My path from community college to Berkeley.

Choosing community college felt like a risk. I didn’t know if the credits would transfer, whether I’d end up behind, or whether two years of work would actually get me anywhere. I looked for someone who could tell me, and I couldn’t find one.

The information is out there, but it’s scattered across a dozen sites and forum threads, and once you find it you still have to know how to read it. Requirements, deadlines, TAG dates: none of it is written for someone seeing it for the first time.

I took the path anyway. Two years later, I was admitted to UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara. I chose Berkeley and studied economics.

That uncertainty is the part I remember most, and it’s the reason I do this. I’m not a counselor. I made this exact transfer recently, and I can tell you how it actually works. I want to be the person I wish I’d had.