(BJ is a former ASU, Mesa CC and Mission College student that finally graduated from SJSU in 2008. These notes are based on his experience collecting ~180 units to finally eke out a normally-130-unit BS degree.)

Having been graduated for almost a year now, and having recently discussed challenges with transferring from a 2-year college with a friend, I realize that I should probably write an overview of the gotchas associated with the process. My opus begins after the break (click "read more" to continue)...

The "Gotchas"

The biggest (and most depressing) surprise that a transferring 2-year student can have is the disparity between what fulfills general education (GE) requirements and what fulfills the requirements of a major. Depending on what you already have under your belt (e.g. classes from other schools) and what your major is, you can end up with the nightmare scenario where you're stuck with taking a long chain of prerequisite classes before you can take any interesting ones. In other words, you may be fulfilling your GE requirements just fine, but not fulfilling your major requirements.

Rule: Verify Everything Against Both GE and Major Requirements

While the GE Certification does meet the GE part of the puzzle, your actual department can have specific requirements that will keep you from graduating on time. For example:

• GE Breadth requires only one math course.
• Computer Science (at least at SJSU), however, requires four VERY SPECIFIC math courses.

If you're not paying attention, it's easy to take one math class, pass core GE, and end up a couple of semesters behind in the major. This is a pretty extreme example, but I barely avoided several similar (one-semester) problems

Rule: Keep Up on Your Status

When I was transferring, the rules regarding GE certification reciprocity were, ahem, ambiguous. Specifically the CSU executive order that enables GE certification was limited to classes specifically held at the certification-granting institution (in a de legis sense--the reality is that I was able to get my cert applied despite this legal hole).

The verbiage in CSU Executive Order 1033 Section 5.4.1 2008-06-18 is less ambiguous now:

A participating institution may certify completion of courses or examinations taken at other eligible institutions...

That said, there is something to be said about verifying your plan with both the community college and your target university (and more specifically, the target major department at the university). Do your homework and keep on top of everyone. Get statements of policy in writing if you can. Collect names. Log who said what, when.

Oh, and did I mention that the transferability of a given class varies from year to year?

Rule: The Weirder You Are, the Harder It Gets

It's a good time to step back and set expectations. Most California community colleges have reasonably solid programs and the articulation process isn't too bad. My life was difficult primarily because I started in another state and transferred over (and e.g. had to convince a lot of people that ASU's HON 171/2 should count as an equivalent Humanities class).

If you start at a California CC, have been visiting sites such as ASSIST and have been straight with your goals to your advisor, you'll probably be fine. If you have any of the following, however, make sure to be careful in both planning and execution:

• Any upper-division credit from another school (CCs can't certify those).
• Any private school or out-of-state credit (which may or may not include military credits).
• Anything the CC doesn't teach (my old Novell Netware classes, e.g., or my "experimental" ASU engineering classes).
• Anything that makes it painful to be in front of an advisor (e.g. you have to get time off of work or have to get a babysitter).

Rule: Keep Your Goals Straight

Getting a GE cert is NOT the same as preparing to transfer to a specific major program. Neither of those is the same as getting an Associate's degree, either. There's usually a lot of overlap, but they're not the same thing.

Rule: Show Up in Person, Have Your S**t Together

If you're busy (work, baby, etc.), then it can be very tempting to call or email in hopes of avoiding a trip to your 4-year school for guidance. Don't. Most advisors (and the various functionaries that will determine your fate) are likely to gloss over (or even ignore) your email unless you've already established a relationship with him/her. And do NOT expect them to remember you if you haven't been pestering them on a fairly regular basis (they are human, after all, and deal with a lot of students).

Take the time to go down there. Do your homework ahead of time and know what you're talking about when you go in. It is faster and vastly easier to go in with the form already filled out and only needing a signature...

Rule: Don't Assume the Computer's Right

I've had records lost multiple times, including two (!) copies of my Mission College transcript and the first copy of my GE cert (my first attempt to file for graduation didn't work out because they thought I hadn't taken English 1A!). If something's not right, get the records staff to verify what they have on file.

Send every document and keep pestering the records people until they have it on file. Do not be afraid to send the same document again if it's taking too long.

Rule: Start Early

It's never too early to start any of these processes unless someone tells you otherwise. You will avoid many nasty surprises if you start early.

(It took me 30 months to go from my first transcript and GE cert to confirmed-ready-to-graduate!)

Rule: Keep the Faith, Brutha!

It's really easy to lose hope if you get set back on your quest, but much easier if you are aware of the obstacles ahead. Hold a nice, steady course, navigate the rapids, and start early for success.

It doesn't hurt to be mind-bogglingly stubborn :-)