New college students head to community colleges for a variety of reasons, including parent pressure, financial difficulties or a desire to take care of basic courses before transferring to a four-year university.
“I had a 3.5 GPA at the end of high school and I could have gone to a UC, but my choices at the time were unrealistic,” said Joshua Mayhew,19, a political science major. “So, I decided to come here and work hard to gain access in to any UC school with the best opportunities and without complications.”
Some students see community colleges as an opportunity in these economic hard times as a good option for their schooling.
“I decided to attend Moorpark College due to it being close to where I live and how cheap the courses are,” said Alex Konysky, 19.
Transferring from a community college to a four-year university can be simple and rewarding if the right steps are taken, and another year at community college and stagnant lifestyle if the wrong steps are taken. When considering transferring, take some time to actually figure out what you want to do with your life.
“If you want to transfer, do some research on the school, see if it really meets what you are looking for in terms of preparing for your career,” said Leroy Geter, the Associate Director of Transfer Services at CSUN.
The first step in picking a college is to simply check out the university’s website. Look at the academics they offer, the prices of tuition, the location, and the extracurricular activities. Find a college that fits you. But more importantly, find a university that fits your needs and expectations. Once you have found a college that interests, set up an appointment with your school counselor. They may know the transfer agreements of the school you are looking at already, and can help you decide if the school meets your needs as a student, and when to transfer.
“It’s really important for students to connect with us during the whole [transfer] process,” said Judi Gould, the Career Transfer Center Coordinator at Moorpark College. “When you go to a meeting to discuss transferring, be sure to bring all of your supporting documents, including your transcripts, which will help the counselor design the best plan for your transfer.”
The most important thing you can do in transferring is to be prepared early on. This means to have a good GPA.
“I would think that a student would want to come in with a high 2.57 or better, just to compete,” said Geter.
In addition to having a good GPA, you will also want to make sure that the classes you are taking are transferable. One of the easiest ways to do this is to go to the ASSIST website. ASSIST stands for Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer.
ASSIST is the official repository of articulation for California’s colleges and universities. Assist.org can tell you if the classes you have taken will transfer. In essence, they can tell you if you are compatible with the college you want to go to.
“ASSIST is set up between us and other schools where they [students] can determine if they are going to be accepted,” said Gould. “Seven out of nine of the UCs use this system.”
Another preliminary step is the Moorpark College’s Transfer Admission Guarantee program (T.A.G.) which will give you early notification of admission, help you with course planning, and with invitations to university events.
Participants in the transfer program must have approximately 30 units of transferable credit, sign a contract, complete the required number of transferable credits (56/60), maintain the stated GPA for that university, apply during the appropriate filing period, and fulfill the class requirements stated in the contract.
Other ways of preparing are visiting the campus of the school you are looking at and talk to representatives to really get a feel for what it would be like to attend.
“Students should not only be meeting with counselors, but should be coming in here and visiting with reps from other schools,” said Gould. All three campuses have transfer centers and have a schedule for counselor visits.
After you have decided on which school you want to attend, the real process of transferring begins. You will want to check application deadlines for your chosen school. You can do this via their website or by coming into your counselor’s office.
“We can save time and heartaches from something, for instance, like missing a deadline,” said Gould.
Then comes actually applying to the school.
“Basically the first step is to apply online and then send us your transcripts and we can complete a preliminary credit evaluation,” said Dane Rowley, Associate Director of Admissions at CLU.
Make sure that all of your information is correctly filled in and get god critiques on your essaid.
Once you have applied, you wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. One day will feel like a life-age of the earth.
“Check the mail, both snail mail and via the web,” said Geter. “The schools are now connecting more and more to you through e-mail.”
Plan ahead and be ready.
“Certainly, do everything early,” said Geter. “Early, early, early and pay particular attention to the deadlines.”
For more information, contact the transfer center on your campus.