Hello!
Last year I attended a 4 year college. Then I decided to transfer out (too late to go anywhere) so I am at my local community college for my sophomore year. Right now my major is Liberal arts/social sciences A.A… However, the requirements for my major (besides a few) don’t really matter to my future bachelors degree (communications/business).
My question is… should I work towards getting the associates or instead take classes based on what my future Bachelors would be?
I do already have a few classes pertaining to a future Bachelors (around 4 business classes and 3 com ones).
I heard having an associates may help you “look better” to some schools, is this true? Also, I have heard that if you have your associates it is easier for your credits to transfer, for they wont go through all of them individually but rather take the whole A.A… is this true?
Have you met with the transfer counselor to get advice about this? Surely there is a recommended series of classes to take in order to transfer for that major at at least one of the public universities in your state. That would be the set of courses you should be taking while completing your AA. Here is an example of what you would be recommended to take at Happykid’s old CC in order to be ready for the Communication program at her old university: http://artsys.usmd.edu/p1trans.cgi?Mass*Communications+to.558654.al+to.841003.al.a+MCOM+Y+A+MC+TO+S+9023131515084146
If you complete your AA rather than just a bunch of random classes, many colleges and universities will accept that AA as fulfilling their Gen Ed requirements, so all you have left once you transfer is to complete the requirements for your major. In addition, if your CC has a formal articulation agreement for your major at the university you want to transfer to, then you will be guaranteed admission into that major, and all of your classes will apply to that program. The receiving U will not need to go through your degree course by course to decide which classes transfer and as what.
That is what I originally was, however I would not have been able to finish the associates until next spring. Liberal Arts AA was the one I could finish quickest, so I went with that.
If you have an associate’s degree in what would be considered a “rigorous” major, I think it may be a small plus. It shows that you have the dedication to complete the degree. In addition, if you took honors courses – even better.
However, if you have to take a ton of vocational/100-level/obviously easy courses in order to fulfill that degree (as many community colleges require), then it can actually hurt your chances. I worked with a student a couple of years ago who had a 4.0 GPA, Phi Theta Kappa, great resume, etc. and got rejected nearly across the board by top universities. I encouraged him to email the admissions offices to ask for feedback (most declined to answer, but a few were kind enough to respond), and their #1 response was that his classes were too vocational, wouldn’t transfer, and they feared he’d be set back too far (he’d literally be a first semester freshman at the college). He spent the next year taking courses that would transfer more easily and was accepted to several elite universities the second time around.