I’m currently a senior in high school. I’m planning on going to a community college and I had to take a Placement Test to go to IVC(Irvine Valley College) located in CA. I landed College Writing 1 and 6 math classes: College Algebra, Statistics, liberal Arts MATH, and Trigonometry. I had an online assessment and it said that trigonometry is taken to ONLY transfer to CSU colleges meanwhile Statistics and College Algebra can be used for both UC’s and CSU’s. I’m kind of confused, I have a chart and it says that if you take trigonometry, you can go into pre-calculus, calculus, etc. Meanwhile, College Algebra goes into “Brief Course in Calculus”(College Algebra is worth 5 units). What should I do to be able to transfer to UCLA, UCB, and UCI? I placed very poorly on the math portion and I was wondering if I was still able to transfer? I’m undecided on computer science or business. Please help, thanks!
I was also wondering how I would apply for TAG? I’ve been researching and it says I need to fill out an application but I can’t find it.
That sounds a bit confusing. I think most UCs require trig to get into the Calc 1 & 2 sequence. Is that what you need to get to?
Well that’s what it said on the chart but when I was taking the online assessment, it said Trigonometry is only transferrable to CSU campuses which I don’t want to go to so I’m very confused… I don’t know which Math to choose…?
Weird. I thought trig would definitely be transferable. I’m in Pre-Calculus now at another CCC and it’s transferable, but I just looked up trig at my school and it’s not. Same with trig at another school I attend.
I guess it isn’t transferable.
If you say what math you’re trying to get to, someone will be better able to help to. You may not even need trig.
Sometimes, even though it won’t transfer, it is needed to progress to the next level of math. It can vary by CC. Depending on your major plans (and if you need IGETC) you may need only one transferable math, or you may need a calculus sequence.
Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place!
For the TAG app: https://uctap.universityofcalifornia.edu/students/
Extremely helpful in planning coursework as well as submitting a TAG application. For campus specific TAG details, just put the name of the ‘UCXX’ and ‘TAG’ into google, and it will take you to the campus page.
Another great website you will want to be familiar with is http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html
This will show you what classes you need to complete the prerequisites for your chosen major.
If you have not a clue what to major in, don’t worry! As your CC counselor, or look on your CC website, for classes that satisfy IGETC. IGETC is the equivalent to any general ed (GE) requirements the UC campuses have. However, some majors (engineering/computer science/ some life science?) do not require IGETC. You can find this info on ASSIST.
So basically I’m screwed over for math. I checked some of the UC’s and they require Calc 1 or 2. What should I do?
Oh! And also, how long can I wait until I can apply for TAG? I want to set all my courses up and get everything organized before I apply.
You checked some of the UCs…. did you check the UCs you wanted to get into, and the specific programs at said UCs?
One of the best undergrad business programs in the country, Berkeley’s Haas, doesn’t even require Calc 1 & 2. That’s not applicable to everything, but not everything requires Calc 1 & 2.
I don’t see how you’re screwed over. You’re a senior in high school. All the answers you need are readily available online, so do some digging.
I’m more towards majoring in Comp Science. I checked UCLA and they’re requiring Calc, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra. Berkeley is requiring the same as well as Discrete Math. I would have to stay for more than 2 years if I wanted to transfer which I don’t want to do.
UCSB also has the same requirements
Precalc is transferable because it includes both trig and college algebra, college algebra is transferable because it is… college algebra… trig is not transferable because UC’s consider it a pre-req course like algebra 2 and such.
Applied calculus should only need the pre req of algebra 2 so if your school wants trig or college algebra then go to a new school because there is no trig involved in applied calculus, applied calc is just the ideas of calculus but with easy numbers. Normal calculus will either require college algebra AND trig or just precalc.
If you plan on majoring in computer science or business then you will need calculus, in business you can take either applied or normal calculus, but for anything science related you will need the normal calculus which will require precalc so I would recommend taking the normal route because if you take the applied version and then decide to change majors then you will have wasted your time because you will need to go back and take precalc anyways.
How low did you score on the math section though? If you are not in at least algebra 2 next fall then it will take you 2 years just to get calc 1 out of the way.
Go to assist.org to compare schools and majors, the classes on the right will be the classes you need to take at your school. Then go to https://uctap.universityofcalifornia.edu/students/ to plan out your coursework for the next 2 years, a counselor will help you with your general ed but the major specific stuff will depend heavily on your own research. So after youve gone to assist and mapped out your coursework on uc tap then you will have an idea of what you need and how long it will take you to get it done. Even if you decide against a science major you will still need stats to transfer and you need algebra 2 just to get into stats so again algebra 2 is important.
Also the uc tap link will have info on the tag, the tag is good for any uc other than ucla and berkeley, you usually do the tag taround the same time you apply to transfer
So that means to even apply for admission I need to stay for at least 3 years to UCLA and Berkeley if I go trig. I scored pretty badly on it, 27/50, I totally winged it and I’m wondering if I should take it again. Should I retake it? (I’m in Algebra 2 right now).
Thats totally up to you, if you retake it and do better do you think you will understand the material better? Understanding the material is way more important than what a piece of paper says. If youre in algebra 2 right now then you could take pre calc this summer then calc 1 next fall then calc 2 next spring, then you will still have another fall and spring semester to do whatever else you need. You dont need to be done by the time you apply but you need to show planned completion, so if you need calc 3 or stats or something and you take it next next fall when you apply you will still be good because you are showing planned completion, make sense?
You apply the fall after your first year so you really only need to be half way done with your classes by the time you apply
Wait what… Calc 1 in fall and calc 2 in spring…? Its only 1 semester for each subject?
Depending on the college, im not sure how the quarter system works but on the semester track yeah each math class is a semester long, usually 16 weeks, summer semester are 6-8 weeks- they are even more condensed and fast paced.
@MikeSauce is on it with the advice!!
CS is a difficult and competitive major, and it would make sense to spend 2-3 years on the pre reqs to have a high GPA and extra curriculars to get into the programs. There is no shame spending more than 2 years at a CC.
In terms of prepping for your TAG, here are the main things to know: a)it is due in September of the Fall you are applying. b) at that time, you must have 30 units completed, c) your planned coursework must show 60 units completed before the spring prior to transfer d) depending on the school/major, you may need to have some/all of the pre reqs completed before you TAG. Here is UCI’s http://www.admissions.uci.edu/applicants/tag.html
After re-reading your OP, I’d also suggest looking into the TAP programs at both UCLA and UCB. UCB is more select, so you will have to talk to a Berkeley counselor for more info on how to join. Here is IVC’s webiste for UCLA’s TAP program: http://academics.ivc.edu/honors/Pages/requirements.aspx These can be a huge bonus to your application, especially if you are just under the normal accepted stats.
Also, look though IVC’s course catalog so you have an idea of the length of courses and sequences. Also, use the https://uctap.universityofcalifornia.edu/students/ to plan out your coursework to see how it looks.
I did horrible in HS math so this is the route I had to take in CC for math: trigonometry > precalculus > calc 1 > calc 2 > calc 3 >linear algebra> differential equations.
It’s true trig does not transfer, but mastering it helped me SO MUCH in precal, calc, and especially my physics courses. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a poor foundation in math.
I learned the hard way at my first CC that what math you can score into doesn’t really correlate to what class you should be in. I scored into calc 1. It took me the better part of 1.5 years of failing and withdrawing from classes to figure out I wasn’t “bad” at math, I just wasn’t at the level of course I was taking. So studying to score out of a class may not really help you, you will need to understand the full course to progress.
I know it may seem like the end of the world to spend more than 2 years at CC before transfer, but it will be so worth it to be ready when you get there. You may even be able to complete all this in two years, and can do it easily if you take summer or winter intercession classes. I did calc 1 over one summer and linear algebra another. They are fast, very accelerated, so I suggest just taking the one class if you do it over a break. I do not recommend calc 2 in an accelerated format. It was the most challenging calculus at my CC.
Best of luck to you, you’ve found the right place to come for answers.
Thanks so much Bear87. I still have several questions, if they said that if you take Trig that you can only transfer to Cal states am I still able to transfer to UC’s since the only way to advance to Linear algebra, differential equations, etc is to take trig first. Also, if I take Pre-Calculus over the summer heading into the community college as well, would I be able to complete it in 2 years? I’m in the same exact situation as you were in, I had pretty bad family issues and got a D in Geometry sophomore year and I’m stuck with Algebra 2 and crappy classes my senior and junior year…
You’re a little confused. YOU can still transfer to UC after taking trig. The COURSE won’t transfer, I.e. You won’t get credit for the course. CSU’s give credit for that class, UC’s do not.
As far as completing in 2 years, you need to meet with a counselor at your CC. I don’t know how often the different classes are offered, if you’ll have high enough registration priority to get into them before they fill up, or whether your school offered summer or winter intercession classes.