Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

Hey! I've been reading some of college transfer posts here but I still need help. Here's my situation:

I live in California and I recently got out of high school. I didn't necessarily graduate but have an equivilent to a HS diploma. My grades in high school weren't that great. By the end of 10th grade, my GPA was prolly around 1.6. That's why I'm attending a junior college. This is my first year in college and I took a couple of classes. My summer and fall terms were heavily concentrated on computers, mainly networking. I dropped almost all of my classes when I changed majors this spring semester (not much job openings in this field). I'm not the kind of person who's really into school and can spend all day with my face stuck to a book, although I do look like a dork. Bottom line, I don't like school so I ended up dropping the classes that I wasn't interested in. I screwed up my first year in college. Here's my current plan and questions that I have:

I want to go to another nearby city college and start taking classes there. Will I have to submit my transcript from the junior college where I dropped more than half of my classes to the university I eventually plan to transfer to?

I want to transfer to a state school for a year for some upper division work to meet the requirements of some of the private schools I want to eventually transfer to. Will they allow it? I'll hopefully transfer in as a junior.

I'm not worry about the testings. I usually do well in this area. I know Caltech have their own test for transfer students.
Let's say I meet all of the lower division requirements for Caltech and have a good score. I will submit my transcript from my junior college and the one year at state school.

What are my chances of admission to a school like Caltech for a junior status if I Aced all of the required classes and tests and given my background? I have some extracurricular activities that involves helping out the community if that matters.

Thanks for reading!!!

By Nirvanarock (Nirvanarock) on Monday, May 05, 2003 - 05:34 pm: Edit

Hey again! My HS GPA is low because I didn't take the finals in my last year I was there. I just went straight to college. Wouldn't make a whole lot of difference anyway.

How big of a difference can my HS transcript make on my chances of admission?

By Nirvanarock (Nirvanarock) on Monday, May 05, 2003 - 05:53 pm: Edit

This really looks bad but has anyone been in the California public school system lately? I plan on making it up in college. What do you think?

http://www.nea.org/goodnews/ca01.html
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/breaking_news/3043042.htm

R.I.P.
DAVE WILLIAMS

By Nirvanarock (Nirvanarock) on Monday, May 05, 2003 - 06:30 pm: Edit

I've been posting to myself lately, but I guess it's therapeutic for me.

I'm coming to a crossroad in my life. I really don't know what to do. I'm seriously thinking of dropping out of college. I can probably go back to high school for another year, but what's the point?!? I can take time off from college but what will I do? My parents prolly aren't going to be happy about it either. I can find a job but I don't think I'm qualified for anything. I love anything dealing with computers but all of my friends keep telling me that there's really no job out there in this field, except maybe graphic arts. My friend, Andy, went to a vocational school and graduated in 18 months. He can't find a paying job in the computer field. He also has a CCNA and CCNP, among other certificates.
I like computers but I don't think I would like to make a living at it. I'm just a hardcore computer hobbyist. I really like technical stuff so I would like to cram my brain at Caltech for a couple of years to find out what I want to do. That is, if I get in.
I've been depressed lately and haven't been going to my classes like I'm supposed to. I oversleep almost everyday until late in the afternoon. If I have something to work on, maybe it would motivate me and I wouldn't be this way. This might make me sound conceited, but I know I'm smart. I just don't have any guidance or direction to follow. The counselors here at city college are very mechanical. They just spit out facts to you that you already know. I have met some counselors for a personal session, but that was a while ago, and they seem to be really busy because I can't get ahold of anyone for a personal talk. My goal of getting into Caltech might seem really stupid but if it's a realistic goal, I'll have something to work on to motivate me. Any input on this would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!!!

R.I.P.
DAVE WILLIAMS

By Nirvanarock (Nirvanarock) on Monday, May 05, 2003 - 06:43 pm: Edit

Here are the classes I'm planning to take. It would be classes I would've taken in high school if I had some guidance and a counselor to help me plan my classes back then.

SUMMER '03
1. CHEM. 1A (General Chemistry)

FALL '03
1. CHEM. 1B (General Chemistry)
2. Math (calculus I)
3. eng.1a (college level-six weeks per class)
1b
1c
4. Stats
*I probably need to petition for more units since it would exceed the maximum allowed.

By Mzinn (Mzinn) on Monday, May 05, 2003 - 06:43 pm: Edit

if you're smart... then you can probably be successful at anything you try as long as you're motivated. you're most likely to be motivated by something that you're interested in. so just study whatever you like most. you really don't have to have plans for the next 6 years of your life. if you make plans... then they'll probably get screwed up anyways. the job market really isn't that predictable.