With spring break right around the corner, the Transfer Center here at Cerritos takes advantage of the free time and organizes a trip to Northern California to visit three major universities.
“The Northern California trip is a three day tour with stops at UC Berkley, UC Davis, and UC Merced”, said Brittany Lundeen, Transfer Center Co-director.
“We usually go to Berkley due to the interest and demand of our transfer students. We also have a special partnership with Berkley called the Transfer Alliance Project (TAP). We chose UC Davis and UC Merced because we have Transfer Admissions Guarantees (TAG) with both these schools, this year would be the first time we visit UC Merced,” Lundeen added.
This year the trip will begin Sunday, March 28 and end on Tuesday, March 30th. Every campus will give a tour , admissions presentations and contact information.
The trip is free to students with a requirement of a ten dollar deposit which will be returned when they show up at the bus to leave on the trip.
“With the college paying for the transportation and the Cerritos College Foundation Office paying for the hotels and snacks, the only cost for students is their meals,” Lundeen said.
Due to limited seats, the school can only take 40 students so applications must be turned early to get a spot.
Lundeen added that due to cost of the trip, students can only take the trip once, and being selected to participate in the trip has become more competitive so she recommends students that apply take the personal statement and the application seriously.
“Students have to fill out an application which are located in the transfer center or at our bulletin board in the counselor center,” said Tatiana Misares, intermediate typist clerk.
Misares added that room and board are provided for the students, so it makes it easier for students to attend.
“Students will stay in a two bedroom suite in the Berkley area. Usually we have five students per suite separated by gender. This is easier than moving from campus to campus because it allows everyone to settle in and explore the area, rather than having to spend time unpacking and packing each day, especially when we start the day very early,” Lundeen added.
Lundeen expressed that she believes this trip is very beneficial to the students that do not have the financial resources to visit the campuses on their own.
“If a student would like to dream about attending a school outside the local area, then we think it is important that Cerritos College support them in any way that we can including academic counseling and tours. Obviously we are not able to visit every university in northern California, but we hope that the visit will give students a taste of what it is like.”
Information and fliers with more information are located in the transfer center and on bulletin boards in the Counseling and Career services.
A transfer G.P.A. of 2.8 is required and 15 to 40 transferable units must be completed, along with other criteria. Applications can also be filled out online at www.cerritos.edu/transfer. The deadline is Mar. 4 at 7 p.m.
