It’s around the time students will begin to hear back from universities they’ve applied to and prepare to transfer for the upcoming fall semester.
Representatives from University of California Los Angeles and California State University Los Angeles were at the Transfer Center answering questions about the respective process of transferring to UC and Cal States on Tuesday April 13.
UCLA representative Pantzar Giourdjian and CSULA recruitment specialist Nadia Mendoza were informing students about transfer requirements and tuition.
“This is my second year now,” Giourdjian said. “I come a lot during the fall and spring. I try to come every two weeks in the fall and twice a month in the spring.”
UCLA is prestigious and expensive with tuition costing more than $12,000 per year. However, tuition cost varies with each student as certain costs such a health insurance might not apply to them.
There are also scholarships and grants that are available to students who apply. The University of California Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan is a grant that students are automatically put in for when they file their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) according to Giourdjian.
“This is the newest plan that has helped out a lot of students,” Giourdjian said. “This is for all the UC campuses. So, if you’ve filled out your FASFA or Dream Act and you qualify for financial aid and see that there’s a need for financial aid they’ll basically cover your tuition for you.”
Giourdjian assists students with many aspects of the process from financial aid to helping with insight questions that are part of the application.
Philosophy major Joseph Hampton, is worried his application will be ignored from the numerous applications that are submitted.
“A little bit of confidence knowing it actually got looked at and that it wasn’t sitting on a shelf,” Hampton said.
Giourdjian also encourages students to attend the upcoming UCLA Stomp Conference happening on April 29. The conference will be an opportunity for students to network, make new friends and to get more information on financial aid, housing and the academic departments.
Mendoza was primarily discussing the 60 transferable unit requirements that are needed for CSUs, maintaining a 3.0 grade point average and the four crucial requirements of passing written, speech, critical thinking and quantitative courses.
According to Mendoza, a student can fail to have a certain number of units completed by a certain date or be missing one course and that can change a student’s academic journey.
A solution can be discovered to stay on track as well as clarifying career goals. Cal states have eight impacted majors which are biology, criminal justice, business management, business accounting, business marketing, nursing, social work and psychology.
“There’s not enough space to support the interest to pursue those major in our campus,” Mendoza said. “Just be aware that it’s not the same across every Cal State we all have our own impacted majors and those are our eight.”
According to Mendoza, constant communication between student and counselor or a representative is important to make sure that the student is on their way to successfully transfer to their desired school.
“Ideally, we are hoping to guide them toward that direction to get those units in a nice time so that way you’re not missing that one unit to be eligible for the fall semester,” Mendoza said. “We always want them to talk to us regularly so that they understand their timelines.”
