Hi there! I am an incoming high school senior. This summer, I’m taking Precalculus online with BYU Independent Study in addition to a Psychology course through the UC Berkeley Pre-College Scholars Program. The UC Berkeley course finishes on August 16th which is during the first week of my senior year.
I understand that courses taken between the summer before 10th grade through the summer before 12th grade are applicable for the UC GPA calculation. Thus, I’m wondering if my UC Berkeley course will count toward my UC GPA since it technically ends at the very beginning of my school year. I’m also wondering when I will need to finish my online Precalculus class by in order for it to count toward my UC GPA.
Please let me know if you’re familiar with the UC GPA system!
If the UCB Psychology course is UC transferable and satisfies an a-g course requirement then it will be calculated into your UC GPA. Again if the On-line pre-Calc course is an a-g course determined by the UC website, then it will be counted in your UC GPA calculation if it is completed by time your UC application is completed and submitted.
This is great to hear! Thank you. Do you know if there’s a link I can visit that confirms this information?
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/gpa-requirement/index.html
Classes taken during the summer after 9th grade count as 10th grade; classes in summer after 10th grade count as 10th grade; classes in summer after 11th grade count as 11th grade.
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/q-and-a/honors/index.html#3
all university classes count towards the UC uncapped GPA as long as they fall in the a-g category. If you’ve exceeded the 8 semesters of honors classes, then you wouldn’t get the extra point for the UC capped GPA.
@ProfessorPlum168 the issue I have with all the university courses and UCs is this: if one takes a university course and we know it counts towards the UC uncapped GPA as long as it falls in the a-g category - how does one really know if it falls in the a-g. The problem is that one could take a UCLA psychology course. It is a university course. How do we know if it is a-g - it could probably only be a “g” (elective) - but who makes that determination? For example, some high schools might have a UC approved “g” Psychology course and other California high schools don’t have a Psychology course that is “approved” under “g”. So when you, or any other poster says make sure it falls in the a-g category - how do we know. There is not a list put out by UCLA, for example, that says what each course is. This seems to me to be somewhat of a guessing game. Again, if all university classes count towards the UC uncapped (and if you don’t have the 8 semesters of honors courses, you will get an extra point for that UCLA class (Psychology in my example), how do you determine with accuracy if it falls within “a-g”. Would love your guidance. Thank you. @Gumbymom do you have any thoughts?
@Gumbymom in your comment #1 - isn’t the UCB class by definition a UC transferable course because it is taken at a UC? You state you can look to see if a-g on the UC website. Which uc website? are you saying the one that you look up your specific high school to see what classes are considered “UC a-g” To my knowledge there is not one overall UC link that has every conceivable college class listed and what category it would fall under. I go back to the same issue above - how does one determine if the college course they are taking is an “a-g” course?
In general, using your example, anyone applying with a taken Psychology course, assuming it’s either a listed California HS, a university course, a community college course, or an AP course, would fall under G. Listing every university course and/or non-California HS course would increase the database a substantial amount. The only things that might be nebulous are courses taken from non-accredited places.
Here is the UC transferable course guidelines:
Psychology
Transferable courses:
Teach fundamental concepts and principles of the psychology/psychological sciences discipline, with a focus on research, theory, analysis, and application.
Not transferable:
Primarily professional or technical courses.
Courses in which the student is a recipient of therapy, or instruction is aimed at personal improvement.
Courses focused on the health aspects of psychology (e.g., stress management, relationship management).
No credit for introductory courses taken after more advanced-level courses in this area
If you are unsure contact UCB admissions and find out if they course you are planning to take is UC transferable. Yes, in definition that all courses taken at UCB should be transferable but as @ProfessorPlum168 noted there are some remedial courses available at all the UC’s and some specialized courses that students can take but not give UC credit.
https://www.ucop.edu/transfer-articulation/transferable-course-agreements/tca-policy/regulations-by-subject-area.html
Thank you @Gumbymom and @ProfessorPlum168 so it seems that the best way - once it is determined that it is transferable course - to determine if a-g is to look to see where the class might fall at the high school? So if someone took Women’s Literature at UCLA, and we believe it is transferable, how would we figure out if it is English (b) or Elective (g). When I read the college requirements here: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/a-g-requirements/index.html I am not sure if I would mark this as “b” or “g”. Can you give some guidance how you would determine that? This is what I find to be the most difficult, not the issue of figuring out the transferability. For the most part, I have students that want to explore something and not using to meet the “b” - but would love to have it fall under “g” to help their UC GPA. Any help? or thought? And thank you very very much!