@LKnomad Well the reason for his ~3.0 college GPA is because we went on an emergency family trip to Philippines and he missed about 2-3 weeks of school. His professors at his CSU would not let him retake his quizzes/tests at a later date so he got an F on them.
But thank you for the input, it’s a huge risk and we might have to cut down on the spending for the next couple of years, but we’re hoping for the best 
@sweetcharge I will reiterate what I said about making sure that ALL non nursing courses are taken before your brother enteres WCU. There is no reason to take a general education course at that price and the school typically accepts all transfer credits. Almost all students at WCU transfer in with credits. But it is worth waiting to enroll until those credits are complete. Then your brother only needs to pay for the nursing courses. He can take the gen ed courses at any CC.
@LkNomad Thank you! I will try to convince him to finish up his remaining GE classes at his school before transferring. He is currently in CSU San Bernardino and with the recent unfortunate events over there, he is trying to transfer out ASAP. Thanks again.
I understand his concern about being in San Bernardino right now…but really…the issues there, unfortunately, could happen anywhere.
He should separate his school needs from the current crime issue there.
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meant $45k-$50k total haha. I know CSU are about $6k and UCs are about $13k
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There are more costs then just tuition. Are you planning on commuting to college?
@mom2collegekids Yes I plan to commute there.
@thumper1 Oh definitely, I’m not saying the recent event was the only reason why he wants to transfer. Like I said earlier, he wasn’t able to get into the nursing program in San Bernardino; not sure how because his stats when he applied to CSUSB were much higher than mine.
Is it common for the schools to be so hard nosed about say, a death in the family requiring flying overseas? MAybe the emergency family trip wasn't explained well? That 2 weeks completely totalled his GPA? Was it 2 or was it 3 weeks? He didn't appeal in any way?
the fact that the tragedy occurred in SB is not a reason to “quickly transfer out.” That is silly. The chances of anything like that happening again there is not likely. Your brother could transfer to a school in another city (or even another state!) and a tragedy could happen.
@Alfonsia <<<
Is it common for the schools to be so hard nosed about say, a death in the family requiring flying overseas? MAybe the emergency family trip wasn’t explained well? That 2 weeks completely totalled his GPA? Was it 2 or was it 3 weeks? He didn’t appeal in any way?
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Schools tend to leave these decisions up to profs.
While it may seem cold and unfeeling for some profs not to be more lenient about “an emergency trip of 2 weeks overseas,” profs tend to be rather hardline about such things. Virtually every students’ family suffers some serious issue (or two!) during the four years of college…loss of grandparents, close friends, siblings, parents, etc. There would be chaos if each time students could be gone for two weeks and then come back and retake tests, quizzes, turn in labs late, etc. My own children weren’t able to attend my mom’s funeral across the country because it would have impacted their grades. Were they sad, sure. But I know that my mom would not have wanted them to ruin their grades over her funeral.
Alright, I think I got all the answers I need. Though some of them were bad news, I actually put everything into consideration. Thanks guys & Merry Christmas!
@sweetchange feel free to PM me with any questions regarding WCU.
@LKnomad Thank you! & if my brother or parents have any questions, I’ll be sure to PM you
Expensive consequence of emergency family trip - up to $100,000 in additional future costs at a for-profit school due to missing classes resulting in low GPA and rejection for nursing program at affordable public.
Couldn’t your brother retake some of the courses this summer at the current school or a community college nearby? Also could he work as an EMT? I would try and stay at the current school at least 2 years and retake failed classes and then transfer to a nursing program with a better gpa.
Here is another issue. You say your brother failed ALL of his courses one term? If that is the case, it is very possible he did not meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP) at his current school…and MIGHT not meet it at another college to which he transfers.
Every school,has its own SAP policies…but if your brother doesn’t meet SAP, he would not be eligible for need based aid at a school until he meets their requirements.
Expensive consequence of emergency family trip - up to $100,000 in additional future costs at a for-profit school due to missing classes resulting in low GPA and rejection for nursing program at affordable public. <<<
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I know that my response will annoy some, particularly some families who make these emotional decisions w/o much/any concern about long term consequence.
Traveling abroad for 2 weeks for an “emergency family trip,” is very short-sighted when the negative consequences are this big.
When the student is ALONE struggling to pay back $100k, he’ll likely reflect badly on his decision or possible family pressure to take such a trip, for such a long time.
Also it affects the sibling because the brother can’t take out (that high an amount of) loans without parents cosigning
So less (no) money for sibling to go to college.
WCU has a horrible reputation in the medical/nursing world. I know of a few RNs who got their degree there and not only do they struggle with skills and experience but hospitals in general do not look on this school very favorably. At all.
There have to be other options. Isn’t there an associate nursing degree one can get, like ADN? Can he get that at a local community college?