Ready, Set, Transfer!

Hello my friends, yes this is the blogging team! You may see this image on the school buses, banners, postcards, or other ads. I have yet to see a bus pass by since I carpool to school, but I can tell you that when I do it will be pretty darn flippin' cool!
#sbccfamous


Fall semester is flying by and before I know it, it will be my last semester as SBCC (Spring 2017). Soon after, I will be in my cap and gown accepting my journalism transfer associate's degree!

But wait....where will I be transferring to??? That's what I'm working on.

Here are my thoughts:
I want to stay in SoCal. I prefer to go to a school around Los Angeles for opportunities to be more accessible and to stay close to family/friends. I want transfer to a university where I could see myself thrive. No UC in SoCal has journalism except for UCI so I will mainly be applying to CSU's and a couple private schools.

Here are my top choices that meet all the thought requirements above:

CSULB- California State University, Long Beach
CSUF- California State University, Fullerton
USC- University of Southern California
Chapman University

That's the first step. Figure out your top few transfer schools, focus on their transfer requirements, and do your best to get accepted. Put those schools as your top priority. Next, you may want to have backup options and apply to a few of them. Mine include: SDSU, CSUN, and UCI. Why are those my backup options you may ask? San Diego State is very far away, a difficult school to get into, and requires that I take extra classes to transfer. Northridge is in an area that reminds me of some difficult parts of my life. On a positive note, it is closest to where I'm originally from and my family that is still here. However, it is right by my mom and brother's cemetery and in an area where a family member (who was like a grandmother to me) passed away. Irvine is a UC school. I will have to do more research regarding this school because I have heard that the UC schools are known for their research more than their creativeness like CSU schools. Apparently CSU schools are more helpful with guiding you towards a career rather than just giving you a degree. The journalism major at UCI is under the English department and is actually "literary journalism." Although, the best part about the UC schools is that you get to submit an essay along with your application to make yourself look good. I wish the CSU schools had this option because I could show my writing skills through it and mention all I have accomplished in life.....which I don't mean to brag...but hey if it gets me into a school why not!

What now?
Recently I met with my journalism teacher, asking her for advice on where I should transfer to. She told me not to apply to a school where I don't want to go or can't see myself being happy. That knocks out CSUN. She also told me that most of journalism opportunities will be in LA, that the journalism major at SDSU is more focused on communications/media, and that you are most likely to get careers/internships around the place where you graduated school from. This is starting to lean me away from SDSU. She finally told me that I can apply to what I once thought was my dream school (UCLA) as a separate major since they don't have journalism and work for their "Bruin Daily" newspaper on the side. I could do this with any UC that has a school newspaper. I am turned off by this option because I would not be learning about journalism, but rather working for it as an activity.

Right now I have narrowed down my options (thanks to writing this blog out). I have decided on my top choices and I have two backup schools. At most I will be applying to six schools: CSULB, CSUF, USC, Chapman, SDSU, and UCI.

My next step
Apply! Apply! Apply! CSU schools allow students to apply between Oct 1- Nov 30. UC schools let students apply between Nov 1- Nov 30. Private school application deadlines vary, my deadlines are in February.

The next couple months can and will get very stressful. Here's a piece of advice that I need to practice following myself: Do not worry/stress about where you will be next. The truth is, you don't know! Not knowing can be really scary. Time can change a lot of things. Try your best not to worry about where you will be attending school next until you get back those acceptance letters! Good luck my fellow transfer students! If you need any help applying, go visit the Transfer Center in the Student Services Building. They have workshops you can sign up for where you can receive help with your UC or CSU applications.