Physics AS-T Degree
Provides students with the opportunity to meet the requirements for transfer to the CSU system in Physics or a similar major.
Associate in Science for Transfer | SC Program: AS-T.1004
Majoring in the physical sciences is great preparation for almost any career, because they teach students how to analyze complex problems and give students a strong quantitative background that can be applied to any technical field.
The Associate in Science in Physics for Transfer Degree (AS-T in Physics) provides students with the opportunity to meet the requirements for transfer to the California State University system in Physics or a similar major. In order to earn this degree a student must complete 60 required semester units of CSU transferable coursework with a minimum GPA of 2.0. Completing this degree guarantees admission to the CSU system but not to a particular campus or major. The degree is designed to prepare students for upper division study in Physics and related fields.
Physics graduates at the bachelor’s level are qualified for employment by industry or government in a variety of technical positions. They also frequently enter graduate programs to pursue advanced degrees in Physics or related fields. Physics graduates are often well qualified for admission into professional programs in medicine or law. Those students interested in teaching at the high school level should know that the nation is experiencing a shortage of well qualified physics teachers. Current and prospective community college students interested in this degree are encouraged to meet with a Counselor to develop an educational plan that best meets their goals and needs.
Choose your path
Map your education by viewing the program map for the degree or certificate you’re interested in earning below. Meet with a counselor to create your official comprehensive education plan.
A program map shows all the required and recommended courses you need to graduate and a suggested order in which you should take them. The suggested sequence of courses is based on enrollment and includes all major and general education courses required for the degree.
Fall Semester, First Year
16 Units TotalThis course develops the reading, critical thinking, and writing skills necessary for academic success, emphasizing expository and argumentative writing as well as research and documentation skills. As a transferable course, it presupposes that students already have a substantial grasp of grammar, syntax, and organization, and that their writing is reasonably free from errors. A research paper is required for successful completion of the course. This course may be offered in a distance education format.
This course is the first semester of a four-semester sequence covering differentiation of single variable functions, applications of the derivative, an introduction to integration, and an introduction to differential equations. This course may be offered in a distance education format.
This course is for science and engineering majors which covers the nature of atoms, molecules, and ions; chemical reactions; precipitation, oxidation-reduction, and acid/base chemistry; stoichiometry; electronic structure; periodicity; chemical bonding and molecular structure; properties of solids, liquids, and gases; and an introduction to thermodynamics and solutions. The lecture and discussion portions of this course may be offered in a distance education format.
This course is a survey of the history of the United States from Pre-Columbian Peoples to the end of Reconstruction. Topics include contact and settlement of America, the movement toward independence, the formation of a new nation and Constitution, westward expansion and manifest destiny, the causes and consequences of the Civil War, and Reconstruction. This course satisfies the CSU requirement for US History (US-1). This course may be offered in a distance education format.
Spring Semester, First Year
15 Units TotalThis course is an introduction to the major concepts of modern biology. Topics covered include biochemistry, cell biology, heredity, and nature of genes, evolution, diversity of life, and principles of ecology. Emphasis will be placed on those aspects of biology that are rapidly reshaping our culture. This course may be offered in a distance education format. This course will meet the general education requirement for a laboratory science if taken with BIOL 10L.
This course covers techniques of integration including substitution, integration by parts, and partial fractions; improper integrals; applications of integration to geometry and physics, such as finding areas, volumes and arc length, work, center of mass, and fluid force; sequences and series; absolute convergence and convergence tests; power series, Taylor series, and MacLaurin series; first-order ordinary differential equations and linear second-order differential equations; and parametric and polar curve differentiation and integration. This course may be offered in a distance education format.
Fall Semester, Second Year
14 Units TotalThis course is an introduction to United States and California government and politics, including their constitutions, political institutions and processes, and political actors. An examination of political behavior, political issues, and public policy, this course satisfies the CSU requirement in U.S. Constitution and California State and local government (US-2 and US-3). This course may be offered in a distance education format.
This course covers vectors in two and three dimensions, multi-variable functions, partial differentiation, multiple integrals, line integrals, divergence, gradient, curl, Stokes' Theorem, Divergence Theorem, and Green's Theorem. This course may be offered in a distance education format.
Spring Semester, Second Year
17 Units TotalThis course is a comparative survey of the major ancient world civilizations which developed between 3500 B.C.E. and 1500 C.E. It examines political institutions, religious ideologies, the rise and fall of empires, and the major cultural innovations of each of the major world civilizations. This course may be offered in a distance education format.
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of race and ethnicity in the United States. It examines social justice movements in relation to ethnic and racial groups in the United States to provide a basis for a better understanding of the socioeconomic, cultural, and political conditions among key social groups including, but not limited to, Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina/o Americans. This course examines the systemic nature of racial/ethnic oppression through an examination of key concepts including racialization and ethnocentrism, with a specific focus on the persistence of white supremacy. Using an anti-racist framework, the course will examine historical and contemporary social movements dedicated to the decolonization of social institutions, resistance, and social justice. This course may be offered in a distance education format.
This course is an introduction to ordinary differential equations, using qualitative, numerical, and analytic methods to investigate solutions. The course covers first order equations, systems of first order equations, and linear second order equations. Topics include matrix methods, use of complex variables, Laplace transforms, and series solutions. Applications involving modeling with differential equations are included throughout the course. This course may be offered in a distance education format.
Please see a counselor to discuss options for meeting general education requirements for transfer to California State Universities (CSU) and/or University of California (UC) campuses, as well as any specific additional courses that may be required by your chosen institution of transfer.
*Alternative Courses: Please see a Shasta College counselor for alternative course options. You can also view the following to find other courses to meet degree/certificate requirements:
- California State Universities – General Education
- IGETC – Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum
Need a print out? Feel free to download and/or print out a copy of the sample program map(s).
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