I’m a HS sophomore from CA, my aim is to get into UC or CSU(STEM-related) .
Due to the high demand for AP in our school, there’s no guarantee that I’ll get the AP/hons of my choice next year .(I didn’t get UC honors classes this year despite being eligible but my triplet sister did
I want to do some of the general ed requirements for UC through AP and cc classes so that I can get the credit and save money ? Any idea which ones?
I checked assist,org trying to figure out the (a-g / IGETC but I am a bit confused on how to figure it out.
Please enlighten me on this. Any suggestions is appreciated
IGETC is mainly for transfer students and for some majors, IGETC is not recommended. Do you have an idea of what you plan to study in college?
I would look at the 7 course GE pattern instead if you want to take a few courses at a CC. Also realize depending upon intended major some AP courses cannot be used at the UC’s for major prep.
Two transferable courses in English composition;
One transferable course in mathematical concepts and quantitative reasoning;
Four transferable college courses chosen from at least two of the following subject areas:
arts and humanities
social and behavioral sciences
physical and biological sciences
You can only use AP credit for 1 of the 2 English composition courses for UC GE completion.
For a CSU, you will also need an Oral communication/Speech course
You will want to take courses that not only fulfill UC/CSU GE requirements but HS graduation requirements.
CC courses will be on your permanent college transcript so if you plan to apply to Professional or Graduate school, you will have disclose the grades. Make sure you select courses you believe you can do well in ie. get A’s.
What course areas are you most interested in?
Usually the Arts/Humanities or Social/Behavioral science courses are the easiest to fulfill at your local CC. Some suggestions: Speech, Philosophy, Psychology, Foreign Language, Anthropology, English Composition, History.
If you go onto Assist.org, select your local community college and then select UC transferable courses. You then can select which subject area for the courses of interest.
Are you intending to enter a UC or CSU as frosh, or start at a community college and then transfer to a UC or CSU?
a-g requirements are high school course requirements for entering UC or CSU as frosh. See University of California Counselors . Some requirements can be satisfied by college courses in those subject areas.
IGETC = Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum, which CSUs and most UCs for most majors will accept to fulfill frosh/soph level general education requirements. Note that IGETC is very similar to CSU general education (UC general education varies by campus and division). Most community colleges have an IGETC worksheet showing what courses fufill what areas. For example: https://www.smc.edu/student-support/academic-support/transfer-center/areas-of-study/documents/IGETC-and-CSU-GE/igetc.pdf . IGETC is certified by the community college before entering a UC or CSU and is mainly for transfer students.
My kid got an IGETC while in high school, also fulfilling some of her A-G requirements for graduation with concurrent enrollment credits. What community college are you thinking of attending, and I can help you understand which classes will fulfill both IGETC and A-G requirements.
Taking ENGL 101A Reading and Written Composition (4 units) & ENGL 101C Critical Thinking and Composition (3 units) fulfills both Area 1 of your IGETC as well as half of the “B” from your A-G requirements. You can also get a waiver for ENGL 101A by getting a “3” or better on the AP English Language and Composition exam.
Taking MATH 101A Calculus with Analytic Geometry (5 units) fulfills Area 2 of your IGETC, fulfills prep recommended on assist.org for many of the majors related with a future in cyber security, and also fulfills one-third of the “C” from your A-G requirements. You can also get a waiver for MATH 101A by getting a “3” or better on the AP Calculus AB or AP Calculus BC exam.
Taking ART 103A Survey of Western Art (4 units) fulfills Area 3a of your IGETC as well as the “F” from your A-G requirements. You can also get a waiver for ART 103A by getting a “3” or better on the AP Art History exam.
Taking HIST 117A History of the United States (3 units) fulfills one-half of Area 3b of your IGETC as well as one-half of the “A” from your A-G requirements. You can also get a waiver for HIST 117A by getting a “3” or better on the AP United States History (APUSH) exam.
For the second half of Area 3b on your IGETC, I’d recommend taking a class that either 1) fulfills one-quarter of the “B” from your A-G requirements, like ENGL 125A English Lit: Middle Ages thru 18th Century (3 units), OR 2) fulfills one-half of the “A” from your A-G requirements, like HIST 106A World History to 1500 (3 units).
Taking PS 102 Intro to American Politics (3 units) fulfills one-third of Area 4 of your IGETC. Though it’s not needed to fulfill part of the “A” of your A-G requirements if you already took HIST 117A or APUSH, many high schools require at least half a year of US civics/government for graduation. You can also get a waiver for PS 102 by getting a “3” or better on the AP UNited States Government and Politics exam.
Taking PSY 101 General Psychology (3 units) also fulfills one-third of Area 4 of your IGETC as well as the “G” from your A-G requirements. You can also get a waiver for PSY 101 by getting a 3 or better on the AP Psychology exam.
For the last third of Area 4 on your IGETC, I would recommend BA 102A Principles of Macroeconomics (3 units). Although you’ve already fulfilled the “G” from your A-G requirements, it looks good on a college application to take more than one “G” requirement. And many high schools require at least half a year of economics for graduation.
Taking CHEM 102 Preparation for General Chemistry (4 units) fulfills Area 5a of your IGETC as well as one-half of the “D” from your A-G requirements. You can also get a waiver for CHEM 102 by getting a “3” or better on the AP Chemistry exam.
Taking BIOL 130 Essential Biology (4 units) fulfills Area 5b of your IGETC as well as the second half of the “D” from your A-G requirements. You can also get a waiver for BIOL 130 by getting a “3” or better on the AP Biology exam.
Okay! Are you still with me? We made it to Area 6 on your IGETC! This can be fulfilled by through the two years of a language other than English that you take in high school to fulfill the “E” of your A-G requirements. American Sign Language is included as a language other than English.
Note: be careful about using the AP credit listings at the community college for anything other than getting IGETC certification. The UC or CSU that you attend will have its own AP credit listings which may be different. Unless you complete IGETC and transfer it to the UC or CSU, any AP credit and college courses will be re-evaluated on their own by the UC or CSU that you attend.
Regarding IGETC area 4 (science), CS major programs at some campuses require science, so you may want to check what science is required and choose science courses considering that. For example, UCLA, UCM, UCR, and UCSB CS require physics (choose calculus-based physics for maximum transferability).
PHYS 140, 141, 142 = physics for physics and engineering majors (prerequisite = MATH 101A, should continue with 101B, 101C, 103 + 104
https://www.assist.org will show you course equivalencies between California community colleges and UCs and CSUs. You can search by specific major at a UC or CSU to see what frosh/soph courses are needed specifically for the major. For example, for UCLA CS, the courses you can take at Ohlone College that fulfill prerequisites are listed at Welcome to ASSIST .
so much