So, the way my financial aid works is I have a tuition waiver. That means that in the summer, if I’m taking an online class, it’s covered and I don’t have to pay it back. I am ending this first year of college and entire semester behind, I will have a less than 3.0, and only 17 hours completed.
As a result of all of that, I made the decision to not take any summer classes, because I need the summer to brush up on math. But I found out summer classes are covered by waiver, and now I am considering taking a super easy gpa booster online. The only thing is, it wouldn’t be related to mechanical engineering at all. There are a couple options, but they’re like kinesiology and sociology.
I’m not concerned about the workload. Im more just worried it’s a waste of time and will just look bad if I apply to internships or something. I mean, I’d have to explain why I’m taking a irrelevant, easy class while other people were off in class. But, since I’ll have so few hours completed going into next year, it will definitely boost my gpa a bit, which I’d want to apply to internships next year.
Are you sure the credits will apply to your degree? I’d be more concerned about taking something that advances your degree — then it is easy to explain. If you have gen ed classes you have to fulfill, then it makes sense.
Also, do you need a certain GPA and progress toward degree to keep your financial aid? If so, that might play into your decision.
Everyone takes “easy” classes that don’t fall under engineering. Don’t worry about it.
As @intparent said, take a class that meets one of your gen ed requirements. Interviewers will not care which classes you took to met those requirements. You’ll never get asked why you took “Music Appreciation”, the assumption will be that it met a Gen Ed requirement.
Taking summer classes, may mean you can take a slightly lighter load in the Fall or Spring (based on your financial aid requirements), and still stay on track. .
My issue is that after this semester, all of the classes I will be required to take are only math, physics, or engineering because I have already completed my core classes. And most of the classes that I could take over the summer that would advance me in my degree aren’t offered online (I live somewhere else, and am not staying the summer there). I had around 40 transfer credits, but they don’t go to my GPA at all, I just get credit for them.
Now that I think about it, I could retake calculus 1 over the summer. It would go on my GPA and also help me brush up on my math. Would that be a better option?
And yes I have to have a certain GPA for financial aid, but I think at the moment I won’t go below it. I might get close though.
So math in the summer or any class is faster paced and shorter in length just a FYI.
I am not understanding how you have 40 credits not count for anything but Gen Ed credits. That’s a lot of credits to just use up. Are you a transfer student? College is about exploring and taking different classes to expand your knowledge base. One class will not raise your GPA alone. It will take many classes to do that. It’s important to try to stay above the 3.0 for most internships but engineering is hard no matter where you take it. It sounds like you need some help and that is what professors, study hours, peer to peer tutiroring, learning centers are there for. Use them. Most colleges have science and math labs. Go to them!
Given the withdrawals you took this year, you should think about how to use this free summer opportunity wisely. When you say you need to brush up on your math, what math classes have you taken and what classes do you have yet to take in the math department? Did you get a W in math because you were doing poorly? Will you be able to learn math for the online course by yourself? It seems from your other posts that you are at risk of getting booted from your school so you need to do well in your summer course.