<p>So UCSC has been my dream school for so long. However, i've been wondering if it's really worth 20k+ a year to complete gen eds. </p>
<p>I'd hate to miss out on making friends in fresh/soph year to go to community college, but i'd also hate to spend more than i need to for education. I'm also hoping to major in psych, so is it hard to get into those pre req classes in ucsc?</p>
<p>Do you guys (who completed gen ed in ucsc), think that it's worth it? Or would you recommend going to a cc? Why? Much thanks!!</p>
<p>Here’s the thing. Most people don’t complete their gen eds in their first two years. They space them out to help cushion their schedules from taking too many difficult classes from their major at once. </p>
<p>I know some transfer students who are taking useless (not toward a major/GE) classes right now because they completed only geneds and some math in community college, and can’t find 15 units to take for their major in every quarter. This is a problem because many majors are very linear and it’s hard to take <em>only</em> classes for your major in any given quarter due to what quarters things are generally offered. </p>
<p>However, for psych, going to community college is a good idea. It is a <em>very</em> impacted major. Students are limited to one upper division course a quarter. If you can get the lower division intro class and statistics out of the way, so you can jump right into Psych 100 at UCSC, you’ll be in decent shape. However, this still leads to the issue of not being able to take 3 classes for your major a quarter in many cases. So you may want to consider a minor in another subject to make the most of your time at UCSC. I’ve heard Linguistics and Computer Science are both popular compliments.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m on the old GE system, which seems to have more easily fulfilled requirements. I also came in with only 6 GEs to complete, and I have fulfilled 4/6 through classes within my major.</p>
<p>If you are going to community college, note that you will be staying here longer than 2-years. Tuition is going up and classes are being cut. Newly enrolled students will be given last priority registration for classes so the chances of you getting the proper classes will be slim and will take longer than usual. </p>
<p>I’ve also realized that making new friends will be a lot more difficult as a transfer because people have already formed a “circle” with their friends they met as a freshman. But it’s entirely up to you, if you can pay back the first two years of UCSC tuition I will say go there. But if money is extremely tight, then CC is the best choice for financial reason.</p>
<p>Note that there’s the transfer community. I’ve heard iffy things about it, but I think the chances of you making friends there are pretty good since you’re required to be there for at least a quarter.</p>
<p>@Liesel: Thanks for the info, really useful! However, if I were to take AP Psyc and AP Stats next year, and pass the exam with a 3+, will that be able to satisfy the basic psyc/stats requirements?</p>
<p>@Lawlking: Thanks also! I definitely do not want to spend a year or more extra in school than I have to, so i’ll keep that strongly in mind. It really sucks that tuition is continuing to rise every single year… back when the UCs were just built, education was basically free!</p>
<p>@Liesel- Are you sure that you’re required to live in the transfer community for a year? Because last I saw on the housing website was that you could make off-campus arrangements. </p>
<p>“Students accepting the offer of admission must complete the online acceptance process at my.ucsc.edu. During the acceptance process you will be asked to indicate a preference for either university housing or making your own housing arrangements to live in the off-campus community.” (See [UC</a> Santa Cruz - Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“Frequently Asked Questions”>Frequently Asked Questions) Question #3)</p>
<p>Oh, well no. I meant in the case of living on campus. The only other options are The Village and University Town Center, which are very difficult to get into. Thanks for clarifying. :)</p>