How Sophia Transferred From Semester to Quarter System
Sophia Barber, a Goldwater Scholar moved from Community College to UCSD
Sophia Barber is a Goldwater Scholar pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Neurobiology at the University of California San Diego.
When time came for college after high school, Sophia decided to go to Pasadena City College for financial reasons.
Later, she transferred to UCSD to pursue the 4-year program.
Sophia’s transition to UCSD came with some challenges:
Her community college was semester system and UCSD is a quarter system school.
The quarter system moves so quickly, that if you get behind in the first couple of weeks, it's so difficult to catch up.
At the very beginning of the quarter Sophia had to deal with an unsafe living situation and as a result had to start commuting from like 40 minutes away.
So it was it was a lot of distraction, so she had a lot of trouble staying on top of her classes.
In a semester system, there is, in the beginning, a small period where you can get to know your peers, and then you're kind of eased into the course material.
While In a quarter system you start midterms in the second week.
So, you have to make sure that you stay on top of all of the class material.
Sophia joins our podcast to share her undergraduate college journey, UG Research at Pasadena City College and UCSD, About Winning the Goldwater Scholarship, and her Advice for high schoolers.
Here are the Hi5s from the Podcast:
Overall Experience
UG Research at PCC
Goldwater Scholarship
Research at UCSD Lab
Skills Developed by doing Research
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights with Sophia Barber of UCSD. (2.5-Minute Listen).
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Venkat