Hi, my kid is enrolled in a large public school (junior) for a STEM degree. He is not on scholarship or financial aid. He realized he was not suited for this stream in his sophomore year and decided to switch to business or economics. But, by the time he applied for change of school, his gpa was just below 2 and he was asked to improve it by retaking the failed classes. Request for change of major was denied.
With no other alternative, he retook the same classes he was struggling with in the next three semesters, but in vain. His gpa went down further and he has been issued academic suspension and his request to change to econ school has been refused.
He is trapped. He tried to register at the local Comm colleges but they have stopped registrations for this semester. Is there any college that will allow him to transfer even on academic suspension so he can earn transferable credits to improve gpa (also keep F1 status intact) and then try for readmission?
At my wit’s end! Any advice will be greatly appreciated with gratitude. Thanks you!
Possibly Chadron State or Peru State in Nebraska. Your son should call the admissions offices today and ask whether they will accept a transfer student on academic suspension. He can also check out community colleges in another area or state. Many are still accepting applications/registrations for spring semester. Are his grades good in non-STEM courses? If not, maybe he should consider another path rather than college.
I would try another local CC before I sent my struggling student across the country to another college. Does he intend to go back to the original college after his break at a CC? If not, then I’m not sure he needs to retake all of the STEM courses.
What are his grades in intro economics?
What state is the college in? Do all their community colleges have such strict registration deadlines for international students? How soon does he have to enroll in another college to preserve his F1 Visa status? There are a lot of community colleges in the US. If you’re full pay then I imagine you’ll be able to find something.
Please clarify. Is this an international student?
What state are you in? Is there any open enrollment community college he can enroll in?
But my first thought is…he retook the courses over three semesters and got lower GPA? If it were me, I would want to know what went wrong before I paid a dime to send this student to college anywhere. Getting a lower GPA says to me that he had a combo of the following…not doing the work, not seeking assistance via office hours, not getting tutorial help, not going to class. Find out what went wrong.
Also, when did he know this? December when grades came out? Classes at some CCs have already started, and some in certain places do have limited enrollment.
I agree with checking today other community colleges in your state.
F1 status? Is being full pay at a community college really better than transferring back to home country?
F1 is the problem here.
He needs to find a place that will accept him and will process the paperwork for the transfer of the F1 to the new institution in the next week or so.
Is he an English language learner? What was his TOEFL score like? There might be an Academic English program that could admit him for a semester to work on those issues.
Thank you, happymomof1! His TOEFL score was pretty good but will try to find an English program at the earliest and enroll him.
Thanks, SJ2727, he has to continue here because the 45+ credits he has earned won’t transfer to any college in our home country.
Thanks, thumper, I understand what you mean. His first year was good. He couldn’t decide the major and signed up for many more hours than he could handle (19 I think) His homework and attendance were good, I check them.
He’s a junior and has 45 credits? Most colleges I am aware of usually have 60-64 completed by end of sophomore year. How many courses did he fail? More importantly, how many more years does he think it will be before he can graduate?
Liliana71, you may have to accept that your son will LOSE many of his credits. That is the unfortunate reality of transfers - each school will have its own requirements and is unlikely to accept all of your son’s. And it sounds like your son has some to make up since, as SJ2727 pointed out, 45 credits seems low for junior year. Most students take about 15 credits per semester which means by junior year they’d have closer to 60.
Well…remover…this student failed 3 courses…so that could be 9 credits he doesn’t have. And if his GPA is lower after retaking the courses, it’s likely he failed more…let’s say two more so 6 more credits.
Add those 15 to the 45 he has completed…and poof…60… which is what a junior should have.
With 45 credits, it’s unlikely he has junior status at his college.
Hm, I took OP at face value referring to him as a junior. Maybe she just meant , in his 3rd year of being there.
And if OP is looking at him transferring to CC…and presumably back again to get a 4 year degree… and losing credits along the way in the transfer process… I really wonder how many years till he graduates. At some point… one has to wonder about the cost -benefit of doing it at home even if nothing transfers and he has to start again… or if the desire to remain on F1 status overrides all other considerations (I have seen this on immigration forums, with the goal of OPT and the hope of a H1 at the end of it).
Looks like the student has finished five semesters (about 75 credits attempted), but has only completed three semesters’ worth of credit (45 credits) due to failed courses and repeats, so he presumably has sophomore standing. I.e. already two semesters behind on credits, and will probably need at least five more semesters (without failing any courses) to reach the typical 120 needed for graduation, if he can manage to continue.
If he does transfer to a community college and then back to the same four year college, the only potential credit loss would be for the community college courses transferring to the current college. But if he eventually goes to a different four year college, then credit (or more often subject credit) loss can be more of an issue.
Thanks @ucbalumnus - that makes it clear.
Though, the potential change of direction confuses me a little in implication. If he still wants to change majors, it’s unclear whether he can do that by transferring back to a school that denied a change of major request? There will also be more credits to take than if he continues on current course?
Yes, changing major can delay graduation if the new major requires a long sequence of prerequisites or lots of requirements that he has not taken.
Yes, not only does he need to consider how to get readmitted to the current college, but also how to become eligible to change to a desired major.
But there is not enough information here to say how much of a barrier there is in this particular case.
If Op’s son goes to community college and completes an associates, when he transfers, the whole degree transfers. While he may not experience credit loss, he will probably have to take additional credits at the CC just to fulfill the gen ed requirements for liberal arts (especially if he is undecided for a major or if the CC does not have his intended major).