TIP#1 Navigating A Crowded College – Combining Schools

This tip is especially true for general education classes. You don’t need to complete your graduation units on your own campus. Many other colleges offer online, summer, and wintersession classes that will support your degree requirements. Let’s say you’re at a state 4-year school. To get a good registration time/day at a nearby community college, set yourself up as a continuing student. This is best accomplished by enrolling in consecutive semesters. You may sign up for an online Art History class, then register as continuing the following semester to get into a Biology class. To make sure you’re in the correct class, the community college will publish, in their catalog, which classes meet what state requirements.

There’s no logical reason to follow a path your school prints; it is a guide, they will be happy to offer feedback on meeting your goals with an alternative approach.

Private schools may have a policy limiting the number of outside units involved; the number is often 12. They typically ask you to submit a request to bring in outside units before taking the course. This process is pretty straightforward and can save both time and money.

Several colleges around the nation advertise online classes. The tip with those programs is matching accreditation. Your college will, most likely, not allow transferring in non-accredited units and may require units that are approved by the same accrediting agency as your own college’s.

This seems like a lot to track, however, we’re talking about total paperwork time of a half day in order to potentially support graduating on time and saving hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Make an appointment and get counselor approval before signing up for an off-campus course; keep a printed or emailed copy of your school’s approval. When you complete the off-campus course(s), request an official transcript be sent to the Records Office of your school. This is your responsibility to follow up on; no transcript = no units.

Be careful with semester vs. quarter units. Typically three semester units equates to four quarter units. Three quarter units will not satisfy three semester units. Units are calculated based on the number of hours in a class.

This is a great use of your time. Your graduating college simply can’t satisfy all student scheduling needs. It’s up to you to proactively set up and complete the series of courses required for your degree. Do so creatively, productively, and successfully.