I’m a freshman computer science major at Cypress College right now, and I plan to transfer for Fall 2017. I took College Algebra this fall semester, and my community college requires me to take Trigonometry to go on to Calculus 1.
I’m going to try to place into Calculus 1 at Cerritos College for the upcoming spring semester, but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll have to take Calc 3, Linear Algebra/Differential Equations, Physics 3, and Chemistry 1 in spring 2017 to transfer in 2 years. (Cerritos College allows you to take Lin. Alg./Diff EQs after completing Calc 2.) Do you think this is doable? Will UCB/UCLA/UCSD look at me taking Calc 3 with Lin. Alg./Diff EQs my last semester negatively?
For Berkeley I will apply as EECS, UCLA I will apply as CS, and for UCSD I will apply as CS (B.S.).
That sounds like real overkill but as a fellow CS major I would definitely recommend you not try rushing through your math sequence. After Intermediate Algebra I placed into Calc 1 at DVC (during a summer session) because I took Pre-Cal in high school and I wanted to rush through my math courses too. I got my ass kicked, I HIGHLY recommend you do not skip Trigonometry, from my experience the calculus series relies on it a lot. Also as long as you get your pre-reqs done before transfer I don’t think they’d hold that against you, maybe someone else can chime in on that though.
That is going to be a really intense course load. My only advice is that you don’t want to ruin your chances by having too ambitious of a schedule and getting lower grades than you’d like (or need) on classes that I’m sure are very important to your major.
If you truly excel at those types of classes, then maybe it’ll be a breeze for you. I’d say 95% of students wouldn’t be able to handle a course load like this while getting good grades, let alone the types of grades UCB and UCLA want to see.
But you know yourself better than any of us obviously do.
I just took Linear/DE/Calc3 and Stats in the same semester and honestly it wasn’t too bad. If I were you I would take Chemistry during a summer so that you can just do the maths and physics in one. It’s really not too bad. If you’re a serious student and you’re determined, you’ll be fine. The only problem is leaving all those until last semester.
That’s why you need to fit some stuff in a summer somewhere.
I took the placement test and my score wasn’t high enough for Calc I. There’s some community colleges that offer Trig in the winter, but they’re about half an hour away and the class meets from Monday to Thursday, so I don’t think it’ll work out.
My planned courses are:
Spring Term 2016
CYPRESS COLLEGE:
SUBJ CRS# TITLE UTS
CSCI 123 C Intro to Progrmng Concepts in C++ 4
ENGL 104 C Critical Analysis & Literature 4
MATH 142 C Trigonometry 4
PHYS 130 C Elementary Physics 4
Summer Term 2016
CYPRESS COLLEGE:
SUBJ CRS# TITLE UTS
MATH 150AC Calculus I 4
PHYS 221 C General Physics I 4
Fall Term 2016
CYPRESS COLLEGE:
SUBJ CRS# TITLE UTS
CHEM 107 C Preparation for General Chem 5
CSCI 133 C Data Structures in C++ 4
MATH 150BC Calculus II 4
PHYS 222 C General Physics II 4
Spring Term 2017
CERRITOS COLLEGE:
SUBJ CRS# TITLE UTS
MATH 250 Linear Algebra and Differential Equations 5
CYPRESS COLLEGE:
SUBJ CRS# TITLE UTS
CHEM 111AC General Chemistry I 5
MATH 250AC Multivariable Calculus 4
PHYS 223 C General Physics III 4
I’m already taking 8 units during the summer, but maybe I should take the Chemistry intro course too. Since it’s my last semester, I’m guessing it won’t count for my application GPA, but I know I’d still need to keep up my grades so I won’t get rescinded from anywhere.
I’ve taken all those classes, not together, though. I did something similar: I took Chem 1, Bio 1, and Calc 2. Three 5 unit classes. Trust me, it is not worth it. I got 2 A’s and 1B but the amount of work I put into it was just not worth it, I didn’t even care that I did well. You’re trying to do four of those classes, together, I’d say the minimum is three of those classes and stay an extra year if needed!
Calc 3 is the easiest of the calculuses, and Differential Equations is pretty easy, as well. Chem 1 is the hardest, Physics right up there with it.
You also have to understand, these are your major courses, so you want to learn as much as possible. Taking those four classes, let alone 3 of those classes together will be a little hard to learn the material. You will often get confused when crossing over from one class to the next and forget things that you studied; I know of it all too well.
I’ll be honest with you, it might be better for you to take an additional year.
I’ve taken a very similar load as you will(I started in Summer 2014 with 9 units).
I think that you’re pushing very hard and it will hurt your GPA in the long run. I took a total of 13 units in two summers to space out my fall/spring semesters and I see that you already plan to do that. If you’re absolutely dead set on transferring in 3 more semesters, take a winter session this January as well as January 2016. I notice that you’re in NOCCCD, which means your Spring semester should start in the first week of February. Check out Santiago Canyon College and see if you can take any Winter intercession courses there. I really really really don’t recommend taking too many units in the same intercession.
I’ll be honest with you and say that taking calculus 3 and 4 in the same semester isn’t super likely to end well for you. The most important thing for you as an applicant to the UCs (especially UCLA, UCB, and UCSD) are going to be your GPA. I know several students who have rushed their math classes to try transferring one year shorter than they should and I’ll be frank when I say that their GPAs are significantly lower than mine. The 220 Physics track isn’t easy as it is and you’re going to be taking Physics 3, Calc 3 and 4, and a lab chemistry in the same semester.
I have a few more reasons I think you should consider spending one more year. In this one year, you can take the opportunity to take Chem 111B, Math 171 and 172, and CSCI 133. Taking these (strongly recommended) major prep courses will make you significantly stronger when you’re applying. Lastly, you can be more involved in the extracurriculars that will set you apart. I would also recommend exploring Fullerton College’s extracurriculars because Fullerton College has research opportunities that Cypress does not.
@ccckid It is doable, but it will be very difficult. I am a CS major too, and I too was initially placed in a pre-transfer math class (trigonometry, I think) at my CC. I was so eager to transfer in 2 years that I had to take some major prep classes, including calc 2, during 8 week summer sessions. Calc 2 itself was not difficult, but later taking calc 3 in fall I realized that I was totally unprepared for it and had to study my butt off to keep my gpa up. My advice to you - don’t rush through it, give yourself another year. You will have a much higher GPA and will be much better prepared for your future at UC. Taking Chem/Physics with Calc and another math course like DE will be challenging enough.
This last semester I tried taking Lin Alg, Calc 3, Physics (Electricity & magnetism), and it was honestly so hard. Lin Alg was the easiest of the 3, but it still wasn’t a bullshit class, you had to keep up. The physics was just a killer for me, and made me not perform as well in my other classes. It also didn’t help that twice I had 2 exams in the same day, literally 15 min apart. There was a classmate that also had the same schedule and I think he managed to do well in them, so it just depends how much confidence you have in yourself and if you’re willing to put in the work, cuz trust me, it’s a lot of work. My advice would be to drop one of the classes, preferable Chemistry I’d say since its less important than the physics and math, plus its a class with a lab that takes a lot of time off your schedule, although its probably the easier of the bunch.
Calc 3 is the hardest calculus not the easiest. If you need all the math prep work, why do you think you will suddenly become a math whiz. If you need to rush things, take a math class each summer as your only class and work hard to master the material. You can also self-study in advance …
Physics 1 as a summer class with Calc 1 will be brutal too … and you have to learn all the material to succeed in next class so even if summer classes are a joke … you will have to study hard or get your clocked cleaned in future semesters.
What exactly is preparation for chem ? Have you had no high school chemistry ? Can you self-study and take a placement exam ?
With all these prep classes, I think it is better to spend 3 or at least 2.5 years . If you get bored, take some additional electives … and get an A in every single class (in other words master all the material not 85% since all these classes are sequential and all are critical skills for your engineering plans).
You could almost try to coregister for trig and Calc 1 … maybe.
Can you slow down, work a bit to pay your expenses so that this extra year doesn’t affect your finances?
If you try too many classes and fail, your UC plans could be dashed as well. What is the minimum grade you can get in these classes ?
I took chemistry in high school but I don’t remember much of it, and yes there’s a $25 placement test that you can only take once. I heard from other people at my college that the intro is necessary to do well in Chem 1 though. I actually finished high school a year early by taking the CHSPE exam in March so I guess an extra year would be okay but I just want to transfer ASAP.
Thankfully my parents are helping me pay for college so the expenses won’t be a problem. I’m going to TAG to UCI as Compsci, which only requires you take up to Calc 2, but I want to try for the top UCs too (and a few other universities).
At Cypress College, PHYS 221C lists MATH 150AC as a prerequisite, and MATH 150BC as a corequisite. So you need to wait until after completing MATH 150AC to take PHYS 221C.
You may want to consider using your TAG on a UC where you will have the fewest units of lower division courses that you will have to take as “catch up” after transfer. Use http://www.assist.org to check that.
@ucbalumnus Oh…well I just applied for Coastline Community College. There’s a Trig course open for Winter but it says they’re on break so my application won’t be processed until the 4th when the class starts. So I don’t know if it’ll work out. I’m going to apply to Santiago Canyon like @Burdened mentioned and others that I can find.
And that sucks for UCI, but it’s the only one that I can commute to. I heard UCI is best for Compsci out of all the TAG UCs too so I’ll probably stick to it.
There’s some community colleges that offer Trig in the winter, but they’re about half an hour away and the class meets from Monday to Thursday, so I don’t think it’ll work out.