From a California community college to UCLA Communication Studies

Hi everyone, this post is for anyone who wants to know about the chances of transferring from a US community college to a four-year university

Background: after half a year in the architecture department of a private university in Taiwan, I came to Southern California for half a year of language school

Then 3.5 years at Orange Coast College (OCC),

Orange County, Southern California. Earned Associate Degree in Liberal Art Associate Degree in Architecture Architecture Certificate No.1

Status: international student GPA: 3.91 / 4.0

I changed majors, architecture → communication

Accepted: all bachelor's programs below

UC Berkeley - Media Studies

UC Los Angeles - Communication Studies

UC San Diego - Communication Studies Muir College

UC Santa Barbara - Communication Studies

UC Irvine - Education Science

University of Illinois - Communication Studies

University of Wisconsin Madison - Communication Studies

Cal Poly Pomona - Architecture

Rejected: Pomona College, USC Annenberg - Communication, Claremont McKenna College - International Relationship. Experience: high school GSAT 44 points, English 8 points.

On the AST, every subject at the average benchmark, chemistry at the low benchmark. After language school in the US I scored 65 on the TOEFL. At OCC I served one semester each as Historian and Vice President of the architecture club, and worked 1.5 years as a student assistant at the OCC international student center

Tips for making the most of community college:

1. Make good use of the talks, clubs, competitions, events, etc. the school offers - join the school's trips to four-year university campus fairs. It's US$5 and there's a school bus!

● Let the campus inspire you, and take a photo to keep yourself motivated.

- Make the most of it when four-year university reps visit campus, and talk to them!

● Do the basic prep: look at their website and come with questions so you can ask them more detailed ones! - Join clubs and become one of the officers

● Benefits: you learn about American culture and how they plan things, improve your language skills, and get chances to talk with people in related industries, so you understand your own future better. Community colleges usually have strong ties to local industries, so you can also learn about the industry's future

- The school sometimes has competitions. I entered an architecture competition hosted by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I didn't place, but it was a great experience! OCC has a robotics competition~

2. Make good use of professors' “office hours” - professors all have at least a master's degree. Go chat with them and ask questions. It not only makes a stronger impression on them but also improves your English. And when you apply to schools later, they're the ones who write your recommendation letters! (UC/Cal State don't need them, but USC does, and so do out-of-state schools!)

● You can ask ESL professors: where do Americans go to have fun? How do Americans relax? Don't be afraid to ask basic questions! I've asked silly questions like: have no idea / no worries, when do I add an s to the word after no? Why isn't it no idea“s”...

● You can ask professors in your major about the industry and about transfer schools!

3. I believe every community college should have a free tutoring center. Use it! When I took English classes, I'd go 2-3 times for every paper!

4. Dare to say no!

- At first you may easily make friends in clubs and ESL classes, but find friends you can both study & have fun with! Don't just play without studying! - Some unnecessary events or invitations, you really need to turn down! Don't spend your time on them.

- At the start I was desperate to practice English, so I told my Chinese-speaking friends straight out that I wanted to practice English, and whenever someone in the conversation didn't speak Chinese, I'd only speak English. I agreed with a friend from China that we'd only speak English and use Chinese only when necessary. He's at UCB now. He also once failed an English class, retook it, and still got into UCB!

5. Use ratemyprofessor.com to look up professors. Some say it's not accurate, some say it is. In my own three and a half years, it was pretty accurate.

6. Craiglist has housing listings and secondhand items.

7. If you have a question, ask the international student center! Don't go by what friends say~ If they're wrong, your friend isn't responsible, and then you go complain to the international student center... You should have asked the international student center in the first place. If the international student center gives you wrong information, they're responsible! (That is, my past self is responsible XD)

8. Ideally, start preparing to transfer a year in advance. Spend the first half researching schools and majors, and the second half seriously applying and preparing your materials. Otherwise the fall will be really rough... studying while preparing to transfer... and since I also had a job, I was burning the candle at three ends...

9. Make good use of your health insurance card! Go to the health center when you're sick. When I had some mental health issues, I went to talk to a psychologist too. That fall when I was applying to transfer/change majors really made me anxious. I also had friends who got free electrotherapy to relax their muscles...!

10. Remember to apply for scholarships. The amounts aren't big, $500-$2,000 USD, but every bit helps! OCC offers them~ I got one three years in a row XD, about US$3000 in total. (2016's isn't in the picture)

11. My way of practicing English was studying like crazy and living life to the fullest. Any school flyer, bank flyer, article from a teacher, anything around me with English on it, I'd read it. Make the most of everything! I didn't specifically watch CNN or listen to the radio or anything... there was already plenty to read for regular homework... My educational background is kind of complicated. I studied one semester at a university in Taiwan and changed majors, so I took a lot of credits (113 credits).

But in the end every UC still accepted me! The whole journey of hard study was really tough: life/classes/clubs/work, all of it. Now I'd say I understand about 50% of American culture, and 90% of how to apply to & make the most of community college and how to transfer to the University of California and out-of-state universities. Life was pretty hard. I don't know whether it was worth it, only that I need even more positive energy to face the next two years, and this summer I already have to prepare for next summer's internship! In the end I chose UCLA Communication Studies.

IG: jimmy_intledu

ImAdmitted (匯錄取) international education news site: https://imadmitted.org/

ImAdmitted international education news IG: imadmitted

Hello~ I'm Jimmy Lin, with a master's in Education Leadership from Columbia University and a bachelor's with honors in Communication Studies from UCLA. I've worked in study-abroad counseling in the US since 2015, served as a committee member of a US association for international university admissions, and in 2023 founded “ImAdmitted (匯錄取)”, which provides first-hand information on overseas universities, such as international education news and data on admitted students at overseas universities. I hope it becomes the Google of studying abroad, so everyone can find first-hand overseas university information quickly and accurately.