<p>I'm a fourth year student at a community college. My first few years at CC I wasn't sure what major I wanted, so I finished all my IGETC requirements.</p>
<p>Now, I want to transfer to UCI as a Chemistry B.S. major. The problem is, I have only completed Calc I and Chemistry I for my science requirements. Next semester, I am planning to take Calc II and Chemistry II. The semester after that, I plan to take Calc III and O-Chem I. </p>
<p>Consequently, from Assist.org, it looks like I will be missing one year of Engineering Physics and the second semester of O-Chem when I transfer. Do you think I should take Physics along with the classes I have to take this year too? It's just a lot of science classes, and I do not want to hurt my GPA. </p>
<p>I am also applying to UCI through TAG. I currently have a 3.60, and I need a 3.40 to be eligible (I'm just worried that taking physics too will bring me below 3.40). It looks like I meet all the requirements, except that I'm just worried about not finishing one and a half classes on Assist.org.</p>
<p>And even if I do take Physics, I'll be missing the second semester of O-Chem when transferring.</p>
<p>What do you all recommend I do? Is it looking bad for me?</p>
<p>You can check assist.org. Remember they list both required and recommended courses. You only <em>need</em> to complete the required ones. Here’s what it says for UCI, Chemistry:</p>
<p>Preference will be given to junior-level applicants with the highest grades<br>
overall who have satisfactorily completed the following <strong>required</strong> courses:
one year of general chemistry with laboratory, and<br>
one year of approved calculus<br>
Completion of one year of organic chemistry is strongly <em>recommended</em>.</p>
<p>They prefer you to finish course sequences at your cc. However, if you don’t complete Ochem, the worst that can happen is you’ll have to take it at the UC you transfer to. Same with physics. The problem with this is that you may not be able to start with upper division classes until you get these classes completed. I’d advise you to complete Ochem before even worrying about Physics, since they don’t mention it under recommended, they just say it’s approved for your major. Also keep in mind UCI considers summer courses, so if you can take Ochem 2 at your cc next summer, or even at UCI (they offer it during the summer, I think), you can finish the sequence before your first fall quarter at UCI. There are many options.
On the advice side of this, if you have been able to manage a full-time course load before, taking calc, physics and chem at once shouldn’t be a problem. I personally took 2 Bio classes, Physics 1, Calc 1 + 2 gen ed, total 24 units in one semester and ended up with a 4.0. Keep in mind that it’s possible, and it may help you get ahead in your lower division transferable classes.
Good luck! :)</p>
<p>TAG is a guarantee. So as long as you meet the TAG requirements you’re guaranteed to be admitted to UCI. It looks like to TAG to UCI for Chemistry doesn’t require ochem or physics, so you should be fine in that regard. It just means that you’ll have to take those classes after you transfer. For ochem, you’ll likely have to take two quarters of ochem after you transfer. That’s unfortunate because you probably would’ve completed it in just one extra semester in CC. Other than that little inconvenience though you should have nothing to worry about unless you somehow void the TAG requirements. Also, I wouldn’t be too worried about upper division courses. Chances are you will still be able to enroll in some of them while completing your lower divs, so you should still be able to stay on track. Rarely does any major upper division course require every single lower division class as prereqs for enrollment so usually there are at least some upper divs you can get out of the way while finishing the your lower divs. I’d imagine you’ll only probably have to wait to finish physics before enrolling in pchem and probably will have to finish ochem before biochem, but there should be other upper division courses to get started on.</p>
<p>Sorry for the double post, it was too late to edit.</p>
<p>As far as what you should do now in CC, I don’t think anyone can really answer that for you. Only you are going to know the courseload you can handle of so that’s a decision you’re going to have to make based on what your experience in community college has been. If you’ve struggled taking a math and a science course in the same semester, you probably don’t want to push it. If you look back and think, “I wasn’t challenged that much, I probably can handle a little more…” then try to add physics onto your future schedule. You can even add physics onto your schedule just to try it out for the first few weeks and then drop it if you feel it’s already getting overwhelming or keep if it isn’t. I’m sure these are things you’ve already realized, but point being you’re just going to have to figure it out based on what you know you can handle.</p>
