College transfer path. People who care for you want the best for you. It’s natural for them to think that going to community college and transferring instead of attending a 4-year university right after high school seems risky. Don’t forget the downheartedness that almost everyone else is going to a big university with an exciting future, and only a few of you are going to community colleges. You are seen as the “loser” who did not get into a college.
But let’s clarify a few things about choosing to transfer.
It’s your choice, and because you believe you will have a better chance to get into your dream colleges than right off high school.
It’s you who put yourself in this situation; community college transfer is your way to redeem yourself.
You are not alone; many are on this transfer journey because they all believe they can do better.
Lastly, people who want the best for you might not know what is best for you, and it’s time to take the responsibility for yourself.
Think this way — it seems like everyone is going to colleges, either community or 4-year colleges, but they are all going for different reasons. So, they pick different colleges and majors.
In high school, you can group people into a few categories — the popular, the geeks, the nerds, the try-hard, the drop-offs…etc. But if you ask them what major they are going to study, you will find everyone is taking a different path.
My question to you is — what is your path? Again, people who care for you want the best for you but might not know what is best for you. If you do not know what is best for you, make sure you talk to people you trust along the college transfer journey but make your own decisions after hearing a few opinions (more is not always better in this case). Are you making the best choice based on your circumstances? Is college transfer the best option for you? If the answer is “Yes,” then stop worrying about what other people think about your journey and get it over with so you can proudly say, “I transferred to [Your Dream College]!”
Ready to start? Check out the roadmap and start planning
Over one-third of students transfer colleges at some point whether from community college to another university or from one university to another.
Because of Covid-19 college transfer rate is at an all-time high because many students are not happy with how their colleges handle Covid-19.
College transfer application is very much the same as regular application.
College transfer is smart and is about taking control of one’s future for the first time.
Many immigrant students came to the age of middle school or worse, high school. Their parents spent large amounts of money and effort to reside in the best school district they can find. Those parents hope that the school will send them to the best college and have a bright future.
However, many colleges and universities require a minimum academic requirement for Freshman Application.
For example, an immigrant student who does not have 4 years of regular English in high school does not qualify for University of California Freshman admissions. This is very common among immigrant students who came at the age of middle school or high school and were put in the English-as-Second language program. Due to their language inadequacy, they are barred from many other courses that qualify them for many admission minimum requirements.
Lucky for many immigrant families and students, the path of going to community college first and transferring to their dream college is offered by many across the United State.
Check out the transfer rates of the following transfer-friendly universities
37% of students transferred at least once before earning their bachelor’s degree. 40% of the transfer students originated from a two-year community college. Transfer students are very common in the US.
Transfer students have more versatile experiences and bring diversity to a college campus, graduate at a higher rate than freshman admits, and adjusts better to an independent lifestyle.
Get a prestigious college name and save more than $5,000 a year compared to attending a four-year public school. Save even more if a student successfully transfers to a four-year top private school like USC or NYU.
However, transfer students have less time to make adjustment to school campuses and their resources. Sometimes, they have difficult join with their peer groups since they join in the junior year when most students who started as a freshman already formed cohorts and interest groups.
If you can prepare yourself for the transfer and plan ahead for the transferred college, you won’t miss too much.
The upside outweighs the downside.
Are you considering transferring from community college to your dream university?
Speak to a counselor of your college and ask for the general requirement for college transfer, no later than the second semester of senior year in high school.
Enroll in the first class in the community college during high school. I suggest English or Maths first.
In this post, I walk through the timeline of a 2-year college transfer plan. Preferably, you want to start your transfer process when you are still in high school. Starting early comes with advantages –
you get the not-so-new student status that means you don’t need to enroll again and your 3 credits will grant you earlier registeration date
you get familiar with the campus and resources
bonus, if you are still applying for universtities, you may earn some low-cost credits and graduate early
basically, there’s no downside except for you have to finish your senior homework with less time but… you dont have homework…seniors
In High School Senior Year
Visit some local community colleges (e.g. California CC) and explore online campus option (e.g. California VC).
Get support from family and friends. Share your plan with them. If you don’t know where to start, read THIS.
Applyandenroll for a community college for their Spring and Summer term as soon as you decide to take on the transfer path.
After Collge Enrollment – Warmup
Startgathering document (e.g HS transcript and/or AP scores) and prepare for placement exams so you can skip some classes in a sequence (e.g. Math or English).
Getfamiliar with the college credit system and know what counts toward transfer and what not. You do not want to take any non-transferrable courses unless you want to just do it for fun.
Research for easy GE courses on RateMyProfessors.com to start. DO NOT start any major requriement, you are not ready yet.
Register your first class during in Spring (during Senior) or Summer (after graduation).
Check out any student support program that will give you an edge. You can usually find a whole webpage for student support services that are free for all registered students. E.g. Pasadena City College Success Center.
1st Year at Pre-Transfer College
During Summer/Fall Semester – Position Well
Familiarize yourself with college-level courses and their structures. They are ususally easier than high school classes but require a different set of skills.
Get used to the campus academic calendar. Mark the dates on semester start, semester end, regiseration periods, last day to chage P/NP, last day to withdraw w/o a W, last day to withdraw w/ a W.
Make an appointment with a counselor to make sure you are on track to transfer.
Talk to a 2nd year pre-transfer students who have the same transfer goal (i.e. university and major) to learn from their experiences.
Form a board of advsiors including the friendest counselor on campus, successful 2nd year pre-transfer students, the study mania, the wellness guru…etc.
Attand 1+ college transfer presentation (you can usually find it on at your campus transfer center).
Talk to 2+ college representives to learn about different college transfer programs e.g. TAG and CCC-ADT.
Reach 30 units before Summer semester ends if you have not.
Apply Transfer Admission Guarentee aka TAG (if tranferring in California) and other transfer programs that you can find from your community college trasnfer center (8/1-9/30).
Make an appointment with a counselor to make sure you are on track to transfer.
Talk to university representives from your target universities to make sure you are on track and learn how to strengthen your transfer application.
Start collecting ideas for your college trasnfer essay. Find UC prompts and NYU/USC/Stanford prompts from adding the college to your Common App.
Start application profiles on Common App, UC Application or find the designated application system your target univserity uses (10/1-11/31 or later).
Ask professors for letters of recommendation early (10/1-11/31 or later)
Enroll some classes to show additional interest and commmitment to your transfer major even they are non-trasnferrable (but requriement first).
Reach out to target universities to show your interests. Ask questions about its campus and seek for campus tours.
In this post, I walk through the timeline (infographic) of a 2-year college transfer plan. Preferably, you want to start your transfer process when you are still in high school, so you are not late to join other transfer-driven community college students.
Starting early comes with advantages –
you get the not-so-new student status which means you don’t need to enroll again, and your 3 credits will grant you an earlier registration date
you get familiar with the campus and resources
bonus, if you are still applying for universities, you may earn some low-cost credits and graduate early
basically, there’s no downside except for you have to finish your senior homework with less time but… you don’t have homework…seniors
In High School Senior Year
Visit some local community colleges (e.g. California CC) and explore online campus options (e.g. California VC).
Applyandenroll in a community college for their Spring and Summer terms as soon as you decide to take on the transfer path.
After Collge Enrollment – Warmup
Startgathering documents (e.g HS transcript and/or AP scores) and prepare for placement exams so you can skip some classes in a sequence (e.g. Math or English).
Getfamiliar with the college credit system and know what counts toward transfer and what does not. You do not want to take any non-transferable courses unless you want to just do it for fun.
Research for easy GE courses on RateMyProfessors.com to start. DO NOT start any major requirement, you are not ready yet.
Register your first class during Spring (during Senior) or Summer (after graduation).
Check out any student support program that will give you an edge. You can usually find a whole webpage for student support services that are free for all registered students. E.g. Pasadena City College Success Center.
1st Year at Pre-Transfer College
During Summer/Fall Semester – Position Well
Familiarize yourself with college-level courses and their structures. They are usually easier than high school classes but require a different set of skills.
Get used to the campus academic calendar. Mark the dates on semester start, semester end, registration periods, last day to change P/NP, last day to withdraw w/o a W, and last day to withdraw w/ a W.
Make an appointment with a counselor to make sure you are on track to transfer.
Talk to 2nd-year pre-transfer students who have the same transfer goal (i.e. university and major) to learn from their experiences.
Form a board of advisors including the friendliest counselor on campus, successful 2nd-year pre-transfer students, the study mania, the wellness guru…etc.
Attend 1+ college transfer presentation (you can usually find it at your campus transfer center).
Talk to 2+ college representatives to learn about different college transfer programs, e.g., TAG and CCC-ADT.
Reach 30 units before the Summer semester ends if you have not.
Apply Transfer Admission Guarantee aka TAG (if transferring in California) and other transfer programs that you can find from your community college transfer center (8/1-9/30).
Make an appointment with a counselor to make sure you are on track to transfer.
Talk to university representatives from your target universities to make sure you are on track and learn how to strengthen your transfer application.
Start collecting ideas for your college transfer essay. Find UC prompts, and NYU/USC/Stanford prompts by adding the college to your Common App.
Start application profiles on Common App, UC Application, or find the designated application system your target university uses (10/1-11/31 or later).
Ask professors for letters of recommendation early (10/1-11/31 or later)
Enroll in some classes to show additional interest and commitment to your transfer major, even if they are non-transferrable (but requirement first).
Reach out to target universities to show your interests. Ask questions about its campus and seek campus tours.
In this post, I discuss the main difference between high school and community college and how you can adjust to it.
After helping many students transfer from Pasadena City College (PCC), Santa Monica College (SMC), and Mt San Antonio College (MtSACT), I found out that students who understood the difference had a less hard time during the transfer period.
And if you just started to go to community college, this is a perfect time to read this post and start taking some responsibility for your education. You will be better off while transferring and WAY BETTER OFF after transfer.
1. High school is a place for learning, community college is a place to work.
In high school, you are led by teachers, principals, and guidance counselors who tell you what to do and when to do it. In community college you are expected to take the initiative in planning your education and following through with it.
2. High school students expect their education to come easy, community college students come to work hard.
In high school you are given a set amount of time to complete your homework and projects; in community college, you need to be able to manage your time effectively and allow yourself more than enough time for each assignment.
3. High school students need to realize that it is important to be social as well as study, community college students need to forget about the “social” aspect and focus on their education.
In high school you are supposed to learn what you need for your future career or broad spectrum of interests; however in community college, all that matters is what you choose to major in.
In this post, I share an exercise to assess a degree’s worth and job prospects by surveying career potential from alumni, stats from Bureau of Labor Statistics, and more.
Going over this exercise will not only give you a glimpse of your post-graduation future but give you a good idea of where your opportunities lay and potential employers.
It will give you the motivation to get a degree and colleges will be happy you do your research and gladly accept you because you have a plan after graduation. In contrast, most students don’t.
Clarify Your Goals (also, golds)
Muhammad Ali’s famous quote – “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it.” We all agree that education is helpful. The outcome of education can be vague and hard to track sometimes. When we lose sight, we also lose motivation.
In this exercise, you will go through a series of research on yourself, potential jobs, and earning potentials. Once you identify a few jobs that pay well, look into their educational qualifications. You will get an idea of what kind of degree or certificate you need to get the job you want and the pay that is worth pursuing the education.
Let’s get started with you! Emotion is what drives us to wake up and do exciting things. Imagine you have a job that gives you excitement every day because its work is something you enjoy doing. You can look back at your life experience and find out the activities you enjoy doing and get clues about what jobs might give us the same enjoyment.
Write down the activities that excite you. Try to think about the events that involve helping others in different ways. For example, I like to listen to people’s stories; I can help people by listening to their problems and discuss solutions.
I am not asking you about your passion. I am asking you to think about how you would like to help one person, a group of people, animals or animals, or anything. If you can help one stranger, you can find a way to help millions.
Skills are transferable. The skills that you develop in life in the things that you do have value. If you can find a job that employee those skills and because you enjoy doing those activities, you will find a job that you enjoy doing.
Go to O*NET OnLine and check out more details about those jobs. You want to make sure your expectation matches the reality that the job performs as expected, and it exists.
Your education is going to cost you some money. It’s important to do what you like to do and make sure you can make enough money to pay back your tuition, so you don’t need to worry about not paying back your tuition loan or not making enough money to have a good life.
Visit Job Salaries and look up the salary of the three job titles you found above.
Job Title 1: Salary Range: Monthly Earning: Hourly Rate: Is it enough for the lifestyle you want to have? If not, how much more?
Job Title 2: Salary Range: Monthly Earning: Hourly Rate: Is it enough for the lifestyle you want to have? If not, how much more?
Job Title 3: Salary Range: Monthly Earning: Hourly Rate: Is it enough for the lifestyle you want to have? If not, how much more?
Why settle? Pick the one you like the best, in terms of compatibility and earning. You have 2-4 years to prepare for this job, and education is part of the preparation. Let’s find out the right education that will get you the job.
You are looking for something like “Bachelor’s degree or equivalent post-secondary degree in …” or “A current, active certification… issued by the State of California …”
For example,
Education
License
Certificate
Related Experience
I encourage you to explore your career choices a little deeper by doing an informational interview. However, you have all the essential information you need before writing your educational goal.
Describe your educational goal. It should include how did you come to choose this degree or certificate, what qualifications will this education help you achieve, how do you plan to finish the degree and apply to which jobs? Here are some student examples
It depends on where you are now – how many accumulated GPA hours/credits you have that encompass your current GPA point and how many units you will take next year.
GPA is calculated based on two numbers: Total GPA Points and Total GPA Hours/Credits
GPA point in a class= class grade point (A=4; B=3; C=2; D=1; F=0) x number of units for that class
Total GPA Points = sum of all GPA points from all courses taken with a letter grade
Total GPA Units = sum of all the units that contribute to your total GPA points
So, let’s say your 3.4 GPA encompasses 60 units, then your total GPA points are 3.4 x 60 = 204
One year in college, assuming you only enroll in the Fall and Spring semesters, a student can earn 32 units on average. You can use the following logic to calculate the total GPA points you need to get to 3.6.
Current GPA = 204/60=3.4 Prospecting GPA = (204 + ?)/(60+32)>3.6
→ (204+?)>331.2 → ?>127.2
So, if you are taking 32 units in the next year, try to get an average GPA of 3.975 or higher to raise your GPA to 3.6.
Use the same logic. You can calculate any GPA you want to reach and start planning your classes.
However, as a student counselor, I train my students not to care about their GPA at all. Because at the end of the day, your GPA merely represents your academic performance. Your academic performance is being evaluated in the classroom by your instructor. To obtain the highest GPA you can get, you need to do two things – understand the game rules (class) and win (earn) as many points as possible.
Believe it or not, you just have to read the syllabus in-depth, and you will earn points like never before. Make a copy of this Google Doc worksheetI use to teach my students to be the master of earning points in class.
In this post, I am going to talk about how to make sure you may transfer to another college in 2 years without delay.
If you want to make sure you transfer in 2 years, don’t make this mistake.
A prerequisite is a course you need to complete before taking the class. Sometimes the course is in sequence and some major courses like Economic, Accounting, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Math … etc
So you need to make sure you start taking the prerequisites from the beginning so you can take the sequential courses you need to complete your transfer requirements.
Another thing to be aware of is when the courses in the sequence are being offered. Some major courses are only offered during the Fall and Spring so you will need the first year and half of the second year just to finish a 3-course sequence.
For example, if one of your college transfer courses is Calculus III (the same logic apply to ECON 1B or Biology 1C) then you need to make sure you are taking (or completed) the prerequisites Math course in sequence like this:
Calculus I -> Calculus II -> Calculus III. If one of these three courses is not available during your Winter/Summer semester, you will need to complete it in the first Fall and Spring + the second Fall. And if you miss taking the first course, Calculus I in freshman year, you will not able to complete the transfer requirement at the end of sophomore year. In this scenario, you have to wait for the third year to take the complete the rest of the sequence in order to fulfill the transfer requirement.
Conclusion
Review your transfer requirements as soon as you decide on college transfer and prioritize courses in sequences first before other GE so you can make sure you complete transfer requirements within 2 years without hiccups.
In this post, we are going to talk about the importance of study skills.
I also share actions you can take to establish good learning habits in a week and develop study skills that cut your study time half.
Community college is easier than high school but only for students who have study skills learned from high school.
What if you didn’t do so well in high school because of lacking study skills?What if you were barely surviving in high school, and college-level courses scare the hell of you?
Transferring to UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, or NYU is hard, you don’t need SAT/ACT and you can take your time to study in community college. However, without study skills, you are always going to struggle. No matter where you go.
First of all, let’s change the terminology. Study skills – one of the most searched keywords, is really just a system that a student may use to maintain their academic performance.
Let’s evolve from that because striving for “academic” performance is not a very meaningful goal.
I want you to be a super learner who is able to absorb information quickly and effectively.
I want you to be a practitioner who is able to turn information into knowledge and apply the knowledge to class assignments and tests.
And it’s easier than you think it is
Pay attention in class. Seriously, if you want to transfer, at least attend the class and pay attention to your professor.
Take notes in the class. Although you might read them, research shows that noting helps facilitate information consolidation – in simple terms, imprint to your long-term memory. So it doesn’t really matter what you write, and how you organize the notes, just write down what you think is important in class.
Maintain consistency throughout the semester. If you want a B, get a B on the first exam, first assignment, and first group project above 80% and all assignments and tests above Bs. It makes no sense that you can pull a C to a B because you will “99%” the final. Just maintain the class grade average throughout and catch up as soon as you fall behind. Check your class grade weekly.
Conclusion:
There are no magic bullets and no A-student strategies. You really just have to do those 3 things and you will develop your own system of learning.
Pay attention to point no.3, you MAY choose to get a B because you want to focus on some other classes or extra-curriculum. That is totally fine. The goal is to have control over your learning outcome and class grade, not just getting all As. Don’t be unrealistic and school is not everything, I am sure you have other important things to attend to. It’s time to manage your life. That means deciding the results you want to have and how much time do you want to spend on the matter so you achieve the results.
Most students get it wrong that you can always pull your grades at the end. It’s very unlikely. It’s unrealistic. Do your due diligence every day and good results will come. Remember this, how you live your day is how you live your life.
If you are not happy with your grades, change the way you spend your days.
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