<p>I'm transferring in this fall from the VCCS and planning to major in Systems Engineering. I've yet to take differential equations and the second semester of physics so I'm considering taking them at my community college prior to my first semester at UVA. </p>
<p>Two questions:
1) Is it a good idea to take one/both of those prior to transferring?
2) What's the policy on taking classes the summer before transferring?</p>
<p>I took DiffEq at a VCCS and it helped dramatically with my workload the following semester, so I highly recommend it. I was a EE and found that I had no troubles remembering the basics to apply to problems, so you should be okay with SE.</p>
<p>Do SysEs have to take Physics II and/or DiffEq? Another one I suggest knocking out in Probability or a Statistics class</p>
<p>Yes, Physics II and DiffEq are both part of the Systems curriculum.</p>
<p>Ah ok. Well, my best advice for this situation is take as many required classes as you can on “off-seasons”, whether it be summer or j-term. This allows you to take classes that exercise the other half of your brain during the fall/spring terms and is a much needed break. You can always reduce to 12 credits during semesters as well, which seems like only a few classes, but if you have labs stacked on classes stacked on labs, you can go entire days with little free time. Just my opinion…</p>
<p>Definitely take diff eq, physics if you can also. I took DiffEq before coming and was so thankful. You can transfer anything without preapproval as long as it is “before matriculation” aka August 27. After that you need prior approval for any summer classes.</p>
<p>I’m not super strong in math but I have an opinion on this. I found DiffyQ to be really difficult at UVA. Probably better to take beforehand if you can. For example: I have heard how challenging Calc II is at UVA, however I did it at CC and it was no problem at all.</p>
<p>thanks for the input so far. anyone know what grade I need to earn in those classes at community college for them to transfer to UVA, and if the grade could have any bearing on my admission?</p>
<p>You need a C. Why would a class you are taking in a summer session after you have been admitted affect your admission?</p>
<p>You shouldn’t be getting below a C in a VCCS class, if that’s where you’re going with that question.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. </p>
<p>I haven’t earned below a B in any of my classes. I asked that question because I always want to know the rules of the situation I’m in.</p>
<p>Just FYI, you have to submit transfer grades. So if you end up getting a D, just don’t transfer the grade. But regardless, the grade doesn’t play into your UVa GPA, so it doesn’t really matter when it comes to things like admission/honors/etc.</p>
<p>But seriously, don’t bomb a VCCS class, especially over summer. Waste of money and beautiful weather you could be relaxing in ;)</p>
<p>I have a somewhat related question - but it’s not with regard to a transfer situation. My S will be entering as a 1st year, but has already taken Calc III and DiffEq as dual-enrollment at a local 4-yr university. He received an A in Calc III and a B in DiffEq. </p>
<p>The question is this: While he plans on taking the credit for the Calc III class, because he felt very strong with the material, he’s not sure about takign the credit for DiffEq. He doesn’t feel as strong with the DiffEq even though he got the B and is worried that any classes that rely on it later might be more challenging than necessary. Also, he’s worried that as a first year he would be too far ahead of the normal curriculum in math, and wouldn’t want to sit out an entire year or more before getting back into required math classes. So, while it looked good on his application, he’s not sure if he should take the credit - or would be better served by taking DiffEq again at UVA later.</p>
<p>Opinions?</p>
<p>Why would he have to sit out an entire year? He can just move ahead and take the next math class. This isn’t high school, there’s no mandatory year for taking classes if you place above. Diff Eq isn’t used that much (at least in my experience, which was non engineering). I came in with equal credit (Calc III and Diff Eq). I was also wary of taking Diff Eq credit but was very thankful I did. Chances are as a UVA student he can be resourceful and figure out anything he missed out on, which is likely very little (the things you use in math classes are the basics, not the weird specific applications, aka what he is worried he missed out on). My 2cents</p>
<p>Thanks hazel. Of course he IS going into engineering (mechanical), so does your opinion still hold true on DiffEq not being used much? As for moving forward in math, sure he could do that but he’s not looking to do a math minor so I think his thought is that he just wants to be in similar classes with peers and close to when it would be applied in other related engineering classes.</p>
<p>I’m sure there’s a limit to the amount of math he has to take, which means he could finish that up early and then have electives (eliminating the problem of forgetting his math by not taking it for a year). That seems it would outweigh not being in “classes with his peers” which also you are not looking at the real picture of how college works. Other than some basic classes (and even then that is debatable, there is always a 4th year or 2nd year or transfer student who is in 1st year classes for some reason), most of your classes will be comprised of 1st through 4th years. He’ll have his other first year engineering courses with his “peers” for the most part but really in college there is not as much of a difference between years as in high school. I think you need to wrap your head around what is best for your child academically and encourage him to involve himself in clubs for the social aspect. Classes only meet a few hours a week so it’s not a big deal if everyone is different years in the class. </p>
<p>I hope an engineer chimes in about diff eq’s use.</p>
<p>I also hope you encourage your child to ask these kind of academic questions to a professor who can give an opinion and not rely on you to make these decisions since it is their academic career and not yours.</p>
<p>I was a EE and used DiffEq, but I didn’t hear of any other majors heavily relying on it. Mechs use a lot more Calc than anything (as does any major).</p>
<p>If I were your son, I’d skip. Most professors in non-math classes will go easy on the actual math as long as you can set up formulas, or at least they’ll help refresh the mechanisms as they need to.</p>
<p>If I could have gotten out of two math classes during the academic year, I would have in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>And don’t worry about being in classes with other years, it a) broadens learning horizons (he can learn a lot from upperclassmen) and b) broadens his acquaintances base. He’ll see plenty of first years, especially in engineering (STS, ENGR, CS classes, electives)</p>
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<p>@hazel, I’m sure you didn’t mean that to sound as negative as it did - so I’ll take it nicely 
Please rest assured that once he gets his advisors assigned and comes to orientation there will be plenty of conversations with the right people - but none of those exist yet for him. And obviously it’s his life and his decisions - and these are his questions. I’m asking the questions for him because, well, he doesn’t frequent these forums and I do. So, asking questions ahead of time to people who may have experienced this themselves certainly seems appropriate. And yes, we do know how colleges work and that classes are mixes of students across multiple years - he’s been in college classes for 2 years now himself. The question was not at all about the “social” aspects of his peers (he will be involved in plenty of non-academic things), it was simply about relevance of coursework to related classes and a very real acknowledgement that sometimes study groups can be more effective if they have some of the same participants/friends across multiple subjects that they all are taking together - and he experienced difficulty in his college classes being included in study groups and project teams because he wasn’t part of the “peer” group in the class. So it seems a fair question to ask how others may have experienced it. Without asking, for all we know 100 people might chime in saying “Oh no - don’t do that”.</p>
<p>@shoe, thanks for the details. He’s simply a very serious student and the fact he didn’t feel as confident of the DiffEq material made him initially say he didn’t want to take the credit for it and would just take it again later - which is why I asked for thoughts on it. He was worried that he might need it in an engineering class 2nd or 3rd year, but it would be such a distant memory that it would hurt him by not taking it closer to where it was needed in other required classes.</p>
<p>Grp: I read it in the same way as hazel, and I personally think her advice was spot on, which is why I didn’t rehash it any further. Your son should use this as a learning opportunity to take the plunge with something, one way or another, and live with the (positive or negative) consequences. Worrying about all of this now is not a great way to start his college career, either. </p>
<p>Serious student or not, he’s going to reach a point where he won’t be able to figure everything out perfectly and will make decisions and will need to adapt. Two people have recommended skipping the courses, but we may be doling out bad advice since we’re alumnus who haven’t been in these classes in 4 years, so he’s taking a risk following internet advice. Then again, he may retake them, struggle further and get another B, and never use DiffEq again while wasting a potential elective away.</p>
<p>He should talk to his advisor and go with his gut feeling, whatever it may be, and move on with life and enjoy UVa beyond just the academics :)</p>
<p>Thanks shoe. We’re not worrying about it and no one is stressing out or assuming there will be perfect decisions - just actually having casual conversations about options. And, I’m the last one to believe in just taking internet advice from one or two people - even if it is you and hazel 
Again, nothing wrong with soliciting opinions and I thank you both for the honest thoughts. Just trying to get as much information as possible prior to hitting Grounds in July when he gets to figure it all out for real on his own with his advisor. Right now he doesn’t have much time to think about it as he’s working full time at GE Aviation as an intern this summer.</p>