Chicano Studies will be listed through the major at UCB, not through your CC. Plug in your CC from this page (click Change Report or Institution, select your CC at the top, and put To: University of California, Berkeley just below that) - that’ll show you which courses articulate, if any, for your major. Make sure you are fulfilling your major requirements for Political Science as well - all major requirements, if they are offered, should be completed by the end of the Spring term.
@goldencub I get what you mean now but disappointingly,only two classes for Chicano Studies are offered at my CC that would be transferable to UCB,so wonder how that would work.
I believe you just calculate all PoliSci classes, and include the History or other classes that are considered major requirements. Pretty sure Major GPA includes all classes taken in the major as well as any other major requirements that fall under other disciplines. Prereq GPA is probably more important (but even then, the GPA doesn’t really matter, just the grades themselves).
@goldencub hm,definitely something I will look into. I’m going to be visiting UCB the 4th for an admissions presentation so hopefully someone will be able to answer that for me lol and that link is to a website for apartments!and I was just wondering how to do it since I had seen a lot of people post their GPA for their major. Such a bummer that I got two B’s in classes which aren’t even UC transferable. I think that they still factor in to the GPA though, because it wouldn’t make sense as to why my GPA is 3.73 if I’ve gotten A’s in all my transferable classes, except one class in which I got a B.
@goldencub I put all of my courses in and it states that I have a 3.73. They’re math classes which aren’t transferable so just confused on that. Hopefully I’ll be fine with a 3.73 though
I’ve never read that transfer must have the prereqs for both their major and double major completely prior to transfer. Transfers aren’t even required to complete the prereqs for their applied major until the end of their first semester. (Granted, no one would advise not finishing the prereqs for the applied major before applying to a UC). You have two of the prereqs. Assuming that you take at least four classes in the fall. You should be able to take some PoliSci and some Chicano and add Chicano Studies after the fall semester.
Of course, if you can get them out of the way in the summer, then by all means. I just wouldn’t think that you would need to have them done before you arrive at UCB.
The rationale for @goldencub’s statement is the unit ceiling policy. The procedure for for declaring either a double major or a simultaneous degree requires approval from an undergraduate major adviser which normally won’t grant any request that leave students at risk of extending their stay in Berkeley past the normal four or five semesters depending on when they hit the unit ceiling.
It’s almost impossible to declare a capped second major or go for a simultaneous degree (two majors in different colleges) unless you have all or almost all the prerequisites prior to arriving at Berkeley and the only “100% guarantee” of getting approved of a second major, regardless of the major choice, is by having all the prerequisites complete prior to your arrival at Berkeley and declaring both early when they have no reason to deny your request.
Theoretically you could also overcome this by taking classes during your summers, but since there is no guarantee you’ll be approved for the second major after taking the course this option carries a substantial financial risk.
Since Chicano Studies and Poli Sci don’t share any prerequisite courses or upper division electives it’s going to be very difficult to be approved for / complete the double major without completing the vast majority of your prerequisites prior to transferring to Berkeley.
Given that the unit ceiling is 136 units for a double major and that each major has 32 units of upper division requirements that do not overlap, that leaves you with only 72 un-allocated units before hitting the ceiling. Assuming your coming in with the minimum 60 units required for a transfer units leaves you 12 units (3 classes) of leeway. In this case it would be near impossible to be approved for the double major if your missing 3+ prerequisites.
Alternatively, coming in with the maximum 70 transferable units would mean that you only have 2 units of leeway. In this case, it would be very hard to be approved for the double major if your missing any prerequisite unless you make an arrangement to attend a summer session as part of the transfer edge program. If your in this second scenario, it’s probably a better option to declare the Chicano Studies minor early and change over to the major once you take summer / overload courses.
(Note: This ignores the option of overloading on units and meeting the requirements within 4 semesters, but the advisers generally treat overloading as an exception and not the standard.)
On the note of the maximum 70 units, I was wondering something. Does that mean that they will only take 70 units from whatever youve earned, or does it mean that a student can have no more than 70 units completed?
@MikeSauce They will take 70 units from what you earned. I’m pretty sure it’s not different for Haas. You can still get subject credit for classes over the 70 unit total, but not unit credit (i.e. AC requirement, that sort of thing).
It is absolutely important that any student who intends to double major is meticulous when constructing their future schedule. My point was that not completing every single prereq prior to transfer should not be seen as the end of the road in terms of double major prospects.
Political Science and Chicano Studies are both L&S-Social Science majors. According to both Assist and the department website, Chicano Studies requires four prereqs. If she is able to complete at least two before transfer, that leaves two left. The majors do not share prereqs, but the UCB political science prereqs are crazy easy and there is no way that an applied PoliSci couldn’t have completed them prior to transfer. In total, the two additional Chicano studies courses should be the only incomplete prereqs that she will have left after transfer.
Ultimately, the unit cap still is a concern because students aren’t given much room for error, but I assumed that the danger that they were speaking about was a danger of time because @goldencub suggests that take the additional courses over the summer at UCB, which at least to my knowledge, would then count for the unit cap at UCB. If the concern is about units, then it shouldn’t make a difference if the courses are taken during the summer or during the fall if they are still taken at UCB either way.
Now, there is always the potential for there to be one to many GE or degree courses that sneaks up on double majors and pushes them over the unit cap. I have all my prereqs complete for Rhetoric and PoliSci and it still gives me anxiety. My point was only that if those two courses are the only requirement that she is lacking when she steps foot on the campus, then she should be fine moving forward. If she can only fit a minor, then that is perfectly fine as well. I just wouldn’t deem it impossible simply because she has to take two prereqs in the fall.
@TheVisionary I recommended summer session because it would get those classes over with, such that they would be able to move on to upper divs and declare their second major as soon as possible. After transfer, we get only 4 semesters - 5 if one petitions to stay longer, I think - to get everything done. It’s best to get everything done sooner than later.
Also, the benefit of completing everything at CC is that one will transfer over with no more than 70 units, but can still get subject credit for their work. It’s not a bad idea to try to complete all lover-division requirements available at CC, such that one can transfer with a little bit of wiggle room.
I wasn’t referring to the unit ceiling at all in my original post, just think it’s best to get lower-div things done at CC if possible (for the aforementioned reasons).
This does, however, raise the question about the unit caps. Most community college courses are 3-units, while most UC courses are worth 4-units. If a student was to complete exactly 60 units of 3-unit courses and those courses were transferred into the UC equivalent courses, would the student then have 70+ units at the UCs?
Clearly, they wouldn’t be barred for having too many units as the official transfer would not occur until after they were admitted, but if they did receive an additional 10 units at the UCs for the same coursework because of those unit differences then that could potentially push some students closer to the cap than they would have been originally.
@TheVisionary Er, nobody will ever receive 4 units for a 3 unit CC class. Not sure if that’s what you were saying.
For Psych 1, for example - at CC it will be 3 units, whereas at UCB it will be 4 units. UCB courses are generally organized as having 3 hours of lecture per week and a 1 hour discussion. More material is covered in the UCB course, too, so naturally the UCB course will be worth more units.
If I take Psych 1 at CC and transfer to UCB, I will still only have earned 3 units for the class. If I took Psych 1 at UCB, I will earn 4 units. The two classes cover much of the same material, but they are not the exact same class.
Notably, taking 4 classes at CC (where most classes are 3 units) is much different from taking 4 classes at UCB. Many students take 5 classes at CC per semester - but taking 5 classes at Cal at one time is bound to be significantly more intense (assuming both course loads are taken in the same discipline.)
See, that is exactly what I was thinking. I’m not a CC students, so it doesn’t really apply to me, but my sister is planning on transferring from a CC in 2017 and some of the counselors at her college are all over the place with their reasoning. Good to know.
@CoreyL hi, you received an email from UCSB stating your application was received?
i was reading through this thread and saw that you did… i didn’t apply to Cal btw.
UCSB is my goal so if people are already receiving application confirmation from UCSB, and I haven’t, i can’t help but get a little anxious? it’s the dream
Major: Philosophy
GPA: 3.90
EC: Multiple jobs. I’ve been working the same job for the past year and a half, alternating between part-time and full-time.
IGETC: Complete
Pre-Req: 1/3 by end of Spring
I’m a history major convert. I went into the fall pretty certain that history would be the major I’d pursue. But the pull of philosophy was just too strong! What’s working against me is that I only have two philosophy courses completed thus far. I’ll be completing 4 additional philosophy courses this spring (fun stuff! Full load consisting completely of philosophy).
but disappointingly,only two classes for Chicano Studies are offered at my CC that would be transferable to UCB,so wonder how that would work.