I just got my fall schedule and it turns out that my new university preregisters transfer students for classes…meaning I had NO say in it! So it looks like I will be taking classes every weekday, which would not be a problem if the university was not an hour away from where I live. I guess I should also note that I am a STEM major and none of these classes are exactly easy. Plus - I have a job that is 30 minutes from both my home and my university.
So - should I try to grin and bear doing all of this? The people around me have been giving me a hard time for wanting to either A) quit my job and do the long commute every day or B) go live closer to my university in which case I might be able to keep my job as it would be still 30 minutes away. Although this option would add considerably to my loans…
My advice is to call the school and ask about options- could you drop a class? Switch one class for an easier elective Discuss your options with the registrar, he/she will be able to help you the most.
I think part of the problem there is that I did all my core work at another school - so I am kind of down to all math and science classes. I don’t think there is anything I can do with my schedule without dropping below full time. Part of the reason I suppose they preregister transfers is by the time they even let us see our schedule all the classes are full!
Were you registered for the minimum number of hours for full time status? Typically, students take 1-2 courses above that minimum, enabling them to drop a course without risking that status.
I can’t imagine you would have classes every day, or be this stressed out, if you weren’t above the minimum required for full time status. What does your schedule look like? How many hours are required to remain full time vs. how many hours are you taking?
15 credit hours. The only one I could drop (which would result in less driving at any rate) would be a 4 credit hour class knocking me down to 11 credit hours.
Of course I can imagine this happening. My sister was a commuter student, and she fell into this situation before. Before she transferred to a closer college, she lived about an hour away from her university and about 20 minutes away from her job (which was about 30-40 minutes away from her university). It’s not about the credit hours; it’s about the scheduling. Sometimes the classes you need (or the sections that weren’t full) fall at undesirable times that require you to head in every day. This becomes even more true as you advance in college and are taking upper-level classes that may only have one or two sections. It’s nice to try to arrange your coursework to all fall on 2-3 days a week, but sometimes - usually, even - that’s simply not possible.
Whether or not you should bear it depends on the other demands on your time. Can you flexibly arrange your hours? An hour away from home is far but not super overly far. You could arrange your hours at work so that you could go there after you are done with class for the day and then go home, or work in the mornings and go to class in the afternoon, or however makes sense with the combination of classes you have.
I’ve never heard of a university pre-registering classes for transfer students. I think the answer to your question depends on the policies of the school. The first thing I would do is check the course schedule and see if there are any other courses (regardless of whether or not they are currently open) that you could take. After writing down the course names/information, I would call whichever department/people were responsible for pre-registering your courses and explain to them your situation. Tell them about how far you have to drive for school and see if there’s any way they can change your schedule or put you on a waitlist for some different courses that you have made a note of. It may not work but you have nothing to lose by trying.