Saddleback College assists students with applications
Saddleback College’s Transfer Center (Joseph Fleming)
Saddleback College counselors are currently booked for the rest of this week as students assemble their application packets to send out to universities across the country.
Different options are available when delivering this academic evidence. Students can complete and send applications online or through the mail. Applications have a chance of being damaged or lost at post offices, so most schools recommend completing them online. These educational resumes are examined to meet specific requirements of one’s school of choice, providing a more than usual amount of preparation and urgency when finalizing this valuable document.
“Schools want well-rounded students,” said counselor Ruth Datu. “They take everything into consideration, your extracurricular activities, your major prep, your general ed, GPA, etc.”
When comparing University of California and California State University applications, the major difference between the two is that UC applications are holistic, meaning they evaluate personal insight questions. Depending on the specific UC or private school, students may also have to write an essay. For Cal State applications, they don’t require personal essays, they just base it on numbers such as a student’s GPA, major prep and the minimum of 60 semester units. As for private colleges, both ways are used, so it depends on the particular school. Another major difference between the two types of schools involves guarantees.
“For Cal State we have what’s called an Associate Degree for Transfer Program,” Datu said. “What it does is, it’s offered for certain majors and if students can complete the ‘Degree with a Guarantee’ it guarantees admission to a CSU campus.”
The ADT earned the nickname because once requirements are met with the majors offered, guaranteed priority admission to a CSU campus, not necessarily by choice, is accepted to those students. Over 20 different majors are presented with some of the degrees including an Associate in Art for Transfer and an Associate in Science for Transfer.
On the other hand, applying for UC schools doesn’t guarantee anything, but almost challenges admission.
“You have to stand out,” Datu said. “Bring up experiences both academic and in extracurricular activities that involve your major and what you want to do within your major. A lot of people qualify to go to a UC, but not everyone gets in.”
To separate from the crowd of applicants as a better candidate, one must review and check over answers, making sure they are sincere and thorough. Recommendation letters are also crucial, making teachers, counselors, and work managers great examples of people who could vouch for an applicant.
With deadlines for next year transfers at the end of this month, applications supply a sense of imperativeness due to the fact that a student cannot be accepted to a college without the application being sent out and received. Fortunately, when it comes to the application process, Saddleback College lends a helping hand.
The college’s Transfer Center is located upstairs from the counseling offices. The Center provides resources such as counselors and university representatives who visit for hours at a time, answering students who are interested, as well as presenting workshops that go in depth on the application process. With specific workshops, representatives from different schools, and counselor appointments a phone call away, makes applying that much easier.
Looking ahead, Transfer Center representative visits and workshops will begin Monday, Nov. 6, and continue throughout the rest of the month into mid December. To see who, when and where these will all take place, the schedule is located on Saddleback College’s Student Success tab, under “Transfer Center.”
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