I will be studying at Diablo Valley College soon. From what I learned from assist.org if I want to apply all UCs to somewhat increase my chances to be admitted to UC, I have to take like 85 units to satisfy all the requirements and IGETC?
So here comes the problem, as I do not really prefer any campus besides UCB, UCLA, UCSD, what is the strategy you think is the best? Or simply take all the courses? Thanks in advance.
One option would be to take courses that align with the UC computer science transfer pathway. If you take those courses, you’ll be eligible for transfer to all the UCs.
Info here:
Ideally, you would take all of the possible DVC courses that cover prerequisites listed in ASSIST.
However, if this is impractical, due to there being too many courses, you may want to prioritize those courses which cover the most requirements at the most UC campuses. Write down the DVC courses you need for CS at each UC, so that you can see which set will give you the most coverage, so that you can take those courses first.
Also, make note of campuses where many courses cannot be covered (e.g. UCI) and be aware that if you transfer there, you may need extra quarters or semesters to “catch up” after transfer.
If you take all of your pre-transfer courses at community colleges, they will be capped at 70 semester units for the purpose of transfer units, and will not cause you to be denied UC admission for having too many units. You will still get subject credit for all courses to fulfill requirements.
Thanks for all replies. As I have learned so far, it seems beside UC Berkeley (L&S), IGETC is not recommended to complete. But still, too many major courses lol… I need to take 6 math classes if I want to apply to all.
All the campuses will have the same general requirements, ie the 6 math classes you are referring to (Calc 1, Calc 2, Calc 3, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra and Discrete Math), a year of Physics, a year of English, and computer classes which should include Data Structures, C++, and Java. After Calc 2, you can certain double up on the math classes. That’s around 2/3 to 3/4 of your classes.
Regarding IGETC, it is nice to have completed for most UC campuses and majors, but major preparation should generally take precedence over completing IGETC.
If you do not complete IGETC, you will have to complete the general education requirements of the campus you transfer to. While the UCs often have general education requirements that are less voluminous than IGETC, they may differ from each other significantly, so you may have to carefully consider which pre-transfer general education courses to take to maximize usefulness if you do not complete IGETC.
For CSU, the general education requirements closely resemble IGETC (but note the CSU / UC difference in IGETC where CSU requires oral communication and UC requires foreign language).