According to De Anza College, over 2800 students transfer to four year schools annually. There are many former De Anza students who end up at the best University of California (UC) schools such as UC Berkeley and UCLA. This is one of the reasons why this community college is so popular.
In 2002-2003, De Anza sent 583 students to UC schools, which is the second highest of all California community colleges. In the same year, it sent another 1348 students to California State University (CSU) schools, which is the highest of all California community colleges.
Another advantage is the size of the college. It has over 900 faculty teaching over a thousand courses to 22,000 students. With 60 degree programs, there is a class in almost any subject at De Anza College. For these reasons, De Anza has become the most popular community college in Santa Clara County. Its size is only dwarfed by San Jose State University.
De Anza Classes
The amount of data stored at various professor rating sites is staggering for De Anza due to the size of the school. It is possible to look up grades and student reviews on practically every instructor. If a student takes the time to review those sites, he should have a very good idea of which classes are the best for him.
If academic rigor is the goal, there are many good instructors who teach classes with rigor that resembles graduate school instead of high school. At a college as big as De Anza, there are numerous opportunities to take a class with a very good instructor. Because De Anza is on the quarter system rather than the semester system, a greater number of subjects can be taken every year, thus broadening the learning experience.
Like at most colleges, it is pretty easy to add a class with no space unless it has a laboratory section. Just show up on the first day and it's very likely the professor will add everybody. If it's a science class with lab, it may be better to go elsewhere such as Foothill College (also part of the Foothill De Anza college district), West Valley College, or San Jose City College.
De Anza College Parking
This school needs its own section on parking because it is very difficult and time consuming to find parking during the first two weeks. If the student is late to a full class, he may be subject to being dropped by the instructor. The only school in the area where parking is worse is San Jose State University (SJSU). At least SJSU has a satellite parking lot that never fills up which is served by shuttle buses. De Anza has no such thing.
It is very important to get to the campus early during the first two weeks of classes, in case extra time is needed to find a parking spot. If there is time, look for spots that are not marked compact or too close to campus. It's best to park far away from the campus or in one of the garages next to a wall in order to minimize door dings and side mirror damage. After the third week, parking becomes much easier to find.
The final piece of advice on parking is to not park outside of the campus, especially inside shopping centers. The possibility of getting towed is very high. In many cases, there are big signs and banners admonishing students specifically to not park inside nearby shopping centers.
Aside from adventures with parking, De Anza is a great choice for many community college students. The high success rate in transferring students is a testament to the quality and breadth of education at this college.
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