taking a foreign lang as pass/no pass? (english prereq)

<p>i'm an english major (well english for most uc's but american lit and culture for la) and i'm taking a foreign language during this winter intersession. it's a language i am not familiar with at all but apparently, 99% of my class IS familiar with it, and the teacher barely speaks in english (she's not foreign--english is her first language but she thinks we'll learn better if she refrains from using it).</p>

<p>this is the only language offered during the winter and i do need it to transfer with all my prereqs done (i took two years of a different language in high school and i'm taking the second course of THIS language in the spring).</p>

<p>i took my first test today and i think i did okay but i have no idea yet. i would be ok with a "b" but i'm worried i might get a "c" or worse. </p>

<p>would it be ok to take this as pass/no pass? i thought i heard the foreign language part isn't even that important?</p>

<p>thanks! </p>

<p>p.s. can't go to another cc/take another language.</p>

<p>This is the information given at the UC Counselor Conference:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Student must earn C or better in each course when completing transfer eligibility 7-course pattern, major prep and IGETC.</p></li>
<li><p>Pass/credit acceptable if CCC certifies that it is equivalent to grade of C or better. No more than 14 semester (21 quarter) units of the 60 required for eligibility may be taken pass/credit.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/files/cc10_admissions_basics_for_transfer_web_final.ppt[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/files/cc10_admissions_basics_for_transfer_web_final.ppt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>So as long as your CCC can “certify” a passing grade is C or better, you should be fine. Talk to your counselor to get more information.</p>

<p>Any class that is a prereq for your major is a very important class. Coincidentally, I spoke to my counselor yesterday about this very same issue. I wanted to take Spanish 102 as pass/no pass because I’m planning on taking a high number of units and didn’t want to have to worry about the course affecting my GPA. He spoke to another counselor who confirmed his notion that it would not be a good idea at all to take the class pass/no pass because it’s critical for an English major. </p>

<p>Take the class for a grade. It’s still a prereq although it’s not a lit course. Good luck!</p>

<p>(I’m also an English major) :)</p>

<p>What language is it that you’re taking?
I took French a couple semesters ago because it was the only language available at my college and I thought I could handle it. its sucked. It sucked badly. Even though I had taken 3 years of it in H.S with As and Bs, it was still hard because I hadn’t read, written, or spoken it for like 4 years. Actually funny enough, the only thing I can say perfectly in french is Je n’aime pas la langue fran</p>

<p>Oh Also, I took the second course and for a grade under my counselor’s suggestion because its a pre-req and everything. I had 3 years from H.S so everything worked out (hopefully it did because thats what the counselors told me) by taking the second course. I barely got a B, after I bribed him with cheesecake. English majors HAVE to take it for a grade but I just wanted to let you know that opting for p/np for foreign languages isn’t a bad idea, just for english majors it is. :)</p>

<p>what about nonenglish majors? just for IGETC? Im in BizEcon and considering this. But is it such a good idea for a competitive major such as UCLA BizEcon?</p>

<p>OK, I’m here to clear everything up. Contary to what everyone has been told or believes, taking language as p/np for major/ non-major is irrelavent. I’ve been known to stress that W’s and passes are not so, i guess you can say, looked down upon as everyone believes. You CAN take foreign language as p/np as an English major. I did and I got into UCLA. So really Indie and heather just had some ****ty couselor’s who like scaring young undergraduate students Or maybe they’re just dumbasses. who knows. I went to Norco college and found that couselors probabaly all on average had an iq of 80 and found them unreliable.
And while we’re on the same page of things you can do, even though people have said you shouldn’t do it. You can slack off your last semester of CC and get C’s. I did and it didn’t affect my chances. It’s all irrelavent so stop worrying people.
Quote from assit.org: “Listed below are the lower division preparation courses for the major. You
should complete as many preparation courses as possible prior to transfer, based
on the availability of courses. With the EXCEPTION of the foreign language
courses, all courses must be taken for a letter grade.”</p>

<p>Wow, just reread my post and I sound kinda dickheadish. I’m really just saying that you guys are worring about the small things, not the important things. Don’t worry about W’s, p/np and non-transferable courses. The UC transferable stuff is all that matters. a guy here who I met had 16 W’s, a ton of passes and failed a course without taking it over (it was non-transferable anyway). He got in and you know why? He had a high UC transferable gpa.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

<p>I’m worried about the “C” because my GPA isn’t too great at the moment (I’ll skip the page-long explanation). It’s good for American Lit and Culture but that’s if you’re looking at last year’s stats. The pool is probably larger and more competitive this year so… D:</p>

<p>Heatherbecca: I’d rather not mention it lol</p>

<p>collegeis4losers: My transfer counselor did mention (randomly one time) that I shouldn’t worry about the foreign language requirement too much. I haven’t been able to see him since I started my winter class, but I’m guessing he’ll say the same thing you did about the pass/no pass (I am planning to talk to him. I was just freaking out yesterday). The biggest thing, though, is the GPA. If I thought I was a strong applicant, I wouldn’t be THAT worried, but I have no idea what to think about AL&C stats anymore.
Btw, you didn’t sound dickheadish lol And thanks for the information!</p>

<p>What the hell? Igetc only wants 2 semesters, right? I feel like a UC competitive student should be able to do well in an elementary language course. That kind of sh1t won’t really fly at the next level. If it’s as you say about most of the class having a leg on you, consider a different language?</p>

<p>Well, taking the class for a grade no doubt looks better than pass/no pass if you’re an English major. There is a reason that we English majors are forced to take 4 years of a foreign language. It is important to understanding the overall fundamentals of language. My counselor advised against pass/no pass simply because you could potentially get less points on your application if say you’re compared next to someone that did take the course for a grade. If it’s your last semester and you’re not sweating the small things, you might as well take the class for a grade anyway. Your GPA is not going to transfer at that point anyhow nor will admissions see your GPA. </p>

<p>collegeis4losers: I had a great counselor in my opinion. The best I’ve had the year and a half I’ve been at community college. He told me I could do anything I wanted, but that it was just advisable since the course IS a prereq to take it for a grade. That’s great that people got into UCLA with the standards you mentioned, but it is simply not the case for everybody.</p>

<p>Also, from what I’ve heard from many counselors and websites: Pass/No pass was developed to work towards classes really irrelevant from an applicant’s major. </p>

<p>Example: Biology major taking a history class pass/no pass. Of course it’s possible to get in if you’re an English major taking foreign language pass/no pass but it does contribute to the overall score of an applicant. The OP claims their GPA is not the best, so anything they can do at this point to help their application is probably advisable. Though, winter and spring grades are not going to matter anyway. If this had been for fall I would have definitely said take it for a grade.</p>

<p>Wait, aren’t final grades already submitted on apps? So isn’t this irrelevant anyways?</p>

<p>mkcman17: This isn’t for IGETC, it’s for my major. I can’t take another language because I need two semesters (winter and spring), and for winter, my cc is only offering two languages (if I took the other one, it would be suicide). LOOK–most of the class has an advantage, the teacher is understandably pacing herself based on them, and this is an intersession class. I’m sorry I’m trying to take advantage of a possible crutch. </p>

<p>indierocknroll: I honestly don’t find the foreign language requirement that significant but that’s my personal opinion. I do agree, however, that taking a class for a grade is better than a pass/no pass… especially since I’m not the strongest applicant. </p>

<p>Well since everything is already submitted, if winter ends in February, would I have to update? If not, then I guess none of this necessarily matters since pass/no pass wouldn’t come up until after I’ve been admitted?</p>

<p>I’m just saying that ‘moving too fast’ isn’t an excuse on UC quarters. Also, grades should be submitted so as long as you can pull a B/C it wont turn your admission…unless you’re a foreign language major…which I’m doubting.</p>

<p>You could just work really hard? </p>

<p>If you already had the intention of taking the course pass/no pass why did you ask for advice?</p>

<p>mkcman17: I’ve explicitly mentioned my major… All I’m saying is I feel like I’m in a crummy situation and I’m trying to get advice about taking a possible easier road. I don’t mean to make excuses–I just wanted to explain why I’m having trouble at the moment. </p>

<p>IndieRockNRoll: What are you talking about? I enrolled in the class thinking I’d take it for a grade just like I have for every other class. Just recently I’ve been wondering if I should take advantage of pass/no pass because I’m not sure about how I might survive.
And I wasn’t too sure about winter grades factoring in or not.
“Work really hard?” I’m not even going to go there.</p>

<p>I understand the trouble, but its no need to get all frustrated. Just saying that if I looked at a record and saw a pass, I would look at it as a cop-out to protect gpa. Once grades are submitted though, it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t drop a full grade point.</p>

<p>After busting my ass, I did end up getting an “A” in this winter course. It was really hard and it doesn’t impact my GPA that much, but it does help a bit (up 0.08). I know it’s after 1/31, but should I update it anyway just in case?</p>

<p>See; it was entirely possible for you to pull through! I didn’t mean to offend you with the whole “working hard” bit. It is possible to pull of a 4.0. It may be harder for some (believe me, I work 40 hours a week) but it’s all about your mindset. Pass/No pass was really established to help students cope with non-major related work. Congrats on your A. I’m not sure how the update works by the way in regards to the quarter system. Good luck on your admissions.</p>