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| Begin your college journey today! |
Hopefully you’ve found some money
to help pay for college tuition.
While I understand that some
scholarships and/or grants may require you to apply to a college first, now is
the time to seek out a particular college and apply. Most colleges have websites with a link from
their homepage to an application form. Please note that some colleges have
application fees that need to be submitted before your application will be
considered for acceptance.
Community colleges, or junior
colleges as they are sometimes called, allow potential students to attend 3 or
4 non-pre-requisite courses [about 12 credits] before needing to take the free
Placement Test. A non-pre-requisite
course is like Art Appreciation or Psychology.
It’s a course that requires no math or science.
Without S.A.T. scores [Scholastic
Assessment Tests], the Placement Test is necessary to be sure potential
students have the background knowledge to handle college level courses. This test is made up of three parts: reading/comprehension, writing, and math. The Placement Test is free—the first time you
take it. However, you may take it a
second time, or a third, but there is a fee each time. This is a pass/fail test. You only take it again if you feel you can do
better and pass a particular section.
Basic skills courses are offered at all colleges to assist potential
students in achieving college level math and writing. Yes, you need to pay for these basic skills
courses, too. You may transfer in to
college with prior course credit in math or science courses from another
college and not need to take the Placement Test.
Once you are admitted to a
college, or even before, you should consider a major, a course of study. Students may begin attending college without
being matriculated, which means being enrolled in a particular course of study.
You can register for classes
online. The courses listed on the web
inform potential students if a requirement [another course] is necessary before
taking that particular course.
Some colleges offer both Saturday
and Sunday classes from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in addition to weekday early morning
[starting at 7 a.m.] and evening courses.
Of course, online courses abound at colleges. Summer courses available at colleges are usually
fifteen week courses compressed into about five to eight weeks, meeting
approximately four times per week, day or evening. Compressed weekend courses can be found as
well. There are non-compressed summer
courses, too, usually about 12 weeks. I’ve
attended both the compressed and the non-compressed versions of summer courses
in my ten-year college journey.
So
stick a pencil into the college pool of non-pre-requisite courses first if
you’d like, and then get matriculated into a course of study and begin your own
college journey to a bachelor’s degree.
You’ll be glad you did.