<p>Currently I am enrolled at Edmonds Community College as a Senior in High School (through a program called Running Start). Next school year, I will have graduated High School and moved out of my parents’ house. I plan on moving in with my boyfriend who goes to a University about an hour North of where I live now. What I would like to do is use the credits I earn at my current college wisely by applying those credits to an Associates degree, but I’m pretty sure you have to attend 2 years of school for an Associates. So, ideally I would like to take the credits I’ve earned at the first college, and transfer them to the Whatcom Community College near where my boyfriend is. Then combine those credits to earn an Associates degree. </p>
<p>So, 1. is this even possible?</p>
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<li>for the Associates do I need to have a major?</li>
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<p>You should be able to transfer the credits. You just have your current cc send your transcript to the new one. The new one will evaluate the transcript and apply credits as appropriate.</p>
<p>Most schools, including cc’s, have ba residency requirement. This is the minimum number of credits that has to be earned at that school for them to give you a degree. For instance, the residency requirement at my cc is 45 credits. So if the degree is 60 credits someone can transfer in a maximum of 15 credits and have them apply to the degree.</p>
<p>You don’t necessarily need a major to get an Associate degree. I ended up with an AS without emphasis when after two years at a cc. My school calls this a “transfer degree” and there is one for AS and also one for AA. The cc you attend will likely have a similar offering. There is also a “general studies” degree that is very similar and offered by most cc’s.</p>
<p>It will be no problem to transfer your Edmonds credits to Whatcom. I am an administrator at Everett CC (about halfway between the two!) and we help students do this all the time. We have students who have taken course at 4 or 5 different CCs. It will facilitate the process if you get an official transcript from Edmonds and have it sent (or carry it) to Whatcom. As noted above, the majority of your credits will need to be earned at Whatcom if you want a degree from there.</p>
<p>You generally don’t have a major at a Washington CC, but if you intend to transfer your Associate’s degree to a 4-yr institution, you will need to figure out what you need to take in order to transfer without losing credits or time. Most CCs have ‘curriculum guides’ for each major that detail the courses you should take to prepare for that field or discipline. </p>
<p>If you intend to pursue a 4-yr degree, you should look at a specific Associate’s degree that is part of the DTA (Direct Transfer Agreement). If you get a DTA degree, then you will be able to enter any of the public (and some of the private) 4-yr institutions in WA and will already have satisfied all of the distribution graduation requirements.</p>