Common summer school horror stories
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| CCSF 2014 Summer Schedule. (Photo by Jim Wong) |
Not ready for prime time
Mrs. Lee makes her Daisy, a high school junior, enroll in a
CCSF college math to
“get ahead”.
A good
notion but this often ends tragically in a “F” or “D”.
- High school students typically are not prepared for the
speed and complexity of a college-level course -even a developmental one. CCSF’s Math 40 Elementary Algebra and Math 60
Intermediate Algebra (two and one levels below Math 70/college transferable
math) are very rigorous like any community college course.
- College classes for high school students are often high
risk. Traditional college subjects like English,
science, Psychology 1, Sociology 1, Economics, and History overwhelm all but the
exceptional high school student (E.G., already taking Advanced Placement high
school classes).
- An “F” is forever.
ALL grades earned at CCSF by everyone – high school student,
for self-enrichment, or regular college student, is recorded on a permanent
record. All good and bad grades are on a
CCSF transcript forever. Consequently,
if the transcripts are sent to a future college the poor grades will pull a
student’s G.P.A. down. Young Daisy's
“D” in Math 40 will dog her academics two years later when she applies as a
freshman at a four college college.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
Jon Williams, a first time CCSF student just graduated from
Lincoln High school this May, enrolls this summer in Econ 1 and
Psychology 1 but placed into
remedial English and remedial math (< Eng 1A and < Math 70).
How did Jon sign up for this overwhelming
schedule?
Big brother Charles, a senior
Business student at San Francisco State made his little brother’s schedule so
“He’d not waste time and can transfer to State as soon as possible.”
Sadly, Jon will likely fail both classes, or barely pass one
and drop the other. Is it worth
it? Jon will be traumatized by an
overwhelming first load of college classes, risk academic probation (For grades under "C") and endangering his
financial aid and registration priority.
Let’s not forget he’ll spend over $300 in school fees and at least
$250-300 dollars in books for his summer school tragedy. Instead of a quick start to his college career, new college student Jon will be working out of a hole all of
the next school year!
Insult to injury? He'll likely be re-enrolling in one or both to make up for a bad grade(s) or to earn the credits if he Withdrew.
Avoiding college summer class disasters
- College summer school is not for the squeamish or
uncommitted! Summer school classes are
18 weeks of a regular lower division college-level semester course
material squeezed down to five weeks of
four-five days a week class meetings of two-three hours daily class
meetings. Daily homework requires
two-three hours each day. Forget a summer job
or much summer play time if you’re taking a Math or any summer college class seriously.
- Work with a CCSF college counselor who can advise what class(es)
are reasonable and helpful for you given your CCSF English and Math placement,
your high school/recent academic experience, and your needs and goals.
- Well-meaning family members or friends don't know college
realities. Ignore the real demands of
summer college classes and you’ll pay an unfortunate high price in confidence, risk academic probation, and waste time and money. Not a good way to spend summer.
Resources
CCSF's College for High School Students
CCSF English/ESL and Math Placement Test
CCSF Academic Probation
CCSF Academic Renewal (Erasing poor grades) See Q2 under "Corrections"
Note: All names in this post are fictitious but all situations are based on actual occurrences from my 20+ years of college advising.
Updated May 17, 2014
