any thoughts?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>I am a new user and I am intl. I have some problems which are hard to decide especially when I have no knowledge what to do with US education system that I am not familiar with. I posted some of them below and any thoughts would be appreciated, really...</p>

<p>Concerning my education in North America, after my third semester at IIT, I decided not to major in engineering. The subject engineering is quite different from what I have expected it to be. I am more interested in majoring economics-politics and government program. I am more convinced and clearheaded about this after my summer at Chicago. At any rate, the major obstacle I am now facing in my academic career is the lack of adequate preparation for college in specific area. This weakness becomes even more prominent in writing 8-11 pages papers in a short time during my freshmen year.So, as a result, I did not receive the kind of grade I expected for certain courses. For example, in my PS 360: Globalization: International Political Economy at IIT, even though I aimed to get an A, due to this inadequacy I only received a B on my final paper ( according to the feedback from my instructor) and consequently my grade became a B. In addition, my humanity instructor emailed me that my final paper will be graded A if I could rework on my paper especially in its structure and clear expression but I ended up with a C only. Also at U of C, for courses Power, Identity and Resistance I, II, III which basically are a combination of economics, political theory and social issues based on great book curriculum, I received B, B and C+ respectivlely due to the said need. All the instructors at Chicago also pointed out the same problem concerning with my papers and urge me to improve my writing style. Some even warned me strongly to fullfil this requirement for my future carreer. One of the instructors told me to take writing program at IIT. But I don't even need to take writing courses at IIT as they told me I don't need to and I have already passed since my admission to IIT, while I also understand IIT is at best an engineering school. </p>

<p>At the moment, I don't know how to continue for both fullfiling this requirement and taking subsequent courses based on my interest. I dare not take other courses at the expense of my grade any more. Besides the kind of courses I intend to take are not offered at IIT as well. My situation is like I am in the middle of nowhere and again, do not know how to improve this current situation. </p>

<p>Any suggestions or any thoughts??</p>

2

<p>You need to take a class in English composition. It probably would be best if it is a class designed for international students where there will be more emphasis on teaching you the specific American English writing styles. Look around for an English language-school or a community college with an ESL program near you. If you can’t find an ESL class that focuses on academic writing, any English composition class will do. Just be sure that the college/university where you take that class has a Writing Lab. The tutors in the Writing Lab will be able to help you re-write your papers and you will learn a lot from that process.</p>

<p>If you can’t find any of this, ask your IIT professors to recommend a middle school or high school English teacher who does tutoring. If you find a good tutor, you will be able to work with that person one-on-one to improve your writing.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>I’d like to clarify my understanding of your situation. I gather you were at IIT for 3 semesters and then transferred to University of Chicago. Is that correct? Or were you just doing a summer semester abroad at UofC and are now returning to IIT to complete your degree in engineering? Or are you asking which of these you should do?</p>

<p>My suggestions would depend on whether you are returning to the IIT to complete your degree or planning to finish your degree at Chicago.</p>

4

<p>I took the summer course at U of C, and return to IIT to fininsh my degree. Unfortunately, I am not doing engineering and decided to major in social science especially in politics and government.</p>

5

<p>Happymomof1, thank you for your suggestion.</p>