# Well, at least I don't have to spend 4 years struggling to keep a 4.0 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 21, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539 "2010-09-21T15:13:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/21 "2010-09-21T19:02:34Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > **Hippy:** It’s all about money. I want to go to UCONN and it will cost me over $30k per year. The higher my grades are now, the better my chances of getting scholarships to help cover the cost. The reality is that I’ll probably end up at Worcester State and wont need scholarships. But, if there’s any chance of majoring in Pathobiology, I don’t want less than stellar grades getting in my way. > > I made sure he knew I appreciated the grade he gave me. After all, I did do the assignment incorrectly and that was my fault alone. I asked if he would be willing to throw out the incorrect one if I turned in a proper one before the deadline (which still hasn’t passed). I have time and I have an essay but I don’t have permission. I’m not submitting it now specifically because I don’t want him to think I’m obnoxious. > > edit to add: I plan on contacting UCONN, Worcester State, and Framingham State this semester. I want to do exactly what you recommended. But, It’s only 2 weeks into the school year. I think everyone needs more time to settle in. Besides, I still don’t have access to a car (hopefully this week! The motor has arrived!) so I can’t go gallivanting around CT and central MA without first dropping my boyfriend in RI and that gets tedious after a while. That’s great. What scholarships are you specifically seeking out? I still maintain that a high 3 and a 4 are indistinguishable, especially if you are demonstrating excellence in other areas. Are you a campus leader? At a CC it’s likely few students are taking the time to get involved, so it might just be a matter of showing up. Compare the 4.0 grind to the 3.8 student who’s student body president, or a club leader. I’m glad you followed up with the prof, but it’s more about your class experience than the grade. I might frame it this way: hey, you gave me some really good advice, and I’m really enjoying the class, and I wrote an essay. I’d love for you to sub it for my other grade, but honestly, I’d just like to get some feedback about it as I’m really into this topic. (Obviously you need to make it fit your style and personality.) Keep in mind your prof really, really likes his topic. So if you show genuine interest you have vaulted yourself into another category that most students don’t get to. The beauty of e-mail is that you can contact people whenever. I wouldn’t worry about timing at this point, or visiting. Getting a contact established, and maybe even talking by phone is going to help tons. Do that well before you show up on campus. Good luck! If you qualify for federal loans you might want to think seriously about taking some loans out, especially if you are certain you will persist and finish and the end result is a decent paying job. If you can get into WSC, FSC, and UConn, I’d aim for UConn, even if it puts you in a little (federal) debt. The feds have reasonable rules about repayment, deferrals, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/22 "2010-09-21T19:03:35Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > When I tell my (Super worried and dedicated) students “Don’t worry it’s early in the semester” what I generally mean is “This particular assignment is worth so few points that in the grand scheme of things it’s meaningless as long as you do well on the rest of your work.” Since this was only 2-3 pages and he gave you a B+ for _paragraphs_ my guess is that he’s factoring it into the 30% participation and at the end of the semester, you won’t even notice the missing points. Thanks to this thread, I’m confident that’s what he meant. I need to get myself out of the 6 weeks/1 class per week mindset. Everything counts for so much more in that kind of class. I just have to keep reminding myself that I’m going to be doing a huge amount of 2-3 page essays and each one I get an A on makes that B+ less important. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/23 "2010-09-21T19:17:59Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > That’s great. What scholarships are you specifically seeking out? > If you qualify for federal loans you might want to think seriously about taking some loans out, especially if you are certain you will persist and finish and the end result is a decent paying job. If you can get into WSC, FSC, and UConn, I’d aim for UConn, even if it puts you in a little (federal) debt. The feds have reasonable rules about repayment, deferrals, and so on. I’m sorry to say that I don’t know yet. Going back to school actually wasn’t in my plans for this year so I’m scrambling to find out everything I need, with enough time left to put it into action. Research was my plan for after my first project was due. Since I now don’t have to do that project, I have more time for researching scholarships. Timing is so against me right now. By the deadline for submitting applications, I’ll only have 1 semester behind me. Will that be enough for them to see me as positive addition to their student body? There’s so much to learn. At the moment, I’m not participating in anything other than my classes. I never know when I’ll even be able to get to the campus because of transportation issues; just one more thing I have to deal with. Participation in high school did a lot to improve my standing in spite of my GPA. Unfortunately, while everyone still cares about my high school grades, no one cares at all about my extracurricular activities from that long ago. Once we’re back to 2 cars and I can actually make regular treks into the city, I’ll definitely be involved. I’m not at all concerned about being in debt with student loans. Obviously the ideal situation would be to not need them but any financing is ok with me, even if I have to pay it back. It’s worth it if I never have to work in a factory again. As it stands, I still don’t even know if I qualify for enough financial aid to pay for my community college tuition (the financial aid office is insanely backed up, my file was complete 4 months ago and I still haven’t received an award letter). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/24 "2010-09-21T21:51:00Z")
Ask if you can do extra credit, to improve the grade. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/25 "2010-09-23T14:33:57Z")
[This website](http://www.mass.edu/masstransfer/) may be of some interest to you. It’s got a tremendous amount of information on transferring from the Mass Community Colleges to 4-year programs. if you stay in state, you could receive some serious discounts based on performance. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/26 "2010-09-23T16:07:22Z")
Apparently there are no more MA State colleges. They’re all Universities as of October 26. I can’t help but think that Worcester State University sounds really dumb. None of the others do. It must be from growing up in Worcester and always hearing College. It would sound equally dumb to me if they started saying Clark College or Holy Cross University. Anyway… **Lorene** :Thanks for the link. I’ve actually already been there. My school has a pretty good transfer section on their website and they included a link to Mass Transfer. The only problem I have with Mass Transfer is that you can’t transfer into ANY program. According to their degree transfer lists, if I graduate from my school with ANY degree and want to transfer to Bio or Chem, to get the full benefits of the program, I have to go to Framingham State _University_. That’s great except for the fact that any benefits I get from the program will be obliterated by having to drive to Framingham every day. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/27 "2010-09-23T16:20:10Z")
It looks to me that the Prof accepted the 3 paragraphs as if they were 3 pages. That is, he didn’t dock you points for having it short. Quite frankly, even if he went through the trouble of grading your full 3 page paper I see a B+ as your grade anyway. For all you know, he might be the type that doesn’t give out A’s on early assignments. Grades, especially on written papers, are far more subjective than most people think. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/28 "2010-09-23T16:37:47Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > For all you know, he might be the type that doesn’t give out A’s on early assignments. I might think that. Except, I got an A on our first assignment. Maybe he gave us all As on the first one. I have no way of knowing. I thought the first and second assignments were fairly similar in quality so I thought the grade would be similar (assuming, of course, that I had done it correctly). It’s kind of irrelevant now since the deadline has passed. It’s ok though. I’m a hell of a lot less obsessed about it than I was on Tuesday. We’re on to a new subject which I (again) know nothing about so I will spend another day or 2 researching something which normal adult US citizens should be able to write about off the top of their heads. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/29 "2010-09-23T18:26:36Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > **Lorene** :Thanks for the link. I’ve actually already been there. My school has a pretty good transfer section on their website and they included a link to Mass Transfer. The only problem I have with Mass Transfer is that you can’t transfer into ANY program. According to their degree transfer lists, if I graduate from my school with ANY degree and want to transfer to Bio or Chem, to get the full benefits of the program, I have to go to Framingham State _University_. That’s great except for the fact that any benefits I get from the program will be obliterated by having to drive to Framingham every day. Well, the Massachusetts Community College system is pretty broken anyhow. if you take Anatomy and Physiology 101 at Bunker Hill Community College and then try to transfer into a program at Middlesex Community College that has A & P 101 as one of its pre-reqs, there’s no guarantee that MCC will accept your course from BHCC. Articulation of courses is extremely difficult and it makes the system so tough to navigate. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/30 "2010-09-23T19:00:15Z")
You’re definitely right about that. I was amazed that they accepted my 3 classes from Bay Path, especially since my 2 English classes weren’t even called English Comp. Now, QCC accepted my Bay Path classes as direct transfers (instead of making them count as electives). What if I transfer to another school though? I’m currently taking 3 classes that have English Comp as a pre-req. What if I transfer to a State _University_ and they dont accept my Bay Path classes as direct transfers? Will I then have to go back and take them before they’ll let me continue where I left off at QCC? I really hope that doesn’t happen. When my boyfriend transferred from a MA CC to a MA state college, they refused to accept his art appreciation class as a direct transfer. He was PISSED. This happened back in the mid-90s and he’s still bitching about it. I can totally understand his irritation. If I had to take art appreciation twice, I’d probably bitch about it for 15 years too. I’m pretty sure he had other classes he had to take for the second time but he doesn’t complain about them. ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/31 "2010-09-24T01:06:58Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > When my boyfriend transferred from a MA CC to a MA state college, they refused to accept his art appreciation class as a direct transfer. He was PISSED. This happened back in the mid-90s and he’s still bitching about it. I can totally understand his irritation. If I had to take art appreciation twice, I’d probably bitch about it for 15 years too. I’m pretty sure he had other classes he had to take for the second time but he doesn’t complain about them. The MA system doesn’t make sense to me at all. My recent ex considered transferring from his State College to what was at the time a 4-year MA University and was told only about half of his courses would transfer. Yet he transferred to a university here in Alabama and everything transferred. It’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/32 "2010-09-24T01:11:47Z")
It’s very stupid. I’m taking my government and statistics right now because I know I’ll need them if I go to Worcester State. With my luck, they wont transfer. Unfortunately I don’t have the option of moving to Alabama. I don’t think my boyfriend and our puppies would appreciate that. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/33 "2010-09-24T01:12:07Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > What if I transfer to another school though? I’m currently taking 3 classes that have English Comp as a pre-req. What if I transfer to a State _University_ and they dont accept my Bay Path classes as direct transfers? Will I then have to go back and take them before they’ll let me continue where I left off at QCC? I really hope that doesn’t happen. They may try to. If it’s not too late, hang on to the syllabi from that course. (Or email the instructor if you’ve since pitched it). Sometimes you have to advocate for yourself but they’ll do it. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539/34 "2010-09-24T01:20:52Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > They may try to. If it’s not too late, hang on to the syllabi from that course. (Or email the instructor if you’ve since pitched it). Sometimes you have to advocate for yourself but they’ll do it. Damn. I took those 3 classes in 2004. I do still have one of the papers I wrote for the class because I kept the disk I saved it on. But, I don’t have a computer that can use it any more. 😃 I definitely don’t have the syllabuses (syllabi?) any more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-at-least-i-dont-have-to-spend-4-years-struggling-to-keep-a-4-0/554539.md?page=1)