In dire need of some advice, please!

Parent Cafe
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<p>I'm a junior who is attending an early college high school (no AP courses, no Honors courses) in California and is currently planning my fall and spring semester college courses. Originally, I was planning on taking general biology, calculus, and mandarin 3 in the fall following with general physics with calculus, comparative politics, and a philosophy course in the spring. However, I recently discovered that the community college district that our high school works with has been audited. Because of this, students at my high school can only take up to 11.5 units now without having to pay the fees (high school students use to take CC classes free), which is 26$ a unit. The biology, calculus, and mandarin class are all 5 units, so I would be paying $338, which is not including other fees. While I do not fall in the lower-income bracket that would have allowed my fees to be cleared, or at least reduced via financial aid, I am considering the possiblity of only taking 11 units to avoid paying. </p>

<p>I am intending to get an IGETC, which are basically the lower division general education requirements of the UCs. Basically, when I complete my IGETC by the time I graduate high school, I can basically enroll at a UC and start taking the courses intended for my major. So far, I am now planning on taking calculus, comparative politics, and human sexuality in the fall. In the spring, I am going to take art history, a philosophy course, and general biology.</p>

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<li><p>In order to fulfill an area in the IGETC, I have to take one humanties course, and one arts course. By humanties, I mean foreign language, philosophy, etc. Should I, instead of philosophy, take mandarin 3 instead? I want to apply to a couple of top-tier private schools and I know that they recommend 3 years of foreign language. While it may not be guaranteed that the course may be available when spring rolls around (it happens), should I place finishing mandarin 3 of higher priority to taking a philosophy class. Then again, I am Chinese who is already pretty proficient in mandarin (colleges may assume this too?), and I feel that I would like to have a more well-rounded education and I'm pretty interested in studying philosophy as a minor in college. </p></li>
<li><p>Should I take general physics with calculus INSTEAD of general biology in the spring? I have already taken freshman biology, but general physics will not fulfill the biological sciences requirement (then I probably won't get my IGETC). I have already fulfilled my physical sciences requirement, which the physics course does fall under, with general chemistry. I'm definitely interested in studying science in college as a major, and I want to get a good overview of different areas of science (which is why I want to take physics). However, general biology at the college is more comprehensive and in-depth than my high school biology class. So far, I have taken high school biology, high school anatomy & physiology, and college chemistry.</p></li>
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<p>I won't be able to take any classes (such as mandarin or general biology) because I'll be working full-time in a lab in the summer.</p>

<p>Sorry, this was a long post. Hope someone can help me out! If something doesn't make sense, I'll try to clear things up. Thanks!</p>

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<p><em>bump</em> 10 char</p>

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<p>The guidance counselors at our h.s. would say “take physics instead of bio” since you have had bio - for someone aiming for top tier private schools.</p>

<p>Since you speak Chinese, I think the philosophy class would look better to top tier private schools than Mandarin.</p>

<p>Do you plan to apply in Fall 2010 for college freshman admission in Fall 2011?</p>

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<p>I’m applying for colleges in the fall of 2010. I’m leaning towards taking physics as well; the only problem is that it wouldn’t fulfill my IGETC requirement. Thank you for your advice, though!</p>

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<p>Unless the $338 is a real hardship, I don’t see the point in limiting your classes just because of that. If it is a real hardship, that’s different, but I got the idea that you were just complaining about it because the rules have become less favorable. I don’t know why you would be taking so many classes in Mandarin.</p>

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<p>forblueskies: I assume that you have been building up your reading/writing skills in Mandarin. Will this suffer if you take a break from formal classes? I don’t imagine your family/friends etc. have time to reinforce these skills? If you intend to become truly fluent in Mandarin, I wouldn’t take a break from it.</p>

<p>I would take physics to broaden your science base and if the $338 is not a hardship I wouldn’t water down the rigor of course load just because the rules changes.</p>

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<p>Do you think that my revised schedule is a huge downgrade in terms of the rigor of course load? I will be willing to pay the feel to take over 11.5 units in my spring semester to includes mandarin, but mandarin 3 is not always available at the community college. For courses in the art and humanities area of the IGETC, there is a higher chance that courses in the philosophy and humanities area (which can replace the foreign language course) will be available than a language course. I’m not sure if mandarin will be offered in the spring, and the reason I am not planning on taking mandarin 3 in the fall is that it’s only offered at night.</p>

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<p>I don’t think your revised schedule is a huge downgrade. It just seemed that you were doing it solely for the cost, but it didn’t seem that the cost was actually a big deal to you. I thought the discrepancy was odd.</p>

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<p>If you end up in a UC, and don’t get your IGETC first, does that mean that only a small portion of your other classes count, and you really need the IGETC to ensure credit for all of them?</p>

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<p>I’d think philosophy since you’re already fluent in Mandarin, but then it wouldn’t show on your transcript. Does it have an SAT II you could take soon to show on your apps?</p>

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I think that, within reason, you shouldn’t remake yourself to be attractive to colleges. If you want philosophy, take philosophy. Not to say that you should blow off the standards, but the purpose of an education is to get educated, not to get into college. The “top tier private colleges” you want to apply to are probably lottery schools. You should do your best to get into them, but you should also be true to yourself.</p>

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It depends on the answer to my earlier question about the importance of the IGETC. If not getting it loses you a year of credits at a UC, you should probably get it. If it doesn’t mean much, take the physics. In either case, you will (probably) have time in 4-year college to take bio or phys or both.</p>

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<p>I think you should take Bio (I’m from Cali) just to finish your IGETC and the bio will not detract from other private top tier school applications. With your IGETC finished, you would have a slight advantage in UC applications. Also if the money isn’t such a hardship, you probably want to go all out, the more prepared you are, the better.</p>

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<p><em>facepalm</em> Should have asked you this first: What major do you plan on studying? Technically, you have to finish your major prereqs before you can take your major classes in the UC’s. So you should focus on finishing your prereqs also. Try to pick prereqs that also satisfy your IGETC needs.</p>

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<p>perhaps language courses at a CC (as opposed to high school) will count for more - generally, one year of college language is equivalent to 2 years of high school language.</p>

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<p>GeekMom63 - I believe - and this may not be true - that if you do not complete your IGETC by the time you go to a UC, I will probably have to repeat all of the classes. I’m also leaning towards taking philosophy/humanities over mandarin, although I don’t have an SAT II to compensate for the extra year of foreign language. I want to apply early somewhere, and I recall that the only date available to take Chinese with listening is in November. </p>

<p>dfa4ever - Yeah, I decided to pay for my classes in the spring (general physics, general biology, art history, and philosophy). I’m planning on double-majoring in some sort of science, probably biology, as well as political science/public policy.</p>

<p>mamenyu - I didn’t know this! I had heard this applied for the spanish courses, but my counselor never mentioned it was applicable for mandarin. I will have to check up on this, but thank you for telling me!</p>

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<p>you should ask ms. sun. go to ■■■■■■■■■■■■, or something to that effect. great website for advice on the UC system.</p>