Starting College or Going Back

[AJane]

Gosh, Crit and rosiedog, I hope you both are able to get your financial stuff squared away. The money part is so difficult to get straightened out. Just take heart. Once its all squared away, you're on rails and just have to sign paperwork from then on out.

I got some incredibly good news before winter break. Well, a series of good news. First, I got the grades I expected, which were three A's and a B. Then I found out that 25 of the credits I'd earned back in college ten years ago will transfer!!!! My sister said she didn't even know I attempted 25 credits. I was in school almost four years! She thought I spent my entire time partying. No, only most of it. So even though my grades sucked eggs at the time, I managed to get C's or above in enough classes to give me 25 credits. That means I'm over halfway to my Associates degree with only one semester behind me. After I get that, I'll be transferring to CSU to finish up my Bachelors. Its so exciting that I'll be finishing earlier than I expected.

Congratulations, Star. Did your college by chance tell you if or when the "expiry" date is on credits? I went back to university as an adult (in my 20's) and I did great (4.0 GPA, I was so proud of myself for proving I wasn't just an underachieving party girl ). The posts I've been reading in this thread are really making me yearn to try to go back to finish my degree, but I'm pretty sure my credits are far too old to transfer. I hate the thought of re-taking so many courses. I also hate that my brain is atrophying while I work at dead-end jobs just to bring some money into the household.

mrd, that immunization record thing made me laugh - when I started work for the health region here, they wanted mine. Same problem - I'm 41 years old and I didn't have the foggiest notion where my records were, plus they were from a different province. I complained about it on the phone to my mom and believe it or not, she still had them stashed in a drawer at her house.

[ArchieComic Fan]

I meant to comment on the immunization topic but forgot. I had to have prove of two MMR's and since mine were also so long ago, I just went ahead and had them redone. The health dept. said it wouldn't hurt and it was even beneficial because some immunities wear off over the years. My son got the meningitis shot while he was in college. He had viral meningitis as a baby so I didn't want to take any chances.

[Stargazer]

Congratulations, Star. Did your college by chance tell you if or when the "expiry" date is on credits? I went back to university as an adult (in my 20's) and I did great (4.0 GPA, I was so proud of myself for proving I wasn't just an underachieving party girl ). The posts I've been reading in this thread are really making me yearn to try to go back to finish my degree, but I'm pretty sure my credits are far too old to transfer. I hate the thought of re-taking so many courses. I also hate that my brain is atrophying while I work at dead-end jobs just to bring some money into the household.

AJane, I think it differs from state-to-state here, so I'm sure it is probably different there. However, I'm guessing that its at least comparable in most areas. They told me that any science courses expire after 5-7 years and some other credits expire after ten. Most schools won't take any grade below a "C", either. I'm not sure if they use that grading system in Canada, but a "C" here is 70-79% grade for the class. My own grades from my first college experience were all over the place. I had some A's, a couple of B's, some C's, and plenty of "failing" grades. They ended up taking about 25 of my hours that were C or better. A good idea would be to email or call the advising office of any of your local universities and I'm sure they'd be able to give you a better idea of what they'll accept. Even if they don't accept any of your old credits, I hope you at least consider going back anyway. Even though its extremely difficult with all my other responsibilities, its been so rewarding.

[ElizabethG]

I also need my immunization record. I'm 46 years old. I don't even KNOW where it is or if I ever had it. I have got to contact my old doctor in another state who retired 10 years ago to see if they have it. I'm sure the current doctor who took over the practice may have the records, but how much you want to bet they're in storage somewhere and it will take forever. I just found out this morning that I need it. (the school sent me all the info for the Spring semester the day they let out for Christmas break, so today has been the first day I could even talk to anyone about what I need and need to do.)

After all this, it's going to be a relief just to sit in a class and listen to the teacher.

MRD, about the immunizations. When I finally got my bachelor's in late 90's and then my master's degree in 2002, the schools had forms that also called for a copy of my immunization records. Well, my pediatrician was long since retired, my mom said she had no idea, etc. etc. I thought about it a while and then I decided to check the box that said I wouldn't have to have them on the grounds of my religious beliefs. (or something along those lines). Did your paperwork have that sort of choice? Now, I KNOW it was questionable and taking a shortcut and not quite the absolute truth and all because I definitely got immunizations when I was young. But at my age there was absolutely no way to re-create those records and no one - not health dept, not my family, not my own personal records - had this information. Besides that, I was going to be taking mostly off-campus and on-line classes and I knew I did not and had not had any of the conditions that you are immunized for and I wasn't a medical danger to anyone. You know what? Nobody cared!! The school didn't, it never came up again, has not affected me in any way at all. One lady in admissions even told me that it was very common for the older students to do this. Maybe if I was to ever run for office of some kind it could be held up to scrutiny, but really, it saved a LOT of time and hassle of trying to re-create records that were many decades past and who knows where. It's just a thought, I'm not advising you to do the same thing. Just something to consider.

[MRD]

I have to have a blood test if I dont have the immunization records.
They apparantly take this very seriously here. HOWEVER if I was born before 1956 I wouldn't have to prove the records or take the test. I'm going to cry age descrimmination.

I'm still not sure how many of my classes will transfer. It's been 25 years. I have been told ALL will be revealed on Fri. But even if I have to retake stuff, it will be worth it because I want to finish. I want to prove to myself I can do it. I want to prove that I'm not the party girl I used to be and I want to have a broader range of jobs available with higher pay. And a small part of me wants to rub it in my brother's face because he said a LONG time ago that I'd never do it and he's the ONLY one of the 4 of us to have finished school. Ok, so maybe revenge is a larger part of it than I first thought.

[Amanda]

My high school had university-acceptable proof of my immunizations right on my transcripts, and was able to produce them for me within a day or so even though I graduated nearly sixteen years ago. Just another avenue to consider.

ETA: Oh wow, make that nearly seventeen years.

[Brodie]

Congratulations, Star. Did your college by chance tell you if or when the "expiry" date is on credits? I went back to university as an adult (in my 20's) and I did great (4.0 GPA, I was so proud of myself for proving I wasn't just an underachieving party girl ). The posts I've been reading in this thread are really making me yearn to try to go back to finish my degree, but I'm pretty sure my credits are far too old to transfer. I hate the thought of re-taking so many courses. I also hate that my brain is atrophying while I work at dead-end jobs just to bring some money into the household.

mrd, that immunization record thing made me laugh - when I started work for the health region here, they wanted mine. Same problem - I'm 41 years old and I didn't have the foggiest notion where my records were, plus they were from a different province. I complained about it on the phone to my mom and believe it or not, she still had them stashed in a drawer at her house.

Another avenue to consider may be "CLEP" (College Level Examination Program) testing... If you've got a lot of work experience and you've taken courses that aren't transfering you may have the knowledge to test out of a lot of lower level courses... I think my SIL "CLEPed" out of about a years worth of course work!

[canuckinchile]

I don't know how it works in the US, but in Canada the Health Unit where you grew up will have immunization records. Because we move quite a bit, I keep really good records and copies, etc. It really helped when my daughter enrolled in University.

[Ellen]

Another avenue to consider may be "CLEP" (College Level Examination Program) testing... If you've got a lot of work experience and you've taken courses that aren't transfering you may have the knowledge to test out of a lot of lower level courses... I think my SIL "CLEPed" out of about a years worth of course work!

CLEP is a financial lifesaver! Because my high school offered many university-level courses in the core-curriculum subjects, between CLEP and advanced placement in German and French, I tested out of my entire freshman year + 3 credits -- for only the cost of the CLEP tests (12 credits' worth); the advanced placement credits for German and French (15 credits) were free!

P.S. Math wasn't my strongest subject to say the least, but with the free test guide and a few weeks of tutoring (from a math geek who could also teach -- very important!), I CLEPed out of my math requirement, thus freeing up my time/tuition money for more language/linguistics classes.

[MRD]

I would like to clep if I can and I am hoping to get out of taking public speaking. My boss at work says she will help me there as they have documentation of all the public speaking I do there.

No help on the HS either. I graduated 29 years ago from HS and I know for a fact the records are in warehouse storage because I used to have a friend that worked records.

I'm going with the blood test. It's easier and they will have the answers a lot quicker and it will be less of a hassle for me in trying to track down the records.

My transcripts came over from the Univ. of Florida and don't have immunization records on them.

Well I'm off to orientation, advisement, financial aid meeting and class registration. Wish me luck. I know it will be a long day and it didn't help that I stayed up until 1 a.m. watching my Gators win the national championship. But there was NO way I was not watching that game last night.