Bakersfield College held their annual transfer day on Sept. 13, and for the first time UC Berkeley had a representative attend.The event showcased dozens of schools to help students interested in transfering.
“So far it has been great but I’m still looking forward to meeting more students,” said UC Berkeley admissions officer Henry Tsai. “I want to talk to as many students as possible and give out as much information on the school. I want to give the idea that [students] can go to any college that they want to, and if they try hard that Berkeley is very obtainable.”
He added that the most common thing students asked Tsai about was how hard it is to get into Berkeley.
“They mostly asked me how hard it is to get into, and what’s the GPA requirement and things like that,” he said. “Mostly I just tell them that there is a range from 3.6-3.8, but that’s an average so there is an above and below. We also look at more than the GPA.”
He added that the minimum requirements to transfer to Berkeley are 60 transferable semester units, 3.0 GPA and the IGETC or the L&S breadth requirement.
“Those three things need to be done by the spring semester you want to transfer.”
Some of the more notable schools that made it to transfer day were: UC Berkeley, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, University of Arizona, Oregon State University, Fresno State University and University of Nevada among many others.
BC’s transfer center director and articulation officer Sue Granger-Dickson commented on how this year’s transfer day went.
“The turnout is great,” she said. “It’s even better than last year. Students seem to be genuinely interested in their futures and genuinely interested in transfer.
“We want to encourage transfer students about the possibilities of transfer, and that the four-year universities want them. Just by letting them know what they need to do and getting them to choose a major, choosing the right courses and getting them to do well in those courses because with the changes on financial aid, students can’t afford to waste time,” she said. The main point of transfer day is to educate the students of the transfer process, to encourage them to consider transfer to either a CSU, UC or a private or out of town college.”
Last year, Granger-Dickson said they wanted to reach a goal of being in the top 50 in community colleges that have the most students transferring to four-year schools.
She explained that they did increase their numbers, but she is not sure if they reached those goals.
“I’m encouraged that we’re getting the word out, and I’m encouraged that we’re building a culture of transfer on the Bakersfield campus,” she said. “I’m also encouraged that the four-year colleges are excited to be here. I’m happy that we’re reaching more students and more diverse students.”
Senior director for California admissions and representative for University of Arizona, Gil Gasteluno, commented on transfer day.
“I would like to let students here at BC to be aware of the opportunities out there to go to an out-of-state school,” he said. “I really enjoy talking to students and especially ones that didn’t realize there are opportunities besides their own backyard, and it’s great because it’s like a light goes on and they get super excited. Even if they don’t go to the U of A, they can be aware of the vast opportunities that are out there for them, and that just makes me feel great.”
Some BC students commented on the schools that caught their attention and just transfer day in general.
“It’s pretty cool, I’ve gotten a lot of helpful information,” said criminal justice major Luis Jimenez. I really liked the California Baptist University because they’re telling me a lot about the criminal justice stuff and it sounds good.”
Alicia Adams, who is majoring in nursing, gave her thoughts on it.
“I think it’s cool because all these different schools are here,” she said. “I really like that it’s not only schools from California. The school that I really liked was the University of San Diego. I always wanted to go there because of the beaches there.”