Guidance for a continuing student

[Eplov]

Until recently I was a full time student at UC Davis here in California. I transferred in with a very respectable (3.7) GPA and commenced destroying my previous good work (it turns out I absolutely hate materials science). I have since left the school as a senior but with a significantly lowered GPA. My question is this: would testing through whatever classes are needed to finish my bachelors in engineering be a wise way to go and, if so, how do I begin that journey?

Thank you in advance.

[clep3705]

You can test out of general education courses but not engineering courses. What's left to get that degree? Do you want to finish at UC Davis?

[davewill]

I think you need to define "destroyed" and "hate." As CLEP3705 said, you can't really test out of engineering classes. The first question I have is whether you hate the subject so much that it no longer makes sense to get an engineering degree. If that's the case then you explore what kind of degree would make sense for you. There are degrees that can be tested out of, but engineering isn't one of them.

If the answer is that you do want to finish your engineering degree, then I'm curious how you're going to do better in your courses going forward. Testing and online classes take someone who can self-study very effectively. Can you do that with the classes you have left?

I suggest laying your cards on the table. What kind of engineering were you studying? What majors would work for you going forward? How many units do you have and what kind of GPA? And mostly, what would keep you from finishing at Davis? It's a great school and an excellent choice for most kinds of engineering.

[Eplov]

Cards on the table: I was studying Materials Science with a focus in Mechanical Engineering. I picked MS because it required all of the subjects I was interested in (math, physics, chemistry, etc.) with the mistaken understanding that lateral movement within the college of engineering at UCD was easy. Lateral movement turned out to be completely impractical for my situation in particular. Upon being asked to step away from the program I left with a GPA of around 1.7. I actually did well in all of the general engineering courses as well as the mechanical ones. I took some biomedical and "green" (sustainability) engineering classes that I really enjoyed (and received high marks in), but again lateral movement was impractical. At this point I'd like a degree in electrical, biomedical, mechanical, or sustainability engineering. UC Davis is not a practical option as I'd need to attend as an open campus student which limits me to two classes a quarter and I'd have to repeat all of the classes that I did abysmally in. That's assuming its even an option since I fell into a fairly deep depression after failing so drastically and am only now trying to dig my way out of it. Arizona State University offers an online electrical degree but costs something like $529 a unit. I am fairly certain I'd have one "year" worth of classes regardless of which path I take, but it almost has to be online at this point. Sacramento State is geographically feasible but I don't know if I would even be admitted with my now drastically lowered GPA.

It is disappointing that engineering cannot be tested the way other degrees can, but any guidance I can get is both welcome and appreciated. Thank you both.

[clep3705]

Your GPA being below 2.0 may be your largest problem requiring immediate remediation. Some schools consider any GPA below 2.0 as being on probation. They won't consider you until you get your GPA up. This may require going to an open enrollment community college and taking easy courses just to get your GPA up. This could be a lot of courses. Sometimes a school will admit people with less than a 2.0 overall GPA. It's difficult to apply an accurate general rule here.

What if you can't get admitted because of your GPA? In theory, when you begin or even resume college studies at a school you've previously attended, you must supply transcripts from all colleges previously attended. If you have previously attended a community college where you've done well, just reenroll. Don't tell them about what you've done academically since then. Just enroll and do well. Recent good grades may get you admitted somewhere. Or you may get admitted on the basis of an overall GPA calculated by considering all college course work. If you get your overall GPA up to a 2.0, you're probably okay for some if not most schools.

[davewill]

If you actually only have a year left (24 units) $529 per unit isn't too bad ($12k or so to finish), assuming your classes go smoothly. The biggest advantage for you is not having to climb an admissions hurdle (The ASU online website seems to suggest that acceptance is automatic). The biggest question is what they would do with your transfer credit, and how many courses you would actually have to take. With the application fee only being $70, I'd say go ahead and apply and send your transcripts and find out what they accept and what applies toward the degree. That's the easiest way to be sure of how many courses you'd have to actually take. Depending on what they are, and what ASU online will accept, you may be able to find some of them from cheaper sources.

P.S. you don't have any barrista skills do you? ASU partners with Starbucks...

[TrailRunr]

Here is a story of a 1.871 GPA academic dismissal in EECS at Berkeley and managed to graduate in EECS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/berkeley/commen...ng/ceo5j5y

Did you burn your 16 units of retakes already for the UC GPA boost? The guy in the reddit already burned all of his retakes. If you haven't, you have a much better shot at getting out of this situation by staying at UC Davis.

I think some time off of academics and working for a while may be beneficial to helping you figure out what is the best path going forward.

[dfrecore]

Are any of the low graded courses available at your community college? I realize that the fact you got a low grade is probably tied to hating the course, but retaking a course is the fastest way to improve your GPA since it replaces the low grade.

Retaking a course at a CC will not replace the grade you received at the original school. Normally, a college will only let you repeat courses at their own school to replace bad grades you received there. Also, taking courses at a CC MAY help your GPA somewhat, but not with a course you are repeating, because the school will probably not count the new grade at all in your GPA. For instance, if you got a D in Sociology at UCD, then went and took it at CC and got an A, UCD would probably not bring it in as a transfer, since you already have it on your transcript there. So that will all be for naught.

I'm not sure there's a lot you can do to redeem yourself at UCD since they've already seen your work there...except ask for mercy. You won't be able to game the system with better grades at other colleges, since they have something right in front of their very eyes of your grades at their own school. The only thing you can do is try to see what you can do to get back in from within their system.

If you ultimately don't want to go there, and decide on another school, then figuring out which school that is, and seeing what you need to do to get into that school is the best place to start. It's hard for any of us here to give advice when we don't know what you're up against. Until we know the rules of the game, we can't tell you how to play the game in the best way to get the best outcome.

[davewill]

Retaking a course at a CC will not replace the grade you received at the original school. ...

Yeah, I realized that and had already edited it out of my comment.

[Yenisei]

I don't know what their transfer or admissions policies are, but I think the University of North Dakota still has several online engineering degrees (you have to go there to do the labs, though).

Also check APU/AMU- they have a BS in EE also (IIRC, you have to buy your own lab equipment, which might be cost-prohibitive).


Also think about the utility of the degree- is the program ABET accredited, and how is the program viewed in the market? UC is obviously a great brand Name, as is UA or UND.

Good luck...