:
- Is it too late in this time (mid-October) to start applying to UCs?
- I’m considering going to a community college for my sophomore year starting August 2015, and then applying to a UC as a junior because UCs seem to lean towards accepting CC students (while being exceptionally selective on out-of-states universities). Is this a good idea or overkill? </p>
<p>Now, this is on a more personal level.
I personally would love to go to a liberal arts school such as Amherst or Smith (very top-notch schools)- but they seem to have very low acceptance rates, especially for transfer students and I’m going for more safe than sorry at the moment.
I’m applying to a UC because I want to be closer to my family than before and save money while getting a great education. I spent four years in a boarding school (plus one year in univ) and have used a lot of my parents’ resources for my education. Not only do I feel bad about not doing as well as I should be doing in life, I feel as though I should stop relying on my parents. </p>
<p>Could someone please give me advice as to what my next step should be?</p>
<p>Are you a California resident? Where did you attend your first year?</p>
<p>If you’re starting your sophomore year in August 2015, then you would be applying to UCs in November of 2015. You need to have a minimum of 30 UC transferable units at the end of Summer 2015, with plans to complete 30 more by Spring 2016. Will your freshman units be transferable? These minimum 60 units must be a combination of prerequisites for your major (see assist.org) and GEs toward the IGETC. <a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/index.html”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/index.html</a></p>
<p>I’d highly recommend taking some counseling courses at the local CC before 8/2015, to help you seek some direction.</p>
<p>My first year was at Brandeis University, and yes, I’m a California resident. Thank you for the quick response. I’m still in research mode- but do you think it’s too late to start the application process now?</p>
<p>Applying next month to UCs means you are applying to attend in Fall 2015, which you are not ready for. You might consider starting CC classes in the Spring 2015 in case your units at Brandeis are not articulated. You should research which UCs offer the major you"re interested in, and then contact those UC’s transfer admissions counselors and also use the CC’s transfer center.</p>
<p>UC wants junior transfers, that means you’re supposed to apply during your sophomore year. You should have 60 credits by the time you transfer, otherwise your chances are very very low. Pretty sure applications are due in November.</p>
<p>CCC: Yes, you get priority. But the academics tend to be worse than they are at a 4 year school, so you may have to deal with a couple bad teachers if you go that route. The good news is that it’s much cheaper, and the articulations are easy to find so there’s less guessing for transfers.</p>
<p>For acceptance rates, public schools tend to accept more transfers, especially from in-state CCs. I would suggest applying for multiple schools, maybe put in apps for your reaches as well (unless it’s a 0.1% chance or something). And apply to a couple different UCs, so you’ll have options and safeties. :)</p>
<p>As for what to do now, first of all find your old course syllabuses and save them. You’ll probably need them to get coursework evaluated at UC, and possibly at CC as well (for IGETC or pre-reqs). Then open up assist.org and see where you stand for your major for the UCs you’re interested in. Do they want IGETC/GE requirements? Are there major requirements? Are you on track? You’ll have to guess at articulations, but that’s usually not hard to figure out.</p>
<p>You might also want to look into TAG (transfer admission guarantee). Each school has different requirements, some will let you TAG even if you only do one year at a CCC. Those are due September-ish (I think?) of your sophomore year, if you’re interested in it.</p>
<p>^ Excellent advice. I’m just here to confirm that the UC application is due at the end of November and the TAG is due in September. I’ll also second the CC route, for the priority and also to get up to 60 units.</p>
<p>I’d also like to add for the OP to look into the TAP (Transfer Alliance Programs) that CCCs offer. All have different requirements, but it will help with the bad teacher problems and give OP priority into UCLA. </p>
<p>Here are some links as well if you want to glance through.</p>
<p><a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/index.html”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/index.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“Fall 2015 UCLA transfer students - UC Transfers - College Confidential Forums”>Fall 2015 UCLA transfer students - UC Transfers - College Confidential Forums;
<p><a href=“2015 Application Questions, Comments, and Support - UC Transfers - College Confidential Forums”>2015 Application Questions, Comments, and Support - UC Transfers - College Confidential Forums;
<p>Thanks for all the help, everyone! I really appreciate the great advice. </p>