<p>I understand that there is a fiscal issue in California, and no help is offered to OOS. I wish that DC had a viable state school, but even if we did, it would definitely be “too close” for my D. I know that California has different climate zones , but still, no California zone will mirror Minnesota weather, correct? I just was trying to understand why the processes there seem more complicated than at other schools, which don’t require a designation of major from a 17 year old, and where registration is only prioritized by seniority and honors college involvement. Or maybe other schools have this same set-up? I’m very glad to hear that everyone posting has had positive experiences with access to desired classes.</p>
<p>Most areas of California (where the UC’s/CSU’s are located) are going to be much warmer than Minnesota! </p>
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<p>I would recommend that if the school allows the AP score to be used as a prerequisite for a more advanced course that the student try the old final exams for the course(s) that are allowed to be skipped. That way, the student can tell how well s/he knows the material from the college’s expectations. There is no point in wasting time and tuition repeating what one already knows, while being careful to avoid jumping into a course more advanced than what one is prepared for.</p>
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<p>Many of these decisions are campus based. For example, Berkeley applicants apply to a division (College of Letters and Science, College of Engineering, etc.); in the College of Engineering, they are admitted by major (but not in the College of Letters and Science). Course registration occurs in multiple phases – in phase 1, all students select about half of their schedules, then in phase 2, all select up to a normal full course load. After phase 2, students can add and drop based on space available. Each course may have reserved space based on class standing, class level, declared major (or undeclared), new or continuing status, etc…</p>
<p>Of course, other campuses may differ from how Berkeley does things.</p>
<p>I can totally see my absent minded D forgetting that there are multiple phases to registration…</p>
<p>Haha, no! No Minnesota regions in CA! What is your child interested in? If she want’s warmer and is interested in a state type of school has she looked at the University of Nevada system? They cost less but have some very “UC” facilities. I can’t say if they give aid to OOS. My D applied to University of Iowa for their writing program and even though we were out of state, I was surprised at how affordable the offer was. (she didn’t end up going there though.)</p>
<p>FWIW, most of the CA publics don’t require a freshman to declare. Some will have specific majors that kids “apply into” but the vast majority of students apply undeclared.</p>
<p>The answer varies by campus - some like Sac State restrict the number of units you can pre-register for. So, to take more than 15 units, you have to add a class which can be dicey. Others have no such restriction. My son is a sophomore at Chico and has no trouble getting required courses. His major requires 120 units with is 15/semester for 4 years. He started with 9 AP units so, he is a little ahead of the curve. </p>
<p>Don’t most UCs require an application to a specific college within the university? So, for a STEM kid, they would need to decide whether to apply to the College of Engineering or the College of L&S in most cases.</p>
<p>“The campuses vary in the extent to which each AP satisfies specific requirements.”</p>
<p>Absolutely. At UCSD for instance, although you can major in anything, freshman are placed into one of 6 colleges each with their own mission statement and differing GE reqs. You have to check the UCSD’s website to see each college’s AP policy.</p>
<p>Register in phases ……
I can totally see my absent minded D forgetting that there are multiple phases to registration….</p>
<p>At S’s UC: prior to beginning of registration he was sent an email giving him a date and time that registration was open to him. Once that date/time arrived he could log in, register for term in less than 5 minutes, easy peasy. I think this process is more the norm.</p>
<p>“I would recommend that if the school allows the AP score to be used as a prerequisite for a more advanced course that the student try the old final exams for the course(s) that are allowed to be skipped. That way, the student can tell how well s/he knows the material from the college’s expectations… “</p>
<p>I don’t know how practical this is considering at some UC, especially in some lower division (LD) science courses, classes may be running 2/3 lectures with 200+ students, each having a different prof. Different profs might teach same course/course number in different semester/quarters. So assuming one could track down many old final exams, you have question of whether courses with same name/course number taught in different semester/quarter by different profs offer insight into what material is covered, or would student who obtained many old exams be overwhelmed, utterly and perhaps needlessly confused…?</p>
<p>AP’s are great when they’re not in your core area of study….
IMO, I wouldn’t use APs for classes in a major (except the very basic ones)…. </p>
<p>It may depend on one’s long term plans are. S’s AP credit for both bio and calc was applied to both GE reqs and LD major reqs. I assume that in many majors (e.g. engineering) the material learned in college actually carries forward post college. But as S was bio (premed) major, it wasn’t like he needed to rehash this LD material in preparation for med school per se or even needed to rehash for standardized test (MCAT). LD profs don’t teach to the MCAT. Certainly his major benefitted him in the bigger scheme of things like time management, but I don’t think that he had a stronger background or was better prepared for med school than say a classmate with an art history or psych degree. The college bio material per se didn’t carry forward so using AP credit for LD major reqs was okay.</p>