I have a question I’m hoping someone with a similar experience can answer.
I am looking to apply to USD. Because of cost, I can only go if I’m accepted as a junior. I will have 60 credits, have followed the IGETC + plus their table they recommend. I will also have my ADT in communications, and some of those classes may not transfer because they are very specific. Will this likely affect my ability to be in junior standing? If I take a couple extra classes to make sure I have 60 units of all IGETC-approved classes will this ensure my junior standing?
I spoke with a USD transfer counselor and I was still left with these questions.
Hi! I actually was in a similar situation as you when I was applying. I was accepted this for this fall and will be junior standing. I went to a couple different colleges and initially thought my lower division classes would not satisfy many of the core curriculum and competency flags that USD requires since it’s a liberal arts school. USD does not have a transfer agreement with any school, so when you’re looking to apply to transfer, it’s hard to know what classes to take. Even my advisor at San Diego Mesa college had no idea which classes would and would not transfer. Basically, what I did was have my advisor at mesa help me pick what classes I should take- referencing the IGETC pattern even though I had credits from different schools. When I met up with a transfer advisor in January, she actually helped me in dropping the classes I didn’t not to take for the spring, and the ones I needed to take instead. Although I am transferring as junior standing, I did have about five classes that are only transferring as elective courses because they do not satisfy core requirements. My advice is to meet with a transfer advisor virtually and have them help you decide which courses to take before you transfer over. It will realllllllly shorten your time at USD if you don’t reference the IGETC pattern and just get help from the USD advisors because they 100% know what will be better to take than your current advisor. I was super worried I would have to take 3 years to graduate after transferring instead of 2, but I’m actually going to graduate on time! Hope this made sense and helps!!
I’m in a very similar situation. I’m transferring from UW Seattle to USD in the Fall, and I was planning on initially studying CS at UW but decided that Finance is the right path for me, and I’d rather study finance at USD than at UW, and minor in CS.
As a transfer, are you going to have to take the language competency and theology requirements at USD? There seem to be a lot of very specific general education requirements at USD that didn’t exist at UW, so I really want to make sure that I can graduate on time. I’m a little worried, but I think I’ll be much happier at USD than at UW, just because of the location, the smaller school, the better social scene, etc…
What are you studying?
I talked to my USD advisor and you have to complete up to 3 semesters of foreign language (if not done already) and you have to take a lower division theology class, as well as a upper division to satisfy the theology requirements. Hope this helps! @flashinglightz
Thanks! At my previous university I had satisfied my foreign language requirements by taking 3 years of foreign language in high school; i’ll talk to my counselor and see if this can transfer over. Theology is fine since that seems pretty interesting to me, I just hope I don’t need to take French again! Are you coming from a quarter or semester system university?
I thought that USD had a lot of requirements as well, but when I talked to my actual academic advisor, she let me know that many of the requirements in my major satisfy the liberal arts requirements. I was going to take ethics this summer at my cc, but during my advising meeting, I found out an upper division business course that’s required for my major has the “attribute” ethics in it already, so I didn’t even have to waste time taking an extra course. Some course even have more than one attribute. For example, the course THRS 332 has the advanced writing comp, domestic diversity level 1, theology, and ethical inquiry attribute. You can knock out a lot of requirements by taking courses that have multiple inquiries/competencies in them!
This is such a relief, I was panicking a little in my head thinking maybe I bit off more than I can chew. Thank you.
I was in the same boat! I thought I messed up choosing a liberal arts college because of all the requirements, but once you get your transcripts evaluated it starts to look a lot better. Also, I had a bunch of classes that only transferred as electives, but my advisor helped me fill out a Pre-USD transfer evaluation forms and I got five classes to switch over from elective to core requirements. I would definitely recommend looking into that in case that happens to you too!
Hey there; my articulation was just completed and I am in a similar situation. Almost all of my credits are transferred, but the vast majority of them have just shown up as an elective. Who did you speak to in order to have these complete core requirements? I can’t figure out how to find my academic advisor’s contact info, is it on MySanDiego?
@flashinglightz check your USD email! I received an email to sign up for an orientation date and time and from there was able to meet with an academic advisor who helped me decide which classes I should try and complete a pre-USD transfer evaluation form. In the meantime, try to collect all your old syllabuses because some class will require you to attach those to the form. I wasn’t able to contact all my profs but if you email the department they should be able to find you a syllabus from the year you took the class.
Also, orientation dates differ from major. Business students were held in early June, so I would contact the orientation office if you still haven’t heard anything!
I just heard back, my orientation is tomorrow, also in the school of business, thank you for the help.
This is unrelated, have you figured out your housing situation? I’ve applied for on campus apartments and i’m looking for an apartment on mission/pacific beach or near campus if that doesn’t work out.
@flashinglightz I currently live in Pacific Beach! It’s about 15 mins away from USD, but I’m looking to move a little closer once my lease is over. There is also a facebook group called University of San Diego (USD) Housing, Sublets, & Roommates. A lot of current and incoming students post on that page looking for roommates/apartments, so you’ll be able to connect with some people and possibly find roommates instead of going in blind!
Some more affordable options for areas to live in are Clairemont, Mission Valley, and Linda Vista if you don’t mind a 10-15 minute drive!
Thank you! I think mission/pacific beach would be ideal for me with my own bedroom but with some apartment-mates. Do you think that’s doable with around a $1300/month budget? I just applied for the Facebook group, waiting to be accepted. I really want to live on the beach, I’m transferring from Seattle so I want to really enjoy San Diego and the beautiful weather and beaches.
Definitely! I shared a two bed, two bath apartment with one other person in 2018-19 in PB and we each paid around 1100 each.
How’d you go about finding a roommate? I’m trying super hard using Craigslist/Facebook and other sites but I think due to the pandemic it seems like the selection is at an all time low. I’m kind of lost on how to find a place to stay. I’m looking at pacific ridge apartments but I need to find someone to split a 2 bedroom with