Students attend Foothill College for a variety of reasons, but one of the most common is for the purposes of transferring to a four-year university. Attending a community college like Foothill before transitioning to a four-year has numerous benefits, most notably savings of thousands of dollars per semester, being involved in a community, and access to a plethora of resources offered by many community colleges to help students succeed both pre and post transfer.

In accordance with this, Foothill College’s Transfer Center hosted a three hour “Transfer Day” in the Small Gym last Wednesday, October 18th. The event featured tables from UCs, CSUs, and a variety of private and out-of-state universities. Here, all students – whether planning to transfer this fall or just exploring options – could seek advice from Admissions representatives from a breadth of four-year colleges and ask any questions regarding admissions or campus life. After the fair, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, and Columbia University held free, individual workshops for students who were interested in more in-depth information about particular colleges.

When asked about advice for transfer students, college representatives gave fairly consistent answers, most of which focused on planning ahead and being aware of requirements and deadlines. Adria Bowman, an admissions representative from the UC Santa Barbara, advised students to “Definitely plan early and plan ahead, and do the best in your classes that you can.” Representatives from UC Berkeley specifically stressed the importance of completing IGETC before the end of spring quarter: although some schools accept partial IGETCs, most don’t, and having to complete General Education courses in your junior year can set your graduation date back years.

Knowing the expectations of the institutions you plan to apply to is crucial to transfer success. Kevin Martin of Cal Poly Pomona emphasized the need to achieve beyond basic admissions requirements: “Do your research, because we are an impacted campus. We get a lot of majors with a lot of applications, so it tends to be very competitive academically. So, my recommendation is to keep the GPA up as high as possible. The minimum CSU eligibility is 2.0, but you don’t really want to be anywhere near a 2.0 these days, you want at least a B average to be competitive.” Online resources for specific universities’ statistics and requirements are invaluable sources for this type of information, especially if you missed an in-person event. All of the information you’d find on a flyer or pamphlet is likely available online, along with ways to contact admissions.

Many students’ stress is tied to a specific institution; when asked, Lizzie Schonholtz said her main fear of the transfer process was “Not getting into the college I want,” but that her biggest point of excitement is “getting into the college I want.” Acceptance rates to “prestigious” universities can be especially daunting: “[The rate] is eleven percent for my major, but I don’t let that get me down,” laughed Foothill Student Blake when discussing his planned transfer to the UCLA School of the Arts & Architecture. Despite these challenges, Foothill’s Transfer Center and other academic resources can be the tools that help students succeed.