Do NOT Tell UCs You Took Online CCC Courses

Transfer Students UC Transfers
41

<p>I should clarify that the information came from a representative of the UC Office of the President (I think she works at UC Davis and was representing UCOP because the regular guy wasn’t available; unfortunately I didn’t write down her name) and Dan Nannini, the transfer director at SMC, verified it. This was information presented at Western Association for College Admission Counseling’s Share, Learn & Connect in Los Angeles (a one-day workshop for high school counselors, community college counselors, and independent counselors). I’m not trying to create panic here, simply sharing what I learned. </p>

<p>If the information is false, then the UCs need to do a better job of educating their staff members so they don’t give out misinformation at large regional conferences (such as the one I attended). Although I must say this wouldn’t be the first time someone from the UC said something that wasn’t true. But Dan Nannini is pretty on top of everything, so I trust him to know what’s what.</p>

<p>By the way, there is no need to panic. All you have to do is NOT SAY you took online courses. That’s all …</p>

42

<p>Ms. Sun, the information is quite obviously false and has been proven to be so. You really should be more careful with reporting this kind of information (whether it came from a reputable source or not) unless you can find it in writing somewhere to support such a statement that can affect many people’s eligibility. Simple logic dictates this never could have been a reality and it’s no secret that there are several individuals on CC that will latch onto something like this and panic. Further, many of those might not even read subsequent posts that prove the information is false.</p>

<p>Since you say that you trust this person to “know what’s what,” it is my personal opinion that either he was either misinformed or misunderstood a statement that was told to him. Or that perhaps you misunderstood him. To be honest, this would be something I would follow up on with him if I were in your position because if it is a fault on his end, then he needs to know that his information is in direct conflict with the official UC provided information on the website. It is a rather frightening prospect that someone would be spreading false information like this.</p>

<p>Your intentions were good, I recognize that, but the information you chose to share was something that should have had more than your word to back it up simply due to the implications it could mean for several applicants.</p>

43

<p>Whoa stop attacking her. It might have been a mistake or it might be something they will Implement next year. Anyways the statements she makes are legitimate because she’s a uc adviser. What’s it to you it’s not like your gonna go specifically tell the UC you choose that you took an online course instead of a regular course. People need to calm down.</p>

44

<p>I don’t think anyone is attacking. We just think people should not post inaccurate information, especially if you are looked at as an expert. Like I posted above, I almost talked about an online class in the additional comments box and it does me no goodby mentioning this after the application has been submitted. There should be an effort to clarify this by the op.</p>

45

<p>@uctransfer- Nobody is attacking her. I think Kender has a completely valid point and went about presenting it in a very civil demeanor. And while Ms. Sun is a very respectable adviser and blogger, you must remember she is not employed or endorsed by any of the UC’s. She offers extremely helpful and insightful contributions to anxious students but her information is based on her research and experiences, much like any one of us here on CC. With that in mind, all people make mistakes so it is possible either the speaker at the conference was misinformed, or perhaps she misinterpreted something. I am not “blaming” her as you so put it, just merely noting that the information was skewed and we should all be skeptical of what was relayed here on CC, whether it be this post or some other fallacious remarks posted here or anywhere else on the internet.</p>

<p>Kender, I completely agree and support your above post. Way to go!</p>

46

<p>Just don’t tell them you took online courses. Wouldn’t want to be rejected for something like that.</p>

47

<p>The following is a quote from the U.C. Berkeley Extension website regarding online courses.</p>

<p>"Application of Credit Toward UC Degrees</p>

<p>All university-level academic credit courses numbered X, XB1–299 and XBW1–299 and the Extension instructors who teach them, are reviewed and approved by the appropriate academic department on the UC Berkeley campus and by the Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI) of the UC Berkeley Academic Senate. The UC Berkeley Academic Senate delegates authority to the Dean of UC Berkeley Extension to approve professional, post-graduate credit courses that are numbered X300–499 and all noncredit courses. This academic supervision by University faculty is assurance of excellence in course content and quality of instruction. Contact them online at or by phone (510) 642-3175.</p>

<p>Credit for courses in the X300 and X400 series may be accepted toward the B.A., B.S., teaching credential and postgraduate programs within the limitations prescribed by the various colleges and schools. The University of California campuses use the same procedures to evaluate and determine the suitability of Extension credit courses to fulfill subject requirements as they do for credits gained at other regionally accredited institutions. If accepted, grade points for courses taken at UC Berkeley Extension are not counted toward fulfilling requirements for the degree (see exceptions below for UC Berkeley-matriculated students)."</p>

<p>It seems to be saying that while they go to great lengths to insure that their online courses meet UC Berkeley standards, they still generally do not accept them for credit towards a degree or to satisfy requirements.</p>

<p>It must be remembered that the UC Berkeley Extension is not a community college and therefore what pertains to it may have nothing to do with credits earned online at CCCs. It could explain though how a UC official may have gotten the mistaken impression that all online courses do not meet UC requirements.</p>

48

<p>I’m glad Ms Sun posted this because it shows how large organizations can have communication problems. These communication problems can result in students wrongfully getting rejected. The UC’s are large and it is very possible for one school to accidentally reject students who have taken online course while other schools accept. As you get into the work field you’ll see these type of things happen at large corporations and in government.</p>

<p>Ms Sun gave the best advice, just don’t mention that you’ve taken online courses. You’re not lying because there is no rule that you must tell them if you’ve taken online courses. You wouldn’t want someone who is misinformed evaluating your application now would you? I didn’t think so.</p>

49

<p>uctransfer2012:
Like JavyUCB and kingdomsroa48 said, no one is attacking her. The only person who said anything remotely ill was a person much earlier asking if the post was intended to be a ■■■■■ post as it has incited some degree of panic in several individuals who have come to rely on her for providing correct information.</p>

<p>kingdomsroa48:
Thank you for bringing up the fact that while Ms. Sun has been a huge benefit, she is not an official representative for the UCs as is evidenced by the fact she has not been indicated as so by CC (which they have done for others to show that the word of those individuals does hold some weight). She is merely a helpful individual who has been a wonderful asset to many. This is one of the first times I have ever seen her pass on incorrect information, but we are all allowed to make mistakes.</p>

<p>I honestly hope Ms. Sun does follow up on this with the person who passed on this wrong information. She has been quite a benefit to the community and it would be wonderful if she could find a way to clear up this mess before it passes on to many others. </p>

<p>Lemaitre1:
That does seem the likely culprit to have caused a misunderstanding, but as you mentioned, it definitely has nothing to do with CCCs which have transferable courses listed on assist. Further, it still looks in the case you mentioned that it only affects a certain set of classes (not all) and only for certain degrees.</p>

<p>Good find, though. I can see that definitely being part of the confusion regarding how such misinformation is being spread. I would not be surprised if the high school level information is also partly responsible as it specifically mentions CCC courses (but again, only for specific classes).</p>

<p>SMCguy:
There is the lovely ability to learn exactly why one was rejected. If one was rejected on such false grounds, then it would be a perfect reason to appeal because the application was mishandled.</p>

<p>Also, if it were that online courses were not permitted, then withholding information would be knowingly lying. While there might be no rule stating one must inform the UCs if any courses were taken online, this is only because online courses from CCCs are permitted if they are a course that is approved for transfer. If they were not, then discovery of such courses would be grounds for rejection, rescinding an admission offer, or even the nullification of a degree as can also be the consequences of withholding past school information. It is my opinion that encouraging others to withhold certain information believed to be cause for a course not being transferable is on par with encouraging one to hide that they attended another university. While I do have respect for Ms. Sun, I feel she poorly handled this and it has caused several people to become quite panicked believing that they are in danger of rejection if their online courses are ever discovered. Not mentioning the medium through which the courses were taken could never be assumed to 100% protect an individual from those courses ever being discovered.</p>

<p>However, that said, I do agree it is good to have it illustrated what sort of trouble such miscommunication and misunderstanding can cause. I just wish this had been presented in a different manner.</p>

50

<p>@Ms. Sun
Is there any type of written proof about this? A class that I took at DVC has the section # of the class, which concerns me because won’t they just look at the section # and find out that it was an online class?</p>

51

<p>@Kender Not all students pursue much after seeing a rejection notice. Anyhow, this is not a perfect world and I for one would rather be safe than sorry :)</p>

52

<p>UCtransferitis:
Written proof has already been provided that the information that online courses are not accepted at all is not true. They are accepted if they are a course number listed as transferable on assist.org. You’re fine as long as it meets that requirement :)</p>

<p>SMCguy:
Ah, good point! No disrespect to fellow students, but we all can be too willing to accept defeat sometimes without asking why. I myself was willing to accept I’d missed the deadline for an internship I wanted and it took the urging of a professor to ask if I could still apply for me to pursue anything further. Turned out I could AND I got the internship.</p>

<p>I still think it should have been worded differently, but I definitely have fully agreed that the warning of how miscommunications like this can cause a problem is something that should be known. That’s how I wish this thread had been approached. It would have caused far less panic :)</p>

53

<p>I took my main english class online… And many others, one that scares me is that this quarter I am taking an online class at a college that is a 7 hour drive away from my main college… That has to be noticable. I took a lot online, its easier because a lot of classes conflict with my softball practices. Also a lot of the classes I took are not offered in the class room, at least not that I have seen</p>

<p>Sent from my SPH-D700 using CC</p>

54

<p>Well, I’m obviously the troublemaker … UCOP actually tracked me down to clarify the situation … I really hope no one got fired for this :p</p>

<p>So here’s the deal:</p>

<p>

</p>

55

<p>Thank you for clarifying Ms. Sun!</p>

56

<p>@Kender, UCs regularly make mistakes and applicants are often rejected over those mistakes (I certainly worked with enough students to know that). Like I said before, I wasn’t trying to create panic for the sake of creating panic. I heard information from a top official of the UCs that may negatively affect transfer applicants and I felt that it was my duty to share that information. Yes, the information turned out to be false. But at the minimum I got the attention of the UCOP and hopefully made them a little better at getting everyone on the same page, especially when giving information out to the public. Please keep in mind that there were a couple hundred high school and community college counselors there at the exact same workshop I attended. So this bad information is probably already being circulated offline … something I don’t even really want to think about because it just upsets me.</p>

57

<p>Ms. Sun, I was certainly not attacking you. I already stated people make mistakes. It’s a part of life. No position in any organization is immune to this. My only concern was that, although it was not your intention, your post did incite panic as evidenced by the fact several people continued to worry after it had been shown that the statement was false by another poster who had the time to do the research.</p>

<p>I am glad that you were gotten in contact with. While I still disagree with the manner in which this thread was presented, it at least got the attention that either information is being given incorrectly or is being misunderstood. That does not fully justify it in my opinion (I am not an “ends justify the means” kind of girl), but at least the correct information will be passed on. Hopefully further miscommunications will be avoided :). I’m sure that is something we can agree on.</p>

<p>No offense meant, but this is why I have always done my own research and not allowed advisers to be the final word on anything. There is so much room for miscommunication and by being armed with facts, I always have come out ahead. Advisers can be great guides, but it’s irresponsible of the student not to be on top of things as well. I have so many horror stories about students who relied entirely on advisers that were bitten hard in the end. One includes a student who thought she needed only major classes to graduate. She had never heard of the 180 unit requirement. I sat next to her while she called her mother in a panic.</p>

<p>It’s all so crazy how one missed bit of information or one bit of misunderstood information can cause so many problems, isn’t it? I certainly would hate to be an adviser. In the position of student, one is just responsible for themselves. A screw up reflects only on that student. But an adviser affects so many.</p>

<p>Once again, I am glad things have been cleared up on your end. Thank you for sharing the message here since it seems even proof posted by another user was not enough until you said something. That is not meant to be biting, just to point out the level of influence you hold. I vote a stern glare at the person who gave you the incorrect/misunderstood information in the first place :)</p>

58

<p>@Kender, I didn’t think you were attacking me. I suppose I should clarify that I have, in the past, found conflicting or incorrect written information from the UCs. So I don’t entirely trust the UC website either, which is why I didn’t take the other poster’s research to heart.</p>