Help me out here, starting 2nd degree in Jan.

[ziweiwu]

I was going to start my 2nd degree in Sep, but due to some passport issue I had while I was out of country, I am forced to drop full years courses and fall courses and left with winter courses. I am schedule to return in October and instead of delaying 2nd degree till next year I am thinking of starting to take few courses in Jan thinking it's a good buffer for me to get familiar with the school, then transition into full school year in next year september. My question is regarding the Western/ queen best 2 years policy, Do I have to take a full course load in Winter sememster as well , or it's ok for me to start taking maybe 3 courses in Jan then into a full course load in next year Sep? Thanks for any input.

[jojoluvsu2]

You could do a few in the winter semester, but they won't be counted (a good time to take any really difficult courses). Make sure that you will have at least two years of full course load with appropriate year of study (3/5 rule).

[Belle_MD]

Doesn't Queens consider 3 courses per semester a full course load now??

[Legion]

Doesn't Queens consider 3 courses per semester a full course load now??

 

Yes. But they don't consider single semesters.

 

OP you can take 1 course or 5 courses in the winter semester. But they won't be counted as part of the best/last 2 years. It will be counted, however, if you are applying to a school that looks at cGPA.

[ziweiwu]

Thanks everyone here for the suggestions, I also looked up very detail on queen and western's admission requirement. Looks the winter sememster won't be counted for GPA purpose for western and queens. I am going to take 3 courses and doing some volunteering on the side.

[jerkstore]

You could do a few in the winter semester, but they won't be counted (a good time to take any really difficult courses). Make sure that you will have at least two years of full course load with appropriate year of study (3/5 rule).

 

I thought that was for summer?

[jojoluvsu2]

If you only do a winter semester (no Sept-Dec, just Jan-April) some schools (Western, Queens etc.) will not look at it even if it is full time.

[jerkstore]

You mean if I didn't do the September before? What if I did Jan-April2012 then September 2012-December2012? So I did no September2011-December2011?

 

Can you START your undergrad in January I mean?

[jojoluvsu2]

I'd contact the different schools to be sure. Your degree will still be vaild, I just don't think the Jan-April only semester will count as one of the years Western or Queens will look at (I don't think they'd pair it with the following Sept-Dec year to make a full year of courses). Say you started January 2010, they'll look at Sept'10-April'11 as one year.

[ziweiwu]

I'd contact the different schools to be sure. Your degree will still be vaild, I just don't think the Jan-April only semester will count as one of the years Western or Queens will look at (I don't think they'd pair it with the following Sept-Dec year to make a full year of courses). Say you started January 2010, they'll look at Sept'10-April'11 as one year.

 

yeah, that looks like to be the case. only next sep to april full year could be used for application.

[rmorelan]

Yeah generally 1/2 years are kind of pointless on the second degree side of things as most schools that strongly consider short second degrees need full years at least to process.

[nosuperman]

See if you can meet with a guidance counselor and plot out your trajectory towards graduation in terms of courses taken and credits transferred. Often it'll end up that you'll need to take summer courses or juggle your schedule to get all of your required courses (and their prerequisits) in within 2 years. If you can use this extra time to alleviate those issues, or take courses you think you might not score as high in, you'll actually end up coming out ahead.

[ziweiwu]

See if you can meet with a guidance counselor and plot out your trajectory towards graduation in terms of courses taken and credits transferred. Often it'll end up that you'll need to take summer courses or juggle your schedule to get all of your required courses (and their prerequisits) in within 2 years. If you can use this extra time to alleviate those issues, or take courses you think you might not score as high in, you'll actually end up coming out ahead.

 

Thanks for advice, looks like tackling those killer course in my upcoming half year semester or summer is a good idea. I will definitely look into it.