Originally Posted by Dr Dog
(Post 496813)
A lot of universities will have partnership programs with community colleges. For instance, UMass Lowell has a partnership with Middlesex Community College. You complete two years there, then transfer into a 4-year program as basically an advanced junior level student.
If this were the route you were going to take, you should:
a) plan on getting all A's. I'd advise becoming a full-time student, get on-campus housing and charge it all to the student loan game. Trust me, work + university equals shitty grades and an extended stay. You get more out of your education by letting it demand all of your time. You accept that you will hemorrhage debt, with the promise that you are going to be successful enough to pay it off and you are starting right the fuck now.
b) you'll get placed into some introductory level classes. basic. boring. doesn't matter, you're there to get A's, and you're going to do it. find other people that are like-minded, spend all of your free time (on campus) working together, in a study group. You might hate these people. They might be pretentious cocks, whatever- they'll introduce you to people you CAN stand for more than thirty minutes. This is your clique and this is going to be how you graduate summa cum laude
c) spend time at your major's study spot of choice... engineering, it's the computer lab. Eventually, youll be introduced to seniors, who will casually ask you which classes you're taking. They'll laugh, say X Professor sucks, I remember all those horrible fucking pop quizzes etc. etc.- they'll also give you old tests to study, or at the very least old assignments. All you have to do is not be a fuckboy, and they'll take you under your wing
d) the MOST IMPORTANT THING is to shoot for a 4.0, nothing less. You and I both know what it feels like to pass in a piece of homework that will not get a grade of more than 60%... you can't do that. Tests alone are a difficult beast, you need every point possible so that when you get an 85% on the midterm you still have an A. Homework & participation are free points, and if you treat them as such you'll have above a 3.0 GPA.
e) What happens when your GPA dips? You take summer classes, that's what. Only one or two, you'll pay out the ass for them- but professors often treat these like Continuing Ed night classes... it's not enough time for a full semester of learning, so if you're there every day, arguing over 5 points on exams, asking questions, and generally showing that you care, you WILL pass
f) When your GPA isn't high enough to transfer in: you take continuing education courses that have no minimum GPA for you to get in. You're paying for A's, so get A's or else.
I essentially dropped out of Case Western, took two in-person + two online classes at $5K, and then transferred into ULowell on a full scholarship because those 4 A's were a Cialis shot to my GPA's vas deferens
Once you're accepted to a Name University (either a state school or a halfway decent private university... IE, someone from out of state/ two states away would recognize your school by name) and have a GPA above a 3.0, you can transfer into another University that you actually care about
BY THE WAY: when you transfer schools, your official GPA resets, you can choose not to report old schools' GPAs where you pulled D's or whatever. So don't be discouraged.
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