EDUCATIONAL PLANNING

(Don’t Take Anything You Don’t Need)

Part VII: Bachelor’s Degree-

Transferring to a Private or Out-of-State School

Be sure to read Mini-Lecture V: Interesting Transfer Options to Consider before reading this mini-lecture.

IMPORTANT! You will be filling out Part I of the Ed Plan Form while you read this mini-lecture.

There are two versions of the form in a link in this unit, “Ed Plan Forms (Fill-In & PDF). Select ONE to complete.

Transferring to a Private or Out-of-State School

To transfer to a private or out-of-state school, you are taking major, GE and elective courses at SMC that are equivalent to or will be accepted by the next school.

You will be keeping in mind:

  • Units
  • Major
  • General Education
  • Electives
  • And GPA, even though we won’t be talking about this. In short, get the best grades you can to keep the most options open. See a counselor for details.

Units

Private schools vary according to the minimum number of units they require. The best way to find out is to look at the school’s official website. Most campuses have an Admissions link, and most have specific information for Transfer Students.

Fill Out Your Form

On the front top of your Education Plan, enter:

  • Your name
  • The name of the ONE school for which you’ll create this Ed Plan.
  • The number of units for your goal:
  • For USC and LMU, you typically need 30.
  • For other schools, check the website or consult with an SMC counselor ASAP (including myself--send me an email).

Major

Find YOUR major courses needed

  1. First, see if SMC has an agreement with the school at these resources:
  • For USC:
  • For Loyola Marymount University: Lower Division Major requirements)
  • CA Private Schools:*
  • Out-of-State Schools:*
  • *NOTE: Even though an agreement may say, "General Education," some of the agreements have major courses listed
  1. If your school is not at a website above, go directly to the school's website and find your major and corresponding freshman and sophomore-level major courses, then work with a counselor to determine the SMC equivalencies.

•Ultimately, this process gets complicated, and although you definitely can and should prepare for your desired school, the challenge to do this assignment in a week may be too difficult. Therefore, for the purposes of this assignment, you may want to do the process for a school with a clearly articulated agreement with SMC, and work later with a counselor for your specific chosen private or out-of-state school.

Fill Out Your Form

  1. List the MAJOR courses required for your SMC goal. Use the information found above. Be sure the courses are SMC courses.

•List EVERY course required for your major (ex.: “Psych 1”)

•To find the number of units and prerequisites/advisories, look up the courses by going to one of the following links:

  • SMC Catalog:
  • SMC Schedule of Classes:

•List thenumber of units for each course using either the resource above

•List each course's prerequisite(s) and/or advisories using either resource

  • Enter "None" if none
  • Abbreviate if needed, Ex., "Advis: Elig for Engl 1"

•Enter each course EVEN IF YOU'VE ALREADY COMPLETED IT

General Education

Find Your General Education Requirements

  1. A handful of private/out-of-state schools accept IGETC. See if your transfer school accepts the IGETC:
  • Check the first page under "PRIVATE AND OUT OF STATE SCHOOLS THAT ACCEPT IGETC"
  1. Or, see if SMC has an agreement with the school:
  • For USC:
  • For Loyola Marymount University: University Core Requirements)
  • CA Private Schools:*
  • Out-of-State Schools:*
  1. If your school is not at a website above, again, go directly to the school's website and find your major and corresponding freshman and sophomore-level major courses, then work with a counselor to determine the SMC equivalencies.

•Ultimately, this process gets complicated, and although you definitely can and should prepare for your desired school, the challenge to do this assignment in a week may be too difficult. Therefore, for the purposes of this assignment, you may want to do the process for a school with a clearly articulated agreement with SMC, and work later with a counselor for your specific chosen private or out-of-state school.

Fill Out Your Form

  1. InPart II of your Ed Plan,check“Other,” then list the school
  1. Then, enterevery course from above.

•For EACH course, list:

  • GE Area
  • Is there a category? If so, list it.
  • Course (ex.: "Psych 1")
  • Prerequisite/Advisory (write "None" if none)
  • Number of units.
  1. Enter each course,whether or not you've already completed it.
  1. If you areusing the SAME course for a major requirement AND a GE, put a dash “---” in the units column for the GE Section.

PHEW! You’re half-way there.

Next, go to Mini-Lecture VIII: The All Important Prerequisites and Advisories.