A case against a CUNY school for taking longer to finish?

[evlesoa]

Jurisdiction

New York

I think it's negligence, somehow, but I could be wrong.

Here's the situation: I am a transfer student. I have about 140 or so credits. 60 come from a school abroad, 54 come from a school within the cuny system. I managed to transfer 54, but out of the 60, I only got 12. That's fine. Here's where there's a problem: I was, more or less, told by an advisor that I should be able to finish within a year, provided I take all the classes and hit the 120 credit requirement. The time frame is important because I have an ailing family member overseas and I need to go back to take care of them as well as take care of some paperwork or risk losing property to the state. Today, however, I'm told that there are many requirements I haven't met despite being able to reach the credit requirement. They expect me to do an internship, a culmination project, a management class that is a pre-req for the culmination project (a senior thesis basically), a team project, and some other classes, but none of this was really laid down on me until I started hearing rumors and started looking into it. All of this is obviously not doable in the time-frame that I have. I feel a bit cheated. I think there's nothing I can do about this situation. I also have to work to support my spouse who cannot work, and it seems that I may have to drop out next semester as a result.

Is there anything the school did wrong, or did I set myself up for failure and it's my fault? I intend to now transfer out when I can and finish abroad, where my family is, and this time hopefully with more realistic expectations.

Any positive input would be helpful, or just tell me I'm wrong but please, no negative criticism. Thank you.

 

[cbg]

It's your responsibility to know what the requirements are and whether you have met them. It's not the school's responsibility to keep track of them for you. I don't see that the school has done anything wrong.

 

[adjusterjack]

Is there anything the school did wrong,

No.

or did I set myself up for failure and it's my fault?

Yes. (Well, you asked.)

All that information was available to you when and/or before you enrolled.

 

[evlesoa]

Okay, then. I just wanted to confirm--it wasn't my idea in the original place, I was told by someone else to look into the legality of all that.

Thank you for your replies. Then I shall transfer out.

 

[army judge]

It took me 2 1/2 years to complete my Bachelors degree, going to summer school, and carrying a 21-24 hour credit load during fall and spring semesters from UMICH (while also taking some classes at a local CC, Eastern Michigan University, and a private college), Go Blue!

In addition, I took several CLEP tests as I recall the name).

 

[evlesoa]

It took me 2 1/2 years to complete my Bachelors degree, going to summer school, and carrying a 21-24 hour credit load during fall and spring semesters from UMICH (while also taking some classes at a local CC, Eastern Michigan University, and a private college), Go Blue!

In addition, I took several CLEP tests as I recall the name).

2.5 years? It's taking me almost 10. On the other hand, I've been working non-stop for all those years and have been productive in other ways, unlike most college students. I work around 30-35 hours a week currently, although had to go through a year and a half of 70-hour weeks for 2016/2017. I've got a plan on how to finish faster by transferring out or heading back to my country, but I doubt I'll continue with this school past this semester unless it REALLY benefits me to do so (i.e., if I can transfer those credits, I'll do it). I'm just really disappointed because I feel that it wasn't up-front about what the requirements REALLY were, and the program they use is seriously broken (degree works--says I am missing another 60-70 credits on top of the 97 that I have). In any case, life happens, and we need to take responsibility by doing what's best for us and not getting hung up on stuff. It's a little harder when you're forced into being a working adult right after high school and having to move countries on your own right after with no support from anyone else because either most of the family members are not around, dead, or having difficulties. Good thing that you're not in that position. At least you save yourself time, whereas I haven't been able to...

 

[army judge]

Good thing that you're not in that position. At least you save yourself time, whereas I haven't been able to...

I did it as a single parent, active duty army,

I also had a part-time job to supplement my $125/month salary. LOL
I later got my MBA, and then my JD.
If you want something, YOU can make it happen.

Good luck to you, just keep plugging away, you'll get there.

 

[evlesoa]

I did it as a single parent, active duty army,

I also had a part-time job to supplement my $125/month salary. LOL
I later got my MBA, and then my JD.
If you want something, YOU can make it happen.

Good luck to you, just keep plugging away, you'll get there.

Wait... you were a parent, in the army, taking 21-24 credits a semester, and you worked on the side? I don't know how that's possible, but I'm not saying that you didn't do it. I just want to know how you did it.

I've done 24 credit semesters. I used to study in the China area in a Chinese school. My day consisted of waking up at 8 AM to get to school 9, sometimes 10, then being there until 2 or 3 PM, Monday through Friday. Then I'd study until 7 PM (and by study I mean actually sitting down and writing non-stop for 4-5 hours in a Starbucks every day), and finally to go to work for 3 hours. I did this 5 days a week. I'd work more on the weekend, and spend a little less time doing homework. On top of that, I actually was very depressed and had to see a psychologist on the weekends -- when I had more time -- because I had to stay up all night to study for tests about once a week and it was driving me literally insane... I was losing my mind and arguing with friends constantly, pushing everyone away, and isolating myself.

As for an experience like yours, I had a similar situation in the U.S. earlier. I used to go to school for 40 hours a week (technical training), and I used to work. My school pushed me to work so that I could continue to go to school. Every day I would fall nearly asleep at the wheel on the highway because of highway hypnosis. This lasted for a few months, until one day... a wake-up call came in when I was driving on my way home: I entered the lane next to me and hit the adjacent car with my side-view mirror because I was half-asleep. That was it--that made me rethink what I can and cannot do, and no amount of pushing from the school was going to keep me going to school because I didn't want to sacrifice my life or die as a result.

And I heard that if you stay up more than three or four days in a row, you start to hallucinate. I don't know... I guess I am hoping that I can learn something or be aware of something I'm not aware of currently if you share your experience of how your schedule was.

I'm aware that it's possible to get through school. However, I do not plan on having 200+ credits before I graduate. This is abnormal. Any school that isn't willing to work with this many credits (I'm already approaching 160 at the end of this semester) is unreasonable/not worth the time. Thankfully, I did find a school (and I contacted them earlier) that will take all my credits. As a designer, nonetheless, it makes no difference other than opening the door to working for LARGE companies. You never met a level editor / environmentalist for a game with a degree in 3D level design, have you? I haven't. I've only seen people running around with portfolios. There's always a way. I just wish the school told me it won't be possible to do this in 3 semesters. No one said anything about needing a minimum of 4 semesters because of the limited one-per-semester class. A trap, in my opinion.

 

[ElleMD]

You are an adult. It is your responsibility to find out all the requirements for your degree program and plan accordingly.

 

[evlesoa]

You are an adult. It is your responsibility to find out all the requirements for your degree program and plan accordingly.

I believe if you read the messages above, you'll find that that has already been figured out. I'm already doing something about it, too. No need to beat a dead horse. Thanks.