<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I have a question. I'm planning to attend a community college and then transfer to a UC and I am wondering are you able to pick and choose the classes you want to take to be able to transfer to a UC and not have to choose a specific 'major' or program of study at the CC?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, you have to complete IGETC so in that sense you can choose what classes to take for your general education. But you have to choose a major and you must complete as many prerequisites as you can before you transfer. You can not be undeclared. Some majors have a lot of prerequisites, while other only have 3-4. You have to complete at least 60 UC transferable units and it’s not unusually that 20-30 of those units will be major prerequisites.</p>
<p>Most CCs force you to pick a major but that’s merely for administrative purposes. I’ve had mine listed as Computer Science since I started and I haven’t taken a CS class since I’ve been at CC. However, it would be best if you had an idea of what you want to do so you could start taking classes to advance that. If you’re undecided, like mermaker said, there’s IGETC which you could likely complete a lot of in your first year. IGETC is general education. Just look up on google “IGETC (name of college you want to attend)” and you’ll likely find a curriculum of all the classes you can take that satisfy it. You’ll see that it’s very diverse.</p>
<p>Well, you MUST choose a major when you apply for transfer to UCs, so explore classes that interest you and start formulating a plan if you want to get out of CC within two years. If you do not know already, assist.org is immensely useful for this process.</p>
<p>I will try to break down all of this information for you. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Go register to take the math and english assessments (applicable at most CCs.) This will show you what English and Math you placed into. </p></li>
<li><p>Google “IGETC and your CC’s name.” Just as students at a UC spend their first two years completing General Education, CC students (usually) complete IGETC. This means when you transfer, you will have satisfied all of the General Education requirements, and can take classes for your major. </p></li>
<li><p>Print out the IGETC form for your school. Read it over, and highlight classes of interest. Also look at your AP credits you took (if any), and see where they fill IGETC classes. If you completed two years of a language in high school, you just knocked out the language requirement. </p></li>
<li><p>Think about what careers you want to have, alongside your interests. Perhaps you are passionate about international causes, and want to work for a nonprofit like UNICEF. Due to that interest, you can narrow down what majors would fit your wants. In this scenario, it could be International Relations. </p></li>
<li><p>Choose a dream school. Google your dream school, and look at the majors offered. Write down a few that sound interesting and relate to your interests. For our above scenario, other majors could be Global Studies, Peace Studies, or a language. </p></li>
<li><p>Head on over to assist. Navigate through to find your potential majors. Write down all the prerequisities. </p></li>
<li><p>Compare your prerequisite list to IGETC. Sometimes, the classes count for both. </p></li>
<li><p>Pick classes for your first semester/quarter. I would recommend getting the math and english out of the way first. Also register for classes that meet either IGETC/prerequisite requirements. </p></li>
<li><p>Make an appt with a counselor at school. Show them your plan- perhaps they have some advice. Spend time researching other UC’s, and look at the pre-reqs for the major. Sometimes, pre-reqs overlap at schools. When they don’t, you can add them to your list and try to squeeze them in.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks guys for the responses!</p>
<p>I have another question. So, I’ve gone through assist.org and found classes that I will need to complete. I went to the website of my CC to view one course’s outline and I found it had prerequisites of classes that I don’t need for when I’ll transfer to UC. Do I really need to go through those classes?</p>
<p>Would you mind giving an example? </p>
<p>Some english classes require you take take basic freshman english, math courses usually follow a sequence as well as science series. </p>
<p>At my school for basic physiology I would have been required to take anatomy and two chem classes before I could register. You can look at nearby CC’s if something like this happens, and see if they lack pre-reqs to take a class. Talking to the department could also possibly bypass pre-req courses.</p>
<p>For example:
[Santa</a> Monica College Class Schedule](<a href=“http://isismc02.smc.edu/isisdoc/web_cat_sched_20133.html#MATH%20%20%20%207]Santa”>http://isismc02.smc.edu/isisdoc/web_cat_sched_20133.html#MATH%20%20%20%207)</p>
<p>According to assist.org, I will need Math 7 from SMC to fulfill MATH 31A at UCLA.
As you see on their site (the link I gave you), one of the prerequisites to that class (Math 7) is Math 2. Then, Math 2 has prerequisites of Math 20 and Math 32. Math 20 and 32 has a prerequisite of Math 31, etc.
It just goes on and on and I’d like to just go straight into Math 7 if possible.</p>
<p>Did you take calculus in high school? You’re going to have to take a placement exam and depending on how well you on the math part, you’ll be placed in an appropriate math class. Almost no one place into calculus 1. What level of math did you get to in HS?</p>
<p>AP Calculus AB will be the latest math class I’ve taken in high school.</p>
<p>Take the math placement test at your cc. Mine had different levels for this test. Since you already took calc in high school, take the test that places you into calculus at the cc. If you pass it, you won’t need to take the prerequisite classes, you will be placed into the math 7 class you want.
Here’s what I found for SMC: [Preparing</a> for the Math Test](<a href=“http://www.smc.edu/EnrollmentDevelopment/AssessmentCenter/Pages/Preparing-for-the-Math-Test.aspx]Preparing”>http://www.smc.edu/EnrollmentDevelopment/AssessmentCenter/Pages/Preparing-for-the-Math-Test.aspx)</p>
<p>All right, thanks all.</p>
<p>What CC did you go to, SB?</p>
<p>MiraCosta college in Oceanside :)</p>