students at UC DavisOn Friday, February 24, 2017 the Transfer Center hosted the annual Discover UC Davis Tour and it was a very successful event! Over 25 students participated in the tour. In addition to a campus tour, students attended a general admissions session and workshops on financial aid, internships, disciplines and majors, and transfer tips. They also learned about scholarships, pre-health major preparation, undergraduate research, education abroad, positioning yourself for a career in law, business, and education, and matching careers to majors. Finally, an engaging panel of current UCD Transfer Opportunity Program (TOP) students and alumni answered questions and shared their insights and experiences into the transfer student experience.

For many students this was the first time they had traveled to UCD and for some it was the school they had applied to for the Fall 2017 semester. Students responded to the overwhelming support UC Davis provides Transfer Students, some noticing the support and passion UC Davis has for their students. Many students discovered that there were many options and resources available to them at UC Davis. One student noted, “UC Davis is amazing. I wish more students could come to see how much they have to offer transfer students…they even offer student research opportunities.”

This tour is offered exclusively to campuses that partner with the UC Davis through the Transfer Opportunity Program. The attentiveness that UC Davis faculty and staff give to Skyline College students is exceptional. Many thanks to UC Davis for sponsoring the tour and to the faculty and staff at TRIO, that helped advertise, support and partnered with the Transfer Center for the event. Through this partnership, students have bi-weekly in-person access to our UC Davis Representative, Mayra Escobar where they can meet with her on our campus for more information and advising on transfer to UC Davis. UC Davis continues to be the most popular UC campus for Skyline College students – with 173 students applying for the Fall 2017, over 75% of all students who applied to a UC campus, applied to UC Davis.

Campus tours have been identified as a critical part to transfer by the Skyline College Transfer Initiative and we are looking forward to the two other tours coming up this semester. We will be visiting Sacramento State University on Friday, April 14 and University of California, Berkeley on Friday, April 21. Demand has been very high for all three tours and we are excited to be able to offer these opportunities to our students.

Article by Lucy Jovel | Photo by Michael Stokes