I’m currently a high school senior in Southern California. I’m graduating in 2-3 months and I plan on attending Miracosta College in Oceanside in the fall. I’m interested in majoring in the healthcare field, particularly nursing or dental hygiene.
I applied to the school a couple of months ago and was accepted, but I’m not sure where I go from there. I visited the campus over winter break and the staff was nice but I was still very confused on WHEN exactly do I do everything. Please be considerate, I’m very clueless to the whole process and I need help.
MY QUESTIONS:
Should I take the accuplacer before I graduate high school or during the summer?
Do I have to declare a major in community college?
How do you pay for classes?
Any cc experiences would be appreciated
I also have 3 units for textile printing from Palomar College, CSU expository reading/writing credit, and MATH 96 credit from MSJC all taken at my high school. I’m not sure on what I do with those. My math teacher told me that MATH 96 places me in college math classes if I pass with a C or higher but I’m not sure if that applies to other colleges and not just MSJC, and if it exempts me from the math portion of the accuplacer.
Take Accuplacer whenever you feel prepared - and take it seriously. Every cc has different policies for placement, especially for math, so one school might waive the placement test based on high school grades and another might require it.
Your cc should have an orientation for new students over the summer which you should attend. With respect to paying, if you need financial aid, your first step is to fill out the FASFA. Your school’s financial aid office will have links on their website and may offer workshops to help you. If you are paying out of pocket, you just pay the bill by the due date.
I suggest you contact the counseling department and schedule an in-person appointment. Have your high school send your transcripts over to the cc prior to the appointment. The appointment should be before summer. http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/counseling/index.html
I can 100% sympathize with how you are feeling right now!
Should I take the accuplacer before I graduate high school or during the summer?
Take the placement test soon so you can see what english and math classes you can enroll in. Generally you will have to take a few of both of those so it is good to plan them out to get them done on time.
Do I have to declare a major in community college?
You don't have to declare a major BUT it is good that you know it. If you go on Assist.org then you can put in your CC and where you want to transfer to and your major and it comes up with the course equivalencies for your major at your CC. They give you a paragraph or so on which classes are required to transfer so then you know what to take!
How do you pay for classes?
This carries depending on school. You can always just go on campus and ask the office about it but usually there is a tab for it. Most CCs just have you pay before you enroll for the following semester.
Online you can find the IGETC form of CSU transfer form that will show you your options to complete your GE. Make sure you finish it before you transfer because otherwise you could be stuck taking additional GE courses at the 4 year school.
