I’m currently in a junior college and want to transfer to a university next fall. The thing is I wont complete my associates degree until next year hopefully. I’m wondering does getting my associates degree first help more in the transfer admissions process? Reason I’m asking cause I’l thinking about transferring to schools like University of Florida, School of Mines, UNC, and Virginia Tech.
Totally depends on the school you’re transferring to. In many academic fields having an AA means absolutely nothing.
Never seen any situation where an associate degree matters in any way possible.
Some schools have agreements with Junior Colleges to automatically accept students that complete their AA degree.
I know FL used to have this (I think they still do) so if you complete your AA at a FL JC and apply to a FL state school you are an auto admit.
AA degrees are useful if that’s your terminal degree. Sometimes HR departments will specify that they want at least an AA degree.
If you’re continuing into a four-year college immediately, you don’t necessarily need it IMHO, but it may be useful to have the extra classes to show an excellent academic record. Sometimes an extra semester can help round out your record and that would help with your transfer.
In Illinois there is an agreement (the Illinois Articulation Initiative) with all state schools that if you complete your AA all of your gen. eds will be considered completed when you transfer. Many of the private schools abide by this agreement also but may require a religion class depending on the school. According to http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/mbprofallRT?Rep=TA14A it appears several states have similar agreements.
Some colleges and universities will accept the AA as fulfilling all of the general education requirements, even if there are no direct correspondences between the courses taken at the JC and courses at that institution.
Some colleges and universities probably have articulation agreements with your JC for some majors. If your major is included, then meeting the specific course and grade requirements makes you an auto-admit.
You need to check the transfer information for each of the places on your application list to learn whether or not it makes sense to complete your AA.
Happykid’s AA from her MD CC gave her direct admission to her MD university and eliminated all of the gen ed requirements. It meant a huge time and money savings for our family.
Along with the above you need to check on the number of credits allowed for transfer students for each school you are interested in. You will also need to find out how many of your credits will transfer. Another factor is if the courses you propose to take at your current school will be useful for needed courses at the four year school. It could be that you need to repeat a course because the material given at your school is not considered sufficient for the four year college’s version or as a prerequisite.
After all of this research you may decide you should transfer sooner to be able to fit needed courses into a schedule. Remember there may be prerequisites only available at the transfer school and time conflicts mean you can’t get everything you need in four semesters.
As already stated- unless it is a terminal degree, ie the highest one obtained, an AA degree is of no advantage. You will not be getting jobs with it while attending college (it would not be worth working your college classes around the job). The majority of college students will not bother with an AA degree and four year colleges do not offer them on the way to the bachelors degree.
@SculptorDad that is a complete ignorant statement from a person whose daughter has benefited from a good many community college courses if I recall correctly. My state has great incentives for students to begin at the CC and move on to the state U. In fact, it actually costs students less at the state U than students who start there. I work at a community college and have for 20 years and statements like this perpetuate the feeling that community colleges are not valuable in our education system.
I think it is more about the 60 credits than the actual degree.
@MAandMEmom My statement above is true only within context of the op question. I am sorry for omitting “for transferring to a 4 years college” after that sentence.
I greatly value community college education and highly recommend getting an associate degree to those who will get a job right after.
Still I don’t think getting an Associate degree will help transfer application. While one is studying at a community college, it would be wiser to take more gen ed and major courses that can be used at the target 4 years univ instead of taking associate degree requirements, if your ultimate goal is transferring and getting a bachelor’s degree.
I always suggest my students file for the AA, even if it means taking an extra class or something. The “best laid plans” sometimes go awry. If you transfer and something happens outside of your control that means you can’t finish the Bachelor’s degree, at least you will have the AA degree in hand. If it’s really no trouble to get it, then get it.
“Still I don’t think getting an Associate degree will help transfer application.”
This is wrong. Several posters correctly pointed out that many public university systems require the AA for transfers or offer benefits to applicants who complete it.
Within your state system, the associates will likely help. There is pressure on the four year schools not to hurt the stats community college system by picking off their best students early.
Out-of-state transfers should be investigated on a case by case basis. Many public universities are harder for OOS transfers regardless of associates or not. They are also always more expensive so check costs and likelihood for financial aid. Financial aid is often (but not always) calculated based on in-state costs with no aid available for the OOS surcharge.
The school will be more interested in your GPA. An associates degree means nothing to them. I would just apply and see what happens. It’s highly doubtful that an associates would do anything to make or break a decision
So the only possible benefit mentioned is that it can take care of gen ed requirement. But it can’t be a benefit unless associate degree requirements is easier to meet than just directly meeting transfer gen ed requirements, which I doubt is likely.
Even if it is easier to meet gen ed requirements through an associate degree, in that case, it could provide less prep for a 4 years college and possibly make the application weaker.
We are comparing taking courses for associate degree vs other purposes such as more major prep courses right? An associate degree would of course be better for transferring than staying couch potato but what’s the point of discussion then?
Right @ccprofandmomof2 if the best laid plans go awry, the AA or AS will be valuable. At least in my neck of the woods, the biggest growth area is in middle skills and in the coming decade, the gap is expected to be pretty large. I advise students in the computer science area and some of them are eager to quickly move on to the state U without first obtaining their credential. Because CS can be really hard, I always suggest they take the bird in the hand…even if that means transferring back a course or two afterward.
An associate degree would be nice if its no trouble to get one. From my personal experience though, that I get by throughly studying all art related degrees and course listing of 8 community colleges in this area, every single one required a significant detour, with several courses that a competitive state univ wouldn’t care, from spearheading to meeting transfer requirement.
“with several courses that a competitive state univ wouldn’t care”
Folks who are reading this: your major, your state, and the state university you’re aiming for will determine whether an associate’s degree is important for your goals. Do your own research based on your interests and your school choices. Don’t assume that the right path for someone else is the right path for you.
I worked as an advisor/counselor for years with many transfer students. Coming in with sixty possible credits and coming in with an AA or AS were completely different. With the Associates, the sixty credits and the prereqs were automatically accepted. Otherwise, (like for instance if the student has an Applied Science degree–an AAS-- from the community college, or no degree) the classes were accepted on a case by case basis. So, for instance, the writing classes with the AA/AS were automatically accepted by the four year in place of our own. Otherwise, not necessarily… Same with math.
This was a four year, private college that had an articulation agreement with the state’s community colleges. All state schools and many of the privates have the same agreement in NJ, and many states have similar set-ups.
So to blanketly say it makes no difference is just, simply, wrong. For many, many community college students, entering with the AA/AS makes the transfer much smoother, with all credits accepted, and prereqs checked off.
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