While Transfer Day at Bakersfield College will not be
as big as last year’s event, over 20 schools are scheduled
to be in the Campus Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept.
14. Many colleges and universities will be on hand to assist
students in finding the perfect school.
Students are not required to bring any materials when
looking at schools but Sue Granger-Dickson, transfer counselor
and professor at BC, recommends students bring an
unofficial transcript and current student educational plan
with them.
She adds, “Students should take advantage of networking.”
Granger-Dickson wants students to take some time during
the day and talk with the representatives of the different
colleges.
Granger-Dickson urges students to take advantage of
Transfer Day and advises everyone to do this: “Choose
your major well, and choose it early and go www.assist.
org.” This Web site is a transfer Web site that lets BC students
know what course work they need to prepare for their
major. The reason behind this is because not all California
State Universities and Universities of California require students
to take the same courses. The Web site breaks down
exactly what is required for each specific school.
Granger-Dickson also suggests students to not only strive
for a competitive grade point average but to get involved in
the school or in the community. Any extracurricular activities
such as joining the school theater, newspaper, student
government, sports or volunteering within the community
will help make a student more rounded, give life experiences
to write about for a personal statement and set the
student above the rest of the applicants.
“Preparation, strong organization and being aware of
deadlines,” are three things Granger-Dickson stresses to all
students to make sure they are admitted into their school of
choice.
She also suggests people look into Transfer Admission
Guarantees or TAGS, which is basically a contract between
the school and the student. The only requirements are a certain
grade point average, pass the transfer level math and
English courses, take classes for their major and have at
least a certain number of units.
The seven out of nine UC schools and one Cal State
school that offer TAGS through Bakersfield College are:
UC Davis, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara,
UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz and Cal State
Northridge.
The deadline to apply for all CSU’s and UC’s for fall
2010 is November 30th.
Also, there are two California State University Bakersfield
advisers on the BC campus every semester on Mondays
and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Counseling
office.
There will be some CSU and UC application workshops
taking place on Sept. 14th in the Campus Center from 9
a.m. to 1 p.m. Also, starting in October and running through
mid-November more CSU and UC application workshops
will take place on BC in room 19 of the Student Services
building. Students need to sign up for the workshops in advance
in the Counseling Center at the front desk.