I have an odd question about the transfer major requirements for general engineering majors at UCs. The question was written with UCSB in mind, however I’d like to know a general (or specific) answer for the following UCs:
UCSB
UCSD
UCI
UCD
The question (again, phrased for UCSB, but applicable for other UCs):
What admissions really focuses on is the major required courses (understandably), such as the math and physics series. I believe hearing that a letter grade of C- or better is needed on all the major required courses.
But what if I skipped Math 3A and 3B (calc 1 & 2) because of a 5 in the AP Calc BC exam? UCSB’s AP credit website says that I’ve cleared 3A/B, but that could just be for freshmen. So what about transfers who need that for a major requirement? Is it an exception from the letter grade requirement? Or do I need to take calc 1 and 2 at my CC? If that’s the case, the situation would get super gnarly because I’ve already taken Multivariable calc and Linear algebra, which would mean that I’d have to take a prerequisite after those 2 (which is super weird and idk if any transfer ever had to do that).
On assist.org, nothing about AP credits for transfers is mentioned. The only explicit thing I’ve seen is how the AP chem score can’t be used for chem 1A, and AP Econ can’t be used for a major requirement for Econ B.A. I’m only using calc BC for my major requirements, so am I clear?
I’m not sure if this works, but I’m tagging @Gumbymom and @Ohm888 , who seem to have spent quite alot of time on this site. Maybe you two would know the answer.
AP awards are dicey. If you look at the attached link and go through the various UCs and colleges, you’ll get your answer. For an AP exam to fulfill a course, that specific course needs to be listed, such as Calc 3A for UCSB, as you noted. Calc 3A/3B is NOT listed as matching the AP exam. The exam scores fulfill gen ed only. So at this point you have not fulfilled the major requirements of calc for the UCSB major. The next part would be to check the specific major in case something there over-rides the general rule:
Doing a quick check I’m not seeing AP as a do-around for Calc on the EE assist page. Check to be sure, though. You may have to take Calc 3A/B — or at least 3B. They would be out of sequence so you won’t get the units but you’ll have the subject credit for the major.
Keep in mind many other UCs do not accept AP Calc for the actual courses. It will vary and they can be quite strict about it. (You’re ok at Berkeley btw.)
@Ohm888 I just talked to someone at UCSB admissions. That person has confirmed that I am in the clear, by referring to the site that @ucbalumnus posted. I was told that yes, credit can get dicey and vary by campus, but UCSB doesn’t seem to have any particular restriction on AP calc BC and engineering transfer requirements.
I asked why UCSB’s assist.org doesn’t say anything about AP calc BC (unlike UCR’s assist.org, which explicitly states that AP calc BC fulfills the math 9ABC series). I was told that it’s the same as UCR, just not mentioned (and that it should be).
After the call, I found this PDF that’s specific to UCSB’s college of engineering. While your UC site says that BC is for general ed, the chart on page 8 says no general ed credit, and instead credit for calc 1/2 (unless I missed something). Thanks for bringing it up though, I was not aware of that site.
Given the PDFs from ucbalumnus, it seems like I am safe from the other UCs as well. My CC requires a 5 on BC to skip calc 1 and 2, which I guess is a good safeguard for UCs that want a 5 instead of a 3. If major requirements were ever an issue, I think my CC would put another kind of safeguard on this.
I don’t think any of the UCs have a 3rd quarter calculus that’s not covered by math from my CC.
UCR at one point had a potential issue about this, but the updated assist.org explicitly says that this is no longer an issue.
I’m glad you checked because those links that @ucbalumnus connected are general credits awarded by the university, which are often misleading. Yeah, UCSB college of engineering says on the main AP UC page that neither AP exam articulate as Calc 1 and 2, while other colleges at UCSB do match them. It might be nice if the page was updated. Although I suppose it simply reiterates the need to verify.
In the meantime. I’m glad you found the pdf from college of Engineering. You always need to go by college at the end of the day. ? Thx for the pdf link. I probably gave you a scare!!