UA vs UND Mechanical Engineering anyone?

Hello,

I alluded to this post coming in my post in the introduction thread and here it is.

Background:
I am a current distance student at the University of Alabama. I am in my junior year of my BS and in the belly of the beast in the engineering classes. Last semester I had a bad semester, really bad semester. I had taken six classes and found out the hard way that I could not handle that many classes all at once. Managed to salvage a grade out of two of those six classes. As far as pre-req's go that means that this semester I have elected to take those four classes I failed a second time.

This leads me to my first question. My academic adviser, (who is also advising 800ish other students and therefore never has any advice) said to me that if I pass these four classes that I would receive credit for them but that the previous F would still count toward my GPA. I had never heard of such a thing and any other class I had failed at my previous community college(*cough* calculus II *cough*) the new grade replaced the old grade. So has anyone ever heard of this? And why would a college do this?

This also leads me to believe that maybe Alabama just isn't the school for me, I also have issues with the feeling that I am nothing but a number to them. Concerns about teachers lack of response or timeliness in grading or lectures are "not a concern" to program directors.

When I transferred to UA I had also been accepted to the University of North Dakota, my credits would all transfer the same, costs were similar, nothing really that different between the two. Ultimately I chose UA because of name recognition.

So my second question is Does anyone have any experience with UND and their Mechanical Engineering program? Will it be any different?

 

Welcome, Gent . . . you've ended up in the right place (here), with a caveat or two:

First, don't believe anyone. Not even me. It's true - I am an expert. But should you believe me? Hell, no. And everyone else here is an expert - even you. But, you shouldn't necessarily believe your academic advisor - he or she is only an advisor (and an overloaded one at that). Call the Registrar's Office at 'Bama and ask them what their policy is with regard to course failures counting against a GPA.

Then call the registrar's office at UND and ask them the same question. But in their case, a second question becomes relevant - namely, are you required to transfer the failed courses to UND if you flip over to them? In cases which I'm aware, failures don't transfer - only courses with a grade of C or better. But don't take my word for their policy - go to the horse itself and ask them.

Finally, you will likely receive suggestions of moving to any number of programs other than 'Bama or UND. On this forum, institutional suggestions are also like assholes - everyone has one. Or two or three. File them all away in the background in case you want to look around, but don't get inundated to the point of information overload when it comes to other programs that may - or may not - be relevant to your interest.

More than finally, if you have never been exposed to discussions about things like types of accreditation and nonprofit versus for-profit schools, get some background. And don't be in a rush to make your decisions - we have people here who try to decide without enough information, who make the wrong decisions too soon, and who bounce off the walls thoroughly discombobulated. You already have a goal and have made some progress in your game plans, but I agree that you're ready for a change. You just have to find the right place to change to.

But hey, don't take my word for it. Or anyone else's. Because we're all right. Every one of us. Even when we disagree with each other. Of course, I am more of an expert than they are.

 

My opinion is simple. Stick it out. Transferring to UND won't change much, it's a fake solution. As for your GPA, it makes some difference if you're planning on going to grad school but otherwise it matters very little. Don't sweat it. Lighten your load. It's better to do a good job at one course than a bad job at five. It might take longer but you'll feel better and you'll learn more.

 

Would advise contacting student services or the registrars office. Not to go around your advisor, but to inquire with the people who handle these types of things more regularly. Even if their policy is as your advisor laid out, there’s a chance they have a policy that can mitigate the issue if there. It’s not unheard of for registrars to have a one time hardship override for grade replacements. You really don’t want to start over, you’re at a good school, and you’re over half way there.

 

I don't think one can transfer classes/credit if their grade is F. From what I know usually a grade of C and above is what colleges may accept when considering transfer credit.

Also, some degree programs do have a restriction on the age of the credit.
A college may have a General Studies Bachelors' degree with no limit on the age, some may have 20 years limit.

Engineering degrees all have restrictions in the age of credit as things get outdated fast.

 

I had 3 "F's" at Troy University, also Alabama public university system because of Military training and Deployment duties. The "F's" were replaced, but the GPA were not. That is 14 years ago...and it is still in my transcript. I have two GPA's, accumulate of over all including the "F's", and the second GPA's is institutional GPA.

 

Thank you everyone for the responses.

So from the looks of things (waiting on UND confirmation of this) the credits that I have taken at Alabama should all transfer to UND as their classes appear to be almost identical. So if I end up at UND in essentially the same position that I am currently at in UA would there really be any downside to the transfer? I know there are a lot of things that won't really change, but I guess I am just at a point where the change of scenery might be a good mental benefit.

As many have mentioned the belief that the F's won't transfer, it appears that UND will only transfer D's or better. So if this is the case I should end up with a better GPA at UND then I would at UA. I would like to keep options open going forward for future degrees and so GPA could end up important.

 

When you apply to grad school, you will be required to submit official transcripts from all schools you have previously attended. You won't be able to hide bad grades, if that's what you are trying to do.

 

Considering that it's online learning, this is a cute idea. Good luck, from one engineering geek to another.

 

It sounds awfully nefarious when you say it like that. I don't really see it as "hiding" a bad grade, but I do want a possibility to replace bad grades with better grades when I retake a class. So yeah I have some bad grades that will show up on an Alabama transcript but I don't need any other possible bad grades added by staying there is the point I am getting at.