How to Use Assist

I am following the 2019-2020 or earlier Cal Poly Catalog

1. Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
2. Select the community college from the “Institution” drop down menu.
3. Under Transferable Courses, select: CSU GE-Breadth Certification Courses, then click the View Transferability Lists button.
4. On the dropdown menu “View Transferable Courses by:” select CSU GE-Breadth Area.
5. Select the GE Area you need (see chart below), then click View Course List.
6. Exclude courses that have a date in the “Date Removed” column.
7. You must also check the articulation of the class to be sure that you are not repeating a class you already have credit for (example: Microeconomics), OR taking a class that is a lower level than you have credit for (example: foreign language). See “What can I take at a community college to satisfy a Major/Support course at Cal Poly?” for how to verify this.

The information outlined above can also be found on the PDF of How to Use Assist.

I was admitted to Cal Poly prior to summer 2020, but I am moving to the 2020-2021 Cal Poly Catalog

1. Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
2. Select the community college from the “Institution” drop down menu.
3. Under Transferable Courses, select: CSU GE-Breadth Certification Courses, then click the View Transferability Lists button.
4. On the dropdown menu “View Transferable Courses by:” select CSU GE-Breadth Area.
5. Select the GE Area you need (see chart below), then click View Course List.
6. Exclude courses that have a date in the “Date Removed” column.
7. You must also check the articulation of the class to be sure that you are not repeating a class you already have credit for (example: Microeconomics), OR taking a class that is a lower level than you have credit for (example: foreign language). See “What can I take at a community college to satisfy a Major/Support course at Cal Poly?” for how to verify this.
8. On the 2020-21 catalog, C1, C2, and the lower-division C elective must come from three different subject prefixes. If you want to complete any transfer and/or Cal Poly coursework in summer 2020 or in any quarter after, you will be held to the subject prefix requirements only in your remaining coursework in Lower-Division Area C. In other words, the tracking of prefix requirements in Lower-Division Area C does not begin until summer 2020; prefixes in courses taken prior to summer 2020 are ignored and not used in prefix tracking. To ensure you’re not duplicating prefixes in any remaining lower-division Area C coursework, use the Prefix Mapping Chart below to determine what subject prefix Cal Poly will consider your transfer course to be.**
9. For students on the Standard GE template on the 2020-21 catalog, the two courses in Area D2 must come from two different subject prefixes. If you want to complete any transfer and/or Cal Poly coursework in summer 2020 or in any quarter after, you will be held to the subject prefix requirements only in your remaining coursework in Lower-Division Area D. In other words, the tracking of prefix requirements in Lower-Division Area D does not begin until summer 2020; prefixes in courses taken prior to summer 2020 are ignored and not used in prefix tracking. To ensure you’re not duplicating prefixes in any remaining D2 coursework, use the Prefix Mapping Chart below to determine what subject prefix Cal Poly will consider your transfer course to be.*** Students on the High Unit GE template (CENG, ARCE, and BRAE) are not required to have two different prefixes in Area D.

Prefix Mapping Chart

(The Prefix that your GE will Transfer in as, Once Evaluated at Cal Poly)

Cal Poly requires three different subject prefixes in lower-division Area C, and, for students on the Standard GE template, two different subject prefixes in D2. This is true for any combination of AP, transfer, and Cal Poly coursework.

Because other schools may use different prefixes than Cal Poly’s, the chart below will help you figure out how to appropriately select courses at California Community Colleges without duplicating prefixes.

Use the full Prefix title in Assist to ensure proper mapping. For example, HUMA might refer to Human Development or to Humanities, but when you search in Assist by Prefix, it will list “HUMA Human Development” as the full title, and “HUMI Humanities.”

If a course is cross-listed at the transfer school, Cal Poly will transfer the course in using whatever prefix appears on your transcript.

Prefix requirements apply only within a single GE area (C or D).

PREFIX MAPPING CHART (PDF) opens in new window

I am a new first-year student admitted summer 2020, or any quarter following summer 2020

1. Make sure you choose the academic year in which you are taking or took the course.
2. Select the community college from the “Institution” drop-down menu.
3. Under Transferable Courses, select: CSU GE-Breadth Certification Courses, then click the View Transferability Lists button.
4. On the drop-down menu “View Transferable Courses by:” select CSU GE-Breadth Area.
5. Select the GE Area you need (see chart below), then click View Course List.
6. Exclude courses that have a date in the “Date Removed” column.
7. You must also check the articulation of the class to be sure that you are not repeating a class you already have credit for (example: Microeconomics), OR taking a class that is a lower level than you have credit for (example: foreign language). See “What can I take at a community college to satisfy a Major/Support course at Cal Poly?” for how to verify this.
8. On the 2020-21 catalog, C1, C2, and the lower-division C elective must come from three different subject prefixes. To ensure you’re not duplicating prefixes when selecting courses for any of these three areas, use the Prefix Mapping Chart below to determine what subject prefix Cal Poly will consider your transfer course to be.**
9. For students on the Standard GE template on the 2020-21 catalog, the two courses in Area D2 must come from two different subject prefixes. To ensure you’re not duplicating prefixes when selecting courses for D2, use the Prefix Mapping Chart below to determine what subject prefix Cal Poly will consider your transfer course to be.*** Students on the High Unit GE template (CENG, ARCE, and BRAE) are not required to have two different prefixes in Area D.

Prefix Mapping Chart

(THE PREFIX THAT YOUR GE WILL TRANSFER IN AS, ONCE EVALUATED AT CAL POLY)

Cal Poly requires three different subject prefixes in lower-division Area C, and, for students on the standard GE template, two different subject prefixes in D2. This is true for any combination of AP, transfer, and Cal Poly coursework.

Because other schools may use different prefixes than Cal Poly’s, the chart below will help you figure out how to appropriately select courses at California Community Colleges without duplicating prefixes.

Use the full Prefix title in Assist to ensure proper mapping. For example, HUMA might refer to Human Development or to Humanities, but when you search in Assist by Prefix, it will list “HUMA Human Development” as the full title, and “HUMI Humanities.”

If a course is cross-listed at the transfer school, Cal Poly will transfer the course in using whatever prefix appears on your transcript.

Prefix requirements apply only within a single GE area (C or D).

PREFIX MAPPING CHART (PDF)