Hi! I am a high school student, and I’m thinking about taking a C/C++ course from UCSD Extended Studies(C Programming and C++ | UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies). Does this type of course hold the same weight as a dual-enrollment college course, or AP? Would it be more impressive to take an AP (e.g., AP Micro) or to take this extended studies course if I plan on going into computer science?
For $3k??
You don’t need any CS in hs to go into CS.
If suitable courses are avail at your high school, like an AP, take that.
There are zillions of colleges that offer CS. And the where may not matter. On the Santa Clara ROI chat, one parent just posted google hired their kids from a regional Georgia public. They passed the google entry test.
Anyway, I’m sure it’s a fine course but it’s pricey and you don’t seem to be taking it for the right reason. It’s not going to get you into a CS program va not having it.
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Why not local community college? It may also be free. Ask your school counselor. If it is not free, it will cost you 1/10 or mostlikely less of UCSD Extension.
If you want to go a step ahead, check the transfer aggrement with your state’s flagship university and take a course that transfers.
Unfortunately, all the winter quarter classes have been filled at my local community college. This seems like my only choice that could actually count for UC credit. With that in mind, I do already have passion projects in computer science and such but I’m really looking for a way to demonstrate and improve my technical proficiency?
Why ?
You needn’t take classes outside of your hs to get into a UC or any other college and yes for CS.
Btw you say could actually count - you might ask so you can verify. You’d need a course # to verify/match with each school.
And what if you don’t go the UC route.
Make sure you meet your UC A-G standards.
Good luck.
Our son took the same course at UCSD in the summer. It wasn’t through the Extension program. The course was part of a summer program for high school students and we didn’t pay that much for it. He did receive some college credit but was required to take a competency exam to receive the credit. He took it for “fun”.
The Extension program is different from the university itself. You won’t get “brownie” points for going through that program. The Extension Program is typically for people that are already in a profession and need a course for their job.
Ask your counselor if that should be an option for you.
I had similar understanding as @aunt_bea. I looked up the extesion before and couldn’t find any established transfer aggrements on the NET.
To OP, if you want to take a course for “fun” and $ is not an issue, sure why not, go ahead. If transferability is important for you (and again $ is not an issue), I would encourage you to give them a call and find out transfer aggrements with UCs (and plz post back). If the course is pretty generic (like taught everywhere) and is UC transferable, the chance of transferring elsewhere is also pretty high.
There are good feeback from other experts in this thread.
I will make an assumption that you (OP) already know basics of A-G and high school rigor, and … and will also assume that you want to express your interest in CS by having CS courses in your profile.
If you are OK with online courses, you may not need to limit yourself to “local” colleges.
Plz double check…
I think the bigger question here is why does he need to take at all. The OP is implying it will help their app for CS.
I think that’s a falsity and no reason to take something, even non CS, at the high school.
Or perhaps the school offers the AP CS class but a CS background is not needed for admissions.
I cannot answer your questions, but I can share that I know several adults with graduate degrees who have taken extension courses at three of the UCs (including UCSD) and all found the courses to be outstanding.
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