As a transfer student it is extremely important that you are prepared for your major. The universities want you to go directly into upper division courses for your major. Many students are told to "Go to the JC for two years and just complete GE." Although, GE is an important part of your education it is not what the focus should be for certain majors. 
If you are majoring in a high unit major, such as science or engineering, you are not required to complete extensive GE. For example, an electrical engineering student needs to complete the following SRJC courses for the major to transfer to UC Davis:
- Math 1A, 1B, 1C, 2 and 5
- Physics 40, 41, 42, and 43
- Chem 1A
- Engr 6 and 16
- CS 10
- Engl 1A
These courses alone add up to 54 units, and the student may need prerequisites to get into some of those classes. UC Davis prefers the student to have the above classes completed instead of an entire GE pattern.
A student with a high unit major who plans on transferring to the University of California will complete the 7 UC-transferable GE courses for admissions, instead of completing the GE Pattern:
- 2 courses in English
- 1 course in Math
- 4 additional courses from at least two of the following disciplines: Arts and Humanities; Social/Behavioral Sciences; Physical/Biological Sciences
A student with a high unit major who plans on transferring to the California State University system needs to have the following completed for admissions purposes:
- 30 CSU-transferable units of GE completed with grades of C or better, which must include:
- Speech, English Composition and Critical Thinking (Area A of the CSU GE sheet)
- Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning (Area B4 of the CSU GE sheet)
ASSIST is an online resource that shows how course credits earned at a California Community College will be applied when transferred to the California State University or University of California systems. ASSIST is the official repository of articulation for California's public college and universities and provides the most accurate and up-to-date information for transfer students in California. You can use ASSIST to learn which courses you need to complete for your major when transferring to a CSU or UC campus. The webpage is www.assist.org