<p>I am not certain what you mean by being able to transfer “faster” from a CC that is on the quarter system vs on the semester system. For example, if you need a full year of foreign language, well, it takes a full year in the quarter system OR the semester system. Only how the weeks are broken up is different. Semester system 16 weeks + 16 weeks = 32 weeks plus all of the little breaks/spring breaks here and there. Quarter system 11 weeks + 11 weeks + 11 weeks = 33 weeks plus all of the little breaks/spring breaks here and there. Basically the SAME number of weeks sitting in your Spanish first year classes! So for any requirement that is year-long, no savings of time whatsoever.</p>
<p>It might be slightly faster to get a single class requirement done (ie: bio with lab at 11 weeks vs 16 weeks) but be careful when counting what you need for transfer… sometimes you will need <em>2</em> classes to fulfill that single class requirement, though I see that more for private-school transfer and would have to let someone else point out if this affects IGETC at all.</p>
<p>Basically, going fulltime to a CC, many kids can transfer in 2 years. Sem or Quarter systems does not greatly affect this - and considering you dropped several classes this year, you probaby have 2 more full years to go to CC. (Note that MANY CSUs and UCs are no longer taking mid-year transfers… so you are stuck waiting for a full year or a full two years any way you slice it.)</p>
<p>On to your other questions:</p>
<p>I doubt that a 2 hour commute to get to Foothill 3 - 5 days a week is worth it. You don’t get to restart your GPA in terms of <em>transfer</em> to a 4-year college (UC, CSU or privates). They see ALL your transcripts.</p>
<p>Academic renewal: again, in terms of transfering to a 4-year college, the 4-year colleges see EVERYTHING. Even if you get an academic renewal from CSM, all the ugliness remains on your CSM transcript (it does not get deleted and wiped clean - they just offer to have it not affect the GPA). It is just that CSM “forgives” the GPA mess for a certain period of time… the messy grades still show on the physical transcript. That is, <em>if</em> CSM has that process available. </p>
<p>Put another way: any academic renewal applies to that college only and your 4-year transfer school would <em>see</em> the entire picture and has zero obligation to honor it when calculating your GPA once at its school. Talk to counselors at ALL schools involved to get actual answers (and expect a few WRONG answers along the way…).</p>
<p>I am not certain what advantages Foothill would provide - added cost, added travel time seem to make it a wash. CSM and Foothill are not radically different in terms of academic reputation or difficulty. It seems from my reading you are engaged in some magical thinking that changing venues will change your motivation. Bottom line: you need to concentrate, bolster your study routine, get rid of distractions, and fake being motivated until you really are motivated. CSM is not the problem here.</p>