Would it be better for me to obtain an associates before transferring

<p>I plan on going into Kinesiology at UIUC. I thought about getting my associates but that in addition to the courses UIUC asks for, I'd be looking at about 74 credit hours. I believe that many colleges won't even accept credit past a certain number of hours. Should I just focus on UIUC specific courses and forgo my associates? Is having an associates when transferring with more than 60 hours important?</p>

<p>Are you in-state?</p>

<p>Yeah, I’m in-state.</p>

<p>I’ve been accepted there before if that counts for anything. I just couldn’t afford 4 years of it.</p>

<p>You need to ask the Transfer Admissions counselors at UIUC about this one. They are the people who are best qualified to advise you.</p>

<p>If you are at a community college, talk to the Transfer Counselors there as well. They should have experience with AA and non AA transfers who have left their school for UIUC. It is also possible that there is a formal articulation agreement in place that will guarantee you admission directly into your major of choice at UIUC provided you complete the AA in a specific major at your current institution.</p>

<p>Generally, not all courses transfer - even if you matched the two years up with the first two years with what you would have taken at UIUC. </p>

<p>Courses transfer based on comparability, i.e., the course at the CC matches a course at UIUC in rigor and material covered. It is ultimately the decision of the particular department at UIUC that houses your major to accept or reject transfer credits. You can dispute any credits that do not transfer, and if you do so, it will help your case if you can show UIUC the syllabus for the contested course(s). </p>

<p>To my knowledge, all colleges place a limit on how many courses can transfer. Some it is as low as under 20 credits, others it can be up to 72 or so, but regardless of how many credits will, or do, transfer it is pretty much standard that you attend the university that you transfer into for a minimum of one year before you can eligible to receive your B.A. or B.S. degree. </p>

<p>In most cases, it will look better to have received your associates before you begin attending the new school. It will give the impression that you were on a specific tract that was moving towards a goal (to obtain an A.A. or A.S.) instead of just being a student who took random courses with no specific goal in mind except maybe to potentially transfer. </p>

<p>You should get in touch with UIUC, in particular the specific department, and talk to them about what courses you should take at the CC. If I was in your shoes, I would mimic my course selection at the CC with the first two years of the Kinesiology program at UIUC as closesly as possible while taking the most rigorous courses available.</p>

<p>Well I haven’t been taking a bunch of random classes that I think might be useful. I’ve pretty much been taking UIUC’s geneds+the kinesiology geneds. I’ve already checked to see what they would match up to at UIUC. It’s just that my associates geneds and UIUC’s geneds are pretty different and I would be looking at a fairly heavy course load in terms of hours.</p>

<p>Also, from what I understand, only Parkland Community College has a guaranteed admissions deal with them via the Parkland Pathway.</p>