Hi!
My son is at a school where you take 3-4 classes Fall semester then switch to 3-4 different subjects in Spring.
So he is used to being able to swap out a class before January as the Jan ones haven’t started yet.
His schools advised him to list them as year long classes on his applications as their semester long courses generate a yearlong course credit.
So for his applications he stated he was taking 6 subjects( fall and spring semesters) at school and 2 subjects at a local community college. Though the actual transcript is two quarters with 3 subjects in the Fall and two quarters 3 other subjects in the Spring. With two quarters equaling one “year” of subject credit for most classes.
After applying he wished to add an exciting new music class so he subbed it in for an honors science.
He was advise to contact the universities he applied to of this change.
However, most of the UCs he applied to state that do not allow and will not look at schedule changes.
As a parent I am concerned this could be an issue.
His take is that it will be okay because he already had like triple the science requirements and has maintained the most rigorous type schedule offered.
For reference, this schedule change means he changed from 7 years of science to six, and went from one year of music to two.
Not sure if relevant, but the new course is half the units of the stated honors science class he was no longer able to fit in.
So his applications to UC and CSU list 6 Yearlong courses, and the transcript will show 3 in the Fall then 3 in the spring, without the 10 unit science honors class and instead with a 5 unit music class. The transcript will also show two community college classes in math and engineering.
So holistically, he adjusted his schedule as he had done very little music and triple the needed math and sciences.
His senior year remains very rigorous with all APs except for the music class.
I keep urging him to contact the schools to make sure this will not be an issue as my friends who have kids at these universities are telling me seniors should avoid changing their schedule if possible.
But he is a busy and optimistic teen and is reading the UC guidance for campuses that do not allow and will not consider schedule changes to mean that it is fine to make the schedule change. As a parent I am reading the guidance to mean that the colleges do not want changes made after applying (if possible.)
Any ideas?
Contacting the campuses about this to gather information has not been easy.
I would still contact the schools and keep a record of all documentation. Since the schools do not ask for transcripts until a student is admitted or enrolled, they are basing their acceptances on what is reported on the CSU and UC applications.
For the CSU’s, just send an email to admissions.
For the UC’s, some do not accept schedule change updates and some do. For the campuses that do not accept updates, I would still email them and keep the email to show you made an effort to let them know of the schedule change in case issues arise later.
See section 2 on this link on how to update the UC Campuses: After you apply | UC Admissions
Better to be safe…
Thanks for this response!
He has tried to contact most schools.
In reality he was successful in contacting only a few, and I asked him to keep a record. It seemed to generate stressfully worded auto emails that were not reassuring.
I’m not entirely sure, but for one or two campuses he was able to add an official correction?
He is mainly hoping for the 4 or 5 campuses that state they do not allow for nor consider schedule changes so I think in his mind he feels there is no need to work further on contacting campuses.
Also, he believes that my take on the situation, that it could result in a possible rescinded offer over the summer, is plain incorrect.
To complicate matters, he has a privately hired admissions counselor who told him she thought it was a great idea to make the schedule change and she doesn’t think it will be a problem.
However, my friends whose teens who currently attend UC and CSU schools are telling me he shouldn’t have make the change from what he listed on his application.
Senior year still has 2 AP sciences, AP Bio and AP Chem, AP Stats, AP Eng, Govt/Econ, community college MultiVar Calculus, and Engineering. So it is still a very strong application, just with a music class substituted in for an honors science elective. He only had taken two quarters of music before (during the zoom year), equaling one “year” so holistically it made sense to alter the schedule and take an exciting performance based class as he is very active in musical theater. He also has already met his graduation and A-G requirements so all the classes this term were more purely of his choice.
Since he has far exceeded the requirements, the schedule change is minor but if he decides to enroll in any of the schools, he needs to make sure the school is aware of the schedule change before final transcripts are due.
Provisional admission contracts usually have the following wording: Complete all “in-progress” and “planned” coursework as listed on your application.
Some campuses are stricter than others so I always like to play it safe and at least document you tried contacting the campuses.
Thanks!
I appreciate your responses.
I wouldn’t panic. Even at schools that are different than yours, students change classes between November and March. As Gumbymom stated, it looks like he far exceeds what is required for UC/CSU admission so should be fine.
However, for future applicants that are reading this thread, if you know in advance that your courses won’t be exactly as indicated on your application, I would use the additional comments section on the application to explain why.
Repeating for emphasis: the schools need to be advised by email or snail mail. There are some schools which have overwhelmed staffs at this time of year, who might not look “kindly” upon a person who assumes that the changes wont matter.
Check your email to make sure it was sent. Keep copies of the email.