I was just wondering what would be a good idea. Now that UCB has added the calculus requirement for psychology transfers, my schedule for next semester is going to be very full (24-units full). I’ve been toying around with the idea of concurrently enrolling in a community college that offers 100% online distance education classes to students from other areas of the state. The class that I would be taking starts on November first and ends December eleventh. I plan to talk to my counselor about this, of course, but I want an opinion on whether or not this is a good idea.
Taking classes at two different CCs is totally fine - but, if there are other classes that you need at the second CC that you won’t be taking, you will be penalized (i.e. _CC is my alt cc - they have 3 prereqs, and i only took 2. that 3rd prereq will be counted against me.)
Taking a calculus class that you need in roughly 6 weeks sounds like torture (not to mention you are taking 24 units - goodness).
If you were to do this, I would suggest taking an online class at a CC on the quarter system. At least then you’ll have 10 weeks. I don’t think they’ve started yet, either.
(I think @SDGoldenBear introduced this idea to me - I definitely like it, the idea is that it will offset your work such that you will have exams at different periods)
@goldencub Actually, the school I would be taking classes at is on the quarter system. The class I’m taking is Spanish 1, because it turns out that I didn’t pass it in high school, and I need to get it out of the way ASAP. The reason my schedule will be so full next semester, and 24 is a lot, is because I need to take trig and pre-calc before I can take calc. There is a sped-up version of both trig and pre-calc at my current CC (they split one half of the semester into trig and the other half into pre-calc) and together those are 7 or 8 units. If I take Spanish 1 at another school during this fall semester, my unit load will lighten to 19, which is completely manageable. Unfortunately, I can’t skip the two prereqs leading up to calc or else I would (I’m weirdly good at math even though I don’t like it), leaving me to have to take Calc 1 during a 4-week summer session. ):
Hi, can you please tell me which CC offers that class online? I need to take Linear Algebra next semester and I was planning to take it online. The only college that I found that offers it online is Coastline so I wanted to check if the one you are talking about offers it as well.
@LopApo I’m not taking calculus online, but West Hills College in Lemoore, CA has one pre-calc class that is 80% online. There are two in-class meetings in the semester, for a midterm and a final, so if you don’t live in that area of the state, I would suggest somewhere else. I know there are schools that offer 100% online classes, like Lake Tahoe CC (where I’m thinking of taking my Spanish class), but I don’t know if they have Linear Algebra.
Also, @goldencub, when you say that the classes that I don’t take at the second CC will be counted against me, what exactly do you mean? I was planning to take classes from West Hills College (it’s within an hour driving distance in case I do have to go to campus), and they have almost no prerequisite agreements with UCB except for a few. However, on my end, I already have all the prerequisites filled in those areas from my original CC. The class I would be taking at my secondary CC is not a prereq for UCB, but rather a prereq for a prereq (if that makes sense).
Sorry, I didn’t read your previous comment. I just checked their schedules and it seems that they don’t offer linear algebra online. I guess my only option is Coastline CC. Thank you!
This is how I understand it - I could be incorrect, but I don’t think so.
If your CC does not have offer a class for your major (let’s call it Class X), but the CC that you are taking an online class at does offer Class X, you will be held accountable for not taking Class X. If you never took the online class at the CC that offers Class X, then you will not be penalized for not having it.
Perhaps there are things one can do to offset this (i.e. explain that it is an online class that you are taking, and Class X is not offered online - and the campuses are worlds apart, such that one is absolutely unable to take Class X).
It shouldn’t be a problem in your case, though. Talk to a counselor to make sure that the online class will be allowed for IGETC.
@goldencub It seems as thought all the classes that are part of the secondary college’s prerequisites for UCB are the same for my school, but I kind of understand what you’re saying. It’s like, if there was a prerequisite category for UCB that my school had no Assist agreement for, and the secondary CC had a class that fulfilled that requirement, I would be held liable for it. I get you. I am going to talk to my counselor, though, on Monday. I’ve been seeing them a lot lately.
I’m taking online SPA 101 on the quarter system and it is ALOT of work. I don’t go to a CC, but just thought it may help. If you are already familiar with Spanish it may not be as difficult.
@Emme12 I’m half-way between deciding to take Spanish 1 from Lake Tahoe CC or Trigonometry from Coastline CC, which starts on Monday. I’m familiar with Spanish, I tried learning it on my own via Rosetta Stone and got pretty far. The only thing that I’m concerned about is whether or not the Trig class I take will let me in because I have yet to send my official transcripts showing I’ve taken intermediate algebra and the course starts on Monday.
@goldencub I’ve taken my major pre-reqs (Haas) at a combination of schools. Microeconomics at one school … Macro, Intro to Business, stats, all english at another … and my calc sequence at a third. You’re saying this will penalize me? I honestly hadn’t heard that, and my TAP counselor hasn’t suggested it’s an issue either. I’ve heard issues with splitting up sequences, but not major pre-reqs.
To the OP, I’m currently enrolled at 4 community colleges. I haven’t heard anything negative of what I’m doing until this thread, and my TAP counselor hasn’t hinted at it being negative either. I think whatever reason you (and I am) doing it can be easily explained in the comment section.
@briank82 No, I’m saying that, if there were a class that you needed that one CC offered and you didn’t take it there (or anywhere else), you would be penalized.
I attend two different CC’s currently. It’s totally fine to attend multiple CC’s.
I am finishing my IGETC through one CC, though (just so that I won’t have to worry about any complications - I’m sure it can be done through multiple).
It’s similar to the freshman admissions concept that the adcoms cannot penalize an applicant for not having a rigorous schedule if his/her HS only offers limited rigorous courses in the first place.
For example on how it could hurt you:
John is attending CCC “A” as linguistics hopeful. CCC “A” does not offer two of the major prerequisites but nearby CCC “B” does.
If John only attends CCC “A”, he will not have all the major prerequisites completed since the two courses are not offered. In this scenario John won’t be penalized in admissions since it’s not his fault the courses were not available and it’s unreasonable to require him to travel to CCC “B” to take the course.
However if John takes a course at CCC “B” along with his primary campus CCC “A”, he loses the excuse that his major prereqs were “not available” at CCC “A” and he would be penalized in the event he applies without his prerequisites completed. Essentially the more campuses you attend, the more opportunities you are expected to meet should it be required.
I believe there is an actual distance required to make use of the “course not offered” rationale, but it’s likely a “soft” rule and it logically can’t be more than 6-8 miles from your home address.
Philosophy majors generally don’t have any UCB prerequisites articulated through CCs. Most applicants to the major will have some classes down, but no prerequisites completed. The average admitted GPA is around a 3.6, I’m guessing.
If somebody were to complete only 2/3 prerequisites, would that be held against them? (not asking for myself)
Certainly some major prep is better than none, right?
This is how the pre-req things work. There are two types: recommended and required. Let’s just treat them all as required to simplify things.
You are expected to complete all the required pre-reqs that are available at any college you attend. If there is no articulated course, you don’t have to worry about it.
This is fair because rural folks usually only have access to one school, if that.
If you fail to complete required pre-reqs that are available for any college you attend or attended in the past, you will not be accepted. I think internally it’s basically a true/false thing. I’m not sure how far back they go though, like if you move somewhere.
Anyway, I suspect ‘recommended’ pre-reqs are used for edge-cases.
@anikom15 For me, I’m in the clear my because my primary CC offers courses that fulfill all the requirements, which I am currently taking or will take next semester. My secondary CC offers none of the requirements except for calculus, which I will be taking during a four-week summer session right after graduation. By the end of June, I will have everything completed and will hopefully be preparing to move to Berkeley. [-O<