Layzie if you plan on getting a Bachelor's degree from a UC then I don't think you'd need to get an Associates degree. What most people do is stay at a community college for approximately two years and earn about 60 semester units (which converts to 90 quarter units, which all UC campuses use except for Berkeley). 90 quarter/60 semester is usually what is considered junior standing, and UC's take that into consideration when you're transferring (some don't accept transfers below the junior level). Also, if you go to an accredited community college, your chances of getting into a UC might be higher- go to the student center at your school and visit the Office of Relations With Schools or something along the lines of that. Also, visit
http://www.assist.org- this site has a listing of alotta the community colleges AND universities in California, and which classes are transferable to UC's etc. As for how many classes you should take, 3 classes is the minimum usually (or around 12 units) to be considered a full time student (which becomes important if you're applying for financial aid). Typically you would want to take around 16 units/semester. Most colleges limit you to around 18 or 20 a semester, and you have to petition in order to enroll in more classes. However, taking more classes is good if you can handle it- it would save more time of course, since most people who do transfer from a community college to a UC don't graduate in four years (two at a JC, two at a UC) since some core major classes were not available at the JC. As to what classes you should take, generally at a JC, you take what are called General Education classes- classes such as general chemistry, physics, a whole lot of social science/humanities (ugh!) classes such as history, philosophy, psychology, etc. Of course you'd want to take some english/writing courses- usually one or two semesters would do- Freshman Composition, and Critical Thinking and Writing are the most common, I believe. Also depending on your major, you'd want to take some math- all engineering/computer science majors require one full year of calculus, and maybe even more (multi-variable, differential equations, boolean algebra, linear algebra). Most engineering schools also require you to complete 3 semesters worth of calculus based physics- also known as engineering physics, which involve mechanics, heat, waves, electromagnetism, etc. I'm sure this is more information than you need, but if you have more questions, feel free to ask. IMO, JC's are the best bang for the buck- I went to UCR for a quarter, then dropped out to go to a JC- Mt. Sac. I was surprised to see that my BOOKS costed more than my tuition. I hope this information is useful for you- it's probably way more than you need. One question if you don't mind though- what JC were you planning on attending?
<edit> Actually I just read your profile, and it says you live in Pasadena- so I assume you're gonna be going to PCC? I have a few friends going there right now, and they spoke to some advisor there to get their 2 years planned out (what classes to take, etc). I suggest you go see an advisor there to help you plan out your schedule. Oh yea, one thing that I hated about community college- THEY TAKE ROLL!!! AAAHHHHH
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