This is kind of a complicated scenario but I’ll try to narrow it down as best as I can
Basically, I managed to obtain my Associate’s degree in General Studies from a local community college (Spring 2016). I recently had a “Preview” session at the college I’ll be attending come Fall, and to be perfectly honest, I was beyond overwhelmed by the amount of classes that I have to take to obtain my Bachelor’s degree
I know that I’m going to sound like a dunce, and I’m sorry, but it’d be much appreciated if someone could inform about this. I thought once I obtained by General Studies degree, I would then transfer and enroll in specific, intensive classes tailored to my degree (in this case, IT specified classes). I’ve found that this is not the case - I STILL have to take a few more lower division “general education” classes, along with an entire section of business related classes before I can even start enrolling in definite IT courses.
Or is this how it works? I have to take a large amount of other core classes before I start taking classes tailored to my degree? Because looking at this chart, I can expect to be at this university for about 3 1/2 years… and I’m a bit shocked.
Once again, I know I probably sound clueless but it’d be great if someone could help me with this
If anyone needs clarification, please let me know… I know this entire post is probably just a jumbled mess, but whatever
You don’t want a degree in General Studies. You will want to fulfill the comparable courses to clear out your lower division general education, do your major preparation courses and THEN prioritize any Associate’s Degrees you may or may not want.
For example, assuming you are attending a California Community College, without loss of generality let’s use IVC.
Using their IGETC as an example: You would need to finish http://students.ivc.edu/transfercenter/Documents/14-15%20IGETC.pdf 15 general education courses (which gets you to about a minimum of 40 units after adding up each section.
From there, you would also take major preparation for your business major. For example, if you wanted to transfer from IVC to UCI as a Business major, you would need Calculus I, intro macro and micro econ, 2 accounting classes, and an intro to business course. All said and done that should get you pretty close to 60 units altogether (which is the minimum to transfer to a UC).
As a minimum expectation, I advise students at CCs to take either 15 units each semester or at least 12 for either Fall or Spring and a course over the Summer. This will allow you to graduate and transfer in two years, although possibly without any AAs you may or may not want (PS: your AAs no longer matter once you achieve a Bachelor’s).
I don’t know what state you are from but I hope this helps.
I forgot to mention… I’m in the process of sending them my OFFICIAL transcript…will this possibly thin out some of the classes I need to (possibly) take?
It depends how rigorous your high school curriculum was. If you took any AP tests, definitely send those because they will knock out quite a bit of your GenEd. If you took a few years of foreign language in high school that will usually free you of that expectation as well. If not AP, IB, SAT2 (for foreign language), then yes, you will need to take the college courses.
Check into CLEP tests and credits too. Talk to a transfer specialist at your intended college. Ask for a transfer sequence of reqs in your major. How fast can they be completed? Find out.
Is there a transfer advisor at your CC who could help you with this? That still might be the way to go. Ask about guaranteed transfer programs (also called articulation agreements). Your General Studies major might count for a lot more at a different place than the one you are currently planning to attend.
A different university or different major might have fewer requirements for specific classes. It sounds like you didn’t tailor your CC courses to fit the requirements of the major and Univ you were planning to attend.