Community college courses

<p>How does UC Davis factor in classes taken at CC for admissions of high school students?</p>

<p>I sorta think that community college courses are about the same level as AP courses. Go ahead & list them, especially if good grades were achieved. You'll have to send an official transcript from the college.</p>

<p>I had 2 community college courses that I took to complete two of my HS graduation requirements. I remember I listed them on my application & had to supply a transcript. After I got in, those two courses transfered over & knocked out two of my general education requirements - so I was really happy. My AP courses didn't count for anything (I got 5's on both) because I took the courses over again so it canceled out.</p>

<p>Thanks for the response. I thought you were not allowed to repeat courses at UC where you earned an AP score of 3 or better? Is that not true?</p>

<p>there is a whole controversy over AP credits. It differs from school to school. Some schools want a 4 or higher to be counted as credit while others would just count it as elective credit.</p>

<p>Yes I am aware of that controversy, but I am refering to instances where students would like to repeat a course they took in high school as an AP. For example my daughter is repeating AP Calculus AB and BC. She opted not to take the AP tests because we were told she would not be allowed to repeat the calculus series if she earned a score of 3 or higher. I am wondering if we were misinformed.</p>

<p>collegemom16, what you are referring to is only true for some UC's. At Cal, you are allowed to retake a course even if you have satisfactory scores on the AP exam to fulfill that course requirement. In this case, your AP units will not count toward your total course units. However, at UCSD, you are not allowed to repeat courses that you can skip with satisfactory scores on the AP exam.</p>

<p>As for repeating courses that you already have sufficient knowledge in, I would say it depends on the person. If you're in an engineering major and have a heavy courseload, by all means skip those courses. You're not going to want to waste time in those classes. Besides, they are not exactly easy A's since most hardcore premeds (who don't care what they are learning as long as they are getting A's) will be in those classes. However, if you want a report card embellished in A's, then retake those classes. A caveat is that, again, it won't be easy A's. Most high school AP programs are ridiculous compared to college courses which cover more material in a shorter amount of time and have strict grading curves.</p>

<p>My daughter as an econ major opted to retake the calculus series because it is important to her major. She wanted to make sure she had the best possible grasp of the material. She is very happy with her decision, as the college course proved to be much more conceptual and a great deal more of a challenge than her high school AP course was. She feels she would have missed out had she not taken the series in college. In the end she did quite well, but it was hardly an easy A.</p>

<p>At UCD you are allowed to retake classes that you could test out of with an AP test. I took the calc AB, and chem AP tests, got 5's.. but since my major was chemistry, both of those courses were relevant so I wanted to make sure I knew the material very well, and as it turns out - some topics were covered that I had never learned before. So, I was happy with my decision.</p>

<p>Plus, I don't believe the chem AP test can excuse you from the entire gen chem series (chem 2a, b, & c).. my transcript only listed "chem 2a" for my AP units if I remember correctly.</p>

<p>Pearl how old are you. I feel almost certain that in the orientation last summer the dean said that courses where an AP score of 3 or higher was earned could not be retaken for credit. Perhaps it is because you and my d are in different majors, or perhaps the rule has changed? I am just curious because I have two younger children and I don't want to misdirect them. Thanks..it really makes the AP teachers mad when students opt out of the AP tests at my childrens high school.</p>

<p>ok, I am older so they may have changed the rules since I was a freshman. I started my undergrad in fall 02, graduated last June & started grad school here as well in fall 06</p>

<p>This question is difficult to answer. The answer will depend not only on the University you decide to attend, but also your major at that University. Since we are in the UC Davis forum it makes it a little easier to answer. The admissions office will give you credit for any AP exam score of 3, 4 or 5. The college, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) will decide how those units will be applied to graduation requirements. They may choose to just give you units for the score and no actual course credit. In this example the student would need to take the required course, i.e. Calculus, to meet graduation requirements is needed. On the other hand, if course credit is given, CA&ES satisfies a calculus course requirement, and the student takes the same course this would be seen as a duplication of credit and credit would not be issued for the UC Davis course.</p>

<p>Since this is a complicated procedure, please discuss what courses you should be taking with your academic adviser at the college level, the department level advisers may not have the proper information to advise you correctly.</p>

<p>I see that the decision about taking AP tests is indeed a complicated one. Thank you for the information. Would you please chime in on the question about the community college courses for us too? How are classes taken by a high school student factored into their application for UC? Are they counted like an AP class? Do they count in the A-G courses, or are they factored into the student's application in some other way?</p>

<p>UC transferable, use <a href="http://assist.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://assist.org&lt;/a> to determine if a California Community College course is UC transferable, courses that grant 3 semester (4 quarter) units are comparable to AP courses. Please review <a href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/resources/askuc/answers/honors.html#1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/educators/counselors/resources/askuc/answers/honors.html#1&lt;/a> for additional information.</p>

<p>So, if a student takes a transferable A-G course at the local community college (one that is listed on the assist site) but gets credit for it at the high school, will it be weighted by UC? My son fulfilled a visual and performing arts requirement by taking a music course at the local CC and it is listed on his HS transcript (as taken at the cc) and included in his gpa, but with no weight given by the high school.</p>

<p>Secondly, if a hs student takes, say, two or three classes at the uc level to pursue personal interest and educational challenges, how does UC admissions look at those? They are not a-g courses, so does that mean they don't help with admissions at all?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Any Honors Level (HL), Advance Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or College Level (CL) courses completed in the 10 and 11 grade years will be weighted. This honors credit will only be granted for up to eight semesters of coursework, that 4 year long courses; if 9 semesters of CL or AP coursework is completed the student will not receive the weighted calculation for the 9th course. We will recalculate the GPA based off the information the applicant places on their application; we do not review transcripts for the admissions process. All CL courses are viewed the same despite where they are completed.</p>

<p>Thanks for the response!</p>