Course Prerequisites. Frequently Asked Questions.

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1 What is a prerequisite? A prerequisite, or prerequisite course, is a course that is required before a student may take the next course. The prerequisite course must be completed with a passing grade from an accredited institution. If a student has completed a prerequisite at another college will Long Beach City College know about it? A college will know about the course work at another college only after the transcripts are evaluated. The student should fill out and follow all of the instructions on the Evaluation Request Form. Please follow the instructions and submit this request form before the deadline. Failure to follow the instructions will result in a delay. The student must have completed 12 units at Long Beach City College before the evaluation can be submitted. Also an official transcript must be submitted with the request form. The comprehensive instructions are on the Evaluation Request Form. May a prerequisite be completed at another college? Yes. Please follow the instructions on the Evaluation Request Form to have the course credits evaluated. What if a class taken at Long Beach City College is a prerequisite for another college? The student needs to be sure that the course is eligible for transfer and that the proper documentation is submitted to the other college. Please contact their Admissions department to learn the proper way to transfer the course credit. 1 last updated 09/22/2012

2 How do I know if a course has a prerequisite? The course prerequisites are listed in the schedule of classes which is available online under the specific term(s). Also, they are listed in the LBCC catalog, also available online. It is advised that the student meet with a counselor to create an education plan that lists, course by course, all of the requirements for a specific educational goal. There are blocks in the student enrollment system that will prevent students from enrolling into a course without first satisfying the prerequisite. Generally, errors messages will say, Prerequisite not satisfied. It may also list the specific course not yet completed. Does Long Beach City College accept Advanced Placement (AP) credit for prerequisite courses? Yes, AP test scores which appear as credit received on a regionally accredited college transcript will be accepted. Students are required to order official copies of their College Board transcripts with the appropriate Advanced Placement scores and have the transcripts sent to the Long Beach City College s office of Admissions and Records. Course credit is granted for Advanced Placement examinations with a score of three, four or five in those instances in which the department concerned has determined that the material covered is comparable to a specific course offering within that department. Can Pass/Fail classes be accepted for prerequisites? Yes, as long as the student has passed the course. Can one course count for more than one prerequisite? 2 last updated 09/22/2012

3 What if the number of units is too low on the course already taken? Typically, this would not satisfy the prerequisite. Suppose that you have a Biology course requirement for a three unit course and the course taken by the student has two units. The student may fill out a Prerequisite Challenge Form as an option to address this requirement. Can prerequisites be overridden? Yes. This is accomplished by submitting the Prerequisite Challenge Form to the office of Admissions and Records. The full instructions are included on the form. The student must build a case for why they should be able to waive the prerequisite. This documentation will become part of the student s academic record and will be reviewed by the Admissions Department. A student narrative that is poorly written, does not follow the instructions, or does not build a strong argument will likely be rejected. It is in the student s best interest to follow all of the instructions and write a strong argument for the prerequisite to be waived. Once the Prerequisite Challenge Form is submitted, is the prerequisite waived? The request must be authorized by either a college registrar or the Dean of Enrollment Services. Can prerequisites be overridden by a counselor? A student may get the Prerequisite Challenge Form from the Counseling Center, but it must be turned in to the Admissions Department. 3 last updated 09/22/2012

4 Can prerequisites be overridden by the instructor teaching the course? What are corequisites, and recommended preparation? A corequisite is a course that a student is required to take simultaneously in order to enroll in another course. Most often this is a laboratory course. For example, a Chemistry Lab course might be a corequisite of a Chemistry Lecture course. Recommended preparation is a requirement that students should have met to be successful in the course. It is not a mandatory requirement, but is based on many years of experience and expertise of the faculty teaching the course. For example, PHYS 3A (Physics for Science and Engineering I) has a recommended preparation of PHYS 2A (General Physics. What this means is that some exceptional students who have not taken PHYS 2A or its equivalent may be successful in PHYS 3A, the vast majority of students will not be successful in PHYS 3A if they have not taken PHYS 2A. What if a student has failed the prerequisite course? The prerequisite will not be satisfied. The student must receive a satisfactory grade in the course. What if a student has a grade of W in the prerequisite course? The prerequisite will not be satisfied. The student must receive a satisfactory grade in the course. 4 last updated 09/22/2012

5 What if a student is taking a prerequisite course but the grades are not yet processed before the next enrollment period? In other words, what if the student is currently enrolled in the prerequisite course? In this case the student may enroll into the second course. The student will be given the benefit of the doubt that they will pass the course. If, when the final grades are posted, the student has failed the prerequisite, they may be administratively dropped from the second course. Reports are provided to the department chairs and the management of this process is handled by them. Can a high school course be used to satisfy a college prerequisite course? Students who wish to challenge prerequisites using high school coursework may proceed with the Prerequisite Challenge process. Can an instructor waive a prerequisite? Can a permission number waive a prerequisite? 5 last updated 09/22/2012