STEP 3: IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE REGISTERING
Part 1: Choosing Classes at Your Level
My name is Amy Cheung. I am an international student academic counselor at PCC. As a new international
student at PCC, you are also part of the First Year Pathway program. That means you qualify for priority
registration. The priority registration dates are in the pre-registration email you received from us. That’s
where you got the link to these videos. We strongly encourage you to arrive on campus to complete your
registration early. But, if you can’t arrive on campus early, you may pre-register for one or two classes during
the priority registration period and before you arrive on campus. Remember, if you want to register for
important classes like Math and English, you will have to wait until you arrive on campus, take the Math and
English or ESL placement tests, and attend group counseling..
In the rest of this video, I am going to give you some guidelines to help you choose classes for your first
semester at PCC. These steps will help you if you need to pre-register for one or two classes before you arrive
on campus
o First, you should choose classes that are appropriate for your English levels.
To help guide you in selecting classes that match your English level, follow the link below called
“Identifying your English level.” This resource uses information like your TOEFL score, your habits, and
your experiences in using English to place you into one of four groups. We will use your English group to
show you classes that match your level.
Choosing classes at the right level of English is important because you are more likely to get good grades in
those classes. And, I’m sure you know that getting good grades is important for you to be successful at PCC
and beyond. Pay attention to the group that matches your level. Once you have identified a group, choose
two of the recommended courses from the list for your group. Pause the video now and check your English
level. Then read the description of the level to make sure it describes what you can do.
[Review the document “Identifying Your English Level”]
Part 2: Other Considerations
o When you look at the schedule of classes at PCC, you will see that some classes have Prerequisite and
Recommended preparation courses:
A prerequisite means that you must meet a requirement, like another class or a placement test, before
enrolling in a course. Recommended preparation means that you are strongly advised to take another
class first before registering for this class.
Do not register for classes with prerequisites or recommended preparation during pre-registration. During
group counseling after you arrive on campus, we will help you register for Math and English or ESL classes,
and learn about other classes with pre-requisites
o Register for classes that are taught on PCC’s main campus.
Do not register for courses that are offered at the “Rosemead” or “High School” campuses. These classes
are not actually located at PCC, and F-1 students are NOT allowed to register in classes located at these Off
campus locations. You should also avoid online classes during your first semester at PCC. You will see
“online” listed for the class location.
o Finally, remember to convert your registration day and time to your own local time
For example: July 14 at 10:15 a.m. in Los Angeles, California is July 14 at 1:15 a.m. in Beijing, China
Please make sure that you register on your priority registration day and time that we gave you. Even if you
can register after the date and time we gave you, don’t wait because classes fill up quickly.
Please keep in mind that once you arrive at PCC, you will need to check-in at the International Student
Center, take the ESL/English and Math placement exams. You will be assigned to attend a group
counseling and registration session. Here, the academic counselors will explain to you the various
ESL/English and Math sequences and help you to understand the graduation and transfer requirements.
We will review your pre-registration class schedule and determine if you need to make changes to your
schedule based on your placement levels. I look forward to meeting with you when you arrive to PCC.
Now, please take some time to look over the course selections that match the English proficiency group
you identified earlier. Click on the appropriate link below to see Group 1 through Group 4 course
selections. These lists of classes are very useful to help you complete your degree at PCC or prepare you to
transfer to a 4-year university.
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