Pegasus Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 DD is currently planning on community college followed by our local state university for a computer science degree. We know that it is competitive to get into this major at this school. However, she is getting differing feedback on just how competitive it is. Her academic advisor at the CC told her that she would have "no problem" transferring to the state university if she continued to do as well in her courses as she had done in her dual enrollment courses. However, a representative from the university (admin, not from computer science dept) gave a talk at her CC orientation and DD asked how difficult it would be to transfer into computer science and the rep told her "very hard." How can we find out definitively if this is a reasonable goal or not? There are other schools that DD could target that would be easier to get into computer science as a transfer but they would not be within commuting distance (thus, higher overall costs and likely student loans would be needed). Also, the courses that DD should take at the CC differ a bit between the different target transfer schools so it is not ideal to just wait and see if she can get in once she finishes CC. I'm hoping for some "been there" advice. Should she contact the dean of the dept at the target transfer school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 Do your universities have Guarenteed Admission Agreements with the community college system? I'm in Virginia and there are agreements in place. I know CS majors must earn an AAS degree and have 3.0 or better in their CS specific courses to gain guarenteed admission. I would definitely talk with someone at your targeted school if their are no agreements posted online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share Posted August 9, 2015 No guaranteed admission to specific majors, unfortunately. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 I would ask the CS department head at each college how many students they've had transfer in from the CC, what sort of stats those students have had, and how they evaluate transfers versus students who start at the 4 yr. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Nice list of questions to pose! Thank you for that. Much better than asking "how competitive is it really" and getting a qualitative answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I would also ask what CS and math courses they should take prior to transfer and how long does it take the transfers, who have those courses, to graduate. CS is very popular, especially for the introductory courses. The upper classes tend to get smaller as many of those who start with an interest don't have the ability to continue. I'd also ask all those questions of the head of admissions. The CS department people may not even be aware of how many apply as CS transfers and are denied admissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 You need to go in and talk to the CS dept directly. Talk to them about how transfer students are accepted into their program. Fwiw, even in VA there are no guarantees that the student will be accepted into their specific major. For example, a student might be accepted into VT's school of engineering, but they might not be accepted into the mechanical engineering program. http://cdn.vccs.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/VCCS_VTEng_GAA_FINAL_0614.pdf 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Ask the CSC department specifically what their expectations are as far as transfer from that school. I'm a community college professor in IT and CSC at two different community colleges within the same state system. Even with transfer agreements, CSC is indeed a selective transfer at some of the schools. In other words, you can have all of the courses in place, but they only have so many slots and you may or may not get in. And I can tell you that one school does much, much better than the other that way. With all A's and B's in the critical courses, they haven't had a student NOT accepted in years. The other school is more uneven, and I've heard of some with good grades who didn't get in. The school that does well that way has a stable program with long-term professors and ABET accreditation, and the other has had a lot of staff turnover and is not ABET accredited. ABET accreditation isn't that common for 2-year schools BTW, but it's a positive if it is there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 Thank you for all the information and advice. This is very helpful. I'm going to share it all with DD and start following up on the suggested approaches. The academic advisor at the CC did provide a written transfer agreement that they have with the 4-year university that specifically lists all the courses needed at the CC and then the courses that would be needed at the university to fulfill their B.S. requirement. However, it also warns that computer science is a competitive program and simply completing the transfer agreement does not guarantee admittance into the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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