Jan 24 2013, 05:43 AM
QUOTE(latias93 @ Jan 24 2013, 02:57 AM)
A-levels are a waste of time.
Why not go to a 2-year community college and then transfer into the UC's as a junior?
I'm currently in Santa Monica College (SMC) in Santa Monica, CA. Fees are about $8,000/year which is about the same as Taylor's ADP (so my two Taylor's friends tell me, they both transferred from Taylor's to SMC). If you're already considering to join the UC system as a freshman, then I should probably not have to warn you about the living costs should you take the community college path; it is relatively cheap. And that's saying something, as I live in Los Angeles.
I'm planning to transfer to either UCLA, UC San Diego, or CSU Long Beach after I complete my 60 units here.
By the way, all the Malaysians I know that came from ADP programmes wished that they "knew about community colleges sooner" and would've come here straight had they known that the costs were pretty much the same, save for the living expenses, and they would've enjoyed the American college experience for a couple extra years. Do give it some though.
If you need more info about this, shoot me a message. It seems that you're interested in California, then I'm your guy if you'd like to know more about the cost of living, etc.
I wouldn't say that A-levels are a waste of time though. I gained about 20 hours worth of credit from that before coming to the states as a freshman. An advantage of taking A-levels I feel is that you still have the option of applying for the UK or Australia if you do decide to change your mind.Why not go to a 2-year community college and then transfer into the UC's as a junior?
I'm currently in Santa Monica College (SMC) in Santa Monica, CA. Fees are about $8,000/year which is about the same as Taylor's ADP (so my two Taylor's friends tell me, they both transferred from Taylor's to SMC). If you're already considering to join the UC system as a freshman, then I should probably not have to warn you about the living costs should you take the community college path; it is relatively cheap. And that's saying something, as I live in Los Angeles.
I'm planning to transfer to either UCLA, UC San Diego, or CSU Long Beach after I complete my 60 units here.
By the way, all the Malaysians I know that came from ADP programmes wished that they "knew about community colleges sooner" and would've come here straight had they known that the costs were pretty much the same, save for the living expenses, and they would've enjoyed the American college experience for a couple extra years. Do give it some though.
If you need more info about this, shoot me a message. It seems that you're interested in California, then I'm your guy if you'd like to know more about the cost of living, etc.
On a personal level though, I don't think I would have taken the community college route even if I had known about it before applying. I don't know what the transfer rates are from SMC to any of the unis you have mentioned are, but I'm guessing that it's not a given that a person will be able to get into any of those. I'm not sure that I like the uncertainty of that path. Not trying to detract from your experience, latias, I'm just stating my own personal opinion about this.
Ah yes, to anyone who can afford it, California's a much nicer place to be than the Midwest. It's dreary and cold here
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In general though, I believe that transfer acceptance rates into a lot of US universities are rather low, but perhaps feeder colleges are a different ball game altogether. Well you have the better experience in this matter. Although, the point I was trying to make is, as high as the transfer rates might be from SMC into UC, it's still not an absolute given, am I right, and from my point of view, no matter how minute the possibility of me not getting into UC from SMC might be, in my books it's still enough to unnerve me. Personal preference, like what I said earlier. The uncertainty would drive me a bit nuts 
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