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Pre-Transfer Options

To enroll in a credit, pre-transfer math course (MTH 53, 55, 122, 253, 255), a petition must be completed on CLASS-Web. The link is located right below the link for the Chabot Math Course Selection. (See screenshot below.) Not completing the petition will result in "Prerequisite not met" error when you try to enroll. The petition needs to be only completed once, not every semester.  

screen shot of pre-transfer math course link in classweb

Chabot offers these pre-transfer math courses:

  • MTH 55 Intermediate Algebra reviews high school algebra to prepare you for MTH 21, which leads to calculus. It also satisfies the Math Proficiency requirement for the associate degree but does not transfer. The noncredit version of this course is MTH 255.
  • MTH 53 Algebra for Data Analysis covers all the math skills you need for MTH 41, MTH 47, and Statistics. It also satisfies the Math Proficiency requirement for the associate degree but does not transfer. The noncredit version of this course is MTH 253.
  • MTH 204 Prealgebra reviews foundational skills in math before taking algebra. This is a noncredit course. 
  • MTH 122 Math Lab is a self-paced course in which you independently work on an individualized curriculum online and have weekly or biweekly conference with the instructor about your progress. Curriculum is available up to precalculus. This format works well for students who want a comprehensive review of high school courses but do not need to do every assignment as in a regular course. It is most suitable for students who are self-motivated and do not need external pressure to make progress. It is also a useful way for students who withdrawal from a math course mid-semester to prepare before re-enrolling. You can read more about MTH 122 HERE.

However, you are encouraged to take a transfer-level math course from the start.  If your program lists a pre-transfer math course as a requirement, you can meet it with a transfer-level course the vast majority of the time (double check!). This has the advantage of also completing the math requirement at a four-year institution at the same time. 

Research has shown that students generally have a much higher throughput rate of completing a transfer-level math course within one year if they start their math course in college at the transfer-level. For example, a student who first took a math course in Fall 2019 had a higher chance of completing a transfer-level math course by the end of Summer 2020 if the Fall 2019 course was a transfer-level course. The data [2, p. 32] on California Community College students who start their first math course in in Fall 2019 shows that the throughput rate of completing a transfer-level math course within one-year was 

  • 60% among those students who started at transfer-level math, but 
  • only 14% among those students who entered at one level below transfer-level. 

For the same Fall 2019 cohort of students described above, even among those who had not successfully completed Algebra 2 in high school, the one-year throughput rate was [3, p. 2] 

  • only 8% for those who started in intermediate algebra (one level below transfer-level) but 
  • 37% for those who began in a transferable college-level statistics or liberal arts math class (such as Chabot’s MTH 43 and 47) and 
  • 30% for those who entered directly into a transferable, college-level course (such as Chabot’s MTH 21) in a sequence leading to calculus. 

The placement into a transfer-level course as a first math course is recommended even for students who have been out of high school for ten or more years [1, p5].

References

[1] California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. Memorandum ESS 21-300-015 Equitable Placement and Completion: English and Math Validation of Practices and Improvement Plans. 

[2] The RP Group. Enrollment and Success in Transfer-Level English and Math in the California Community Colleges System, Fall 2015 to Fall 2019 Statewide Analysis, January 2021. 

[3] The RP Group. Maximizing Math Throughput of Students Who Did Not Complete Algebra 2 in High School, August 2021.