Do you have to take required general education classes before any others in a degree program?

Question

I am planning on going to school (community college) for graphic design, and am not sure whether I want to do the associates degree or the certificate, I've never been to college or anything so I am not sure if I can take pre-req classes at the same time as the core classes or if they all have to be taken before I can even get to the classes that pertain to the degree, so basically I am hoping I can start right away on a graphic design class in addition instead of all english and math, etc. for the whole 1st year.....
Thanks everyone for your answers:)

Answer 1

depends on the degree. My degree is social work and I can take intro to social work during my freshman work while taking my gen. ed req. but I can't take any adv. sw courses.. I think you can do with with education too..there again..it depends on degree. most of your intro classes do not need pre reqs.. Certificate is 1 year and ***. is 2 so I would take what is req. for cert. first and then if you later decide to do ***..nothing lost but if you take courses for *** and then decide to only get cert. you have taken needless classes (not needless but you won't need them to grad.)..

Answer 2

Nope, as long as you have the pre-requisites you can take any courses.

HOWEVER - Danger Will Robinson!!

Most students change majors one or two times. As a rule, ONLY Gen Ed classes will transfer to another school or to a different major in the same school.

This means that if you load up with courses in your initial major and change majors, you lose most, if not all, of those hours.

I generally advise students to get the Gen Ed's out of the way first . Just in case.

The only exception is if there is a bottleneck course. This is a course that is a pre-requsite to many if not all of the following courses in a major. Those need to be taken early because a delay here could easily set back the graduation date.

Answer 3

My daughter is also taking graphic design and started out in community college before going on to her 4 year college. She did have some graphic design classes along with the general ed classes. So yes, you can take both. Get ahold of your student advisor, they are very helpful with questions like this.

Answer 4

Yes you'll have to take English 1A, Math 1A (different schools have different numbering systems, 1A just means the first college level), Political science, behavior sciences, etc. My absolutely best advice would be to get a graduation outline from the council office! It's a must for successful students, it'll say what courses you need from what area. The office has a million of them, some have them online, I know my school did. Also, remember that if you are planning to transfer to a 4-year, getting your associates degree and becoming transfer-ready are two different things. The associates is much easier.

Answer 5

There are GE classes and then there are pre-req classes for your major. You can take GE classes anytime. I was taking them my senior year. I also took classes for my major in my freshman year.

Pre-reqs are different. You have to take those first before later courses unless you get a waiver.

Answer 6

no matter what college you go to, you will always have to take pre-reqs before the core classes. if you didn't, then it wouldn't be a pre-req. if you want to dive right into it, look into a vocational school (i.e. katherine gibbs, chubbs, etc.)
they have short degree programs so you don't spend all your time taking prereqs.

Answer 7

prerequisite classes mean you need the classes required before you can take that class; unless you have approval of the department head.
See an academic advisor. Each college is different and they will know the best answers for you.

Answer 8

I am attending a community college and usually the prereq has to be met first. In some cases it is possible to do them simultaneously ask a councilor (sp) for sure though.

Answer 9

yes