There is a fabulous new video on YouTube demonstrating how to use WebAdvisor to register for classes. This might be particularly helpful for new students. Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a15cmwYxFYQ
Monday, April 26, 2010
Appealing an Admissions Decision
Many students have already received admissions notifications from the universities they have applied to, and UC Berkeley is expected to release admissions decisions on April 30. If you are denied admissions, you might want to appeal the decision if you can provide some new or additional information that was not included in your UC application. Here are some links to Berkeley, Los Angeles, and San Diego's websites with helpful information about appealing:
Berkeley: http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/general.asp?id=113&navid=N
Los Angeles: http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/appealstr.htm
San Diego: http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/transfer/admission.html
Please note that the San Diego link is for Transfer Student Services. No appeals information has been posted yet for Fall 2010 admissions, so contact TSS if you have a question about appealing an admissions decision.
For any other UC or university campus, contact the Undergraduate Admissions office for information about appealing a denial. Again, you can only appeal if you have new or additional information to provide that was not included in your original application.
Berkeley: http://students.berkeley.edu/admissions/general.asp?id=113&navid=N
Los Angeles: http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/appealstr.htm
San Diego: http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/transfer/admission.html
Please note that the San Diego link is for Transfer Student Services. No appeals information has been posted yet for Fall 2010 admissions, so contact TSS if you have a question about appealing an admissions decision.
For any other UC or university campus, contact the Undergraduate Admissions office for information about appealing a denial. Again, you can only appeal if you have new or additional information to provide that was not included in your original application.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Academic Counseling FAQs
I get lots of questions on the same topics. To save both yourself and me some time, please read my Academic Counseling Frequently Asked Questions page to determine if your questions can be answered there: http://www.dvc.edu/international/pdfs/frequently-asked-questions.pdf
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Stress Management Resources
Spring Break is over, but summer is still seven weeks away, and there's lots of work to do between now and then. We all need to be aware of the effects of stress in our lives and learn how to better manage stress so that we can function as our best selves. Following is a link to a website with links to various university online resources on managing stress. Thanks to Mr. Nathan Grimm of the SR Education Group for sharing this link with me.
http://www.guidetohealthcareschools.com/tips-and-tools/stress-management
http://www.guidetohealthcareschools.com/tips-and-tools/stress-management
Monday, March 29, 2010
Good News from UCSD!
The University of California at San Diego will allow international students to participate in the Transfer Admissions Guarantee (TAG) program for the Fall 2011 admissions cycle. Click the link below for details:
http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/transfer/tag.html
http://www.ucsd.edu/prospective-students/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/transfer/tag.html
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
AP (Advanced Placement) Exams
Some students have expressed an interest in taking AP exams for U.S. college credit or to fulfill transfer or graduation requirements. Here is a link to the College Board's AP website with information on how to take an AP exam:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/reg.html
If you are interested in taking an AP exam, please contact the College Board for more information.
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/reg.html
If you are interested in taking an AP exam, please contact the College Board for more information.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Who do I work for?
Many international students are understandably quite interested in the University of California system, and especially in the UC Berkeley and UCLA campuses. Those are world-renowned institutions with many highly recognized and regarded programs.
However, international students attending or planning to attend DVC need to understand that my primary role at DVC is to help students understand the MINIMUM requirements involved for transferring from DVC to a CSU or UC campus. I often get questions from students about UC statistics and practices that I am simply unable to answer because I do not work for the UC system.
There are, though, websites that students can access to find some of the answers to their questions. Here are a few of the UC-related websites I commonly refer students to:
1. http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu is the UC system portal to the world. At this website students can learn about the various UC campuses, their programs, and even apply online.
2. http://statfinder.ucop.edu is a website from the University of California Office of the Chancellor. Here students can run customized tables showing various statistics for the UC campuses, including admissions rates and average GPA's for newly admitted students from the California community colleges.
3. http://www.assist.org is the website that students and counselors use to determine which courses a student should take to transfer into a particular program in a CSU or UC campus. It is also useful for exploring the majors offered in the CSU and UC systems.
4. http://www.dvc.edu/org/departments/transfer-center/reps-visit.htm#UC is a link to the DVC Transfer Center's schedule of representatives visiting the DVC campus from various universities, including UC Berkeley. The BEST source of information about a particular UC campus is a person who actually works at that campus. Students currently attending DVC are welcome to meet with these representatives to find out more about transferring to that UC campus.
One final thought to share: Students have the mistaken notion that there is some sort of "secret formula" to follow to get admitted to a selective UC campus. The fact is that the admissions process is a highly subjective process that examines not only quantifiable data, such as GPA and course completion, but also qualitative information such as a student's background, the student's extracurricular experiences (e.g. leadership experience and community service), employment history, and more. There is no counselor anywhere who can accurately predict a student's chances for being admitted to a selective campus or program. The best advice we can give students is to get as high a GPA as possible, get involved in extracurricular activities that are driven by the student's passion and not by whether or not the student believes that is what the selective campus is looking for, and to tell their own story in the application's personal statement. And the final piece of advice? Don't take rejection from a selective UC campus personally. It does not mean that you are not a good student; it simply means that the UC campus was not able to admit you at that particular time. Consider that many famous and successful people in the world did NOT attend UC Berkeley or UCLA, nor any other "famous" or "selective" campus, yet they are leading happy and productive lives. You can, too, because happiness and success are relative terms that are mainly the products of one's personal choices.
However, international students attending or planning to attend DVC need to understand that my primary role at DVC is to help students understand the MINIMUM requirements involved for transferring from DVC to a CSU or UC campus. I often get questions from students about UC statistics and practices that I am simply unable to answer because I do not work for the UC system.
There are, though, websites that students can access to find some of the answers to their questions. Here are a few of the UC-related websites I commonly refer students to:
1. http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu is the UC system portal to the world. At this website students can learn about the various UC campuses, their programs, and even apply online.
2. http://statfinder.ucop.edu is a website from the University of California Office of the Chancellor. Here students can run customized tables showing various statistics for the UC campuses, including admissions rates and average GPA's for newly admitted students from the California community colleges.
3. http://www.assist.org is the website that students and counselors use to determine which courses a student should take to transfer into a particular program in a CSU or UC campus. It is also useful for exploring the majors offered in the CSU and UC systems.
4. http://www.dvc.edu/org/departments/transfer-center/reps-visit.htm#UC is a link to the DVC Transfer Center's schedule of representatives visiting the DVC campus from various universities, including UC Berkeley. The BEST source of information about a particular UC campus is a person who actually works at that campus. Students currently attending DVC are welcome to meet with these representatives to find out more about transferring to that UC campus.
One final thought to share: Students have the mistaken notion that there is some sort of "secret formula" to follow to get admitted to a selective UC campus. The fact is that the admissions process is a highly subjective process that examines not only quantifiable data, such as GPA and course completion, but also qualitative information such as a student's background, the student's extracurricular experiences (e.g. leadership experience and community service), employment history, and more. There is no counselor anywhere who can accurately predict a student's chances for being admitted to a selective campus or program. The best advice we can give students is to get as high a GPA as possible, get involved in extracurricular activities that are driven by the student's passion and not by whether or not the student believes that is what the selective campus is looking for, and to tell their own story in the application's personal statement. And the final piece of advice? Don't take rejection from a selective UC campus personally. It does not mean that you are not a good student; it simply means that the UC campus was not able to admit you at that particular time. Consider that many famous and successful people in the world did NOT attend UC Berkeley or UCLA, nor any other "famous" or "selective" campus, yet they are leading happy and productive lives. You can, too, because happiness and success are relative terms that are mainly the products of one's personal choices.
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