What do you think is better? Working over the summer and entering university as a sophomore, or taking three classes over the summer and entering as a junior?
It really depends on your needs as well as your future. Some things to consider would be:
- how badly do you need the money from a summer job?
- Is it an internship or position related to your major that might help you get a job out of college?
- If you plan to work a crazy amount, will it possibly impact your financial aid?
- What are the types of classes you are taking? Are they GE or courses for your major?
If they’re courses for your major I would pace it out because your grades will be super important in them. - It seems like you have gone through the FA 2020-2021 application cycle- does the school(s) your potentially transferring to accept summer courses for credit? (some dont!)
From personal experience I can tell you that you should expect to work about 60 hours per week on those courses. I took multivariable calculus (Calc III), Advanced English Composition, and an English literature course over a summer semester. It was a total of 11 semester units, the English classes were each 6 weeks long, and the math was 8 weeks. I got a B in the math, a B in composition, and an A in Literature. Just be realistic with yourself about your capabilities as well as your expectation of grades.
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@harpatC These are great questions. The money from a summer job isn’t badly needed, but school is getting paid with loans, so that’s probably why entering as a junior seems so important.
It’s a job working with special needs children and the major is Technology & Information Management.
Full pay in-state public, so financial aid isn’t impacted.
The classes are Financial Accounting, Business Info Systems, and Macroeconomics. They’re courses for the major.
The AO from the UC said the California community college courses would transfer.
Working over the summer and not taking summer classes which could jeopardize your status at a UC if you just graduated high school.
If you’re currently in CC things are different.
To be clear, it’s my stepdaughter who’s thinking of doing this and not me. She checked with the admissions office first. She said in California you’re not a transfer applicant unless you attended community college for at least one semester beyond the summer after you graduate high school. But if you know more, please share the link. Concurrent enrollment students don’t get the same advising as typical community college students.
Sorry for using “you” instead of “child”.
This is the general advice that’s always given to CA high school students who were admitted to a UC. It jeopardizes their admission and freshman status if they enroll in a college after graduating HS. (I suppose your stepdaughter could delay HS graduation till August but it may cause other problems). BTW congratulations on the admit, it was a very tough year.
@ucbalumnus @Gumbymom Can you help?
I’ve read countless times that California students admitted to UCs aren’t supposed to take Community College classes after HS graduation but I never checked any official publication. Has that policy changed or is it still in place?
This the definition of a UC transfer student according to the UC website:
Who is a transfer applicant?
A transfer applicant is a student who has enrolled in a regular session at a college or university after high school. Students who meet this definition cannot disregard their college records and apply as freshmen.
A student who attends a college summer program immediately after graduating from high school or who has completed college work while in high school is still considered a freshman applicant.
But I always recommend that a HS graduate get the UC in which they plan to enroll and matriculate, give their approval on the classes before taking them.
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So would an email from an admissions officer approving the classes suffice, or would more be needed? Also, does it matter if the classes are taken through concurrent enrollment versus enrolling as a typical community college student?
Is the student currently a high school senior intending to start college in fall 2021 as a frosh, or a (community?) college student looking to transfer?
You mentioned starting as a sophomore or junior, so it is not entirely clear.
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She was a first time freshman applicant hoping for junior standing, starting at a UC in Fall 2021. But she’s 3 classes/10 units short of the classes for her major. My original worry was that three classes is too much to undertake during a summer session. Now I’m starting to worry her admission can be rescinded if she takes the classes at all.
She does have an email from the admissions office confirming that those are the classes she’s missing according to assist, and telling her how to send her transcripts if she wants junior standing.
I would email admissions to confirm which would be better, DE or just regular CC classes.
Summer session classes are very fast paced vs. regular session classes so if there are 2 summer sessions, it might be better to split them up.
A summer session at a semester system school will typically be an 8-week session where students take about 8 semester units worth of courses to be “full time”. A summer session at a quarter system school will typically be a full 10-week quarter where students take about 15 quarter units (= 10 semester units) worth of courses to be “full time”.
The UC definition of transfer applicant is given at University of California Counselors . But she should verify with the campus she will attend that summer enrollment immediately after high school graduation is ok.
Is she trying to graduate in a few quarters or semesters as possible for financial reasons? Remember that it is not just credits or standing that matters, but also prerequisite sequencing.
It’s a semester system. The three classes would all be from 6/14 to 8/05. Basically, the IGETC is complete and half the major courses have been taken, but not the last half. I syspect that she might still be behind with math prerequisites even if she’s considered a junior, but she disagrees and is really focused on the label.
The idea is to take out less money in loans, yes. We have some of it covered, but she’ll need to take out small loans and we’ll need to take out PLUS loans for the rest.
How many semester units are these three courses, and what kind of courses are they? Courses with labs or large projects can be heavier workloads per credit unit than many other courses.
For an 8-week session (6/14-8/5 is 8 weeks), a reasonable full time load would be 8 semester units.
Time to map out the course plan for the quarters or semester to graduation to see if the extra credit units or courses taken in the summer will help her graduate earlier. If not, then consider whether a different choice of courses could do that.
Regarding IGETC, find out from the UC if frosh (as opposed to transfer) entrants can use it to satisfy lower division general education requirements. If not, then better to choose courses for the specific campus’ general education requirements, if needed.
Nothing to be sorry about. I just wanted to clarify. And thanks for the congratulations. She wanted a “more prestigious” school than UCSC, and has been managing her disappointment. But the rest of us are all really relieved and proud.
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the kids who got into UCSC this year are the kids who were hoping for UCSD, UCSB, and UCD. She will be in very good company. 
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It’s ten units. 4- Financial Accounting, 3- Intro to Business Info Systems, 3- Principles of Macroeconomics. I don’t know if you can tell how much this has been a topic of conversation at our household, but I didn’t even have to ask to know the answer to that question.
In regards to the IGETC, she double checked that this would cover their gen ed/breadth requirements even though she is a first time freshman admit, because her high school counselor told her it didn’t. The UCSC admissions officer even said that if students are missing 1 or 2 areas, they can submit a partial IGETC and be given guidance on how to complete the remaining areas later. I don’t know if that last part is only for students in the school of engineering, though.
Financial accounting is notoriously difficult. I wouldn’t take it in such a compressed format, especially when you add two other classes. I’d say Intro to Business Info Systems and Principles of Macroeconomics during the summer, leaving Financial Accounting for the Fall – talking with adviser to see the impact this has on her course sequences.
Thank you for this. I found this, too: Technology and Information Management
It shows that the upper division courses have math prerequisites beyond what lower division requirements she’d need for the major. So it would be very hard to get school done in two years even with junior standing. Hopefully that takes some of the pressure off and she’ll be happy with two classes instead of being an out of stress mess we all have to tiptoe around.
What of the 23 required courses for the major has she completed?
What is the target number of quarters to graduate? (Each quarter would have about 15 units or three 5-unit courses for a full time student; a student taking four 5-unit courses for 20 units would be taking a greater than full time course load, similar to the proposed 10-semester-unit summer session.)