Switching from Community College to a University

Many of the things about Community College are the same in a University. There are some major differences though. Mostly in how they manage themselves and their students. At my CC it seemed one step up from High School. My University seems one step up from my CC.

If I could have it all to do over again, I would start at the University and skip the CC. Some of the lessons I mastered at the CC would have been much harder and more painful to learn in a University. The draw backs are mostly for my specific situation.

Taking Stafford Loans to help me survive as an older student was a must. I know that they can be dangerous, and that is a lot of money to have to pay back. However, there was just no other way for me to eat and learn at the same time. Enough about that part.

Having graduated and now transferring to the University, I have found out more about the whole loan process. So I received notice that I have get with my CC loan providers and inform them about my enrollment at the University. So now I'll have two different loan providers that will want their minimum payment when I finish schooling. I have done very minor research and now I have to find out more about how to consolidate my loans.

This is very important to me as I have been thinking of other Universities I may want to transfer to. I am in no way displeased with the University I am enrolled in. It's just that I would love to go to a major Physics research University. Who wouldn't want to go to the best place for one's interest?

I did get an acceptance letter from the University of Arizona for a Computer Science Degree. It was the second option I listed. I also was awarded an awesome scholarship and grant to go. Did you know that under Wildcat Stadium they make huge telescope lenses? You do now! Also, there are many other reasons to hang out at the stadium. The Phoenix Mars lander was built at UA. There is a significant amount of NASA research done at UA. Of course I'm going to constantly think about going. If I can just get the cost down, I'll be there in a heartbeat.

So I have a busy day tomorrow, trying to figure some of this out.

On a different note, I got my student E-mail working the other day while I was at the school. The day before I called the IT dept trying to figure it out. I emailed them from my personal email account screenshots of the error I was getting while going through the set-up. They said it was a software issue, and they'd email me when they had a resolution. so while I was at school last Thursday I dropped in on the Walk-up IT help-desk. It is next door to the Physics Dept. They got me going in a few minutes.

Seems the issue was the PIN I had thought I changed much earlier, hadn't done so by itself. So, not a software error. What struck me was Friday Night I decided to go trough the E-mail and see what I had been missing. One of the things I had missed was the resolution to my IT call. They E-mailed me that my "not being able to log into my Email" to the account I couldn't access.

This is why people don't take CIS majors seriously. Oh wait...