<p>I am a current sophomore transfer student (undecided but most likely a Political Science, major with an interest in double majoring in Econ or a language) that has been accepted to USC and already committed. In fact, I just took the campus tour today and loved it. However, recently a few of my older family friends told me negative things about USC, such as gen Ed classes fill quickly and are usually packed with hundreds of kids. </p>
<p>I was not expecting to get into USC therefore I focused on fulfilling UC requirements, or the IGETC which I completed. Thus, I only completed the writing requirement and culture requirement for USC. Will fulfilling USC's other general Ed categories be difficult as a transfer student? As in, will it be hard to catch up in order to focus on my major later on and attempt to graduate on time? Is it truly hard to sign up for gen Ed classes? Also, for any current USC students, how would you describe the quality of the classes? Are they truly crowded?
I am generally concerned with being able to fulfill my general Ed categories during my sophmore year... I feel as though I maybe at a disadvantage by only having two cstegories completed. Does anyone have any comments or advice? </p>
<p>Also, would you describe classes in USC to be in general, worthwhile and educational or are some of the complaints I have heard (instructors are uninterested, brush off students, due to overcrowding) true?</p>
<p>My only experience is with my incoming freshman D, so hopefully someone with more experience can give you first hand advice. As far as GE’s go, there are so many choices to fulfill each requirement. My D did not get her first or second choices for her GE this semester, the first because it was already full and the second because it conflicted with her major classes. However, she has become quiet excited about taking the GE she did get into. (something she would not have selected previously, but she realizes it will make her a more well-rounded person, and it made her step out of her comfort zone) With that said, I don’t think you will have a hard time finding a class to fill your GEs, it just might not be your first choice. </p>
<p>As far as academics, my D and I were both exposed to a number of professors at orientation, they did presentations, seminars, and even gave the parents a taste of a lecture. We were both extremely impressed with the caliber of the instructors we were exposed to at orientation. As with any institution there will be instructors who are considered better than others, but I think you will be impressed yourself. As far as instructors being interested, I have heard over and over again how engaged the professors are at USC. Take advantage of their office hours. As far as over crowding, I wouldn’t worry. If you do have a “large” lecture class, you will have small discussion classes as well. As your classes get more specific, the class size diminishes.</p>
<p>My D and our entire family are very pleased she chose USC over UCLA. Her entire academic and social experience at USC will be incredible. I wish you all the best and FIGHT ON!</p>
<p>GE classes are a hit or miss, there are some great professors and some terrible professors. Some that are impossible to get an A in and some that you can get an A in without going to class. Some that are big and some that are small as well as a small discussion section.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t take registration too seriously, because in the end, you still have 3 weeks to add/drop and 99% of the time someone will drop after they realize that the class is not for them. If you don’t get what you want, just keep checking until you get what you want.</p>
<p>Also, you’re allowed to take one GE category Pass/Fail to lessen the load if you would like.</p>
<p>You can research/ask around to find the best ones to take and if you can’t get in then just watch web registration constantly until someone drops and you can squeeze into their spot. As a transfer though it is best to know out as many of the GE’s as you can before you transfer in just to make room for taking other classes here instead once you matriculate.</p>
<p>Hey marcinekok, I was a USC student with the trustee scholarship (made me drive 4 hours down for a silly interview), but I just recently transferred to UCLA for their full-ride scholarship as well, so I will give you my opinion about their classes. USC classes are incredibly easy, and I had a hard time understanding why people pay a ridiculous amount of money just to have their “name” on the class roster. The simplicity of their structures, administration, and the people I was surrounded by in these classes was a big factor in transferring colleges. I am having a much more satisfying time taking upper division computer science classes at UCLA. I am starting to understand why UCLA produces more graduates as JD’s, MD’s,DoP’s, and everything else in huge proportions. But I could be very biased because I know UCLA is just superior in the sciences, especially computer science (the internet was born there) In short, if you are asking if the academics are generally easy at usc, then yes.</p>
<p>But I will say that Professor Haydn was awesome, and the class was enjoyable for differential equations. Oh how I will miss dorming in Birnkrant. Have a great future at USC.</p>
<p>Some GEs are great, some aren’t. I’m halfway done (I’ve done Cats IV-VI and WRIT 140 so far), and I’ve had three wonderful professors and one awful one. The awful one taught the easiest class. With the other three, I definitely had to work hard, but I think it was worth it to have a better experience in the class, and I definitely learned more for it. </p>
<p>Some students, like Film Production, are done with GEs after three semesters. Others, like me, will be taking them until their last semester at USC. Depending on your major, everyone takes GEs at a different rate and time. The only exceptions to that are WRIT 140, which is mostly taken by freshman and sophomores, and WRIT 340, which is mostly taken by juniors and seniors.</p>
<p>Also, don’t forget that you’re allowed to take one GE P/NP. The general consensus is to use this on one of your science categories (III or IV). I used it on an Anthropology class that was fascinating, but required a lot of rote memorization I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle with my course load that semester. </p>
<p>I can’t really speak to the difficulty level of USC GEs, as every person learns differently, and every class is taught differently. It’s not very helpful, but all I can really say is that some are more difficult than others, and even within that, it depends on the professor. Don’t fret too much, I think if you put in the time and effort, you should be able to get a good grade.</p>
<p>Did you take AP classes in HS and get 4-5 on the AP exams? Or did you take IB classes? There are a few Gen Ed requirements that can be filled with AP or IB tests. </p>
<p>Advanced Placement (A.P.)
and International Baccalaureate (I.B.) credits:
A maximum of 32 units is granted under either the A.P. or the I.B. program, or in combination. Test results must be sent directly to USC from the testing agency. Once we receive them, your transfer credit report will show the credit.</p>
<pre><code>You receive 4 elective units for each score of 4 or higher. For exams taken spring 2008 or earlier, credit is awarded for scores of 3 or higher, except for Computer Science. General Education credit is available for Category I with a score of four or higher in Art History and European History and for Category III with a score of four or higher in Biology, Chemistry, or Physics. The three-semester foreign language requirement is fulfilled with a score of 4 or 5 on a foreign language AP exam (not Latin).
</code></pre>
<p>indigomy2, I notice you selected a new login name to make your post. I wonder, how did you get a full ride at UCLA when they do not give full rides? If you recently transferred to UCLA, does that mean you have not attended yet? If you transferred last year, that is not really recent. And most students who receive the Trustee scholarship do not consider the drive (!) to be interviewed silly. So… are you a ■■■■■? Many UC students may question, like you do, why students pay so much to attend USC. We have rarely–if ever–heard that from a student who was receiving a full tuition merit scholarship at USC. Most Trustee scholars are fully engaged, doing research, taking honors level classes like Thematic Option. Just wondering.</p>
<p>Look up regents scholarship. I got it as a transfer and it meets full financial eligibility for it. I sure as hell like it a lot better then the trustee scholarship since I get a crazy list of perks and benefits that USC didnt give me.</p>
<p>Regents scholarships are worth $2000, but may also include financial aid if there is FA need. It is wonderful to get great finAid, but that is available to all students who have need at many schools. To qualify as a transfer student, one must have earned around a 4.0 at your previous university. How many years did you attend USC? Did you maintain a 4.0 GPA while there? That is a little hard to believe by the quality of your grammar.</p>
<p>The crazy list of perks and benefits you refer to include priority in registration, a feature that is not as necessary while attending USC since there are enough classes open to easily graduate on time. Forgive me, but you sound a lot like you have a chip on your shoulder. It is hard to believe you are anything but a ■■■■■ here.</p>
<p>rofl do ppl rly care about grammar and english on the web? sorry im a gamer, so i type in gaming mode whenever im not up all night writing an essay. and no its just a trend for 4.0s to get that scholarship. Yes, I did have a 4.0 at my stay. I went to torrey pines high school which allowed me to finish linear algebra and all of multivariable calculus through their program, so i started out with differential equations in my first semester of USC. and yes, i do research. I just got hired this summer as an assistant for a lab in computer science at CISCO down in irvine. And you must not be looking hard enough if you think priority registration was the thing i wanted when I am already classes ahead of my peers. Freshmen taking differential equations? cmon man, i dont need priority reg. Dont get me wrong, I loved my stay at USC. Made a lot of awesome friends, my heroes of newerth team was formed there, and i will keep in touch with them and go to their parties since they are getting their apartments now</p>
<p>In support of madbeans assumption that you may be a ■■■■■…
“I was a USC student with the trustee scholarship (made me drive 4 hours down for a silly interview)” …"I went to torrey pines high school "- no one from TPHS area(Rancho, Carmel Valley, Solana Beach, Del Mar) drives FOUR hours DOWN to USC. They drive 2 to 2 1/2 hours UP to USC.In fact no one from San Diego County says that they drive DOWN (ie south) to LA…</p>
<p>“Oh how I WILL (Future tense) miss dorming in Birnkrant.”…The tense that you phase your comment makes it sound as if you were just at Birkrant this last semester which would infer that you have not yet completed any classes yet at UCLA.Yet you say…“I just recently transferred to UCLA” “I am having a much more satisfying time taking upper division computer science classes at UCLA.” Your comments don’t mesh…also it would seem obvious to most anyone that upper division classes within your major at ANY school would be more satisfying at either school …USC or UCLA…no comparison to GE’s.</p>
<p>If you were a trustee scholar you should have been in TO…not easy by any means. You also should have been an entering sophomore because of all of your AP credits…tested out of many of your GE’s , and with a little bit of research been able to take your choice of some great GE’s.</p>
<p>Are there great professors at USC …yes. Are there great professors at UCLA…yes. Poor profs at USC… yes…poor profs at UCLA… yes. Easy or difficult classes at both… yes…and your point is? You thought that your classes were easy at USC…my son was in a class first semester junior year with a UCLA transfer who thought that the classes for a business/acctg major at USC were much more difficult than at UCLA…yet this does not prove the superiority of USC over UCLA anymore than your assertions that UCLA is superior to USC has any merit.</p>
<p>I was a Regents scholar…and back in the day you received full tuition as well as payment for all of your books as well…but your assertion of mad perks…makes me laugh!!! My children were all offered Regents at multiple UC’s, UCLA included and I guess that we didn’t hear of the Royal Treatment other than priority registration that a Regent Scholarship afforded…I guess that you’re special??</p>
<p>Madbean…if it looks like a ■■■■■, and acts like a ■■■■■…most likely it is a ■■■■■ :)</p>
<p>lololol, did it ever occur to you that i transferred into torrey pines? I come from the ghettos and did what it takes to go to a great school for computer science… wait,wait it doesnt even matter because they made me come for that interview on a crappy weekday at a crappy time where i was going 10 mph. Nice logic, assuming that it doesnt take 4 hours to go from san diego to LA when you dont take everything into account. usc doesnt accept every GE, but they did take in all of my college credits for linear algebra and multivariable calculus because torrey pines has this program where a san jose state professor teaches these classes to us. and i never said i completed classes at ucla. I am GOING to transfer there this fall because I was accepted. what does this phrase mean to you “but I just recently transferred to UCLA.” I sure as hell cannot find any meaning in that phrase that lets you assume i was at UCLA this year. and I dormed at Birnkrant my first year and got an apartment the next year on the south of Adams. And do you really think the classes should be hard there because I am sure you didnt take them so you cant provide your input. Please… the TO class I took was something about the progress and change in sciences and it was easy…Ive been coding with python since 9th grade, and I took calculus as a freshmen with ap bio and ap lit. And i dont really like how you claim this is just a superiority act because its a fact that UCLA has the superior computer science department than USC… if I was a business or film major ( it would have been too hard to get into that school anyways…) i would have definitely stayed here, but im going to follow the money for computer science. Btw, you have no idea how great the networking is from the UCLA regents in the field of computer sciences, nuff said you are an ignorant individual. if all you can think about is “priority registration” you surely do not know how to look deep enough into the future.</p>
<p>Since you ask directly–yes, using the past tense ("…I recently transferred to UCLA") actually means you have already done it. Basic English. What you meant to write, I guess, is you were recently admitted to UCLA as a transfer. If you had been clearer about your status, we’d know that you have not attended classes at UCLA yet and all your comments here are more conjectures and hopes than experience and fact.</p>
<p>Honestly, I cannot imagine why any candidate for Trustee Scholar would be so annoyed and aggravated with attending the interview for full tuition. Most students fly in from all over the country and do not feel so outraged as you seem to. It makes us wonder if, in fact, you were awarded that scholarship at all, after that long and arduous drive up the 405.</p>
<p>I prefer phone interviews. both my parents work long and hard, and i didnt feel right about letting my father skip a day of work to drive me. Also, USC did give me a pretty bombass financial aid package because my parents bring home an income of <20k a year, so I didnt know whether winning the scholarship made a difference and contemplated on going to the interview since i did have a number of other scholarships thatwould have made me not pay anything for the next four years combined with their financial aid package.</p>
<p>In the interest of full disclosure, I got the IB diploma, and while it was nice to come in with 28 units, all of mine were elective credits, and none counted to get me out of any GEs. So be prepared to take them all. Or just check the eligibility online, haha.</p>
<p>Thank you for your advice guys! I apologize for not being active but I was suddenly out of town for the week and caught up as soon as I could with the thread (just now). I’m just a bit concerned with the availability of gen Ed classes since by the time transfer orientation occurs, many classes are full. Oh well, I guess I’ll just take what’s open and see if I can focus on classes for my major. </p>
<p>Regardless whether which school is better, (UCLA v USC) my friends at various UC’s are complaining about cutbacks which I do not want to deal with and USC provided me with generous financial aid since I’m low income. Both schools have a good reputation in LA and the across the nation, so I guess my concerns about that are settled. </p>
<p>Like I said, I’m just mainly concerned with having enough time to fulfill my gen eds and work towards my intended major (currently I’m undecided but i’ve always been interested in Polisci, Econ, International Relations, Computer info systems, German). I’d like to finish on a 4 year plan haha. I’ll just hope for the best. Either way if I chose to wait and see if I got into UCLA or other UCs I’d have to spend an additional year at a community college.</p>
<p>Huhhhhh…
My worries increased a bit since I took a look at the schedule of classes and most classes are nearing full capacity or are already full. Since I can’t register till my orientation in July, I wonder what will happen…
Has anyone had an experience like this?</p>
<p>At Orientation we were told that they release a certain number of spots in classes at each Orientation, to give everyone a more equal registration opportunity. Consider taking classes in the areas of interest that also fulfill GE requirements (ie PS 140, etc).</p>