<p>My daughter is considering majoring in business. The business school at a large university she is considering has a lot of intro to business type courses that take at least a year to take and have to be taken before any more business courses can be taken. My daughter will be applying as a transfer student, even though she is only currently 17. I called to ask the below question, was given the email address of the business advisor. I asked if it was possible for a transfer student coming in with her core courses completed to graduate with a business degree in three years. He said she would have to apply, send her transcript, sign something giving him permission to discuss it with me, and then we could discuss it. Although there are some reasons she would like that university it is not her first choice and we will probably just drop if off the list. To have to write essays, arrange for recommendations and transcripts to be sent, and spend money before a basic question will be answered is not encouraging as to what to expect at the school. Has anyone else had to apply before such a question could be answered?</p>
<p>Is the issue with discussing it with anyone other than the student, or discussing it at all before applying?</p>
<p>Seems like the question should be answerable by inspecting the courses and curriculum listed on the business major web site of the school.</p>
<p>Oh, for goodness sakes - just go over his head! That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of! Put in a call to the dean of the business school . . . tell him your question, and the response you got from the so-called “advisor,” and ask if he can’t help you.</p>
<p>If he stonewalls you also . . . then it’s time to cross the school off your list.</p>
<p>And, by the way, since your daughter is still a minor, even if she were already a student, the school would not need her signed authorization in order to discuss her schedule with you.</p>
<p>My issue is that it is difficult to figure out even with a printed out copy of the majors required courses if a student can finish in three years not counting core courses, which she will have already had. The intro type courses have to be taken in a certain sequence which is not explained in the information available on the website . She will get no financial aid, perhaps one or two thousand per year in the way of scholarships, and only has funds to go for three years. I expect they don’t get this question very often as it is not obvious from the information they make available that they have the required intro to business courses. We only know because we know a student majoring in business at the college.</p>
<p>Isn’t this something your daughter should be asking herself? Perhaps the advisor would be more receptive to a call from her.</p>
<p>I don’t know why I can’t help her with this, which is what she wants. Frankly, I have helped all my children screen out colleges for problems like this as am much more experienced. I don’t think that was the problem as he didn’t suggest he talk to my daughter, he said she had to apply before he could discuss it with her or myself.</p>
<p>I wonder if his problem is just discussing it with you and not her. My daughter received a call from a college the other night and she wasn’t home. I told them that she is not considering that college and I was told that they could not take her off the potential student list unless they heard directly from her (I didn’t even ask them to take her off the list I just wanted them to know she was not going to apply there). </p>
<p>Is the university your daughter is interested in nearby? If so, have her make an appointment with a business school advisor, take her college transcript with you, and both of you go meet with the advisor. My older daughter did this with a college department she was interested in (they even mapped out what she would have to take prior to applying to their department and once the students are in the program they all take the same classes so we could see what she’d be taking) and so has my younger daughter (at a business school and we got all sorts of information and that meeting is the main reason she is now interested in that school).</p>
<p>The school is 12 hours away. I got the complete opposite reaction at another school, got put through directly to professors (even though I asked for an advisor) who acted delighted to talk to me and answered my questions quickly and without hesitation. You can guess which school I was impressed by.</p>
<p>It might be easier to have your D call and ask these kinds of questions especially if she is a transfer student. Generally the universities do a transcript review and determine which classes from the original college will transfer to the “new” university. What is the importance of getting the degree finished in three years? So many kids “switch” majors.</p>
<p>As a transfer student I can see where the adviser thinks that she is over 18. Also, I can also see why he can’t answer the question without seeing her transcript. Without knowing exactly what classes she has, if the credits will transfer, etc. he can’t give you an answer. Also, why is she a transfer student at 17 years old?</p>
<p>She may not need to “apply” but she would certainly need to have the transcript analyzed for the adviser to be able to answer the question. One thought, her “current” university if a junior college should have some sort of articulation agreement or at the very minimum have experience with which of their classes transfer to the “new” university. She could check with her current college to glean info on how many of her current credits will transfer, etc. I think it would be “good” for her to take this task on anyway. She is at the young end of college students and it would be a test of sorts of her “navigation” skills.</p>
<p>Official transcript evaluation for transfers is time-consuming, and I don’t know of any college that does it on the fly via phone inquiries. Any answer you get that way will only be provisional, not official, and I wouldn’t make academic plans based on it. Professors don’t handle transcript evaluation. Trained admin staff (going off course equivalence databases) and department chairs do. I recommend that your D submit her transcripts to all schools if she really wants to know what her standing will be at each one of them. Do not rely on an oral estimate. Get an official report in writing. You may have to pay a fee for the service even if she doesn’t apply.</p>
<p>Lovestheheat -</p>
<p>Do your own best guesstimate of the possibility that your daughter will be able to finish in three years. For example, if she would be enrolling after completing a full associates degree, is there any indication that an AA/AS would normally fulfill all of the Gen Ed requirements? If she would be enrolling after only one year of college, how well does what she has already completed appear to match up with the Gen Eds that most of the business majors take? If it looks to you like there would need to be a lot of struggle and fuss to get full transfer credit for her previous coursework, and/or in order to fit the specific major requirements into the three years she wants/needs to finish in, well then just scratch this one from your list.</p>
<p>Happykid went through the transfer process last year, and I did all of the background research for her. I never called any of the universities, just crunched the numbers from what was publicly available, and there were a whole bunch that did not make the “finish in four semesters more” cut. The two private institutions that she visited did peruse the degree requirements for her AA, and gave us clear indications that she would have been able to finish on time. For the in-state institutions, I was able to check course equivalency in the State Dept. of Ed. transfer database.</p>
<p>I would be very leery of a transcript evaluation that I was given over the phone unless the college/university your daughter is currently attending routinely sends transfers into that specific program. Until the transcripts are formally evaluated (the college/university staff that do this have access to nationwide databases of course equivalency so there is a decent chance that your daughter’s current coursework is listed), there really is no way to know what will transfer at all, let alone as what. Make certain that your daughter hangs on to all of her course syllabi and handouts, as well as textbooks and any graded course projects, essays, or exams. She may need them when she petitions for specific transfer credits. Happykid transferred in state, and most of her courses transferred readily, however there still are some questions that need to be resolved if she is going to have the most beneficial interpretation of her original transcript.</p>
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<p>I do this for each of my kids for HS, and for College. I plan out their schedule for 4 years, and show them the critical path (classes they have to take in sequence to graduate on time). It takes time, but is not difficult.</p>
<p>1) Get the Graduation Requirements for the degree. The requirements will list every class (or choice of classes).</p>
<p>2) Look up each class (course description), and find its pre-requisites (classes you have to have in order to take that class). If the class does not list one, then there should not be a restriction on when it can be taken. Some classes do have “junior standing required” (soph, Sr, etc.), with no pre-req.</p>
<p>3) Look at course offerings for the past 2 years (timetables used for registration). See which term a class is offered. Sometimes a class may only be offered once every two years, so you have to make sure to take it when it is offered.</p>
<p>For business, I would expect to see Accounting 1&2, Econ, a writing class, and Statistics the first year.</p>
<p>For the 2nd year, I would expect to see: Finance, marketing, management, operations, business law. Some of these classes may or may not require the 2nd accounting class. Finance probably.</p>
<p>The problem may be, getting in all the other classes in the 3 semesters (2nd half of Jr yr, and Sr yr).</p>
<p>In addition to the above list of courses, business majors often require calculus, though a less rigorous “calculus for business majors” is often allowed.</p>
<p>My daughter will be applying as a transfer student, even though she is only currently 17</p>
<p>Why is she a transfer student? If she’s in high school and has been taking college classes, then she should apply as a frosh…better FA and merit scholarships that way.</p>
<p>however, if she graduated from HS, and THEN took college classes, then she’s a transfer student.</p>