College classes: Take GE's or prereq's?

[Jenn in CA]

Hi all. My son's been taking CC classes for a few semesters now. He had Calculus I in the Fall (did great). He wants to go into computer science.

 

Due to budget cuts and dual enrolled-students getting low registration priority, he couldn't get into calc II. So, he signed up for bio and poli sci.

 

Since that time, a calc II class has been added, so he can get in. However, it's Mon/Wed and the other two classes are Tue/Thu. So even if he drops bio and adds calc instead, he'll be on campus 4 days per week which we can't do. It will be too hard to get the homeschooling done. There are no other transfer level classes open on Mon/Wed that would fit his schedule.

 

So I see two options:

1. Take only 1 class (he's allowed to take 2, and has been), the calc class.

2. Take the bio & poli sci, which would be 2 classes, but neither of which is a pre-req for his intended major.

 

I'm just wondering if competitive colleges might prefer him to show lots of work in his major pre-reqs, rather than in GE's?

 

Thanks for any BTDT advice, esp. if your kids went on to math/sci majors.

[Jane in NC]

Jenn,

 

There are advantages to either decision. On the one hand, demonstrating proficiency in mathematics is a good thing in an application for a computer science major. Flip side: sometimes universities prefer students take Calculus courses in their math department. This is particularly true at engineering schools that want students using software packages like Maple or want certain topics say from Differential Equations included in Calc II (which was the case when I taught in the Math Department at NCSU.)

 

By taking electives now, your son will be free to focus more on courses within his major later. This can be a good thing. On the other hand, sometimes those electives are a welcome break from hard core math and programming courses that will be required for this major.

 

Idea: does your son know which four year school he'd like to attend? Call admissions and ask them what they would prefer to see. Couldn't hurt...

 

Jane

[Sara R]

I haven't gone through this with my own child, but I did help advise dh when he was going back to school to get an engineering degree.

 

Another thing to look at is what prerequisites are required for his major courses. Map out what courses he has to take for the major, and in what order. In engineering, calculus and physics were prerequisites for everything. The courses in the first few semesters had to be taken in careful sequence in order to graduate on time. If calculus 2 is required for every course in his major, it would be better to take it now. Electives are more flexible in their scheduling.

 

Another consideration is his math skills. Is he likely to forget calculus 1 if he doesn't take calculus 2 this semester?

[AngieW in Texas]

I have my dd taking a mix of courses.

 

She's taking Japanese for her foreign language. I don't know Japanese, so taking that at cc is perfect. Even if it didn't count for college credit, it would be worth it just for high school credit.

 

She's also taking Drawing. It's right in line with her passion. Although what she actually loves to draw is manga, she has still enjoyed taking drawing at the cc and her skills have improved. She thought she might want to major in Art, but has changed her mind. She is going to continue with the 2nd semester of the course though. Despite not wanting to major in art anymore, she does enjoy the drawing class.

 

She's going to take Digital Imaging this summer. She's thinking of majoring in something in the graphic design/digital art area, so this is an exploratory course. It's a prerequisite for the Web Design course she's going to take fall or spring of next year. Both of these will hopefully help her to make a decision about whether graphic design/digital art is what she might want to major in. Again, I don't care whether these count for college credit or not. I look at them as being exploratory.

 

She'll do most of her senior year at the community college - English, Math (either statistics or calculus), Physics, Japanese, and one semester of Web Design. She'll do government at home. Aside from web design, these are all courses she needs for high school anyway.

 

The only courses she's taking that really are exploratory rather than courses she needs in some form to count for high school are Drawing, Digital Imaging, and Web Design. These are courses that help her figure out what path she might want to take after high school.

[Miss Marple]

My ds took a mix. Our priority was to get his high school requirements completed which included upper level maths, fine arts, and foreign language. He took some basic freshman courses as well: composition, computer, maths. He had an interest in philosophy, economics, and further language study beyond the usual requirements.

 

We did try to have him take courses that were of interest to him and that we knew he had an aptitude for. This insured that his GPA would be excellent before applying to the university (4.0).

 

The Petroleum Engineering program he is in works in various GE requirements over the span of the 4 year degree. These courses are the basic history, economics, and government courses. He only needs the history and government at this point so some of his semesters have been a little less crowded which has helped him to focus on the courses for his major.

 

FWIW, I would recommend taking the #2 option (2 courses) rather than worrying about Calc 2. Will he have an opportunity to take Calc 2 next fall along with another course? I'm all for taking as many courses as the student can keep up with. Both biology and poli sci will be good courses to show on a transcript. They are serious courses and should not be detrimental at all to his transcript.

[Jenn in CA]

Thanks to everyone. Lots of different ideas and good stuff to think about. DS is leaning towards bio & poli sci as a nice change from the usual. Good idea, Jane, to call admissions.

 

I really don't know how I'd do this without all of your help and support. It's so helpful just to know that others have gone this way before.