We advised our son to wait a year before going away to school. He knew the Junior college in California that he wanted to go to, so we checked with them about courses and they said they thought it would be fine (but it might take some extra paperwork) if he took four courses at our local college and then transferred them. (that way he'd have a lighter load when he started his baseball and college the following year) We even checked with them about which courses would transfer most easily. He took the four courses locally, in September and then worked for the second half of the year.
When he got to California he discovered the courses didn't transfer despite many meetings with the advisor and letters to many different people.(Make sure that you have definite information in writing rather than assuming that they are giving you correct information on the phone)
Now he has finished his two year junior college degree and is transferring to an NCAA Division 1 school. NCAA has new rules and they start your "academic clock" as soon as you take a college course, even if you aren't playing baseball at the time. Therefore, my son is now a year behind according to his academic clock since they start timing when he took those four courses, even though those courses were a waste of time and they won't give him credit. Therefore he has had to take courses this summer.
HOWEVER, his new college told him about the Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, acei1.com. After paying about $120.00 they have reviewed his courses and sent the information to his Divison 1 school who is now accepting the four courses. In other words, if you think that your courses should transfer it is worth contacting ACEI. I wish I'd known about them three years ago.
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