Micah Davis
Buried in the general catalog lies the Pierce College mission statement, which contains a promise to dedicate all resources to ensure that students achieve their educational, career and personal goals.Among those is the desire to transfer from Pierce to a four-year university, preferably in two years. While our campus offers ample opportunity to do so, it doesn’t appear to be happening as smoothly as possible for some students.”Most community college students are undecided and don’t know where they want to transfer,” explained Claudia Ramirez, counselor at Pierce. “If you don’t know what you want to do, you can’t know where you want to go.”Pierce is recognized as one of the top transfer schools in Southern California, according to the campus Web site.Alliances with schools such as UCLA and Cal State Northridge, small class sizes and readily accessible faculty and staff are just some of the reasons students regard Pierce as their community college of choice.However, the school can only do so much and a lackadaisical approach to determining your future university can lead to a delay in actualizing the dream of moving on.”I’ve been going to Pierce for about a year now,” said Ervin Zamora, 19. “I don’t know where I want to transfer yet. I’m just taking classes and going with the flow – whatever crosses my path, I’ll take it.”The idea of transferring can be overwhelming, but the process can be simplified with a visit to the counseling office.”See a counselor, that is number one,” said Elizabeth Atondo, transfer director. “Students need to map out a plan and do their research, because that is the thing students don’t do. They rely on a friend to tell them what courses to take.”The key to ensuring a timely departure from Pierce is a strict adherence to a general education program.The Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum, IGETC, is a general education program students use to fulfill lower division requirements at a CSU or UC school, according to www.assist.org.IGETC requirements are divided into five areas of study and require completion of a minimum of 37 semester units.It can be a good option for students that want to transfer, but are unsure of which UC or CSU to attend or what major to pursue.Although completion of IGETC does not guarantee admission to a university, it ensures potential transfer students are at least eligible to attend their campus of choice.There are additional general education programs, some tailored to students applying only to CSU schools. Meeting with a counselor is the best way to determine which plan is best for an individual student. Alongside the various general education programs, Pierce offers additional support to prospective transfer students.The Pierce College Honors Program promotes transfer to a number of prestigious universities, according to the program’s Web site.”Our program will definitely help you transfer,” said honors counselor Cristina Rodriguez. “It’s a little more difficult – you need 24 units of honors work, and there are higher expectations But, we have a much higher rate of getting into schools like UCLA.”This year, UCLA admitted 87 percent of the honor students who applied from Pierce. That number is lower from last year’s 91 percent, due mostly to an increase in transfer student applications.It’s difficult to determine exactly how many Pierce students are transferring every year. In the Spring 2008 semester, 528 completed either the IGETC or CSU general education program, according to the Admissions and Records Office.This number rose dramatically from the Fall 2007 semester, when only 219 students completed one of the two programs.Unfortunately, there is no way to keep track of every student who has transferred. Some elect not to inform Pierce where they are headed, while others move on to private universities that do not share that information.”We have students who follow the IGETC plan or the General Education plan, but it’s hard to keep track of anything past that,” said Shelley Gerstl, dean of Admissions and Records.Pierce offers every student a clear path to transferring, and when outside obligations interfere with studies, following a general education program makes it easier to get back on course.Counselor Ramirez offered this summation of a prospective transfer student’s situation: “The sooner you know what you want to do, the sooner you can get out here.”