Need advice on what route to take

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Griffin, Jan 10, 2009.

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  1. Griffin

    Griffin Crazy About Psychology

    I'm currently attending a community college here in WA. After a bad 2 quarters (due to prolonged illness), I am lucky to only be on "conditional probation" and not suspended outright. I've earned 13 quarter credits and got a 1.77 GPA here.

    Meanwhile, I've previously attended another state-accredited community college in Oklahoma. 35 semester credits and 3.03 GPA, but won't transfer to this school. (SA vs. RA strikes again)

    Next quarter I'm returning to school and can only take 2 classes max, and if I get less than C's in each I'm toast with Financial Aid for a year. So it's rather serious from where I'm standing. I'm feeling better and better, but don't want to be completely lazy this semester ;)

    I'm transferring to another college in NJ as soon as I can get my AA (that's the plan anyway). I'm moving to NJ in August/September of this year, so that's not as feasible as I'd like it to be. The new college still may not accept my previous credit at that point.

    So basically I'm a third-year Freshman because of all this. My AA feels like an endless tunnel I'm having to dig with a spoon!

    Eng Comp is a big stumbling block for me as a class because it's practically coma-inducing. And as good as I am with writing, I'm not that great at dissecting text and being able to label each word. I aced the CLEP practice test though.

    My other stumbling block is Algebra, but I'm not sure what to do about that other than tutoring and taking nothing else that semester. :p I'm very good at math, but not at college-level algebra.

    Because of the grad school options available (I haven't 100% decided yet), I'm only wanting to get an Associate's from anyplace like TESC or Excelsior. From what I can gather, the method you get your AA/AS doesn't really matter much in terms of grad school. I also love my major and enjoy having face-to-face classes in the field. Not to mention the whole recommendations aspect to the grad school app process.

    My plan was to originally take a few CLEP tests, but my current college doesn't accept English Comp at all -- so my big options with that are to not have the AA when I transfer to Stockton or to go the Straighterline route and hope they accept those credits. Or do ECE and see if it may transfer. Or switch schools entirely.

    The long and short of it is that I'm locked in with my current school for Spring and Summer 09, but after that I'm free to go anywhere. This school is cheap ($89/cr) and has a good online class selection, so I'm looking to work with it if I can. But I want to be done with my AA in December 09.


    Here's my starting stats:

    10 RA Semester Credits
    $200/month to work with (starting Feb)
    Time, Knowledge, Drive and Good morale :D

    Thanks for your help!

    Griffin
     
  2. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    I would sign up for the two courses that you feel most comfortable with; that way you can probably raise your grade point average at you current school.
     
  3. Griffin

    Griffin Crazy About Psychology

    The Spring schedule is not out yet, but I will do that :) I'm just looking to do other things on top of that, plus that semester doesn't start until April. So until then I am kind of sitting on my butt.
     
  4. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Hi Griffin - Take a couple of hours and read through this site

    http://www.bain4weeks.com/

    It may be your best opportunity to use the interim period to your advantage.
     
  5. Griffin

    Griffin Crazy About Psychology

    Thank you I will do so :) I am also reading up here, trying to soak everything up! You guys have a lot of experience in this!

    --Griffin
     
  6. sentinel

    sentinel New Member

    At least at this point you have a baseline from which to improve your GPA without too much earned credit hours. Basically, you experienced the equivalent of a college freshman going off to school away from home for the first time and partied all semester. I realize you were ill,not partying, but you get the idea; all is not lost.

    You have proven you can earn good grades. Therefore, you are not lacking academically as far as your mental capabilities are concerned. The goal should be to match this academic performance at the OK CC with your studies at the current school.

    During this downtime you could study for a few CLEPs to boost your GPA and look into earning FEMA credits for the free electives if your school accepts FEMA credit hours.

    Unless required as a prerequsite for other courses leave the English composition course(s) until the end of your AA studies. If you earn good grades in the other courses and are only 3 0r 6 credit hours from graduation, English composition may not seem so intimidating.

    I found college-level algebra easier than my high school algebra courses. The key is to read all the examples and work as many problems sets as possible in preparation for the tests/assignments/examination.

    The goal is achievable if you use alot of CLEPs and FEMA credit hours. You have almost 12 months left in the year. Give yourself a target to achieve by June 30, 2009, and another target for December 31, 2009.

    You need 50 credit hours over the next 11 months (5 credit hours per month). Due to your budget of USD200.00 per month the local community college courses, CLEP exams, and FEMA courses seem like the optimal route.
     
  7. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    Join the Air National Guard. Pick the AFSC 3C2, Tech Control. The school is 4 months long and is called Network Integration. You will get 31 credits from that school alone, here is the breakdown:

    Automated Systems Operations 4.00 credits
    Automated Systems Maintenance 3.00 credits
    Communications Network Equipment Operations 5.00 credits
    Communications Security Analysis 2.00 credits
    Introduction to Decision Support Systems 5.00 credits
    General Electrical Training 5.00 credits
    Intro to Digital Electronics 3.00 credits
    Basic Electronics/Circuits 2.00 credits
    Fiber Optic Cable Installation/Maintenance 1.00 credit
    Communications Systems Theory 1.00 credit

    Plus you get some more credit for boot camp. $15,000 bonus and the GI Bill. Volunteer, yes I said volunteer for a deployment. Learn the skill, take online courses and you will have a BA in two years. Completely paid for with money in your pocket.
     
  8. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    You sound like a recruiter. lol
     
  9. pooples

    pooples New Member

    Or pick 2E2X1, Network Infrastructure. You'll have an 8 month tech school, but you'll get 48 credits in Electronic Systems Technology. :)
     
  10. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    No. I do, however, love the military. Its not really a bad option.

    Well theres alway that...if you are a nerd! :eek: ;)
     
  11. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    I did the Navy thing and agree. I wish somebody would have told me that before I signed up. I would have came out in better shape. After my enlistment I had to start from almost scratch.
     
  12. Griffin

    Griffin Crazy About Psychology

    @Sentinel: Thanks for all the good ideas, I'm putting them to use now. I've got about a week to get my short-term plan into gear for school, so I'm weighing every possible option. I might use FEMA to fill in where necessary (still haven't heard back yet on whether they take them). I'm following up Tuesday with all that, so will report back. :)

    Both schools do Pass/Fail on CLEP so no help there for GPA. :p The English is a pre-req to too many things, so I'm going through the back door with Straighterline to get credit for it in the interim. CC takes up to 8 weeks to analyze it, so I have about 3 months to get it if I want it to apply to summer quarter's classes (just thinking out loud here).


    I got a perfect score on the ASVAB five years ago, and it took me months to get recruiters to go away (I just took it to get out of class for the day). I got offered a big sign-on bonus, but really I don't want anything to do with it. I love cryptanalysis, but there are many factors that make me an undesirable choice for them. Trust me, they don't want me and TBH I don't want them.

    Part of me wishes that there was a part-time civilian cryptology job, I could see myself doing that as a short-term job... but of course most military jobs are not for civilians (esp ones like that) and not for non-career types. Just my observation.

    ---------


    I'm a psychology major, which ultimately leaves me having to be licensed. Where I get my BA could affect that, and how I get my psych courses could affect that too. I've seen too many people have to go back to school to take random basic courses for licensure. Electives don't matter much IMO, I just can't have too many of them before Senior year (or you can get your student aid yanked). So FEMA courses are iffy at the moment, but I AM checking to see if either school takes them.
     
  13. Griffin

    Griffin Crazy About Psychology

    Thought I would update everyone on my progress! :)

    Currently taking College Algebra I with StraighterLine. I got a 90% :cool: on the pre-test (before I joined) so I thought "excellent!" and was pretty proud of my results. I've since taken the first two actual, graded tests and got a 60% on both. :eek: I got excellent scores on the equations and terrible scores on the word problems. Word problems are baaarely covered and I find that I'm struggling with converting the words into equations. If the word problems weren't there, I'd probably be at a B-level right now (with maybe a C for the whole class).

    I need to get B's on the last 3 tests to get a C grade for the course (70% is the minimum to get credit), so I'm definitely studying those!!! I never would have selected that as course #1 if I knew that word problems would play such a major role. I understand why they do it, but it kind of blindsided me.

    If I can get English Comp for less than $600, the cost is worth it so I am sticking with Straighterline at least for that and Algebra. Anything else I can get a decent grade on is icing on the cake for me, so I will most likely try my hand at PreCalculus since there is no penalty for getting a D or F. And frankly a C in precalc is more than I'd deserve hahaha. :p



    Word Problem Resources:
    Howto by type - Best I have found so far!!

    English to Algebreese Guide
    Sample Questions with Equations and Answers
    Main Page on Word Problems at Algebra.com

    Worksheets/Lessons (not sure if helpful yet)

    ---

    I still have not found out about FEMA, so I'm putting it on the backburner. It may be something more to explore once I am there if I need to fill up on electives (which will probably be the case). Otherwise I could wind up spending my junior year getting a B+ in Latin Drumming :D
     
  14. Griffin

    Griffin Crazy About Psychology

    Also, I found out that the NJ school will more-or-less treat 64 transferable credits as an AA for the purposes of applying credit and changing up the degree requirements (which is minor). The key thing for me is that they will no longer require high school records. Back in 2002, I dropped out after a very bad high school career. It's not something I'm proud of and would love to not dredge it up during the admissions process if I don't have to.


    Found out that the new school definitely does accept the following CLEP exams for credit:

    Analyzing Literature
    Intro to Educational Psychology
    Intro to Psychology
    Information Systems..
    American Government
    Intro to Sociology
    US History I&II
    Western Civilization I&II
    Human Growth and Development
    Intro to Business Law
    Principles of Management

    And those are the big ones I will be trying for, but I am limited to 8 CLEP tests total for credit. I will be studying and taking practice tests in advance. :cool: I've got some Princeton CLEP PDFs, so I will be printing them out all the time haha.

    Got the go-ahead from the school to re-take Intro to Business (D) and a couple of others for "grade forgiveness" -- which will up my GPA overall. The original grades don't go away, but they no longer apply to the GPA.

    My goals for Spring (before June) are:
    ~Pass Analyzing Literature CLEP in March
    ~Pass Eng Comp via SL
    ~Get to where I can take Intermediate Algebra MINIMUM!
    ......^^ this means retaking the accuplacer or passing a lower class or getting the instructor to override the prereq
    ~Pass both Spring classes with a B minimum
    ~Make a good impression at my campus visit in April
    ~Maybe lose a few pounds? ;):p
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 31, 2009
  15. Check out DANTES/DSST exams as another option to see if they give letter grade credit.
     
  16. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    I wasn't aware Oklahoma had community colleges that were merely state approved. All of the community colleges in the state system are regionally accredited. Which community college are you studying at?
     
  17. Griffin

    Griffin Crazy About Psychology

    CCC: First-Class Unaccredited Education

    I no longer attend there (2004-2005), but I went to Community Care College. I recently figured out that they are not exactly accredited, but instead are licensed by the OBPVS (which makes them a vocational school). I emailed them asking about their accreditation and never got a response, but all I can find is that they are licensed.

    Now, Tulsa CC and the OSU extension colleges are all RA. The current college I go to (in WA) is RA as well, so no worries there.

    I attended CCC back when I thought that being "accredited" was the same across the board and that the transferability was 100%. Unfortunately that's not the case. There was pressure to pursue an AA at CCC and I am very happy that I wasn't able to do so, because then I would have about 70 useless credits instead of just 35.

    Don't get me wrong, I got a great education there and the fact that I got a 3.0 GPA while there is still a great motivator. For me, it was worth the money even though I haven't done anything with the career-specific education. It proved to me that I could actually do the work and hold down a job and made me learn how to manage my time better.

    There's also a non-zero chance that I'll be able to transfer some of those credits elsewhere, especially for a second BS from Excelsior or TESC.
     

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