I have spent a lot of time in the past few days trying to figure out how best to go about getting a Bachelors degree. There are many different things to study at more then a few different schools and many different considerations.
I am overwhelmed. I bailed out with a 2 year degree before and I kind of understand now how almost inevitable that was. I had no guide and lacked the force of personality to find my own way. Sure there are counselors and websites but they just sit there waiting for you to come to them and I didn't go. I am now ready to navigate that particular labyrinth and I am finding out just how fractured the process really is. I am getting ready to transfer and I haven't quite decided what school to go to. I am closest to transferring to a CSU so I am thinking of Cal State LA or Cal Poly Pomona. These schools are close and cheap. This means that I am using three different school websites to look up classes and majors. Of the three, Pasadena.edu is the most user friendly. I struggle through the differing terminology and layouts and find out that there is one website to apply to either CSU, it is CSUMentor.com. Then while trying desperately to find which classes count for what when transferred, I stumbled into Assist.org which brings my necessary websites up to a total of five.
In addition to the technological confusion, finding someone to talk to about classes is its own kind of torture. The admissions people only know about general education and transfer requirements. In order to get specifics you need to talk to the department head of the major you want to go into. I have to track down the office of the person in charge of the major and then if I am lucky I will have managed to go during their walk in advisement hours. If not, I need to make an appointment and talk to them about what? I don't even know what to ask any more. This experience has made me prefer the scattered information available on the internet.
I am slowly finding the criterion that I need to judge my situation and make the best choice. I am trying to minimize the time and money that it takes to achieve a BS. It is like trying to make a coherent picture out of pieces from three puzzles. It is a confusing task and, to extend my earlier metaphor: when I get to the center of the labyrinth, will I even be able to slay the Minotaur there?
I am overwhelmed. I bailed out with a 2 year degree before and I kind of understand now how almost inevitable that was. I had no guide and lacked the force of personality to find my own way. Sure there are counselors and websites but they just sit there waiting for you to come to them and I didn't go. I am now ready to navigate that particular labyrinth and I am finding out just how fractured the process really is. I am getting ready to transfer and I haven't quite decided what school to go to. I am closest to transferring to a CSU so I am thinking of Cal State LA or Cal Poly Pomona. These schools are close and cheap. This means that I am using three different school websites to look up classes and majors. Of the three, Pasadena.edu is the most user friendly. I struggle through the differing terminology and layouts and find out that there is one website to apply to either CSU, it is CSUMentor.com. Then while trying desperately to find which classes count for what when transferred, I stumbled into Assist.org which brings my necessary websites up to a total of five.
In addition to the technological confusion, finding someone to talk to about classes is its own kind of torture. The admissions people only know about general education and transfer requirements. In order to get specifics you need to talk to the department head of the major you want to go into. I have to track down the office of the person in charge of the major and then if I am lucky I will have managed to go during their walk in advisement hours. If not, I need to make an appointment and talk to them about what? I don't even know what to ask any more. This experience has made me prefer the scattered information available on the internet.
I am slowly finding the criterion that I need to judge my situation and make the best choice. I am trying to minimize the time and money that it takes to achieve a BS. It is like trying to make a coherent picture out of pieces from three puzzles. It is a confusing task and, to extend my earlier metaphor: when I get to the center of the labyrinth, will I even be able to slay the Minotaur there?
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