Community and junior college students are receiving support in applying to UCLA from the Transfer Alliance Program, which held a conference for them on Tuesday.
This program requires participants to take honors classes at community and junior colleges, and in return it gives the students priority consideration for admission to UCLA.
During the conference, workshops were held throughout the day, and the Grand Ballroom in Ackerman Union was set up with tables manned by the various programs and departments at UCLA.
Last year, of the 4,665 transfers that UCLA accepted, 913 were program members, according to the Transfer Alliance Program Council Fall 2007 Update. The report also stated that the admissions rate to UCLA for nonprogram students was 37.6 percent, compared to an 89.4 percent admit rate among program participants.
Shane Wahab, a sophomore at Antelope Valley College, said he believes students involved in the program have the edge when it comes to being admitted to UCLA.
“I joined it to increase my chances of getting into UCLA,” he said.
The rigorous honors courses that program membership requires keep Sergio Velasquez, a first-year Pierce College student, working toward his goal of attending UCLA, Vasquez said.
“The program motivates me,” he said. “I want to go to UCLA. I think I will be presented in a better light for the admissions process if I am a … member.”
Transfers represent more than 30 percent of students who graduate from UCLA each year and in some cases 40 percent, said Judith Smith, vice provost for undergraduate education, at a council meeting for program directors. She said she expects the number to remain relatively consistent for the next few years.
Other components of the Transfer Alliance Program include a scholarship program, with students receiving an average of $5,000 each, and a major development program.
“We had 28 new … scholars this year,” said Betty Glick, associate vice provost for undergraduate education.
There are 43 schools currently in the UCLA Transfer Alliance Program, generally from the Greater Los Angeles and San Diego areas, most of which were represented at the conference. During the day, there was also a council meeting for the college counselors from these schools.
Much communication with students is conducted through the admissions counselors at their schools, Glick said.
Eighty-nine percent of students in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement said academic advising is somewhat or very important to their admissions process.
Nevertheless, Nicole Jamison-Dinowitz, a sophomore at Moorpark College, said it took her hours of searching the Internet to find out information on the program at her school.
“The knowledge could be more readily available to students,” said Jamison-Dinowitz. “Right now you have to go seek it out.”
Other students said they are frustrated with the narrow variety of honors courses that their colleges offer as part of the program.
The major point of discontent for Wahab is the requirement to take six honors courses per semester in order to fulfill the program certification at his school because his school offers only a limited number of honors courses.
Nevertheless, he said a lot of people still get involved with the Transfer Alliance Program, himself included.