<p>If you take summer classes outside of USC, do the transfer grades factor into the USC GPA?</p>
<p>According to my advisor, if you take summer classes that transfer in, you get 2 GPAs, one with USC classes only and one with transfer credits. USC takes the one that is lower and uses it as your overall GPA.</p>
<p>I am sorry, but I don't understand how transfer grades work into the overall USC GPA. If you take summer classes elsewhere, what happens to the grades? What do you mean USC takes the lower?</p>
<p>I guess it means, if you get straight As at other school, it won't help you with your USC GPA, but if it you don't get straight As, it does hurt your USC GPA. It sounds like a loose loose situation to me.</p>
<p>With being anonymous, can anyone tell me what happened to your USC GPA with summer classes taken outside of USC?</p>
<p>Columbia is correct from what I understand. My advisor gave me this hypothetical scenario: After spring semester, I have a 3.75 GPA after taking 32 units. I take Spanish III (4 units) over the summer to fulfill my language requirement at a local community college and everything is preapproved with OASIS. Say I get an A; my USC+transfer GPA would be a 3.78 but my USC coursework only GPA would still be a 3.75, hence my "overall GPA" would be a 3.75. If I got a B, my USC+transfer GPA would be a 3.67, which is lower than my USC-only GPA, so my "overall GPA" would read 3.67. </p>
<p>Either way, the transfer credit goes under a separate heading on the transcript, it's just a matter of the number that you see with it.</p>
<p>I am not quite sure I understand the difference. If you get a B in a transfer course resulting in a lower overall GPA of 3.67, wouldn't that be the same scenario if you get a B in the same foreign language class at USC? And, aren't community college classes easier to get an A than at USC? I would think it is to your advantage to take the hardest class at a community college than at USC, if that is possible, because the community college classes should be easier. On the other hand, since there is an articulation agreement with California community colleges, perhaps the level of education is similar or the same?</p>
<p>I think the whole point is to prevent students from taking summer classes to boost their GPA rather than to fulfill requirements. But it's also to prevent students from taking classes during the summer just to take them for the experience and not for the grade. I know I wanted to take the first semester of organic chemistry over the summer so I was exposed to the material and it wouldn't be such a shock to me (since I have to take it at USC anyway), but I'm not so sure I'd get an A and it would more than likely bring my GPA down. It's kind of a regulation method, I guess.</p>
<p>ppenguin, that's not a bad idea regarding OChem. Is there a possibility you could audit the class at a CC?</p>
<p>I'm still trying to figure that out, haha. Believe me, if there is ANY way I can, I'm jumping on it right away.</p>
<p>HI mdcissp, my understanding is that most universities and colleges in the country have the same GPA policy, i.e., GPA is college specific and your GPA at a particular school is solely based on the courses you have taken at this school. USC GPA does not factor in the grades from courses you take in other college(s). In other words, the grades you got from the courses taken at other colleges will neither raise nor lower your USC GPA. Simply put, you USC GPA is always from USC courses; your other GPA from another school will be always based on the courses you took there. The bottom line is that GPA is NOT a mixed bag and will not contain grades from courses taken at different schools. That being said, I believe that the courses you take elsewhere may fulfill some of the USC degree requirements. The GPA policy can be verified for sure with the USC Registrar Office. For instance, my current college GPA is 3.9; if I transfer to USC and get accepted, my USC GPA will be calculated only from the courses I will take at USC. My prior GPA at other college will not have any effect on my USC GPA. However, the courses I have completed at my current college will fulfill some of the USC requirements, and I am sure I will not have to take them again at USC. </p>
<p>If you apply graduate programs down the road, you will be required to submit college transcripts from all colleges you have attended, regardless of whether you enrolled as a matriculated student or just for the summer session. I believe that taking organic chemistry at another reputable college during the summer will fulfill the USC requirements. </p>
<p>Okay, could someone please help me now? I posted my following questions on another USC thread and got no responses after four days: </p>
<p>Does USC require a current college Deans Report from transfer applicants? This Deans Report is required by almost all colleges as part of the transfer application, and yet I have not found such a Deans Report form in the USC 2009 transfer application. Also, is there a cover sheet for faculty recommendation for transfer applicants?</p>
<p>Thank you so much for any advice and help!</p>
<p>BlueLake-Thank you for your explanation. I suggest that you start a new thread titled "Transfer application forms" and see if that helps. Did you get the transfer application brochure/packet? Did you search USC.edu by typing in transfer application and see what the instructions are? My son entered USC as a freshman and followed the directions on the application brochure and on-line application. Is there an on-line application for transfers which answers your questions and supplies the forms? If none of these things help you, I suggest you call USC admissions. Again, congratulations on your outstanding GPA.</p>
<p>mdcissp--Thank you so much for your kind advice! I realize that I should post the questions to the 2009 transfer thread or simply email USC admissions office, my apologies for posting my questions here in the first place. Glad to know that your DS is already a Trojan, congratulations! Although both my high school GPA and my college GPA are alright, I do not know how much my stats will eventually help me for the transfer admission, and I really appreciate your kind words. </p>
<p>Whether or not to take courses during summer is basically an individual decision. The benefits are cost savings and to get some time-consuming courses of requirement out of the way. Tuitions for courses offered in college summer session are usually cheaper than regular academic semesters, although the USC summer session must be expensive. Since Ochem is considered a weed-out sequence in many colleges, students need to be aware that they do have the option to complete Ochem at a different college during the summer. However, taking Ochem at a community college is generally discouraged. If Ochem is taken at any UC campus or at another OOS reputable university during the summer, that would be fine in terms of helping for the medical school applications down the road.</p>
<p>Taking difficult courses at a community college is not as easy as some make it out to be. My son who is a "math" guy with test scores to prove it... found Calculus very challenging at our local community college. My son said it appeared to him- that most of the students in his class were very familiar with the material. Almost too familiar- like that had taken the course before! Calculus is a difficult subject. Don't assume taking the course at a community college will be easy.</p>
<p>We all agree that there are excellent students and strong academic programs at community colleges. To do well in any course and in any college, one simply has to work hard. However, if a pre-med student takes Ochem at a community college, he may put himself in a disadvantageous position when he applies to medical schools in the near future. Medical school admission is very competitive, and applicants college transcripts will be weighted heavily in admissions. In the eyes of admission committees, pre-med requirements completed at cc are not favorably viewed as the same as those completed at a research university such as USC. They will also notice that some of your pre-med requirements are done at a lower-tier school, which may hurt your chance for admissions. Reality is often unfair; every decision we make may have consequences somewhere down the road. If you are a pre-med student, you need to make your undergraduate transcripts look as strong as possible, and think ahead whom you will compete up against in medical school admissions. This was the context where I said that pre-meds should not take Ochem at cc for their own sake. If you are not a pre-med, it is okay to finish lower-division requirements at cc. Since I am nobody, no one needs to take my word for anything; please do whatever that is best for you.</p>
<p>I think the MCAT score is the most important equalizer among different undergraduate institutions. That said, I think if a student plans to take OChem at USC, it's a good idea to take it at a CC the summer one has to actually enroll at USC Ochem course.</p>
<p>Let me just clarify what I was trying to do: I wanted to take Organic Chemistry at a CC over the summer to expose myself to the material. That way, when I take it next fall, it wouldn't be AS new or AS confusing as it could be. However, my initial plan was to take it and not really care about the grade, because it wouldn't show up on my transcript. Unfortunately for me, it will show up on my transcript regardless and, if the grade is bad (which I have a hunch it will be), it will bring my GPA down because of USC's policy. So, I might take it pass/fail or possibly audit the class because I'd still like the 6 units it comes with.</p>
<p>My niece "audited" organic chemistry over the summer at our state flagship U (teacher even allowed her to take exams). She then took the course at her college (Notre Dame) & did OK with more confidence than she would otherwise have had (had a tough time in her HS chem class--horrid teacher). This might be an option to consider if your college would allow you to audit over the summer. THe flagship U didn't even charge my niece anything for auditting.</p>
<p>I read on the USC web site that if you "audit" a class, you still have to pay the tuition price. I don't know what the case is at other universities/community colleges.</p>
<p>Auditing first and taking it later for grade is a good strategy. Some schools charge fees for auditing and some schools dont charge. Please check with the registrar office before you register to make sure one important matterwhether or not the courses you register for auditing will show up on your permanent college transcript. You dont want graduate schools to which you will later apply to see that you audited the class before taking it later for grades. At my college, audited courses will also go on my permanent transcript, and the policy says: Audit enrollments are recorded on the student's academic record with a mark of "AU." So, please do yourself a favor to check before registering to audit.</p>