What started off as a rainy, gloomy day was brightened by cheerful students, upbeat music and the transfer hopes harbored by many Contra Costa College students.
Transfer Day, held in Campus Center Plaza and Fireside Hall on Oct. 2, gave students the opportunity to talk to representatives from more than 30 public and private colleges and universities from California and beyond, including the University of Hawaii, the University of Idaho and Washington State University.
The colleges offer different opportunities for students, like moving to a different state, focusing on a desired major or the availability of financial help.
The University of Hawaii offers half-priced tuition to students from western states, the University of the Pacific in Stockton smaller class sizes and William Jessup University in Rocklin emphasizes internship opportunities.
Animal science major Julianna Flores said, “I spent a lot of my time with UC Davis representative because they have more resources for my major. I found out they have an animal husbandry program, so I’d be able to work with farm animals.”
Other students said they weren’t sure of their major but still got an idea of what different colleges offer them through a list of suggested questions to ask the college reps that was handed out by counselors.
Undecided major Bryan Calvo said, “I don’t know what I want to major in yet, but this gave me an opportunity to speak to someone from UC Davis, UC San Francisco and San Francisco State, which are close by. I also found out about their transfer requirements.”
Counselors gave students a flier outlining the best questions to ask representatives. The forms also highlighted different things to consider when narrowing down a list of colleges and filling out applications.
Counselor Andrea Phillips, who organized the Transfer Day event, said, “Students should set a deadline for mid-November (to finish applications). We have workshops to help, even some on Saturdays. Students should check the website (contracosta.edu) and not wait until the (application) due date.”
Phillips said she gave her counseling students an assignment for the event to encourage them to find out about the colleges and what they have to offer.
One of her students, psychology major Sagrario Franquez, said, “I talked to reps from San Jose State, Sacramento State and UC Davis. I found out Sacramento State has minors related to my psychology major that I didn’t know about.”
This year, the Career/Transfer Center helped with Transfer Day and assigned counselors to speak to students about the process.
Career Services Coordinator Natasha DeAlmeida said, “We are fairly new. The center opened in 2017 but we want to encourage students to think about transferring sooner and to work with the resources we have here.”
Counselors were on hand to answer questions for students and guide them through the process with the hope it will make their application processes more comfortable.
Counselor Lorena Gonzales said, “We’re letting students know about the transfer workshops and questions to ask the colleges. We want to support them through the process so they know what to do when (as they get closer to transferring).”
Transfer Day was originally scheduled to be held in Campus Center Plaza, but rain moved the majority of college representative booths into Fireside Hall.
Despite the inclement weather, students crowded Fireside Hall and Campus Center Plaza in order to learn about majors at potential transfer locations, costs and what life is like at a four-year college.
The representatives were also enthusiastic.
San Francisco State representative Florentino Ubungen said, “We are the greatest university on the planet,” before going into a description of the school.
There were many opportunities to speak to college representatives, but there was also an opportunity to check out some colleges by actually registering for a trip to see them.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is offering 12 students the opportunity to go to seven colleges for its annual “Get On The Plane” college tour.
The tour takes students to Howard, Norfolk State, Lincoln State universities and four other colleges.
Applications are now being accepted for the tour with the registration process ended Nov. 29.