UC admission A -G requirement

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

Are all A-G required? what if a student does not have Visual & Performing Art, will the application be turned down?

Anyone who lacked of one for A-G category and got admitted?

2

Yes, each of the A-G requirements are required. Including the year of performing or fine arts.

3

This is the UC response about not fulfilling the VPA requirement.

Basically, if your school offers these courses and you opt not to take them, it will have a negative impact on your admission. If you are unable to take them due to schedule conflicts, there are other ways to fulfill the requirement so it is up to you to try to find an alternative. If there is a reason beyond your control in which you cannot fulfill the requirement, then this can be addressed in the additional comments section of the application.

Just remember that the UC’s are highly competitive and all applicants will have above and beyond the minimum a-g course requirements completed/in-progress at time of application.

Below is a link which shows the Freshman profile for UCSB as an example which shows the # of a-g courses taken by admitted students. This information can be found on the UC website for all campuses: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/_assets/files/freshman-profiles/freshman_profile_santa_barbara.pdf

4

thanks. I wish they still admit applicant without PVA and provide remedial course during freshman year for make up,. like U of Washington, Seattle.
Too bad, UC off the list.

5

If you can’t take a VPA class in school this coming year, can you take an online one? I know there are a number of UC approved online VPA classes.

6

@Gumbymom
We are aware of the “highly competitive” nature of UC. This applicant has a reasonable stat. UW GPA 4.0, 7 AP, will be 10. so far all 5s . ACT about 75 percentile of admitted students in UC. I know stat does not mean anything. There is always 4.0 UWGPA not getting in.
The high school offers similar classes but didn’t make it as graduation requirement. Applicant never pays attention when picked courses. Again, no complaint, it is free world.

7

good suggestion, do you have the info of the approved online course?
thanks

8

I not the best resource for that…I would contact the admissions officers at the schools on your list, your HS GC, and perhaps @gumbymom can help.

9

@Gumbymom
according to your santa barbara profile the A-G spanned from 7th grade - 12 th grade, not just high school.
“A-G” Courses Completed (7th-12th grades, by semester)
the applicant was in wind work band and had art class during middle school. Had 10 years (up to Covid-19) of piano private lesson. Don’t know if this count.

10

^^private piano, no. Middle school courses can count, but those are mostly for HS courses taught early, such as Math (some advanced kids take Algebra and Geom in middle school), and Foreign Language.

Note, if you are out of state, there is some flexibility.

If you are instate, and your HS does not offer, consider enrolling in a community college class (since they will mostly be online in the fall). Just make sure that it’s ‘transferable’ to UC.

11

Check out UC Scout https://www.ucscout.org/courses or courses at your local community college.

12

As @bluebayou stated only Middle school classes such as Math and Foreign language will count for HS a-g courses.

These are the options to fulfill the VPA requirement:

UC-approved high school courses:
One year long course of visual and performing arts chosen from the following: dance, drama/theater, music or visual art

AP or IB examination:
Score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP History of Art, Studio Art or Music Theory Exam; score of 5, 6 or 7 on any one IB HL exam in Dance, Film, Music, Theatre Arts or Visual Arts

College courses:
Grade of C or better in any transferable course of 3 semester (4 quarter) units that clearly falls within one of four visual/performing arts disciplines: dance, drama/theater, music or visual art

On-line providers check here: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist

13

The student can easily meet this with a one semester class at a community college as a cc course counts for a year of hs. My student did this, there are many courses that will work from music, art, computer graphics, and art/theater appreciation, etc. These are usually pretty chill classes and won’t take much of their time. It’s easier to do these over the summer (for time purposes) but if they are a rising senior they can register at a cc now and take one in the winter/spring if fall classes are full.