For students who aren’t receiving the IGETC certification, how do the UCs determine which courses should be accepted as English composition? Do they specifically have to have the word “Writing” in the course name and be from the ENGL department at the university?
I have taken two courses from the English department so far. During my freshman year, I took an Advance College Writing and currently I am taking an American Literature course. Although I have credit for AP literature, but I only received a three and thus won’t receive a pass at most UCs, which I don’t mind. Most UCs want one course that focuses purely on composition and one that focuses on critical thinking and I have also taken a critical thinking philosophy course and received an A; however, there simply aren’t any courses that are perfectly named “Critical Thinking and Writing” at my institution. If I was IGETC certified, the philosophy course would count as “English composition”, but because I am not does that mean that I am expected to find a new course or am I overthinking this category?
I dedicated my academic history additional comments section to explain this just in case, but I wanted to ask you lovely people.
I don’t attend a CC; however, there have a been a number of transfers from my state school to UCs so I know that it is possible to meet the requirement.The critical thinking course is categorized as a core composition course here as it is categorized at community colleges, which I explain in the comments, but there is still that paranoia you’ll get tossed out.
I think one will need the word composition in it. Also, I’m not sure what type of school you’re at. If it is a non-CCC they need to be two COMPOSITION courses. You need to reach out to a UC. Sometimes they will tell you the score.
OP is not at a CCC (I think). So there is no critical thinking/comp course available, except at a few CSUs. The course is an anomaly, a blended hybrid.
Assuming OP is not at one of the few CSUs that have the blended course, at the very least s/he needs 2 comp
courses. This is if OP is at a non-CCC.
If, however, OP is at a CCC s/he needs to verify that one of those previous courses fulfills Subject area 1a before taking Subject area 1b. If 1b is taken and then it is determined that neither of the earlier courses fulfilled 1a, OP is out of sequence and will not be able to get full IGETC certification.
The English req is very tricky when you start adding in non-CCCs, and can result in a big mess if not done right. Work closely with an advisor.
@cayton the critical thinking/comp is a blended hybrid of composition and critical thinking. They basically don’t exist anywhere except a CCC (and I guess some CSUs, although supposedly not all).
So if you need it, a comp course won’t cut it, and a critical thinking course won’t cut it. It appears to essentially be a course created solely for the CCC. Personally, I find it odd and ridiculous.
And just to add more weirdness - at a CCC if there is a list of critical thinking/comp courses that fulfill IGETC, but the student’s major calls for breadth (but a breadth that requires critical thinking/comp) not all the critical thinking/comp courses that work for IGETC will necessarily work for the breadth.
California community college courses should be listed on http://www.assist.org as to how they can be equivalent to UC courses that fulfill English composition requirements.
Of course, students at other schools won’t have such pre-made articulations available, so they need to ask the target schools directly about what may be equivalent to the courses that fulfill English composition requirements.
I currently attend CSUF so I am fairly positive that most UCs have seen a number of applications from students from this university with the same coursework. At CSUF, the composition sector of the GE requirements are outlined exactly like the IGETC. You take the conventional writing course, the critical thinking composition course, and the speech course that is not relevant to the UCs. It is all fairly straightforward and I explained that fact in the additional comments. The reason why I didn’t call each UC was because it is essentially a mute point considering the fact that we are already in application season.
Lindyk8, the critical thinking composition category is out of control. For instance, at SCC, the category can be fulfilled by the basic Critical Thinking and Writing courses, but as you scroll down the list these are a few of the classes that also fulfill the category:
HIST 400 Critical Thinking in History
SOC 2 Critical Thinking in the Social Sciences
PHIL 322 Critical Thinking About the Paranormal?!?!?!
And I’ve observed several CCC that have options that are equally as wacky. The courses that satisfy the second composition course of the IGETC are so broad and out there that the concept of rejecting students from other backgrounds because they don’t believe that their second course was composition heavy enough is ridiculous. Ultimately, this all comes back to the fact that they are insanely vague about the requirements for non-CCC students. Everything feels like a shot in the dark.
I’ll try to remember to find this thread and update in the Spring so that future applicants can know for sure.
I am a fan of the concept of offering a wide variety of courses to satisfy requirements. I am not saying that they shouldn’t allow a broad range of courses. It is the concept of accepting courses that have no explicit connection to English composition from community college and not accepting the most basic courses for other institutions. Assist would have you believe that if it has the words Critical Thinking in the title, then it counts as English composition. It is just such a broad category to be so vague about whether it is meaning to be broad or strict.
@LanceM Do you think that a Philosophy course that involves critical thinking and writing should not be allowed to satisfy a critical thinking and writing course just because it focuses on the paranormal?
@lanceM Critical Thinking about the Paranormal. That appears to be an oxymoron. Although, count me in! O:-)
If you are at a CSU, there may possibly be a critical thinking/comp course. You should talk to your advisor. However, since you are not fulfilling IGETC, you may simply be able to fulfill with a qualifying comp course, since that is what most non-CCCs have to do. I know Berkeley will go over CSU course work. In fact, there’s a link somewhere with English courses that fulfill Berkeley requirements. Let me look for it.