Deadline pressure continues to increase without mercy for students who scramble in desperate last-minute efforts to meet the transfer requirements.

Applications that are being filled out this month and November are causing immeasurable amounts of stress for students planning to transfer to a California state college or university.

Students become even more desperate and stressed when they realize that the classes they have taken do not meet the expected transfer requirements, Kimya Anthony, an academic counselor said.

“Students assume they know what they need to take,” Anthony said. “They have a tendency to eenie-meenie-minee-moe when selecting their classes.”

Deadlines for both CSU and UC are fast-approaching; students applying for CSU Fall ’05 may fill out applications until Nov. 30, however, applications for UC will be accepted in November until the end of the month only.

Students are strongly recommended to attend college workshops and talk to representatives on days they visit EC, Anthony said.

There are several workshops that transferring students may attend to receive aid and decrease the stress and frustration of filling out applications.

Tutors are available in the Writing Center, located on the first floor of the Humanities Building, to assist students with application forms and essays.

“We have an amazing staff of tutors to help students,” Moises Aglipay, a receptionist at the Writing Center, said. “We also have a good number of computers equipped with programs for students to use.”

Students who visit the Writing Center benefit by learning to “improve their grammar work,” Aglipay said.

“With the tutors we have, we guide them.”

Anthony said students should visit a counselor at least once a year, but said it is recommended every semester.

“A lot of students take unnecessary classes,” Anthony said. By the time students realize that many of their hard-earned units are not transferable, it is already too late.

A program that students can use to ensure they are only taking classes that are transferable to their chosen university or school is Assist, available at www.assist.com., which outlines for students what courses they need to take to get into any California college as quickly as efficiently as possible.

“It’s a wonderful website,” Anthony said.

Another recommendation that Anthony gave for students with a high GPA is to look into the Honors Transfer Program, which will increase their chances of getting accepted into a university, she said.

Information and applications are also available online at either www.csumentor.edu for CSUs and www.universityofcalifornia.edu. for UCs; here, students can receive help from the Transfer Center with online applications.

Furthermore, college representatives are periodically on campus to speak with students and answer questions about transfer and major requirements, financial aid and more. Information about when representatives visit the campus may also be found in the Transfer Center.

“It would be a good idea to talk with college representatives on the dates that they visit campus,” Anthony said.