Hello

I have a family member who wants to attend a Community College for a couple of years in the Bay Area and transfer to one of the UCs. Shes currently on the East Coast.

I was wondering, what is the best CC in the Bay Area academically? Which of the colleges send most of their grads to 4 year schools after 2 years? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Stanford.

ColoradoBear1;464000 said:

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Stanford.

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I knew someone was going to say this eventually.

i know. lame. and i spelled it wrong.

MiZery;463996 said:

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Hello

I have a family member who wants to attend a Community College for a couple of years in the Bay Area and transfer to one of the UCs. Shes currently on the East Coast.

I was wondering, what is the best CC in the Bay Area academically? Which of the colleges send most of their grads to 4 year schools after 2 years? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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DVC JC and San Mateo, Ohlone. among some

I went to high school in Santa Clara County, and many of my classmates went on to DeAnza or Foothill. Both were very good community colleges, but that was a LOOOOOONG time ago.

Of the Bay Area JCs, I think that UCs accept the most transfers from Diablo Valley JC. College of Marin is a good school as well if she's going to be living in the North Bay.

I'm not sure if it still exists, but I believe DVC (Diablo Valley College) in Pleasant Hill used to have a program, where if the student met the requirements(GPA, courses, etc) they could gain automatic entry into Cal... Worth looking into... gluck!

De Anza, Steve Wozniak went there and transfered to CAL.

Some real advice though - she might want to check the residency requirements for CA JC's and how they apply to transferring to UC... it's almost impossible for a undergrad at UC to beome a resident for tuition purposes, if it's the same for a JC, then the UC transfer path may be hard.

The UC residency requirement are pretty strict - one needs to be able to provide things like bank account statements to prove that one isn't receiving support from out of state parents and technically can't leave the state for more than 2 weeks a year... and more stuff like that. All of it is designed to give undergrads basically no shot at residency while allowing graduate (non-professional) students a pretty simple but annoying way to gain residency when working as a TA or GA.

It may be more relaxed for someone at a JC, especially since a lot of JC students are part time and hold jobs, but I don't know. I'd think with the budget crises that higher education in CA is facing that UC, CSU and the JC systems would try to plug any backdoors to reduced tuition if not done already.

I did know people that transferred from DVC, CSM and DeAnza and probably Foothill. All are probably on the same footing, depending on where one wants to live? It doesn't look liek Cal or UCLA offer guaranteed transfer admission programs, but the other 7 UC's do.

I went to DVC(96-97), they have pretty good faculty there and support. Yes they do have a pipeline system set up to Cal too. If your looking for a JC, I would start there, I believe Marin is good too. I do know that out of state costs to go to JC are A LOT higher. However, 2 years at JC and probably gain Ca state residency (not sure on that). The cost of going to Cal would be cheaper ;p.

I work at a Community College and whatever you might remember about your time there, it is different now than even 10 years ago. Please remember that +80% of incoming freshmen students enter with skills below college level work. Therefore, if you are a entering freshman with college level skills you will be in the small minority. That said, picking a CC is really about what are your goals (degree/major), matching that to the instructors at each college. There are good and bad instructors everywhere. Also, some colleges have more of a student based culture than others. Some colleges are empty as soon as classes end while others have more going on. Finally, the traditionally strong transfer schools are DVC (but they have lots of accreditation turmoil now), DeAnza, and maybe Foothill. After that, the second level might be Chabot, College of San Mateo, Santa Rosa and the huge CCSF. Also, Berkeley City College sends more of its grads to UC (by percentage) than most colleges but has no sports program or a traditional campus (they are in one new building on Center St.)

Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill is the best.

MiZery;463996 said:

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Hello

I have a family member who wants to attend a Community College for a couple of years in the Bay Area and transfer to one of the UCs. Shes currently on the East Coast.

I was wondering, what is the best CC in the Bay Area academically? Which of the colleges send most of their grads to 4 year schools after 2 years? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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I second DeAnza. I have many friends who went there after high-school and ended up transferring to either Cal, UCLA, UCSD and UC Davis.

I transfered to Cal 4 short years ago from Contra Costa College and found it worked out great. Its a hugely underrated JC because of it's location but its acceptance rate to Cal, while I was there, was higher than DVCs. It's a smaller school but the academics are very strong. Of course any teacher is hit or miss so no matter where you go you always gotta do your homework before you enroll.

It's Foothill and De Anza period. DVC is good too, and several others have areas of strength.

Talking about acceptance rates for transferring from community college is a waste of time, though. There are tons of spots for the taking; it's about what you do as opposed to what your competition is doing. The best school to go to is the school where you'll be comfortable, supported, and able to kick ass.

I transferred to Cal from Foothill. Most people who applied themselves for a couple years there and got decent grades all ended up at a UC.

Santa Rosa JC about an hour north in the north bay is supposed to be one of the best in the country.

I second that vote.

MinotStateBeav;464024 said:

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I do know that out of state costs to go to JC are A LOT higher. However, 2 years at JC and probably gain Ca state residency (not sure on that). The cost of going to Cal would be cheaper ;p.

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It's extremely hard to get residency via CC route, according to this:

http://www.registrar.ucsb.edu/fin-indep.htm

[quote=]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]3. Has been self-sufficient for two years (2). Self-sufficiency is defined as the ability to support oneself financially without the help of others. When determining self-sufficiency, money earned by the student through his/her own employment, financial aid and other loans (3) obtained on his/her own credit, without a co-signer, will be considered acceptable student income. Loans or gifts from relatives, associates, or friends, regardless of the terms, are considered financial assistance and cannot be included as student income when determining self-sufficiency; non-institutional loans or gifts made at or near (4) the time the student is enrolled in an institution will also be considered financial assistance. Funds that are given to the student by a relative, associate, or friend, through a college fund, savings, trust, or other financial vehicle, will [U]not[/U] be considered an acceptable form of student income if the funds were established [U]after[/U] the student’s 14th birthday (5). “Bartering” for free room and board, or other services or necessities is considered financial assistance. A student who receives free room and board from a relative, associate, or friend is not deemed totally self-sufficient.
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]
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Does she play football?

Who are you , Rex Ryan?

/double entandre

+1000 points.

Chabbear;464027 said:

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Also, Berkeley City College sends more of its grads to UC (by percentage) than most colleges but has no sports program or a traditional campus (they are in one new building on Center St.)

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My oldest daughter currently attends UCSD, but she was really disappointed she did not get into Cal which was always her dream school. One alternative I had thought up for her that I think would have really worked out well was to attend Berkeley City College and live in the Berkeley Co-op system--you just need to be a "student" not necessarily at Cal (same at I-House). The key would be to start in the Summer when it is easy to get into the co-ops and then have some standing for placement in the Fall. Of course, the other alternative is just a shared apartment in Berkeley. Many Berkeley City College classes are on the Cal campus, plus you are allowed to take one UC class per semester (at city college prices). For sports, the whole point is to root for Cal and then transfer in seamlessly after two years.

ColoradoBear1;464072 said:

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It's extremely hard to get residency via CC route, according to this:

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The out of state fees for a CC are still quite low and so spending two years working while attending a CC to establish California residency is very doable. If you have to take out loans, take out loans and let the parents help you pay them off upon graduation.

Foothill and DeAnza. No question.

College of Marin is the best academic Juco imo.

Calumnus, you should tell your daughter that you can transfer to Berkeley from UCSD. A family member of mine applied via that route and was accepted.

beachbear;464021 said:

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De Anza, Steve Wozniak went there and transfered to CAL.

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Wozniak went directly to Berkeley EECS, and only took classes at De Anza after he founded Apple (for "personal enrichment purposes").

DVC, Alameda, Laney and Berkeley CC will all get you into Cal if you apply yourself. I'd pick the school with the best environment which will allow you to grind out two years of 3.5+ GPA.

Entrance-wise I don't think much else really matters re your choice of a JC. Just make sure that you can take the courses required for you to transfer into your major at Cal.

Also, JC's are really impacted right now, so it might be wise to choose a school with a little less cache like Alameda so that you are more likely to get the pre-req classes you need for the transfer to Cal.

93gobears;464163 said:

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I'd pick the school with the best environment which will allow you to grind out two years of 3.5+ GPA.

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Exactly

Trying to elbow your way through a crowded school might frustrate some kids, but a smaller school with fewer amenities might depress another kid.

If you just want to transfer to a UC, then no sweat just take the right classes and get decent grades. However if you want to transfer to Stanford or one of the more competitive majors at Cal, you don't have much margin for error grade-wise. You need to be comfortable and ready to perform at the school from day one.

Related question: What do you all think about the fact that you can go from a California JC to the best public university in the world? Frankly, it's one of my favorite things about Cal and its student body.

510Bear;464202 said:

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Related question: What do you all think about the fact that you can go from a California JC to the best public university in the world? Frankly, it's one of my favorite things about Cal and its student body.

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I had UCSB and UCLA out of high school, but had my heart set on Cal. I saved my family a ton of money by going to DVC. Two years later I was in the Haas undergrad program. I never looked back.

Every JC in California has the automatic admission to a UC school opportunity. You have to get at least a B in several core classes.

The best JC is a personal decision. DVC is the valley girl route. Laney is more urban. Chabot I would consider blue collar/working class.

They are all good options.

510Bear;464202 said:

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Related question: What do you all think about the fact that you can go from a California JC to the best public university in the world? Frankly, it's one of my favorite things about Cal and its student body.

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Reminds me of a discussion I had on a Stanford board. I told them I thought Stanford would be a better school if they took advantage of all their land and doubled or tripled the undergraduate student body and put in some big lecture halls (to me, famous professors speaking in huge lecture halls are like rock concerts--they feed off the crowd)--to leverage their excellent faculty, make the campus more lively, increase their football attendance, make Palo Alto more student oriented, keep tuition down and better fulfill Leland Stanford's original intent--a free education for the children of California. They did not like that idea at all, thought it would make Stanford less elite and easier to get into. They countered would I want to increase Cal size? I told them my view is that I wish every Californian could get a Berkeley education and have the Cal experience, and I mean it.

I can't remember exact numbers but every California public school student who graduates within a certain top percentile, in their class, automatically will be admitted to a UC. This is similar to the way jc transfers are determined. More than competing against every applicant to Cal you are really competing with every Cal applicant from your school. Therefore I beg to differ about acceptance rates not being important. They are a great indicator of your chances to be accepted from a certain school. At DVC you would be competing with something like 5 to 10 times the number of applicants you would be at CCC. Keeping that in mind the number of highly qualified applicants would be higher at DVC for a number of reasons;affluence, better high school educations. I was a very marginal student but I pulled a 3.6 which was totally enough to make the top 10 percent of Cal applicants at my jc. That is a near automatic admission right there.
Another factor working in Contra Costa's favor is the relationship the transfer staff has with Cal admissions. I was able to talk in person to an admissions officer at least five times while I was in the process of applying. It was a great help and I'm pretty sure the transfer staffs essay help got me in.
Another thing is the transfer agreements which as far as I can tell do not exist for Cal unless you are part of EOP (education opportunity program) There are a few UCs that still have it though Davis being the most prominent from what I remember. Unfortunately the transfer agreements to Cal do not exist for the average student any more. I will admit its been two years since I last payed attention to the transfer statistics.