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Bringing It Home – The Saint Rose Blog

Life As A “Commuter” Student: Summer Classes

Hey readers!  You all know that the “typical” college experience consists of eight semesters: 4 in the fall, 4 in the spring.  Not everyone is so lucky to stick to this layout.  Some students need to take courses over the summer in order to graduate on time.  Why do I bring this up?  Well, it has recently come to my attention that I’m one of those people.

Now there’s a few things I could have done to avoid this circumstance.  For starters, I could have stayed with my original major, music industry, and followed the plan my adviser gave me first semester.  But these things happen; major changes can be hard and can affect your college path in many ways.  I couldn’t have predicted that changing my major would result in this, but it was a decision I needed to make at the time and I don’t regret it one bit!  I had to explore my options and that’s okay, even if I ended up in this situation.  The bright-side to all of this is I CAN still graduate on time!  If you have thoughts about changing majors, discuss it with your adviser and/or with someone in the Academic Advisement department on the third floor of Saint Joseph Hall before going through with anything.

Most students who need summer classes only need to take one or two over a couple of summers to ensure an on-time graduation.  But given my status as a “commuter” student who needs to work during school to pay for various expenses (ie. gas, rent, etc.) and the lack thereof time to complete my degree and walk in spring next year otherwise, I’ll be taking 12 credits this summer.  I plan on taking these credits at a community college in the area and transferring them back to Saint Rose.  With my abnormal amount of summer credits, I’ll be gaining exposure to an entirely different college environment than I’ve gotten used to.  I’ll get the chance to branch out and network with totally new people, both professors and students.  Thanks to that, I choose to see my circumstance as an opportunity!

Be that as it may, if you want my advice, do what you can to avoid taking summer classes.  They don’t spell the end of the world but your life could be much easier without them.  Take the time to sit down and plan out your entire degree plan.  By that I mean you should build your schedules for each upcoming semester and stick to it!  Look at prerequisite requirements, as well as the semesters they offer specific classes, to make sure that you take classes in the right order and to be sure you build your plan accordingly.  Also, make very good use of the time your given on Advisement Day.  That’s your chance to ask any questions you couldn’t find the answers to when building your schedule.  Your advisor is there to help you keep on track with as little stress as possible!

That’s all I’ve got to say about that.  Wish me luck with this summer!  I hope you all enjoy yours!!!

*image credit to rootedinhope.com*

*image credit to rootedinhope.com*

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