Hello, I am a community college student planning to transfer to a UC. My question is, if the GE classes I choose matter for transfer admissions. For example, will it matter if I took Astronomy over Chemistry 1A to complete IGETC/UC transfer eligibility? Will colleges look down on me if I chose an easier class like Astronomy over an intensive class such as chemistry to fulfill my IGETC/required GE? This is assuming that neither of the courses are considered as major preparation, as I am a business major.
Thanks!
Choose the ones where you will get the best grades. And also the ones where you have a genuine interest. Unsurprisingly, those will usually be the same classes.
I am also a business major enrolling into CCC this fall! Which GE courses would be easiest?
That depends on what’s offered and the professors for each. Astrophysics will obviously be much harder than “The History of Film.”
It’s a little common sense and a little research. Use RateMyProfessor and talk to your peers and see what they say.
The main purpose of general education is to cultivate a breadth of knowledge and the capacity to think for yourself and expose you to different ways of looking at the world. Like others have said, choose the classes you’re genuinely interested in. As for the work, I would try to find the most easy-going professors because grades do matter (If you can’t, this is why you choose classes you’re interested in so that the workload does not feel like much of a burden), and it is important to allocate a good amount of your time to your major classes.
I took astronomy over chemistry, and I got into every UC I applied to. I don’t think they factor in how generally one subject is harder than the other, as they should be aware that, at the end of the day, it is the professor who decides how difficult his/her class will be.
Easy GEs I’ve taken:
Fundamentals of Music (Mus 100 in my district)
Latin American History and Culture (Ethnic Studies 101)
Astronomy Lecture and Lab (Astr 100 and 101)