New students at Glendale Community College might feel like deer caught in the headlights. While experienced GCC students are like lions stalking their transfer prey. Whether you are the deer or the lion there are secrets to help you transfer.
Before diving into the secrets students must know that transferring is not cut and dry. Transferring is not easy, but it is possible.
In life and at GCC there tends to be more than one way to approach a problem. For transferring, there is an administration-driven path, a personal peer-driven path, and a mixture of the two.
The administration will provide students with the cookie-cutter method of transferring. They can tell students what classes to take, and how many units they need. This system is calculated.
Just because the administration method of transferring is rigid does not mean it is not helpful.
The Transfer Center on the second floor San Rafael building is one place that students can go to find information. At the Transfer Center, students will find Transfer Center Coordinator Kevin Meza, who assists students with the transfer process.
At the Transfer Center, students can “learn the rules of admission to the school you want to attend,” said Meza.
The Transfer Center holds various workshops. One in particular deals with the application process, and Meza said they do “presentations upon request.” The Transfer Center will also be holding a field trip to visit colleges during spring break.
Meza, who transferred from Rio Hondo Community College to UCLA, where he earned his Master’s of Education degree, said the counseling he received at his community college was the key to his success.
According to Meza the national transfer rate for community colleges is 20 percent. The GCC transfer rate is not so black and white. Meza said that the rate can be anywhere from 22 percent to 50 percent. The reason this number is not a simple statistic is because GCC students come here for a plethora of reasons, and are of various education levels. Those factors both make the GCC transfer statistic difficult to understand.
“The students that actually come to our center, transfer,” said Meza.
Students can also visit www.glendale.edu/transfercenter, which is the Transfer Center’s website.
Visiting the Transfer Center, seeing a counselor to plan out schedules, and following the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum or California State University Breadth are classic, but helpful administration driven transfer tips.
Sasha Shellock is a student at GCC who follows the administration methodology. She is a member of the Scholars Program; she talks to her counselor, and visits the Transfer Center. Her advice to new students: “talk to a counselor or go the transfer center.”
The second method for successful transferring is the personal peer-driven path. What does personal peer-driven path mean? The personal peer-driven path is a way of transferring where students rely completely on their own knowledge and the knowledge of their peers. This is the path less traveled.
It is almost a guarantee that in every class at GCC that a student could ask their classmates any transfer related question and receive a well informed response. GCC is a melting pot of valuable information.
Along with using their peers, students could learn how to transfer from the comfort of their own homes.
The internet allows students to access all the information they could need to transfer.
Websites like Assisst.org can show students the requirements needed to transfer to any California college. This website is beyond simple, and students find out information based on their individual majors.
On the internet, students can also search any school via a website, which is every institution has. The websites show the requirements needed to be accepted, and most have sections that show prospective students what units will transfer to the school.
Essentially the entire transfer process can be done online, that is other than physically visiting schools. The World Wide Web can even tell students what grade point average they will need to even be considered as a transfer student.
The personal peer-driven path is not the ideal for many students because there is nothing to fall back on when the internet or friends do not know how to help. One is, after all, the loneliest number.
After seeing what the two previous methods have to offer, the third and most lucrative path is a mixture of the two that have proceeded.
The transfer method that mixes the administration and personal peer-driven path is simple: students do all they can on their own, and if they need help, they seek it out. The help can come from a counselor, the Transfer Center, or a professor.
But here is the big secret- What everyone has been waiting for- The end-all be-all transfer secret is. motivation.
There is not a single student who was able to transfer by missing class, and slacking off. Students who attend class and study, are active listeners, and do the work assigned to them transfer. It is as simple as that.
The motivation factor is the secret that every GCC students seems to already know about.
Christopher Newman, a student and musician, said “I think it’s extremely important.”
Newman was only the first of many students who believe that motivation is crucial to the transfer process.
David Bliss said, “That’s what college basically is all about.”
Linus Merwin said, “Here motivation actually counts.”
Shellock said, “I came like I am going to go to a UC [college] and that’s what I am going to do.”
Dominic Soggiu said, “I was always naturally motivated.”
Students who are motivated will find themselves being accepted to college after college. Whether they are self motivated or have been influenced by their parents like Soggiu was, this truly is the key.
If students follow one or all of these transfer secrets they will greatly increase their knowledge and chances of being accepted.
Get the ball rolling, see which transfer method suits you as an individual.
If at any time transferring becomes overwhelming remember these statements: Transferring is not cut and dry. Transferring is not easy, but it is possible.
Transfer Checklist
o Choose a major
o Choose institutions to apply to
o Learn the rules of admission
o Know the minimum required grade point average
o Know how many units are need to be considered
as a transfer student
o Complete the required coursework for admission
o Enroll in transferable courses
o Earn satisfactory grades in all attempted
courses
o Ask for help from peers when needed
o Visit a counselor or the Transfer Center as
needed
o Get involved in extra curriculars
o Visit the institutions that are of interest
o Apply for financial aid
o Begin applications early, and know when they
are due
o Stay motivated