dotori

For transfer students, is it ok taking say 4 introductory classes in college? Because I keep reading things like that people need to maintain a high gpa (obviously) and take decently difficult classes, but as a first year student who plans to double major, I need to take intro classes before I pursue anything (tney are prequisites for other classes)

Technically I'm taking "5" classes but my school has a physical education requirement for all freshmen so I don't really have a way out of that..... (and taking 6 classes will really pack my schedule). The 4 academic classes are 14 credits already (no credit for PE)

I'm sort of playing it safe with 4 classes so that I can focus on getting a high gpa but I'm worried that colleges will think I didn't challenge myself enough (both in academic rigor or in quantity)

What are your suggestions?

TitoMorito

I think you'd be fine with a 5th academic class, if your PE requirement doesn't have any outside work that you need to complete. Otherwise, I think you should be fine. 4 is still full-time status where I am, so as long as it's noted somewhere that you had the PE as well, there shouldn't be an issue with you being seen as slacking off. The only concern I'd have is that if you plan on double-majoring, you may be set back a year if you take that few courses each semester.

dotori

bump. anyone else?

TransferToIvy

GPA >>>>>> Rigor

dotori

so currently, these are my courses:

freshmen literature (required)
PE (required)
macroeconomics
Calculus 1
General psychology

and it's only 14 credits. i'm wondering if i should add on microeconomics or if that would be compromising quality for quantity. On the other hand, i'm concerned that the adcoms will look at my application and wonder if i'm taking it too easy.

and in case anyone was wondering, all my courses correspond to my major: business management and psychology

CalDud

Establish yourself by getting a good GPA your first semester. From there, take all that you need. Rigor doesn't mean anything really as a transfer student. This isn't high school anymore.

I don't know where you are, but there was an honors program at my old CC that I qualified for and I started taking honor classes to do TAP for UCLA.

I've taken all of those except psychology and it should be a joke. I was a zombie through Micro and still got an A. I dunno how it is at your college, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Experiences vary.

Just make sure you fulfill all of your prerequisites for your major, get a lot of general education courses out of the way, and you should be fine. There's no worrying anymore about extra-curriculars, SAT scores, or "rigor" anymore. But that depends where you want to go (besides the rigor part, no one cares about that).

Your GPA is your ticket to a great university, so get a high one. That's really all you should be worried about. Don't slack. I hope you really like psychology and wish to pursue a graduate degree in it. There's not a lot of job opportunities out there otherwise (my girlfriend is a Psychology major with an emphasis in Art Therapy).

dotori

should I add on financial accounting?

That way my credits will be at 17 and if I'm considering a transfer, many undergrad business schools require that students take macroecon, microecon, financial accoutning, and managerial accounting in order to transfer.

the downside, of course, is that I'm compromising quantity for quality of my GPA...

Wordworker

Does your school have a drop/add period when you can try out courses and maybe change your schedule? If so, go to the ones you think you want to take. Check workload, schedule, and professors. Adjust if you want or need to.

MekongFisher

Wait, sorry to butt in, but CalDud, when you say rigor doesn't matter at all, does that means it's better off getting As in intro-level classes than let's say, A- or B+ in upperclassmen or seminar-level classes?

That somehow sounds very unfair to me, though I guess I shouldn't be expecting fairness of any sort in all this process.