<p>A couple years ago I started attending SUNY Jefferson. I lived 30 miles away (as I do now) and did/do not own a car, but I was able to work out my class schedule to work around a friend's work schedule, so getting to and from school was not a problem. Everything went well and I attained a 3.75 GPA my first semester.</p>
<p>The second semester did not go so well. I no longer had transportation, so I moved closer to the school. I was unable to find a job so I struggled financially. I was very sick with pertussis for nearly 2 months from a combination of financial stress, poor health (could barely afford food), and walking 30 minutes back and forth to school in the middle of winter. Most days I was so sick I could barely get out of bed. I failed all of my classes.</p>
<p>There were others things that I didn't like about SUNY Jefferson. I received a student loan of $1500 (something I didn't want to do) so I could cover rent and other expenses, and now I'm being billed over $3000. I feel the school is cheating me out of money somehow. They are adamant that I requested and received $3000 and so far have not been willing to work with me to figure out the discrepancy. The quality of the staff was also very poor. Some of my teachers were great, others were awful, and none seemed to want to talk to me, return my emails, or help me in general during my second semester when I was having problems.</p>
<p>So, SUNY Jefferson is not really an option for me. I want nothing more than to continue school this Fall, but any college I've contacted told me I would not be eligible for enrollment due to failing my previous semester.</p>
<p>So I'm a bit stuck and that's why I'm posting this. I need to find a cheap school that offers residency and is also able to look past the classes that I failed.</p>
<p>Thank you,
a frustrated financially poor 24 year-old who desperately wants an education</p>
<p>Go to a community college, prove you have the ability and the motivation to do college work, and then you will be able to transfer into a four-year school.</p>
<p>You basically just reworded what I already said I was looking for. The problem is I’m having trouble finding such colleges that provide residency. I’m asking for suggestions of specific colleges. There are a couple I’m still waiting to hear back from (Herkimer) and I’m just trying to find any other SUNY schools with residency that may have a high chance of acceptance. Colleges don’t generally advertise how easy they are to get accepted into, is the problem. For example, many low-end SUNY schools have turned me down, all (presumably) because of one bad semester that was out of my control. It’s especially frustrating considering that these are the same schools that friends of mine have been accepted into and attended, and they are generally less academically successful than I am (which doesn’t sound right considering I failed a semester, but saying that they’re dumber than myself sounded a bit conceited).</p>
<p>Don’t the SUNY community colleges charge more tuition if you are not a resident of their “sponsorship area”? If you are a resident of Jefferson County, it seems like there could be a problem with your not being a resident of whichever county you transfer to and getting charged more. Is that a factor?</p>
<p>Jamestown Community College has some housing. Not sure what the enrollment policy is.
Niagara County CC also has a limited amount.</p>
<p>You may be able to attain a “retroactive medical withdrawal”. Get some kind of documentation from your doctor or what ever medical facility you saw for treatment of the Pertussis. Most universities and colleges will allow you to do this within a certain time frame from when you failed the semester. This would remove the failing grades with all "W"s. The medical withdrawal would be documented. Your GPA would be only calculated from your first semester. Look into doing this first --if you can undo some of this damage then find out. </p>
<p>Now, if a retroactive medical withdrawal is not an option, then find out what their grading policy is on failed courses. Some community colleges will allow you to retake the course and the grade is dropped (4-years do not allow this in general though). There are sometimes “academic renewal” policies, so read through everything and find out if there are any other options before you move forward. If ou need to retake and replace grades, then maybe you can do this during the summer (?). </p>
<p>I don’t know enough about the SUNY’s to give you much advice there, but saw your post and wondered whether you’d looked into a retroactive med withdrawal yet. Def. worth a try if it’s still an option (some schools allow an entire 6 mos-year to do this).</p>
<p>Don’t most of the CC’s waive the county residency upcharge if you submit the form certified by your own county? We’ve done this successfully several times, at ECC and Herkimer. Check the websites carefully for this information and the required form (we had to mail it to our county treasurer’s office for certification, then submit to the registrar).</p>
<p>You might try MVCC in Utica - they have both dorms and many apartments nearby with public transportation available. The suny.edu site will tell you which CC’s have dorms if that’s what you’re interested in.</p>
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<p>To be fair, you can probably find this at most schools although not answering emails repeatedly seems unusual. Professors have office hours for students and expect them to come to them if help is needed.</p>
<p>Schenectady Co community college is building dorms and they will be ready for Fall '12. Hudson Valley CC has student apts (private) within walking distance of the campus. Clinton Co CC also has dorms. Good luck!</p>
<p>You can also try Herkimer County COmmunity College!!! It’s SUPER easy to get in and offers a variety of great majors!!! They’re teachers are awesome and some are pretty easy going!!! It’s a great school and it’s cheap!! They also have off-campus housing (which I lived in) and a free shuttle bus that picks you up everyday!!! Financial aid helps pay for your rent!! I’ve lived off campus and didn’t have to pay a cent for rent!! Apply now they still have open admissions!!!</p>