GROSSMONT COLLEGE—After attending Grossmont College for six semesters, Kyle James Seaman is starting yet another year of undergraduate studies, this time at Cuyamaca College, even though he has finished all his required courses for an associate of arts degree.

Seaman graduated from Santana High School in 2008. Afterwards, many of his peers recommended that he go to a community college, like Grossmont, because the plan, according to them, would save money, and would be an easier way to later move on to a four-year institution.

After completing most of his general education courses in 2010, he decided to major in mechanical engineering, but all of his desired schools—San Diego State University and Long Beach State, among others—denied him admission.

So, Seaman studied for yet another year at Grossmont, and has since completed all of his general education requirements, and has even completed more courses in his major.

Confused by the rejection, he talked with several counselors and was told that only ten percent of applicants were accepted: “6,000 applications were sent and only 600 applicants were accepted to San Diego State .” Further, Seaman said, “Another 4,000 applications were sent to Long Beach and only about 400 were accepted.”

The following year, he had a counselor check for him why he wasn’t able to transfer to San Diego State University.

After years of being told that to transfer to colleges was a relatively easy thing to do, he learned that he had completed only 50% of his major, and, with that completion-rate, he could not transfer to a University for an “impacted” major.  So he decided to take more courses in is major.

Regardless of his current situation, Seamamn said he maintains the motivation to do well in school that he received from his parents when he was a kid. Among his goals is to land a high paying job.

Seaman is currently employed with Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes and has served with the lifeguards at the YMCA program in Santee where he lives.

He said he  hopes to be admitted to San Diego State University soon and graduate shortly thereafter as he has finished the majority of his major right here at Grossmont College. His recommendation to new students at Grossmont is this: “find a good counselor, one you prefer, and stick with that person through your time in college.”

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Burke is a student in MediaComm 132; contact him at [email protected]