Expert: Todd Johnson - 10/20/2007

Question
QUESTION: hi Todd,

i am now studying my first quater in a community college in washiton state, since i am considering to go to univrsity in california, i want to transfer to the community college there, my gpa is arround 3.3, and my major gonna be architecture.

so can you recommand me some good community college there that fit my situation, thank you!

ANSWER: There are a number of factors to consider in addition to your gpa such as location and the feel of the college. Architecture is generally a 4 year degree so I wouldn't be too worried about that while at the community college. Find some colleges that offer architecture and call them to find out what background courses they want in the first two years. That way you can take those courses at the community college.

To find some community colleges in California that might be appropriate check out the College Navigator website at this website.

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

Put in your criteria for a community college in California and it will give you the options. You can then consider the options to see which is best for you and your future career of architecture.

Good luck


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: because i heard about that if you wan to transfer over state, your credits may not be fully transfered, so i think it will be better if i can be in the state where i want to go university.

Answer
There is no one good answer to the question of transferring credits. The credits that will transfer are generally greater for in state schools because they have agreements that some 4 year state colleges will accept the credits from that states community colleges. However, the question of what credits will transfer varies from college to college so you are best to check with the colleges you are looking at transferring to. California does have one of the better systems for transferring from a community college to a 4 year college so I think you may be correct that if you wish to go to a California 4 year college you may be better off in a 2 year college in California.