I received acceptances to most UCs after one year in community college. While one year isn't necessarily an ideal timeline, I'm proud of my planning and would like to share some of my tips for successfully transferring.
Fun fact: only 10% of California community college students transfer within two years; 19% in four :(
1. Plan (as early as possible)
When I settled on community college (CC), I immediately started planning my classes using assist.org*(where to get the classes from your CC you need to take that will transfer to your major) and UC TAP (transfer admission planner). You NEED both these resources to stay on track.
If you're sure about your major and schools, list them out on UC TAP, and then get all the articulation agreements from assist. If you're unsure about a major, focus on completing IGETC, which has you covered for all college general eds.
1.5 Engineering
If you're an engineering or heavy STEM major, I'd advise against completing IGETC, as you already have lots more major prep requirements than everyone else. It is also not a requirement for many majors. I didn't do IGETC and instead completed the 7 course pattern, the minimum to transfer (AP test scores and CC dual enrollment classes covered all of this for me).
2. Classes
Make sure there are no holds preventing you from registering in classes. As with any public institution, enrollment is often strict, and definitely not guaranteed. You don't want classes to get filled up as you wait for your AP scores or fees to be processed.
Another tip I have is to take classes from other community colleges. I took a few online humanities classes from the Peralta Colleges so I could optimize my in person schedule for two days a week.
And of course: college classes are harder than high school classes. You have to put in more of your own time to understand the material and go to office hours.
3. Enjoy
My time at CC was more enjoyable than I thought it'd be, and I greatly undervalued at first the convenience and happiness that came from staying at home. I was able to grow and focus on myself, and I wouldn't have been able to if I'd been thrust into college, into a major I wasn't even fully sure about last year.
4. Money
I saved my parents from paying $80,000 to the UCs, and in fact I made around $4k in scholarships. Plus, CC is free for two years after high school graduation, so I was basically being paid to attend CC. You can make even more from scholarships if you actually qualify for financial aid!
5. The cons
Nothing in life is all sunshine and rainbows. While my CC experience was mostly positive:
- it's hard to make friends, and you'll probably go to different schools after a couple years anyway
- the vibes can be kind of depressing especially if you take night classes
- my CC (SRJC) has good professors and rigor, but some community colleges don't take rigor as seriously as universities
- networking: my biggest con. I feel like 2 years at university isn't enough to make as many connections as I'd like. And you can't really get cool internships. (there are some internship programs for CC students though! I didn't look into it as much as I wish but you should.)
*assist.org is starting to roll out an API... excited to build a tool with this in the future