I did 14 years in a public school system that pigeonholed me into the “remedial” track and I hated myself the whole time. When I got to high school, I decided to fix my situation and try for harder classes to to get myself away from the bullies and better prepare myself for the type of college I actually wanted to spend my time at. In short, I was first gaslighted into thinking I didn’t want or deserve them, but when I pushed back, I was simply stonewalled. At one point, I thought if I couldn’t negotiate into the regular classes, I could test into the honors. I took several placement tests and I was told, but not shown that I did not pass them and I would remain in the remedial classes.

Recently, I tried using something I though could be a loophole to get my diploma voided. I never actually took an art or foreign language which are requirements where I am. My school system refused, but when reviewing my records, the guidance counselor slipped up and mentioned that I had passed the honors placement tests. They refused to acknowledge that it was wrong to place me in remedial classes if I tested into honors.

“So just take community college.”

After so so many years of being held to a lower standard, I couldn’t do it anymore. Doing two years at a CC, then transferring wouldn’t get me into the college I felt was worth the effort and even if it did, I would have poor foundational knowledge. I could probably pass the tests, but I wouldn’t be finding any new solutions to anything I thought was actually important. And I have tried CC a few times. One time I tested out of the class I was going to use as a trial, so I never ended up going. Another time, among other things, I overheard the teacher in the hallway denigrating her students. It was a very early class and with my work schedule, it was easier for me to come in even earlier and check my email then. She didn’t realize I was quietly sitting in the classroom while she shittalked in the hallway.

So apparently, there’s no rules or mechanism in place stopping someone from retaking a class they already passed. After high school forbidding me from doing that and every four year college I looked at explicitly saying that if you take two years at a CC, you’re forbidden from applying as a freshmen, I had assumed that certain classes were off limits to transfers. No one ever corrected me.

The only reason I found out was because a friend recommended I talk to his friend that worked in admissions of a good college and he gave me the benefit of the doubt on my motivation and goals. I still had to insist on certain parts of the discussion to get that info.

If I had known my high school hated me enough to lie about my test results, I would have transferred to a different high school.

If I had known that you could redo college classes at will, I would have done that 20 years ago.

I almost started this fall, but I missed the cutoff date because of a new sort of hell though. There’s a state program that lets to earn a HS diploma with certain CC classes. I’m technically not eligible for the program, but I can still use the classes to rebuilt my foundation. No body knew what I was talking about and I got passed around 4 departments about 6 times before ending up 10 feet from where I started. I’d say it was kafkaesque, but maybe the movie Brazil is closer. Maybe I’ll try for a winter session class before the spring sessions start.

  • Jake Farm@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    3·
    4 个月前

    If this is in the US I am pretty sure this was all illegal. State colleges and most private ones don’t bar anyone from admittance because they attended community college. You should contact a lawyer.

    • Duamerthrax@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      4 个月前

      That’s not what I said. I said that state colleges bar people who attended CC from applying as a Freshman. One of my goals in pushing for harder classes in high school was so I could go straight to a bigger college. I was operating under the impression that being admitted as a transfer barred you from certain introductory classes or that you couldn’t retake classes you already passed in CC.

      This is the line that terrified me for one of the colleges I looked at. It was under the Freshman Requirements.

      You’ve been enrolled in college but will have completed fewer than 12 academic post-high school graduation college credits by the time you enroll at…

      Most colleges have this. If you connect 12 college credits at a CC, you are no longer eligible to apply as a freshman.

      I kept being told how great CC was because I could stay home when I desperately wanted to be away from my conservative community. That I could figure out what I wanted before committing when I already figured out what was important to me. Everything I ever said went over everyone’s heads and they would just reply with boilerplate answers. I once asked if there was a way to audit classes, get grades without credits and use that in my freshman college application. I was offered clep testing, which was the opposite of what I asked for. I had to pull teeth to get someone to say that retaking classes isn’t forbidden. Once I knew the right sequence of questions to get to the topic I wanted to talk about, I was able to confirm that with a different admissions person at that college.

      I’ve tried CC several times and it never felt right. It’s just going through the motions. I’ve taken equivalent edX courses, which felt better, but lacked the classroom experience that I need to get over humps and what I really want to do is research. Something you don’t get to do sitting at home in front of a screen. I’ve never stopped looking and prodding for solutions that satisfied me. If an opportunity ever came along and I thought it would look good on my college app, I took it.