Another article about transfer problems

[dfrecore]

I will say that this is the most difficult thing I deal with in helping kids plan out the transfer from a CC to a 4-yr state school where there are articulation agreements! It's not "hard" per se, but it's complicated here in CA.

Step 1) you have to make sure that you are looking at the right template to get your credits completed at the CC to meet the requirements for a simple transfer - and there are 3 options; the IGETC form used by UC schools (9 University of CA schools); the CSU Advising Guide is used by CSU school (23 schools with the name "state" in them); and the AA/AS form for someone who just wants to get an AA/AS/AAS. They vary in the number of credits, and are between 34-39cr, meaning that you're pretty open for the remaining 21-26cr to get the 60cr required before you can transfer.

Step 2) you have to make sure that the courses you are taking for your intended major will also transfer. My daughter's friend saw that she could take Speech OR Small Group Comm for the Oral Comm requirement at her local CC, and it would transfer to the college she wants to go to. BUT, Speech is a requirement for her major - so she could have taken Small Group Comm, and it would have transferred, but then she would STILL have to take Speech at the 4-yr school. This part requires the use of the major form from the 4-yr school, to make sure it lines up with the CC transfer guide, including using ASSIST (an online tool to make sure the courses you take line up with the courses you need). It's a great tool, but it doesn't have everything for sure.

Step 3) you have to make sure that these line up with the courses you need for your major if you have one at the CC.

It's really a matter of taking the first sheet, crossing out anything that doesn't work from the 2nd sheet, and then adding in anything else from the 3rd sheet. Like I said, it's not rocket science - but it is complicated, and I've been doing it for years and it still takes me a while to map out a degree plan for someone wanting to do it. It really narrows down the course list for some degrees. Let's not even mention that when you need a course to remain a full-time student, but can't get what you need because they are full, or don't offer a course this semester, or whatever...and you might end up taking a course just because you need the credits (kid in this example plays soccer for the school, so HAS to maintain a certain number of courses each semester).

When I sit down and explain everything to them, the kids always say "Oh my gosh, how come no one has explained this to me???" It's not that they're dumb or naive or anything like that - it's just that no one at the CC tells them how it works, and it's like the blind leading the blind. It's ridiculous.