<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>Are any of you getting your associates before you transfer? I heard it looks good on a transfer application. Is that true?</p>
<p>i really doubt it, as long as you get your required courses done</p>
<p>yea it does. schools like to see students transfer with an AA. espically from a CCC. im planning on transfering from maryland college park with an AA.</p>
<p>Sweetny - I aksed this same question a while back and kinda came to this idea: always make sure you are getting required courses out of the way first. An AA is not going to make or break you, but I am under the impression that colleges see it as a show of "completion" and that it shows that you are a student with direction, not just taking random classes. In my case though, I'm going to have about 67 credits, so I'll have to explain why I have quite a few more credits b/c colleges will be uncertain as to whether I really want to spend 2 years there. </p>
<p>For me, other than taking the basics getting my AA just involves taking a philosophy, literature, and kinesiology (WTH!) class. So I'm saving that all for my last semester and I'll tell the colleges I apply to why I'm taking complete JUNK courses. At the same time, I'm going to try and show that I'm not just taking an easy way out by also taking Physics II and Diff. Eq. </p>
<p>Just my personal situation, which may turn out to be similar to yours. I think the AA only REALLY matters if you do graduate with honors, which will show on your transcript and slightly set you apart from other CC students. Don't let getting an AA get in the way of your requirements (like it almost did for me) and don't worry about it too much. If you can do it, good. If you can't, no big deal.</p>
<p>Just a note: Philosophy and Literature are not junk classes.</p>
<p>Back to the OP, I think that getting an AA would not be an absolute necessity for transfer. However, there are schools that prefer well-rounded transfer applicants. For example, I noted that Stanford prefers that a student take a good balance of humanities, social/behavioral science, science, math, and language classes even though the student may be a Physics major.</p>
<p>Therefore, getting an AA means you would've completed a wide variety of classes that could fulfill your transfer school's general requirements/breadth requirements.</p>
<p>I just think its pointless to basically cs omplete all of the requirements without getting the degree. Most schools let you get the degree if you finish GE stuff plus some extra classes, so almost everyone who transfers is going to have that anyway. Might as well take five minute to fill out a degree petition and at least have something to show for your time (besides the transfer, obviously).</p>
<p>Associate Degree will do NOTHING to improve your chance of admission.
PERIOD.</p>
<p>I didn't get one...but whatever floats your boat. It just seemed like too much of a hassle.</p>
<p>snara: philosophy and literature ARE junk at a community college. That is not necessarily the same for real universities, but at my CC those are the classes people take to get easy A's/B's.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody for your responses. Basically I just need to take a P.E. class and a health class to get mine so I guess I will. I love sports so I guess there is no reason not to just finish it.</p>
<p>An AA is an unecessary joke.</p>
<p>It won't improve your chances whatsoever...</p>
<p>In response to brand_182,</p>
<p>Your point about philo and lit being junk classes brings up the question. How would a 4 year school distinguish between junk classes and those that are really challenging?</p>
<p>At my CC, Lit is really one of the most time-consuming and challenging class with a whole lot of reading to do. </p>
<p>I understand that classes like Physics/Calculus/Chemistry are considered the tough classes to take and they look impressive on a transcript.</p>
<p>However, I think that a student solely taking those type of classes would be severely disadvantaged and lopsided as a student. I'm a science major myself and I have taken most of the Physics/calc/chem requirements but I take humanities classes to even things out. </p>
<p>I need a breather from the sciences. I really feel that at the CC level, these classes do nothing to stimulate a student's intellectual curiosity. It merely makes a student spend more hours at a desk.</p>
<p>But yes, I agree with you. The quality of classes at a CC REALLY vary. Its scary.</p>
<p>Well I definitely see your point, which is why I'm going to do what I'd rather not, and get the AA. Getting the AA forces me to take classes I usually wouldn't want to take like Philosophy and Literature (at least until I get to a university) and makes me seem more rounded, since as of now I am very math-oriented. But like I said, I've got 6 or 7 classes lined up for the spring b/c three of them are Philosophy, Lit, and Kinesiology, which are all very easy. </p>
<p>So I'm able to kill two birds with one stone. Like you said, taking just Calculus/Physics courses will make one seem lop-sided, so I've decided that since I don't have anything left but to finish my AA requirements and diversify my transcript a bit, I'll go for it in the final semester.</p>
<p>I tend to agree that the AA does not really matter. Since I like kick boxing though I am going to go for it. :)</p>
<p>Good thinking brand_182 (about diversifying your class selection)</p>
<p>However, I wont be getting my AA because there are two ridiculous classes that I refuse to take. Health and speech. (Sorry if I offended anyone out there)</p>
<p>I am with you on the speech class. I took a speech class and it was basically the equivalent of group therapy for older women. I am so glad I am done with that class.</p>
<p>I know in Florida in order to be considered a "preferred" transfer student they require you to have an AA.</p>