Since so many CC posters ask about the UC GPA calculation, I am going to link the Rogerhub UC GPA calculator for reference.
The UC’s only consider a-g course grades for classes taken the summer prior to 10th grade through the summer prior to 12th grade. Freshman grades are reviewed to determine if the a-g course requirements are met and Senior course schedules are reviewed to determine if all the a-g required courses will be met by graduation along with HS course rigor.
The UC’s look at 3 UC GPA’s: Unweighted UC GPA, Capped Weighted UC GPA and Fully weighted UC GPA. The majority of statistical information on the UC GPA is based on the Capped weighted however, the Fully weighted UC GPA data is available on the UCLA/UCB websites under their Freshman profile.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Hi. I have a question. If a child take a UC class over the summer and gets college credit i believe that they have to list this on their UC application under college courses (a 4 credit course). How do you know what category to assign this under the a-g? There seem to be so many rules on listing a college course, if it is a-g, etc. I believe it can help your UC GPA if it is fulfilling one of the requirements or if it is considered a “g”, even if it is not on your transcript. Thanks
@ProfessorPlum168 I have looked there. If it is a UCLA course - physics - it would not be listed there. That is for high schools and community colleges. that is the issue. I appreciate your help. It would seem it would be D, but also g, but how does one know for sure. If a student doesn’t need to meet anymore science requirements, does it matter?
I have read much about being a “UC transferable course” - but this seems to really only apply to communitiy colleges. Isn’t a UCLA course, by definition, a “UC transferable course.” ?
A physics course taken at a CC or UC would go under “d” for laboratory science and if it is listed under assist.org, it would be UC transferable.
Some UC extension courses and specialized seminars taken at a UC campus may not be transferable but those are the exceptions.
@Gumbymom So does the course get listed under a-g if it is either a CC or UC REGARDLESS if it is UC transferable? There is a lot of write up on CC and UC transferable on the UC instructions, but not so much on just classes take at a 4 year college.
I don’t see where you check this out on assist.org. That site is incredibly complicated. Do you search by course or college.
It seems a key point is 30 hours of “lab” for “d” credit. Otherwise I would put it as an elective.
The UC Admission website has the the following:
D) Laboratory science
UC-approved high school courses
Two years of college-preparatory laboratory science, including or integrating topics that provide fundamental knowledge in two of these three subjects: biology, chemistry, or physics. One year of approved interdisciplinary or earth and space sciences coursework can meet one year of the requirement. Computer Science, Engineering, Applied Science courses can be used in area D as an additional laboratory science (i.e., third year and beyond).
SAT Subject Examination
Each test clears one year:
Biology: Score of 540
Chemistry: Score of 530
Physics: Score of 530
AP or IB Examination
Score of 3, 4 or 5 on any two AP Exams in Biology, Chemistry, Physics (B, C, 1 or 2) and Environmental Science; score of 5, 6 or 7 on any two IB HL exams in Biology, Chemistry or Physics
College courses
For each year of the requirement, a grade of C or better in a transferable course of at least 3 semester (4 quarter) units in a natural (physical or biological) science with at least 30 hours of laboratory (not “demonstration”)
If the course is being used to fulfill one of the a-g course requirements for UC admission then they need to be listed on the UC application.
From UC Website:
Transferable college/university courses and/or college/university courses that meet an “a-g” requirement must be listed. Also a copy of the college transcript will be required upon accepting enrollment at any UC.
With a few exceptions which I mentioned, the course should be UC transferable. Any specific reason the course is being taken at a UC vs CC?
What is the intended major?
OK. this is where I like details:
- I see what the UC Website says (I have looked into this very deeply) - so my question is how does a student determine what is a “transferable” college course?
- Again, how do you know if a course meets “a-g”. If it is a science and has a lab it is automatically considered “D”? if it doesn’t fit under “d” -maybe no lab hours, then is it automatically a “g”?
- If the student doesn’t need the class to meet requirements (they already have all of the a-g met at their high school), but they got an A in the UCLA or UCSD college course and it can be listed as a “g” - why wouldn’t they just list it as a “g” because it will help (in some cases) their UC GPA?
4, This is for a student who may take a UC college course over the summer to see if they like the subject and to better themselves.
Thank you for the information @Gumbymom. And yes, @svlab112 I know what the rules say, but I still feel like it is very open ended.
How I interpret based on personal experience. My kids went through the 2014, 2016, and 2018 app cycle and attend UCs. They took several CCC classes.
If it’s a UC class the “transferable” classification is moot because it’s already a UC class.
Then, the issue is does the course meet an a-g classification.
If the class meets the unit and lab hour requirement then the criteria has been satisfied to count toward “d”. If the lab hours are insufficient but it has enough units it could count as “g”.
When filling out the application your student will list the school for each course. It will be clear that it was take at UCLA or another UC
I would include the description of the class in the additional section specifying the number of lab hours and units that are listed in the course description.
Agree. Most UCs will expect more than minimum requirements and will use the number of a-g classes as a measurement of rigor. That is one reason my kids took several CCC classes.
I don’t see any scenario where a UC physics class can be left off the application even if the grade doesn’t improve the overall GPA. This grade will also be part of their college record for grad school.
@svlab112 thank you! I think what you said above makes it clearer. The UC app has a section to list the course with Department, course number, course title, etc. I don’t know if one needs to then describe the class further in the additional section - this isn’t mentioned anywhere that one needs to do this. It is good to know that if one takes additional science classes (and if they don’t have lab work) that it could go as g.
I think the UC application is so confusing in this area. There are many questions and answers and application guidelines, but nothing that is straightforward and clear.
One last question, and thank you for your help. How does one figure out if a class taken at UCSD (or any UC) meets a-g subject area. There is no list that exists. Yes, there is a list for the community colleges, but not for universities/UCs. I am sure that a student could take a class that is not as straightforward as pure English, Math, Science. Do you just, by default, pick “g” if it can fit as a English class, for example, when a student takes a class on the study of women’s literature.
Thank you again for your post above.
If it were me, I would lookup the “course” name on the a-g list and see how it is classified by other institutions and use that as a guide.
In your example “Women’s Literature” is listed under “b” English when looking up the “course name” by other institutions.
One could also compare the UC course description to the HS “course content guidelines” found on the UC website where it has the HS articulation guidelines.
If in doubt, I would put it in “g” and not use the course to meet a required or recommended number of courses in a-f.
Thank you @svlab112 Super helpful!