courtesy of SGV Tribune
Mt. SAC transfer students may have come to a halt due to the ongoing budget cuts, but there is still hope for students in the Honors Program. The Honors Program is an academic program that helps motivated students with a strong academic record better their chances of transferring to a four year university. “The Honors Program helped me a lot to transfer and keep a high GPA while attending Mt. SAC,” said Diana Higuera, a transfer student.
Nichole Escamilla, former president of the Honors Ambassadors Club, learned about the Honors Program while petitioning for a science class. Escamilla is glad to be part of the program.
“We have support from the directors, not only academically, but as well as personal support,” said Escamilla.
“The honors program also helps us give back to society and network,” said Mikaela Zhao, a current honor student. Zhao became a member of the Honors Program by receiving a letter from the dean, due to her GPA.
To apply for the Honors Program students must have a 3.5 GPA and be eligible for English 1A and students with a 3.2 must write an essay and have a professor recommendation.
The Honors Program provides honor students with many benefits. These include small class sizes, and students who have completed 30 units, including six honor classes with a 3.2 cumulative bachelor-level GPA, can be certified as a Mt. SAC Honor Scholar. Honor students who have taken six honor classes automatically get priority registration.
Carolyn Kuykendall, director of the Honors Program, explained, “Honor students get priority registration when six honor classes have been taken. Not saying that they will get in, but it allows for their application to get looked at first.”
Honor students with a 3.7 GPA atomically have guaranteed acceptance to the University of California Irvine, with the expectation of impacted majors, such as business administration and Arts. UCI is one the many universities that the honor program partners with. UCLA, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, Cal State Fullerton, San Diego State, Azusa Pacific, are some the other schools that honor students have a greater chance in getting into.
UCLA is involved in a transfer alliance program; students who become TAP certified receive priority consideration for transfer from UCLA’s Colleges of Letter and Sciences. Acceptance rates for TAP students are higher. On the Mt. SAC Honors Program website it explained, that of the 33% of students who were accepted to UCLA, over 77% were TAP certified.
Still, budgets cuts are affecting some students’ opportunities to transfer to a four-year university, but there are academic programs such as the Honors Program that help students transfer. It gives students the benefit to build the transcript needed to transfer with a good chance of getting in.
“There are approximately 930 students in the program and students who have graduated and transferred have already been replaced,” said Kuykendall.
-Marina Ramos
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