Education Planning
Here is another difficult topic to explain in writing. It is important in reaching any goal that you know what it takes to achieve it.
If you want to be a lawyer,
you need to know the requirements otherwise you will find that you are wasting
valuable time and effort.
So the first thing in educational planning is to know where you want to end up. More specifically, the question is “What’s your major?”
Now for many students, this
is still an unknown. And for many others, they think they know, and then once
they take some classes, it changes. So don’t be discouraged if you still don’t
know your destination.
If you are unsure of the major and/or career for you, there are still many classes that you need to take that will be required no matter what you pursue so you can start from there.
BUT, we need to narrow it down as much as possible.
Good questions to ask yourself are:
----------Am I going to transfer on to a four-year institution?
----------Am I interested in a science or math field?
----------Am I willing to leave Siskiyou County to pursue these goals?
We are going to use the student who wants to get an AA and then transfer as our example. If you just want an AA then you will be covered in the first part.
For an AA, as you saw last week, you need to complete 60 units. Of those 60, you need to complete the Areas listed on page 10 in the schedule of classes. You see that one class is required out of each Area. This is similar to the general education requirements to transfer except the transfer schools require three classes from each. The Areas are a little different, but we won’t worry about that just yet.
No matter what you do, you will need to complete a Math, English and Reading requirement so that is where we'll start.
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IF YOU HAVE COMPLETED: THEN YOU MAY ENROLL IN : |
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MATH 99 è MATH 58A, 81 |
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MATH 81 è MATH 54A, 56, BA 53 |
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MATH 54A è MATH 54B, (56)* |
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MATH 56, 54B è MATH 50, 53 |
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MATH 53 è MATH 2, 25, 10 |
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MATH 2, 25, 10 è MATH, 4 |
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MATH 4
è MATH, 5A |
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MATH 5A è MATH 5B |
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MATH 5B è MATH 5C, 6 |
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MATH 5C è MATH 6 |
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For an AA you need to complete either Math 56, which is the accelerated elementary math class, or Math 54 A or B, which is the same class only spread out over two semesters. I have listed our math sequence above.
The same applies to English and Reading. You need Engl 1A for both the AA and transfer programs. You will need Read 10 completed before you can enroll in the Engl 1A class. You can test out of the reading class when you take your assessment. Below are the English and Reading sequences.
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IF YOU HAVE COMPLETED: THEN YOU MAY ENROLL IN : |
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ENGL 96 è ENGL 52 |
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ENGL 52 è ENGL 1A |
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READ 61 è READ 62 |
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READ 62 è READ 10 |
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So where is this going? Well the next step is to start organizing a four-semester plan. Below is the beginning of an outline.
Fall 08 Spring 09
Fall 09 Spring 10
Now we add the Math and English and Reading classes so that we schedule what we are in for the Fall of 08 and then extend the sequences until we meet the requirements for an AA or transfer goal. For the example below we’ll assume the student will start in Math 81, English 52, and Read 10.
Fall 08 Spring 09
Math 81 Math 54A
English 52 English 1A
Read 10
Fall 09 Spring 10
Math 54B
Now this schedule would meet the requirements for an AA in Math, English, and Reading. If this student was planning to transfer, then we would add classes and it would look like this. The changes are in red.
Fall 08 Spring 09
Math 81 Math 54A
English 52 English 1A
Read 10
Fall 09
Spring 10
Math 54B Math 53
English 1C
Fall 10
Now we can add other selections from each Area to meet the requirements. So for the AA in Area C I like Geography so I chose Geog 1 to meet that requirement. In Area D I selected a painting class (Art 11A). Area E I selected Psychology 1. Area F I selected Health 10 and I will take two semesters of weight training. I will now add them to my plan. The new classes are in blue.
Fall 08 Spring 09
Math 81 Math 54A
English 52 English 1A
Read 10 Psychology 1
Health 10 Art
11A
Fall 09
Spring 10
Math 54B Math 53
English 1C PE Wt Training
Geography 1
PE Wt Training
Fall 10
Math 2
Now I will add the unit totals so you can see how this is mapping out.
Fall 08 Spring 09
Math 81 4 Math 54A 3
English 52 4 English 1A 3
Read 10 3 Psychology 1 3
Health 10 3 Art 11A 3
= =
14
units 12
units
Fall 09 Spring 10 Fall 10
Math 54B 3 Math 53 3 Math 2 4
English 1C 3 PE Wt Training 1
Geography 1 3
PE Wt Training 1
= = =
10 units 4 units 4 units
So here we are with a rough schedule of classes. Now we could add in the other classes to fill out the load so that at the end of two years we had 60 units and would be eligible for an AA. It might look like this: I used green this time.
Fall 08 Spring 09
Math 81 4 Math 54A 3
English 52 4 English 1A 3
Read 10 3 Psychology 1 3
Health 10 3 Art 11A 3
Guide 5 2 History
17A 3
= =
16
units 15
units
Fall 09 Spring 10 Fall 10
Math 54B 3 Math 53 3 Math 2 4
English 1C 3 PE Wt Training 1
Geography 1 3 Computer Science 1 3
PE Wt Training 1 Theater 1 3
Spanish 1 5 Spanish
2 5
= = =
15 units 15 units 4 units
You see in the first semester I added the College success skills class!
This schedule is now ready. For the AA seeking student we have a plan. The value of this plan is tremendous.
-You can visualize the plan being completed (good for motivation)
-If you need to make changes, you can make them intelligently knowing how it will affect the entire plan not just one semester.
-If classes are offered in only one semester, you can make a plan to fit them in that semester.
-You can create semesters that have a manageable workload. You won’t end up with your three toughest classes in one semester.
We are through