<p>Hi all. I am hoping that maybe someone has been in the same situation as me, or possibly has some advice.</p>
<p>I attend a large tech school on the east coast. This school is on the quarter system and I am about to start my second-year. Originally, I had wanted to attend a small, liberal arts school but due to financial constraints, I really just had to go where the money was. Now, I want to transfer because I am nothing short of miserable at this school.</p>
<p>However, I have contacted a number of schools that I would like to apply to and it seems that something they all have in common is that they will only accept a maximum of 2/3 of accrued credits. By the end of the '09-2010, I will have completed 90 quarter credit hours, which means that (if the school doesn't accept a lower amount) the maximum amount the college would accept is 60 semester credits.</p>
<p>My main predicament is this- I am an ASL Interpreting major at the school I attend. I cannot change majors within my college to better suit my transfer needs, because if I change majors my tuition will go from $20k/year to $40k/year and I can't afford to do that since I am at this college by grant/scholarship solely. The schools that I have inquired about whether or not they would accept credits that I have completed have stated that they do not accept any ASL or ASL related coursework, beginning language courses, or beginning mathematics courses. As far as I have calculated, this means that after counting only 2/3 of the credits, the highest amount I would be able to transfer (combining both first- and second-year) would be around 22 credits.</p>
<p>What should I do? 22 credits is half of the amount of credits I earned in my freshman year at school, and less than most full-time students earn during their freshmen year as well.</p>
<p>90 quarter hours normally transfer as 60 semester hours. This is pretty standard.</p>
<p>If you are transferring in ASL, those credits should transfer somehow. Many colleges and universities will accept credits in ASL as foreign language credits. It looks like the schools you have investigated don’t normally do so. You may want to pursue a specific foreign language waiver based on your ASL credits.</p>
<p>“I want to transfer because I am nothing short of miserable at this school.”</p>
<p>Why do you want to go back another year if you hate it there? How much are you paying out of pocket to attend? Are you on a full-ride scholarship? If you are paying something (and here I include loans that you will have to pay back eventually), why don’t you just take a year off entirely. You could work (your ASL skills might help you get a job) and/or take coursework at a local community college while you track down a college/university that offers the major you want and that is affordable to you.</p>
<p>So, I am going to assume you are at RIT and I am curious why you don’t like it? (I’m hoping to transfer there as a software engineering major, so I figured I would ask.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure which schools don’t accept ASL. AFAIK most schools count ASL as a foreign language.</p>
<p>I agree with happymom that you may be better off taking some time off than taking classes and spending money on something that you aren’t interested in. Have you considered applying for Spring 2010 admissions? In that case you would only need to take one semester/1.5 quaters off.</p>
<p>Mom- I’m currently on a full-ride as far as scholarships and grants go. Nothing out of pocket, and no loans. I have definitely thought about taking time off, but I took a year out between high school and college and it was really tough for me to go back to school. I know that if I took a year off now, I would not return to college. Community college is out of the question right now for the sheer fact that if I were to stay home and attend, I would drop out all together.</p>
<p>Posh- Yes, you’re right. RIT is a great school academically, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not the right school for me. It was never really where I wanted to go, I just went for financial reasons and now I’m realizing that my happiness should come before that. A good majority of the schools I intend on applying to do not accept ASL or ASL related coursework. They do not offer similar courses at their school so they have told me that they will not accept the credits, neither as language nor elective. I have tried to look for schools that offer ASL majors, because then maybe my credits could go towards a minor or double major, even, but have so far come up dry.</p>
<p>fib, I don’t know if this would interest you, but a lot of community colleges have associates degrees in deaf studies. Maybe instead of taking a year off you can go to a community college, finish your associates and then transfer. Even if the ASL classes don’t transfer directly a lot of colleges consider student with an associates degree to have completed their lower division requirements and give them junior standing.</p>
<p>“A good majority of the schools I intend on applying to do not accept ASL or ASL related coursework.”</p>
<p>Why does your list contain so many places that would cause you to lose so many credits? Is your prospective major a very specific one that is only offered at a limited number of colleges/universities, or do you have some other very specific requirements/expectations? I suggest that you set acceptance of at least some of your ASL credits as a MINIMUM requisite to get onto your possible transfer-to list.</p>
<p>Since you have a full-ride, you could conceivably remain at RIT for another year and use that opportunity to complete all of your gen. ed. courses before transferring. However, if you head off to a place that doesn’t give you credit for the ASL coursework, you will be looking at three years at the new school. How affordable are you going to be able to make three years more of studies? If you’d transfer to a place that gives you credit for the ASL, you should be able to finish more quickly.</p>