My Trojan Transfer Experience: Community College to USC with the Trojan Transfer Plan

By: Ela Rybak ‘25

On March 30, 2021, I realized I might never live out my dream of attending USC. My stomach dropped as soon as I read the first words of my rejection letter. All of my hard work felt wasted. My heart already belonged to USC, so I hadn’t considered attending anywhere else. What was I supposed to do?

I spent the next hour crying before I was able to face reading my entire rejection letter. At the bottom, I noticed a section personally addressed to me describing the Trojan Transfer Plan, which offered the opportunity to transfer to USC after just a single year at a junior college, US university, or partner abroad institution with the added help of individualized guidance from USC advisors. This specific invite was enough to keep my hope alive.

Although the transfer admission wasn’t explicitly promised, it proved that attending USC wasn’t impossible, so I turned to the other six schools I applied to and began to analyze them up against the promise of the Trojan Transfer Plan. Knowing that applying to college was a bit like gambling, I had my safety schools lined up and managed to get into all six, including Northeastern University and the University of Georgia. Choosing the Trojan Transfer route would mean forgoing jumping into the traditional college evolution to attend community college and continue facing the uncertainty around whether I would ultimately be admitted.  Because I wanted to fairly consider all my options, my mom and I jumped on a plane to visit the University of Georgia, where I ended up having the most eye-opening moment of my college transfer journey.

After my University of Georgia tour, it clicked. I looked at my mom, and she instantly knew what I was going to say. I took a deep breath and admitted it didn’t feel right. No other university would feel like USC. As soon as we went back to the hotel, I began looking into the application process for Pasadena City College, undeterred by this riskier path. 

Although my conviction felt clearer, there was barely any information on the Trojan Transfer Plan online beyond forums and the occasional article, which allowed plenty of doubts to creep in. I constantly asked myself the question: What if I worked hard once again and still didn’t get in? 

Luckily, community college was an amazing experience. As a student who spent her last two years of high school on Zoom, community college was the perfect transition between high school and university. Not only did I love my classes and professors, but I formed lifelong connections. There shouldn’t be any kind of stigma around community college, and transfers from these schools actually make up around fifty percent of the admitted transfer population. In hindsight, I am so grateful for my community college experience and truly cannot imagine starting my college career any other way.

During my time in community college and the Trojan Transfer Plan, my appointed USC advisor made me aware of USC’s articulation agreement which specifies the courses from California community colleges USC would seamlessly accept for credit. The articulation agreement helped me complete almost all my GE and business requirements before transferring. Being more communicative with my advisor during my second application process helped me better convey my passion for attending in my application essays as well, which I believe greatly impacted the changed outcome. I also made sure my essays were well edited and received a recommendation from one of my community college professors that taught a business-related course since that was my intended major at USC. 

My desire to attend USC never dwindled during my time in community college, which is why I stayed so hopeful and continued on my path toward gaining admission. Though receiving the first rejection was difficult, the journey of the Trojan Transfer Plan was rewarding in itself. It offered me my first bit of USC community when I reached out to fellow prospective transfer students via the Trojan Transfer Program Instagram account and ended up meeting one of my current best friends.

Looking back, I’m certain that I made the right decision to attend community college for a year to have the chance to be a Trojan. If you have a dream school, don’t let rejection stop you from following your heart and your gut. If you, too, have recently received a letter inviting you to the Trojan Transfer Plan, remember that a path you have never considered may be an even better way of reaching your final destination.

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