I got an interesting piece of mail today. UCSC admitted me, without me handing in an application. Last summer I applied for their 2004 Winter semester. Then last November I applied for the 2004 Fall semester. Today they accepted me for their 2004 Spring semester for which I did not apply. They also say “this spring offer of admission will in no way affect our decision about your fall application.”Because I wanted to work towards my degree highest possible speed I was tempted to take it and get over some of the more basic required courses. And then move on for next Fall to another U. However after analyzing the pros and cons I decided against it:
Pros:
- I may get degree faster. (or may not. My suspicion that it will take 2 years no matter how fast I go. Assuming that I work part time all the way. If I don’t have to I could take more classes.)
- I enter UC earlier and start to get the real U experience earlier (Time will tell whether this is an advantage at all?)
Cons:
- The (extremely boring) Math class I am taking now at Cabrillo is required for Sociology majors at UCLA. If I am to take UCSC’ offer I am supposed to withdraw from my current college. Thus jeopardizing my UCLA chances.
- Cost (I wouldn’t want to pay a full quarter fee at UCSC if I am not taking a full load there.)
- It would pack my life and schedule too tight.
- Potential administrative nightmare to transfer from UC campus to another one for fall. In other news: I got the UW confirmation of my registration. A full week after my girlfriend got hers. The difference is that she filed online, while I had to do it with snail mail, because I had to attach transcripts from my previous schools, including the ones from Hungary.