2008 Woodie Awards
The transfer loophole: easier on second chance?
Heshani Wijemanne
Issue date: 9/14/06 Section: Opinions
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Back home in Southern California it is not uncommon for a student to attend community college right out of high school. In fact, a hundred or so of my senior classmates chose to attend a community college instead of a four-year institution. Community college is a great way to take a break after high school and allows you to do some soul searching. It gives you time to decide where you want to go and what you may want to do.
This past summer, a lot of my friends and acquaintances from high school that had been attending community colleges were getting ready to transfer to other four-year colleges and universities. Every time I happened to run into one of them I would casually ask them to which school they were transferring and I would hear places such as Northwestern, UC Berkeley, USC and even, on one occasion, Smith College. I knew that some of these students were not necessarily the smartest kids in school, and most had never taken an advanced placement class, or done any of the rigorous preparation usually required to attend top universities. That is actually when I began to think, could it quite possibly be a better idea to attend community college for two years and then, by achieving a high enough GPA, go to the college of their choice, as opposed to working extremely hard during your high school years?
In a way, it would be better, because it would be easier to get into certain colleges. Did you know that many of the top schools in the nation do not require standardized testing scores from their transfers? In fact, a good friend of mine from California is only applying to schools that do not require transfer student's scores from the SATs and other similar tests. If this were the case in high school there would have been a lot more students applying to a lot more colleges and universities, based on GPA and extracurricular activities alone.
Not only are standardized testing scores not required, but in many situations the level or intensity of the classes a community college student takes does not necessarily come into play in the decision-making process. I am not saying that this is always the case, but in some instances a student can have a 4.0 GPA at their community college without taking any particularly advanced classes, and get into the college of their choice, while the opposite is true in high school. It is usually crucial for a high school student to be a part of advanced placement classes to even attempt a shot at a prestigious college in the United States.
This past summer, a lot of my friends and acquaintances from high school that had been attending community colleges were getting ready to transfer to other four-year colleges and universities. Every time I happened to run into one of them I would casually ask them to which school they were transferring and I would hear places such as Northwestern, UC Berkeley, USC and even, on one occasion, Smith College. I knew that some of these students were not necessarily the smartest kids in school, and most had never taken an advanced placement class, or done any of the rigorous preparation usually required to attend top universities. That is actually when I began to think, could it quite possibly be a better idea to attend community college for two years and then, by achieving a high enough GPA, go to the college of their choice, as opposed to working extremely hard during your high school years?
In a way, it would be better, because it would be easier to get into certain colleges. Did you know that many of the top schools in the nation do not require standardized testing scores from their transfers? In fact, a good friend of mine from California is only applying to schools that do not require transfer student's scores from the SATs and other similar tests. If this were the case in high school there would have been a lot more students applying to a lot more colleges and universities, based on GPA and extracurricular activities alone.
Not only are standardized testing scores not required, but in many situations the level or intensity of the classes a community college student takes does not necessarily come into play in the decision-making process. I am not saying that this is always the case, but in some instances a student can have a 4.0 GPA at their community college without taking any particularly advanced classes, and get into the college of their choice, while the opposite is true in high school. It is usually crucial for a high school student to be a part of advanced placement classes to even attempt a shot at a prestigious college in the United States.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Jamie Nolan
posted 9/18/06 @ 9:59 PM EST
I am a transfer from a CC. The last line of your thoughts was bitter, uneducated, and offensive. You simply "cannot" pretend to know what you are talking about when it comes to this issue seeing as how you never attended a CC, and just based on a few of your friends situations. (Continued…)
Kimberley
Kimberley
posted 9/22/06 @ 11:58 AM EST
Your article is disturbing. We are in a period of bridging right now at Smith. In the recent past, Ada Comstock Scholars has expressed sadness at the fact that they feel isolated from the traditional Smith community. (Continued…)
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