Questions and Answers about California Colleges and Universities
April 2005
This set of four Q&As provides comprehensive information for college-bound high school students and their parents. They cover the topics that all high school students need to know, including:
- What should students do while in high school to prepare for college?
- What factors should they consider to decide whether to attend community college versus California State University (CSU) or the University of California (UC)?
- What are the admissions requirements for community college, CSU, and UC?
- For students who start out at a community college, what should they do to prepare to transfer to CSU or UC, and why would they want to?
- Where can students go for more information?
Presented in an accessible question-and-answer style, each guide addresses a specific area of interest:
To evaluate if a community college would be the right place to start, download A Guide to California's Community Colleges. (PDF 689 K)
To find out about transferring from a community college to a four-year university, download Community College: A first step to a bachelor's degree. (PDF 502 K)
To learn about the high school courses and placement tests that are required to apply to the University of California system, download A Guide to UC Admissions Policies. (PDF 484 K)
To learn about the high school courses and placement tests that are required to apply to the California State University system, download A Guide to CSU Admissions Policies. (PDF 504 K)
The following PDFs have no background shading and may be easier to copy:
A Guide to California's Community Colleges (PDF 463 K)
Community College: A first step to a bachelor's degree (PDF 462 K)
A Guide to UC Admissions Policies (PDF 465 K)
A Guide to CSU Admissions Policies (PDF 464 K)
These publications are also available in Spanish:
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