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Applying Direct to a University

The materials on this page are for students who are applying to a four year college or university direct from high school (ie, not transferring from College of the Canyons or another community college). 

For underclassmen who are considering applying to a university directly from high school, please note that the information on this page (and the resources listed here) will change from year to year based upon the requirements and procedures being used by the California universities for that year. 

Every year in late september, Ms. Cubbage gives a workshop for students who are applying direct to a university – all of the information on this page will be reviewed and your questions about applying direct will be answered during or after the workshop.

You can read through all of the information on this page, or use the links below to skip to the section you are interested in. 

College Planning Tools

The tools listed here are designed to help you in preparing for the college application process.

  • Thinking of Going Direct? - This presentation, given by Ms. Cubbage to 11th grade students each year, is updated yearly with the most current information about the university application process and considerations for students considering applying direct during their senior year of high school.

  • Direct/Transfer Planning Guide – Provides a timeline for applying direct to a univresity from high school, or transferring to a university from a community college, and answers to commonly asked questions regarding these paths.

  • CollegeWeekLive

  • US Dept of Education College Navigator

  • The College Board

  • College Portraits

  • California Colleges

  • The Petersons Guide

  • The Princeton Review

  • Who Do You Want to Be? The website partners with the California Community College System, California Department of Education and State of California to connect you to the latest information on careers and what education is needed.

  • The Big Future The College Board's newest search tool for colleges and careers is interactive and gives you multiple ways to search.

    University Application Links

    Application Resources

    The process for applying to colleges and universities is time sensitive and students undertaking this task should leave plenty of time for filling out applications, completing personal statements, and getting letters of recommendations.  The following tools are designed to help walk you through the process.  Note: These are the same materials that Ms. Cubbage goes through in her Applying Direct Workshop in the fall.

    Naviance Materials
    How to Use the College Tab in Naviance
    How to Request a Transcript in Naviance
    How to Request Letters of Rec in Naviance

    • For The UC Application

    For the CSU Application
    CSU Freshman Application Instructions
    CSU Mentor Tutorial
    CSU Application Form (To be used as a practice tool only)
    FAQ's for the UC and CSU Applications

    Notifying Schools of Changes to Your Application After Submission

    More information will be forthcoming in the spring.

    Language Other Than English Requirement (LOTE)

    Probably the biggest concern many students have on some of the applications is the LOTE (Language Other Than English) requirement. ALL of COC's language 101 classes correspond to two years of high school foreign language. You should say this in the additional comments section of the application and include the web address for the page in COC's catalog that shows the course description.

    Most of our students who applied to the CSUs last year did not have any problems with the LOTE requirement but a few did and we had to write a few appeals. If you want to be proactive about this, contact the office of admission at the campus(es) where you apply (any school if you want) and tell them about this situation. For the CSU and UC, you can ask for a manual review of your application because you are meeting the LOTE with a college course. Be ready to give them COC's website address and tell them how to access the college catalog on the left menu bar of the main page. If you can give them the page number in the catalog for your course, that would be very helpful, too.

    PSAT

    The PSAT or "Practice SAT" is administer once a year in October. 10th grade students are encouraged to take it for experience. 11th grade students who want to be entered in the National Merit Scholarship competition MUST take it in 11th grade in order to qualify for the competition

    SAT and ACT

    The SAT and ACT with Writing are the two admissions tests most commonly required and accepted by colleges and universities for the freshman application. All UC and CSU schools will accept EITHER test but the ACT must include the writing component. Most other colleges and universities will accept either test, but SOME schools prefer one test over the other. Students should check each school's test preference. Students should take their first test in the spring semester of 11th grade and the second in September, October, or November of 12th grade. Students can take both tests if they want.


    SAT®-type Prompts In MyAccess
    The MY Access!® prompt library presents a wide array of prompts that can help students practice persuasive and expository writing techniques that will be tested on the writing portion of the SAT. Several IntellimetricTM prompts and 10 pilot prompts will present writing prompts in a similar format to the writing portion of the SAT. Use the keyword SATPREP to find these prompts in the Assignment Center. And as always, graphic organizers are available to help students gather their ideas and develop content. Search for the graphic organizers using the iSEEK search bar in the top right section of any My Access! screen.

    School Codes (AKA a CEEB#)

    AOC School Code: 053-262

    COC School Code: 004-117 (or 4117 if asked for a 4-digit number)

    Parent Resources

    Parent Application Night Information (This workshop is given to AOC parents each fall)

    • NOTE: Updated information on this workshop will be available Oct 2012.