Santa Monica College (community college) Advice

Here is some advice for SMC and other community college students.
How to plan your classes to transfer to a university, how to find friends, how to find and get the best teachers and other small things that are good to know.
1. Make an education plan and plan your classes
2. Check you professors
3. How to make friends
4. Join clubs and organizations
5. Parking vs Bus
6. Printing, studying, cafeteria
www.ratemyprofessors.com/
My Blog:
nouw.com/klaragadd
Follow me at Insta:
@KlaraGadd

[@Kimbyrleigha]

Thanks for the advice

[@denizozdingis]

Thank you so much!! All your videos are so helpful

[@avatarlove824]

Very useful as a freshman coming in to SMC, thanks a lot!

[@klaragadd8660]

Happy you got some use/help from it :)

[@medusabitch4771]

Bro i think im going in January or sum

[@avatarlove824]

@@medusabitch4771 oh okay that’s spring semester

[@samturk9970]

Hey klaragadd I know you uploaded this video almost a year ago and I’m planning on attending this school next year 🤞and daym honestly you seem like the type of person I would definitely want to get help and support from , I’m barely entering college for my first time so I’m a freshman and it’s so nerve wrecking but this video helped me a bit more to feel a bit more confident on going here I’m just nervous and all alone , I have to do this all by myself so it’s even more nerve wrecking for me

[@klaragadd8660]

I am so happy it helped Sam :) and trust me I was nervous to, but it will pass, people in college are so much nicer than in high school, but since this was a while ago I am sure you noticed :) hope you are doing great!

[@erfolg697]

this is so helpful!

[@klaragadd8660]

Happy it was :)

[@orenlinks9420]

Fax

[@TammyDey07]

Hi can you give me some details about the film production program like the degree in cinematography and what's after that, the placement and all that

[@jamiejude]

literally my exact trajectory lol

[@klaragadd8660]

Im sorry I didnt study film production so cant help you there :(

[@user-co1nr8sk5i]

Hi I wanna go Santamonica college and I have several questions🤔 Can I ask some questions?

[@johannaochoaa]

Hi, are you an international student? If so, what was your process applying to SMC?

[@Kroozy]

I want to go to SMC next year. As a international student i want to know how much it will cost on host family or rent a house.

[@klaragadd8660]

I have never heard people in college getting host families, it really depends on what area you will live in!

[@SuatKahraman]

Hi Klara , I live in turkey . I do not have a university education. I want to continue my university education at Santa Monica college. On top of that, does the school set a budget limit from us? see you soon

[@inbracedefeat]

I live in Florida right now and I am very interested in attending smc for one year and transferring into a uc school. The biggest hurdle for me right now is housing. I don’t want to pay over 800-900 a month and I am struggling to find a nice place that’s close to smc. Do you have any advice?

[@klaragadd8660]

Get roommates, go to the SMC Facebook page and make a post saying that you're looking for roomies, you will definitely find some people.

[@amonra3642]

Hi from Russia :) please tell me, what is your specialty in smc? :) this year I have a plan to enter there and choose between theater and music

[@klaragadd8660]

I studied business management and theatre, the theatre classes were pretty good, also had one really good vocal teacher :) so what I experienced they are both good

[@antonekstrom1072]

Hej, jag undrar lite över priser osv. Jag har hört att CSN kan betala en större del av priset. Jag undrar hur du gjorde, och hur du fick kontakt med skolan.

[@klaragadd8660]

CSN ska täcka allt, skolavgift och andra utgifter (som hyra, flyg, försakring mm), men du måste ansöka om det separat vad jag kommer ihåg

[@DanielMartinez-ke5xs]

What’s the easiest way to find housing or a roommate for this school??

[@klaragadd8660]

I would say Facebook groups, there is a lot of people looking for roommates and its free, its where I have found the best paces and more serious people so far! :)

[@Jaenoe818]

Would I need to have experience with sports to be able to join a team?

[@klaragadd8660]

No, but the teams do try outs and pick the best so it will definitely give you an advantage to have experience!

[@Emilyc13]

with SMC or a community college in general, do you have to transfer after the 2 years or can you just come out with a degree and that it? reallyyyy need to find this out!

[@UnlockYourSoul]

Hello, SMC student here! With all community colleges, you can either transfer after 2 years or you can just get an associate degree, no transfer needed!

[@klaragadd8660]

You don’t have to transfer in 2 years, but that’s the “common thing to do” or what the schools is trying to make you do, in order to get you BA in 4 years. But you can stay at a college as long as you want as long as you pay the tuition :P

[@tickedoffsheikh8587]

Hi Klara, I'm planning on attending community college soon. Can you say if SMC is expensive for international students? Or what are other CC in CA that might be considered reasonably priced by international students? Great video. Keep it up. Thank you.

[@klaragadd8660]

Hi there and thank you for watching 😊 SMC is pretty expensive for a community college, I took a few classes at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) and the classes there were $100 less PER UNIT for international students. And have only great things to say about the teachers and the international office, the international office at LAVC is actually so much more helpful and efficient than SMCs. I believe Los Angeles City College is cheaper too but I haven’t looked it up. Hope that helped 😊

[@jjl999]

Can you tell me about smc requirements please? Like what extracurricular activities did you do in highschool, what gpa did you have? I'd be grateful if you answer.

[@klaragadd8660]

SMC requirements are not that high, I had about a 3.5 GPA in high school but you can get in on a much lower, and even though I did cheerleading in high school I dont believe community collages like SMC care about those. But I did of course have to make the application deadlines, send my transcripts and write a essay which they gave me the topic for during the application.

[@jjl999]

KlaraGadd thank you

[@dregarcia7796]

How do u do tht with a 5am-4p.m job are there evening class. Im 20 i work in warehousing and i would like 2 go back 2 college 4 its 2 late also wanna do accounting but i make min wage and basically live check 2 check

[@klaragadd8660]

I don't think its to late! Try to take evening or online classes that can fit your schedule, start with one and if you can manage that and feel like you could take on a additional one take two the next semester :) there is always a way to get what you want, but it might take longer with a fulltime job and that is okay! :) you can do it!

[@saraforoutani6511]

Are there enough bike racks so you can ride ur bike to your classes?

[@klaragadd8660]

yeah I would say so, some are fuller than others, if I remember it right the one by the business building was always packed but the ones in the back of the school by the police station were less full

[@raghavoberoi2826]

That was helpful

[@klaragadd8660]

happy it was helpful :) thank you for letting me know! Made me happy!

[@raghavoberoi2826]

Thats sweet of you ❤️

[@preetkhatana312]

Can international students live off campus with bachelor's degree program reply please 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@klaragadd8660]

Hi :) there is no on campus living at community colleges, you will have to find housing on your own. Check the SMC Facebook page there are many people looking for roommates! (plus you can only receive AA degrees from a community college)

[@Memoriasxvida]

Thank you for this. About how many students do you think are there per class? I want to go to this college, but I have severe social anxiety that has kept me from actually attending college, but I want to overcome it, but first I have to have some sense of how many students per class are there, should I bring a computer or is a notebook okay?

[@kenbartholomew]

you can take online classes at smc. smc offers a wide range of online classes 👍

[@Memoriasxvida]

Really? I had no idea! Thank you. I will do my research now.

[@tumadre9689]

I’m going to SMC next year !!

[@tumadre9689]

I’ve heard so many good things about it, I have anxiety especially being around people so don’t worry you’re not alone :)

[@suzienunez658]

OMG HI I’m trying to attend SMC for the next school year too!! so that’s why I’m here (:

[@Antonio1995_official]

I know follow you on Instagram

[@abhinandanmalhotra3716]

Hello Mam..... Hope u are fine..... Does SMC offer courses to transfer to UCLA for Physics Major ?

[@alialrashidi1764]

Yes, smc is a great college for any engineering or science class

[@josephgomwalk5282]

For community college, after your two years, is it a must to transfer to a four year university?

[@briannareyes2652]

its not! only if u choose to

[@klaragadd8660]

no you don't have to, you can stay at the community college as long as you want but the school will try to encourage you to transfer, it is good for their statistics if as many students as possible transfer.

[@cocopopp-6865]

are you still in SMC or have you transferred to another college?

[@klaragadd8660]

I am transferring next semester, but might stay at SMC for dance and acting classes while I am attending a University.

[@Antonio1995_official]

You're so sweet and adorable sweetheart. Keep it up 😍🌹💕

[@klara3840]

Hi Klara! My name is Klara too and it's really rare to find someone with the name Klara since it's not well-known. Also, are you from Sweden? I am.

[@klaragadd8660]

Hi yes I’m from Sweden :) att stava Klara med K verkar vara ett väldigt svenskt eller skandinaviskt sätt att stava namnet på

[@SydneyScream]

What if I just wanna take a painting class for fun lol

[@klaragadd8660]

You can do that (if you're not a international student, we have to take min 12 units to keep our visa, if we only have a certain amount of units left on our AA or to transfer less are accepted) :) go for it!

[@alexandrekarsa4036]

Hey Klara how can I contact you?

[@klaragadd8660]

Hi there, do you need help with something? :)

[@user-lz9vg9xz8y]

Do you have any advice on crashing classes? I'm going to SMC next year and I'm on the notification list for the waitlist- do I have to be on the waitlist before crashing a class?

[@klaragadd8660]

You do not have to be on the wait list to crash a class. If there is spots open and no one on the wait list is trying to add the class the 1-2 first classes you will most likely get added, but you should be attending the classes you are crashes until you know. Also, always have a backup, I have crashed many classes and usually there's spots, but if there is a long wait list and its a highly ranked professor at ratemyprofessor.com it will be harder to get in! Hope this helped :)

[@ronaldhuang2053]

Can u smoke on campus

[@klaragadd8660]

No you have to go off the campus ground, most students stand right by the parking spots close to the library

[@retrotube9758]

Any one knows if SMC is liberal or conservative? Don't want no SJW in my campus lol

[@klaragadd8660]

RetroTube I would definitely say liberal.