<p>As much as I can figure, first semester Thematic Option for me will mean: </p>
<p>CORE 102, CORE 111, foreign language and one other class. </p>
<p>Will the last class be from my major(s)?</p>
<p>I am a little unclear as someone posted somewhere on the boards that there are two additional courses that are chosen with an advisor as part of the TO program. Would those be classes that might be general ed types? Is one a science general ed and the other a humanities general ed? </p>
<p>In second semester, TO classes would be: CORE 101 and CORE 112 (Writing)?</p>
<p>Your other two CORE classes would be CORE 103 The Process of Change in Science and CORE 104 Change and the Future. You can take both of them third semester, or spread them out over a couple of semesters.</p>
<p>In addition, you need two “Theme” courses which you choose with your TO advisor, and they can be courses from your major if that works out. They are: Theme Course in the Humanities or Social Sciences and Theme Course in the Natural Sciences.</p>
<p>Your adviser at orientation will probably suggest you take a class from the lower division requirement. I suggest you take a look at how everything will fit and so you can be ready for registration during orientation.</p>
<p>I am still a little confused about the THEME courses. I have taken a lot of GE classes at the community college. Those classes (sciences and humanities) might then be used to eliminate these two TO requirements perhaps? They are transferrable, categorized classes. I hope they’ll work. </p>
<p>Diversity - - I am taking a diversity class this summer at the community college. Hopefully, that will work. </p>
<p>That leaves four CORE classes and foreign language then.</p>
<p>One of the theme courses is the one (I think!) that can potentially be waived with AP credit. My daughter had the max AP credit, but none of them worked out for the theme courses in her case. She was able to find Theme courses on the list that were also requirements for her major, so it worked out perfectly for her.</p>
<p>I wish more information were available about the specifics of the TO offerings. Is something due to come in the mail from TO that has information on the offerings beyond the names of the professors and times of the classes? I’d like to be prepared for orientation. . .</p>
<p>I am remembering that they handed out course descriptions the day before registration so you can read up. In future semesters, you will meet with your TO advisor to discuss your choices, and they “reserve” a spot for you in that CORE class. It works out very well.</p>
<p>And you are already more prepared than most will be for orientation - far more than my daughter was! She didn’t know any of this going in, and she got great classes.</p>
<p>Regarding the TO Theme courses, if you have a 4 or 5 in an AP Science (Bio, Chem or Physics), and the same in AP Euro or Art History, you can be waived from the Science and Humanities respectively.</p>
<p>Also, being in CLAS, you can spread out CORE courses. My D for example took CORE 102 and 111 (Writing) first semester, only 112 (Writing) second semester, will take 103 and 101 first soph fall semester, and 104 in spring. She knows of someone else who will take 104 in Junior year. There is flexibility.</p>
<p>Gotta say, I don’t think AP scores can get you out of those requirements. TO is essentially your GE program, and you cant get out of taking any of the classes. So no, your AP scores wont get you out of the TO science or humanities requirements (unless theyve changed the rules since I was a freshman). Also, unless your CC diversity class is listed on an articulation agreement as giving you course-for-course credit for a class listed on TO’s diversity list, you’ll probably only get unit credit for that as well.</p>
<p>Sorry to be a downer! AP and transfer credit will help in other respects though… you’ll be able to register earlier and you may get out of introductory courses required for your major.</p>
<p>My advice for your course plan: obviously take 111 and 102 first semester. with those, knock out a theme course and maybe your diversity/language requirement too. You’ll want to get all of your basics (themes/diversity/lang) out of the way ASAP so your schedule will be more open when you start your major classes, especially if you’re double majoring/minoring (IMO). Second semester, take 112 and another CORE, and knock out any themes/diversity/language stuff you have left. From there, read the courses descriptions each semester and take the CORE classes that interest you as they come up. For me, that meant taking one fall of my sophomore year, and another fall of my junior year. Don’t worry about rushing into the CORE classes; you’ll get a lot more out of them if you are interested in the subject matter.</p>
<p>One more thing- TO is starting a new policy where you will have a mandatory lab (5-8pm i think?) on Wednesday nights. FYI </p>
<p>As for specific classes - if you’re feeling really anxious, I’d be happy to e-mail you the theme lists and CORE descriptions. PM me if you want em/if you have more questions!</p>
<p>Lakers11, my S is in TO and he placed out of his two theme classes with his AP Art History and AP Bio scores. He just finished freshman year. </p>
<p>When you go to orientation, your advisors will give you more info on which classes are recommended and when. You’ll have a session with your TO advisors on the first day of orientation where you will get the detailed info on TO Core offerings. If you are in a major outside of CLAS, you will most likely also have an advisor for your major. You’ll need to coordinate the classes required for your specific school / major with your TO requirements. For School of Cinematic Arts, for example, productions majors must finish all Core reqs by a certain semester (maybe 2nd semester Soph?), so you’ll get advice about all this when you are there.</p>
<p>Anyone who has fulfilled all or most of their language requirements, and/or who has scored 4 or 5 on AP Art History or European History; or on AP Bio, Chem, or Physics, will have a nice head start. But there is time to do it all, so don’t worry.</p>
<p>You can definitely wave out of the humanities/sciences requirements with APs, just not any of the cores. The diversity requirement is weird, but you can usually double it up with another class that you need to take. The number of TO courses you should take definitely depend on what your major is. Some you need to start right away, others, not. By the way, the required lab is Monday, not Wednesday.</p>
<p>Hmmm good to know. I was in IB, but also took the AP psyc exam on a whim - other than that no APs here because they would’ve likely resulted in death by examination. My info came from AP-loving friends, so either things have changed in the past three years or they were screwed. Sorry for the misinformation!</p>
<p>i am 99.9% positive the diversity course MUST be taken at USC.</p>
<p>you cannot use your APs to get out of any of the CORE classes, but some of them will get you out of the theme courses (i used my AP chem to get out of the science theme course)</p>
<p>you can also double, or even triple-count classes. i got my diversity, humanities theme, and an upper-division major class out of the way by taking SPAN 413m this past semester.</p>
<p>also, i recommend taking CORE 103 your freshman year (spring) because it ALWAYS has a friday discussion, and you don’t want to be taking that your junior (as i will) or senior year. learned that the hard way. kept putting 103 off hoping that the next semester it wouldn’t have a friday discussion, but it always does. talked to my TO advisor and he said it will always have one because every department is required by the university to have friday classes, and this is how TO gets them in.</p>
<p>for all the other CORE classes, most have separate discussion sections (in addition to lecture), but i’ve been able to take all of them w/o discussion (every once in a while one of them will have combined lecture-discussion and i was sure to take that one)</p>
<p>According to the community college articulation agreement:</p>
<p>“USC students: Once you have enrolled at USC, you cannot take transfer courses to fulfill GE or the writing requirement. You may take transfer courses in the summer only to fulfill diversity or foreign language, obtain equivalence to a USC course, or earn elective units. Don’t forget to file a pre-approval form (see Part IV, C.2).”</p>
<p>I filled out the pre-approval form and it said diversity was satisfied with my planned course.</p>