Starting college degree program... question

12/20/2011 04:17:55 PM · #1

As of last Friday, I've joined the elite unemployed crowd. Thankfully, I have a decent severance and qualify for the Trade Act, so I should get to go to school. In looking at the school's programs the descriptions all show the programs starting in Fall. I feel like this is a dumb question, but do you have to start in fall for programs or can I start this Spring?

The staff at the school has the holidays off, and I'm impatient. I want to get this ball rolling! I know there's plenty of students here... anyone know for sure?

12/20/2011 04:24:00 PM · #2

It will depend on the specific program at the specific school.

It's possible you'll be able to start taking classes immediately, but may not be able to take program specific classes until Fall. If the program you're going to start requires general ed classes or has some pre-requisites, you might be able to save money by taking them at a community college before starting the program.

12/20/2011 04:25:20 PM · #3

It's been years since I went to school, but at community college, I think you can enroll in classes in any quarter. At the university, I think you can also have to be accepted at the university before enrolling.

12/20/2011 04:28:00 PM · #4

This will be through a community college, and I think I'm going to go with Computer Programming of some sort. They have several computer related degrees, so my thought is that it should be at least somewhat flexible... *shrug*

12/20/2011 04:32:35 PM · #5

Look through the program requirements and see if you can get some of the general req and perequisites out of the way next term or as soon as you're able to start.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

12/20/2011 04:36:39 PM · #6

Look into the financial aid workshops too... Just a thought.

o2bskating

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

12/20/2011 04:40:56 PM · #7

my daughter started in the spring with no problems i think they do that because financial aid applications are due before fall semester.

12/20/2011 04:45:34 PM · #8

This has been enlightening in more ways than excpected, because I kind of forgot about prerequisites! Oops. It looks like the ones for these programs I might be able to test past, but who knows... it's been a long time. I have to start refreshing myself, yipes.

Message edited by author 2011-12-20 16:46:02.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

12/20/2011 04:52:11 PM · #9

The start of a new chapter. Best of luck to your new endeavors!

spiritualspatula

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

12/20/2011 04:54:03 PM · #10

Originally posted by o2bskating:

my daughter started in the spring with no problems i think they do that because financial aid applications are due before fall semester.

It doesn't necessarily have much to do with FAFSA apps, whose deadlines vary.
The "traditional" school year starts in the fall and ends in the spring. You can generally graduate or start in any semester, unless limited by the requirements of the programs you are applying for. You may be limited by which classes are offered when.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

12/20/2011 05:09:53 PM · #11

One thing to watch *very* carefully for is what will transfer from the community college should you wish to pursue a degree. Normally, individual courses can be difficult or impossible to transfer, whereas an Associate degree may well transfer elsewhere.
What you *don't* want to do is invest a ton of time and energy taking classes, then find that you can't use them to further your education elsewhere.

colorcarnival

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Olympus 45mm f1.8 M.Zuiko Digital Micro Four Thirds

12/20/2011 05:40:48 PM · #12

Michelle - you can take classes at any time but registering this late before the next term starts may not guarantee you the classes you want. A lot are most likely filled now.

Is it WIA that you qualify for? You will probably need to make an appointment with the Admissions office and ALSO schedule an appointment with the Financial Aid office. I don't really know how the paperwork works for the federal aid programs, but you don't want to get knocked off a roster because your aid did not go thru.

Also, you need to see the Admissions Office because you will likely have to do some placement testing. It depends on the school but ours has a program in place to make sure students don't jump in and fail right out. I personally recommend you find some kind of placement book from the library to beef up on your math and writing skills. One bad placement test can actually place you below your skill level, and this can delay you getting your degree by at least a semester.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me and I'll see if I can help you figure out some more things.

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

12/20/2011 07:00:56 PM · #13

Ooh, you should take geology ! Geologists are the coolest!

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

12/20/2011 07:34:48 PM · #14

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

Ooh, you should take geology ! Geologists are the coolest!

Bah... they have rocks in their heads! ;-)

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

12/20/2011 10:05:40 PM · #15

I'm not saying this because I'm an engineer, but a degree in engineering is the biggest bang for your secondary education dollar without going to grad school.

My friend's daughter is going to school for petroleum engineering. She's in her 3rd year and has a summer internship lined up that pays the equivalent of $72k/yr + an allowance for housing.

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

12/20/2011 10:07:58 PM · #16

Originally posted by Spork99:

Where is she studying?

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

12/20/2011 10:32:33 PM · #17

Originally posted by Melethia:

Originally posted by Spork99:
I'm not saying this because I'm an engineer, but a degree in engineering is the biggest bang for your secondary education dollar without going to grad school.

My friend's daughter is going to school for petroleum engineering. She's in her 3rd year and has a summer internship lined up that pays the equivalent of $72k/yr + an allowance for housing.

Where is she studying?

Oklahoma I think.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

12/21/2011 07:41:35 AM · #18

I'll chime in as my wife is going back to school through the trade act. Its a fantastic program, they cover almost every expense, plus you are guaranteed unemployment the entire time you are in school, even if the extension get taken away, anyone who qualifies would be crazy not to take advantage of it.

a few tips.

get to know your trade act manager, you will need their help at some point. from our experience they aren't dumb customer service reps with a government job, they actually know what they are doing and do it very well.

if its anything like the community college my wife goes to, the people who handle the financial aid accounts at the school are complete morons. At first my wife lost all of her classes because the school screwed up the paperwork, not the lady at the trade act, she'd had everything in order to the school right away and thank god becuase it got straightened out quickly. Then again this coming spring semester, the school is waiting payment about to drop classes again and low and behold its been paid for weeks. Not saying you will have a problem, but keep on top of both so you dont risk getting your classes dropped for non-payment.

They pay for EVERYTHING (almost), you usually get $200 per class for books, plus any other supplies you need, we tried to her a camera for a photography class but that was the only denial :). They bought her gloves, goggles for chemistry, when she gets to her clinical they buy scrubs.

Plan out your schedule, you need to maintain a number of credits and cant go longer than a certain period without taking classes, so watch the summer semesters and make sure there will enough classes available to maintain the credit minimums.

as to some of you other questions, i go to a university after transferring from a community college. You need to enroll in both however its easier to get accepted to a community college, you can still take classes at a university but to get into a program you need to be accepted. if you still need to do this, get moving, as the trade act has a time period to enroll. If you already have a degree the trade act will pay for you to get a bachelors, but they wont pay for a bachelors from scratch.

they pay for prerequisites.

also make sure you aren't going into a field you got layed off from, the program in intended to retrain the workforce from jobs lost to oversees, so they are going to pay for a degree in the field you got layed off in.

These are specific issues that i know about but If you have any other specific questions I'd be happy to ask my wife.

If you ever took a placemnet test, it will transfer. i took one years ago and when i enrolled at another community college, i didn't have to take it.

Message edited by author 2011-12-21 07:51:47.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

12/21/2011 07:54:59 AM · #19

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

Ooh, you should take geology ! Geologists are the coolest!

Duck and Cover

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

12/21/2011 08:49:25 AM · #20

Originally posted by mike_311:

Originally posted by Strikeslip:
Ooh, you should take geology ! Geologists are the coolest!

Duck and Cover

Damn, not allowed to play the video in Canada. How ironic. >:-(

RebelBlue

Nikon D300

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX

12/21/2011 09:36:35 AM · #21

I just finished my third semester at my local community college, studying under the Trade Act. My experience was that courses I needed were not necessarily offered in the order that suited my needs. Some courses must be taken in specific sequence, but others are independent and can be taken in any order. You'll have to maintain a minimum "C" average.

My local community college didn't offer any of the classes I needed during the summer term of 2011. Since I had to take nine credit hours during the summer to maintain my student status, I was forced to take three web extension courses. That threw my fall schedule off, so I had to take two web extension classes during the fall. Those were classes I would normally have taken in the spring. So I now have only two classes to finish my Associate's degree in accounting, which I will take during the spring term. (Trade Act program requires 12 credit hours minimum during fall and spring, and 9 credit hours during the summer.)

As

kirbicsaid, if you plan to pursue a four-year degree in the future, you'll want to look at classes that will be transferable.

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

12/21/2011 10:38:03 AM · #22

Originally posted by The_Tourist:

The start of a new chapter. Best of luck to your new endeavors!

Why thank you! It's very scary, but honestly this is probably the best thing that could have happened to me. My worst fear is that they find me a job rather than me finally getting to go back to school. I feel terrible saying that, but it's the truth.

Originally posted by kirbic:

I actually already have an Associates from somewheres around 1996. I've been told by friends that most of it is worthless and won't transfer. The course programs this community college offers seem to be all laid out. I suppose I might have to take a couple filler classes in some worst case scenarios to keep my credits up for the Trade Act. I'm not quite that far along in my planning yet. It's only been 4 days, heh.

Originally posted by colorcarnival:

Is it WIA that you qualify for? You will probably need to make an appointment with the Admissions office and ALSO schedule an appointment with the Financial Aid office. I don't really know how the paperwork works for the federal aid programs, but you don't want to get knocked off a roster because your aid did not go thru. ...

Nope, it's the Trade Act. I was a production lead, and the company built a gigantic building over in Vietnam. They've been laying people off for 2-3 years in chunks. We'd gone from 300+ down to 66. This last Friday brought them down to about 25. I'm trying to hurry myself through the separation feelings, because like you say, there's deadlines to meet! Ugh... and tests to take. Good idea on the placement test book. I'll be doing that.

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

Ooh, you should take geology ! Geologists are the coolest!

That's not a terrible idea. I do plan on moving to Toronto eventually. You could get me a job hook-up, eh? Then we could work together... on second thought...

Originally posted by Spork99:

I'm not saying this because I'm an engineer, but a degree in engineering is the biggest bang for your secondary education dollar without going to grad school.

Ooo, that's juicy, good for her! I'm not sure it's the right path for me though, but I'll look into what is offered around here for that. It's something I thought about doing a few years ago but dropped the idea because hours at work spiked and I got ultra stressed. Engineers I worked with were all stressed, so the thought of continued stress seemed like a bad idea. I know not all are stressed though.

Originally posted by mike_311:

Absolutely! When my job announced another layoff we were all sad, but the more I learned about the Trade Act (and that those that were staying with the company were taking a 28% pay cut!) the more I was like, "Ooo, pick me, pick me!" Obviously it wasn't my choice, but luckily the guy picking didn't know me very well and it ended in my favor.

Those are great tips. Hell, everyone has been incredibly helpful. I'll keep in touch as I know I'll keep finding new questions, but for now I gotta go... Somehow the courthouse knew I had extra time on my hands and "invited me" to Jury Duty! Sigh...

=)

Message edited by author 2011-12-21 10:45:25.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

12/21/2011 10:57:24 AM · #23

Originally posted by aliqui:

I've had many classes transfer from my original degree, unfortunately a lot didn't. it maybe saved me a year at a four year school.

you need to look at what the program you would want to transfer to requires at the 4 year school. in my case i had an associates on drafting and design, but the university i go to required calculus, linear algebra, diff eq, physics with calc, all of which i wasn't required to take originally, so the trigs and algebras and physics i took originally weren't enough, but all the Englishes, writing, programming, cad, surveying, gyms and sociology electives did transfer.

community colleges now offer transfer programs, they didn't have them in '95 when i went. you take all the classes that will be required for you to transfer in as a junior at a four year school.

i spent the last 5 years of my life taking all these prereqs before i even got into the engineering program, and i was checking every semester with the department head at the school i transferred to about what to take. I'm glad i didn't rely on the schools transfer sheet or the counselors at the community college. One adviser told me i needed c++ programming but the department head said visual basic would suffice. saved the emails and i haven't had a problem.

I fact i just sat down with my adviser at the university about what to take and when and he noticed that i had a materials class that should not transfer but someone in the transfer department put it in that it does and he said, "well im not changing it, someone put it that way, we'll leave it."

one other big thing to remember is your GPA from the associates degree, i had a 2.7 originally. i didn't care right out of high school and let me tell you how hard it is to bring a 2.7 to a 3.0, which was the min gpa to get into the engineering program as a transfer, it was a lot of hard work to a lot of A's to get there.