NY - Non-Traditional - Sustainability

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I need a lot of help. :slight_smile: And I’ll be grateful for any advice you can throw my way!</p>

<p>Going back to school - non-traditional student. I hope to transfer some acquired credits from a defunct AS degree in Patternmaking from the Fashion Institute of Technology. I pretty much completed the entire curriculum in 2006, however, I never officially graduated due to lots of personal issues since then. </p>

<p>This past June ( 2012 ), I applied for re-evaluation to finally obtain my degree which I thought was pretty much complete. I was told that Patternmaking, as a degree, was completely omitted as an option in 2009 and I would not be able to receive my degree. Only several of the courses would transfer to another major. :(</p>

<p>I spent so much time, effort & money at FIT in the past, taking classes on & off for years ( 1998 - 2006 ) ( I never received financial aid ) and I really would like to have a fresh start and try a different direction and new school entirely. </p>

<p>I’m considering transferring to a CUNY School ( I cannot afford or have the perfect grades the elite schools require ) into the Baccalaureate program. With that, I really like that I would be able to, hopefully, be able to transfer some credits while having the autonomy to decide on my own courses. As an INTP personality, I think this would be good for me.:D</p>

<p>I really want to get a quality education… to me that means feeling challenged, motivated, efficient and that I’m pursuing a degree that will help me have a good career… something I simply didn’t feel at FIT.</p>

<p>I’m interested in the environment / sustainability / food studies and I’m also interested in sociology. I can see myself doing some type of consulting of some sort or something similar such as spreading the word about the importance of sustainability. </p>

<p>I’ll be living in Brooklyn, New York ( native NYer ) and I’m planning on being a full time student in the Fall. I guess my only option is Hunter or Baruch or Brooklyn College and I’ll definitely be needing all the financial aid I can get - I still haven’t applied but I went through the process I just haven’t pressed send. </p>

<p>So, I’m wondering if this is a good plan? Which would be a better area to focus on as far as job opportunities go - the environmental aspect or sociology? </p>

<p>And also, is the CUNY Baccalaureate a good program? It seems like it is but who knows… it seems like all colleges, in general, are just a business anyway. </p>

<p>Thanks for reading & thanks for any advice regarding any of the topics I mentioned. As I mentioned I need lots of help. :D</p>

2

<p>Cornell College of Ag and Life Sciences or College of Human Ecology.</p>

<p>These are public divisions so tuition and fees are significantly lower for in-state students. Lots of transfer students and lots of non-trad students in both of those divisions. You would not be alone by any means.</p>

<p>Contact the admissions offices for both of those divisions, and find out what is possible.</p>

3

<p>Cornell sounds fantastic happymomof1. The only thing is… I intend to stay in Brooklyn, NY as my family is in the process of buying a house and it would be most affordable for me and helpful to my family, to live with them and contribute to the mortgage by paying a small amount of rent. </p>

<p>My options are limited to CUNY, it seems. But thanks for the suggestion… if I could I would go - it would be a nice change to move away for while. </p>

<p>I would love to transfer to Fordham… maybe even Eugene Lang/New School but I’m afraid I could never get enough financial aid to cover tuition for any of those. It’s impossible that I’d be able to afford either of those on my own.</p>

<p>To be more specific, here’s a link to the CUNY Baccalaureate program I meant
[CUNY</a> Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies](<a href=“http://cunyba.gc.cuny.edu/]CUNY”>http://cunyba.gc.cuny.edu/). From what’s described on the site, it seems like it could work for me but I haven’t found any reviews about it.</p>

<p>Pros:
Close to home
affordable
I can choose my own courses within the CUNY system of schools - I wouldn’t have to follow the curriculum of one school</p>

<p>Cons:
It’s CUNY - all the common knowledge negatives that come with that.</p>

4

<p>you’ll probably need a masters degree for that type of work so just go to cuny for as cheap as you can, do as well as you can, study for the gre, and apply to top schools for a masters (you may have to move/take on some debt).</p>

5

<p>Thank you GW. I agree. I’m hoping I could be done with an undergraduate degree asap ( it’s so long overdue ) so I can go for it. </p>

<p>In the past… I was so naive about college. I was always afraid to ask for help. I always tried to get by on my own… pay my way and I didn’t even realize maybe I was pursuing a degree that didn’t fit my personality. I just had no guidance. I fell through the cracks. </p>

<p>One day, I recall vividly, asking someone at FIT, “where can I go to get some support to help me stay on track to graduate?” and the person said, very condescendingly “well, no one’s gonna hold your hand”. It was downhill from there… Anxiety, depression… a long way down.</p>

<p>Now, at 34, I’m ready to try again but I have no idea how to decide on a college - which is best for certain courses, etc. I’m still pretty naive about all of this. I do realize college is a business though, above all else - however, I do enjoy learning and now I’m not afraid to ask for help so I can just get on with it! : )</p>

6

<p>Cornell might not work right now, but take a look at what it has at the graduate level, and look around for other grad programs as well. If you find a one that interests you, you can work backwards from that to determine which courses you need to have in your bachelors program.</p>

7

<p>That’s a good point Happymom. I hadn’t thought of it that way but it makes a lot of sense. It will be a terrific goal to focus on ( an ideal graduate degree at a better school that is ) as I complete an undergraduate. I’m just not looking forward to dealing with the CUNY experience though… sounds very chaotic.</p>

8

<p>Is sociology even a good major? Should I supplement that with environmental courses on the side? Would that be enough to get into a good graduate program later on? If sociology is a more solid/versatile degree than maybe I should go with that.</p>

9

<p>i took a summer class at BMCC and it wasn’t nearly as bad as i thought it would be. the statistics professor was one of the best i’ve ever had, in fact. the worst part will be the red tape.</p>

10

<p>When you speak with the people at CUNY about your program of studies, ask about credit for prior learning. Sometimes it is possible to put together some evidence about work you have done on the job or just on your own, and then get academic credit for that portfolio. You also need to find out what course credit you can get for CLEP and other exams. My cousin who returned to college in her forties was able to get almost a year of credits that way at her university.</p>

<p>You should be able to check the CUNY policy about this by using their website search function.</p>

<p>I expect you will be a roaring success at CUNY. Nontraditional students usually are, because they are so highly motivated.</p>