Choosing a major [Dec. 12, 2012, 5:52 p.m.]
College differs from high school in that you get to choose what you want to study. You have a number of different options - you can do a 2-year associates degree (AA or AS), you can complete a certificate that prepares you for a particular career, or you can complete courses in order to transfer to a 4-year program at a 4-year school. Your major is the subject area you are studying or the degree that you are completing.
The CCSF catalog lists all the degrees, certificates, and courses available at CCSF. You can find the full catalog here:
You might be wondering how to read a catalog entry. Here's an example of a catalog entry with an explanation of how you might read it in bold. (from page 87):
Architecture Major (AS)
This first section explains what you can do with the major, what kind of jobs you can get with the degree, and what kind of things you will learn in the program.
Graduates who have completed the Curriculum in Architecture, a two
year foundation study, are fully prepared to transfer to a baccalaureate
program in order to pursue a professional or non-professional degree.
The program will prepare them in areas of design, technology, digital
skills, drawing, delineation and rendering, structures and history. All of
these areas are fundamental components of architectural education and
will serve all graduates of this program well in their further studies.
Graduates who choose to enter directly into the marketplace would be
qualified in various capacities in the fields of architecture, construction
industry and related fields. Positions such as architectural technician,
construction detailer, building materials salesperson or manufacturer’s
representative are examples of possible employment a graduate may
pursue with this two-year degree.
This section explains what courses you will have to take for the major. A regular course is 3 units, so there is a 3 after the course name. Courses can also be 1, 2, or 4 units - the number says how much work there will be in the course and how much time you will have to put into the course.
Courses Required for the Major in Architecture
Course Units
First Semester (fall)
ARCH 20 Orthographic Projection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ARCH 29A Freehand Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
ARCH 48 Intro to Architecture,
Construction & Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PHYC 10 Conceptual Physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
MATH 55 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Additional graduation requirements
Second Semester (spring)
ARCH 22A Delineation & Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ARCH 101 Architecture Design Studio I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Additional graduation requirements
Third Semester (fall)
ARCH 120 Fundamentals of Building Construction . . . . 3
ARCH 50 Construction Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ARCH 102 Architecture Design Studio II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Additional graduation requirements
Fourth Semester (spring)
ARCH 27 (spring only) Fundamentals
of Building Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ARCH 31B (spring only) History of Architecture . . . . . . . 3
ARCH 52A Architectural CADD
or BIM 120 Revit Architecture I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
ARCH 160 (spring only) Professional Practice . . . . . . . . . 3
Additional graduation requirements
Total Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The list below lists all of the majors that you can choose from at CCSF and gives a brief explanation of what each is, what type of degrees are available, and where to look in the catalog for more information.
Assignment: Choose one major from the list below that interests you, read the description in the catalog, and then write one sentence about why you might pick that major.
[insert list here]