I’m going to school for an Associates degree right now, and have been attending for two years. I’ve almost got all of my pre/co-requisite classes out of the way, with just one more to go before I can enroll in my Major courses. I was thinking about taking it over the summer so I can start my Major programme in the fall, but the instructor I want to take the course with isn’t teaching it during the summer semester.
This wouldn’t be a problematic (I’m fine with taking the class during the fall and waiting to enroll in my Major programme), except that my mother has a problem with me taking more than two or three years to get my degree. Her outlook on things boils down to ‘It’s a two year degree, so you can get it in two years’, which I think isn’t accurate when actually accounting for my abilities to cope with classwork. I’ve found that I like taking three classes at a time (tops), because it lets me focus more on really learning the material and getting all the homework done, which means my grades are more likely to be passing (I’m a C-average student), while still having time to myself. Naturally, this way of doing things (as a pert-time student) means that I am going to be graduating later than she wanted me to.
The real problem right now though is that the course I need to take to finish with my pre-reqs is offered during both the summer and fall semesters, but the instructor I’d like to take it with is only teaching in the fall. My mother’s reaction to this is to tell me that I get to take it with a different instructor then because otherwise I would have to wait to start my Major classes until next fall. As I said, I am fine with waiting: The class I need to take is the second of a pair of anatomy/physiology classes. I’m currently re-taking AP I, because I failed it last semester. This semester I’m taking it with the instructor I had for my introductory biology class, and my grades so far have been high Cs (as opposed the the F I walked away with last semester). Aside from that, I’m going to be moving out of the house and my mom is going to be moving to the other side of the country over the summer, which will be making for some very different living arrangements.
I like the idea of taking the summer semester to move and have my job and get used to things, and then go back to school for the fall to take that one last pre-req class (with an instructor I know and trust to teach it well), before applying for my Major programme in the spring and starting those classes fall of 2019. That would mean that it would take me a total of five years to get my degree (if I took all of my Major classes over two semesters). Is that okay? Or should I plan according to my mom’s opinion and take the class over the summer with a different teacher and a shorter schedule (sooner graduation date)?