Cultivating Dreams: Transitioning from Irvine Valley College to UC Irvine

Why did you choose Irvine Valley College?

I came to Irvine Valley College (IVC) because my brother was at IVC, and I heard that IVC had the #1 university transfer rate to the University of California (UC) system. That is the main reason I chose IVC.

Why would you recommend IVC to international students?

I think people should choose Irvine Valley College because it is a college with a lot of diverse cultures, and there are a lot of international students. IVC has an excellent pathway for students to transfer to different universities. It is a community college full of opportunities!  So I definitely recommend IVC.

Have you been able to make friends at IVC?

When I first started at IVC, it was during COVID so everything was online.  I didn’t like it.  So when I got to campus, the first thing I did was join clubs.  It is a really good way to know people.  You make friends there … and then you meet their friends and make more friends and so on!

Why should you join campus clubs?

I definitely recommend students to try different clubs to meet new people and broaden your network.  It is a great way to know other students that are going through the same experience and help each other.  And I met some of the most amazing people in the club and got to hear their stories of their journey to America and their journey to U.S. higher education and transfer.  Clubs are a really good place for you to make connections with other students.

In fact, I was a board member of the International Student Club — which I highly recommend joining. I was also part of the Economics Club and Chinese American Student Association.

There are also activities to join.  I met one of my best friends through the events organized by the International Student Program.

Tell us about your educational journey at IVC.

Well, my major was originally Business Administration, but I switched from Business Administration to Communication and then to Psychology.  It was really the counselors and professors at IVC that helped me navigate to my future path. After taking the prerequisite courses and talking with professors, it helped me realize what I actually have passion about and that helped me to choose my major of Psychology.

Do you have a particular memory of a class or teacher that helped you at IVC?

As I mentioned, I changed my major a few times.  Why I finally chose Psychology is because I took this class: Psych 7 “Developmental Psychology — Children and Adolescents.”  My professor in the class was super nice and very approachable, and she mentioned something called “trauma healing.” That sparked my interest in Psychology instantly because I want to be able to help others and give back to the community. The class was just supposed to be one of my general education courses, but after I took this class with such a great professor, I knew what I wanted to do for my future.

How did IVC help you with university transfer?

IVC has the #1 university transfer rate in California so it has a lot of help for transfer.  IVC offers a lot of workshops for university applications, and different university representatives are invited to campus to talk with students. If you join the Honors Program at IVC, they have a lot of resources and benefits for students for university transfer. For example, they have the Transfer Agreements and Guarantees (TAG) program, which is a guaranteed transfer program to some UC schools when you reach a certain grade point average. IVC creates a lot of opportunities for transfer for students.

What advice do you have for students as they look towards transfer?

The one thing I would advise students to do is to talk with their academic counselor often to make sure you are on the right track with classes, prerequisites, etc.

Why do you like living in Irvine?

I like the local beaches for sure. Laguna Beach, Newport Beach — they are all very pretty.  Southern California is a place for different beaches! In fact, the International Student Club has bonfires at the local beaches. I really enjoy the local beaches.

I think one of the best parts of being an IVC student is that you can use the OC bus for free.  The bus can take you to places like the Irvine Spectrum which has movie theaters, restaurants, and shops — it’s a great place to hang out with friends.