<p>Hey there. I've been considering starting my Purdue education in the Spring of 2011. What are the disadvantages and advantages of doing so? Am I able to take courses at community colleges until then? Do I still have to submit my housing app by May 1? Will I end up graduating later? If not, will I have to increase my course load?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance :D</p>
<p>i highly suggest you look at the plan of study for your intended major before deciding. these can be found on purdue’s college websites. many majors only have classes that are offered in the fall and then the continuation is offered in the spring. so even if you wanted to do 18 credit hours, many of the classes you needed to take to catch up wouldn’t even be offered. so yes, you would get behind if that were the case and would most likely graduate later.
i’m not sure about housing, its different for freshman. if there is an option to choose what semester you’re starting (like spring 2011) then it makes sense to pick that and fill it out. but if its only for the fall then they are going to reserve a room for you and you will have to pay for it and you wouldn’t even be a student so i doubt that would happen. i would definitely called or email someone if there is no option to chose what semester you’re signing up for.
and i would definitely take community college classes, but please please please make sure they transfer to purdue! there’s nothing worse than taking classes that won’t transfer over. that would be the safest thing to do and just take core classes so you’re not completely behind if you come here spring semester</p>
<p>Not many Pros but more Cons imo and they are:</p>
<ol>
<li>No BGR and making friends MIGHT be harder since people would’ve made friends already</li>
<li>No formal rush for Pan-Hellenic sororities, some houses do informal rushes too though</li>
<li>Housing can be a bit hectic like smahanru said. Depending on your class size, you may even end up with temp. housing which sucks. </li>
<li>Plan of Study like smahanru said might get affected. I wouldn’t worry about this too much though since I’m sure they will have sections available for your classes. </li>
<li>Moving in during the Winter sucks. Period. Especially if your from Cali.</li>
<li>Make sure your CC classes transfer to Purdue like smahanru said. It really would suck if your classes didn’t transfer. Also, make sure that your transfer credit would be acceptable for your FYE GPA.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thats all I can think of right now.</p>
<p>i’m curious, how many students actually start in spring ?? is the batch as large as fall ? a couple of my friends in the US also decided to start college in spring, taking a break and/or various internships during the gap.</p>
<p>but it should be at least half the size of fall sem right ?</p>
<p>edit: also, how will the later graduation date affect the h1b visa work process ?? assuming i can find a sponsor, of course. will i be disadvantaged because everybody else would have graduated earlier ??</p>