Freshman English?

My advice to anybody who is thinking about transferring universities - DON'T DO IT! I transferred last term, from Oregon State University (OSU) to University of Maryland (UMD). My husband, who is in the army, was transferred to DC, so I transferred universities. I want to finish my education, after all.

In high school, I did the IB diploma (IB is similar to AP for those of you who don't know), and OSU accepted my English and Biology scores, so that I didn't have to take the introductory English or Biology. But now UMD won't accept those scores (they aren't high enough), and I have to take these classes to get my diploma.

Today was the first day of classes, and my first class was freshman english. You see, last term they wouldn't let me register unless I registered for English 101, since I am already a junior. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however. I can submit a portfolio for review, to get out of English 101. Nothing I can do about Biology, though. That will just be an extra 10 credits I have to take this summer or next year. I turn in my portfolio for freshman english tomorrow, I just hope that it will be approved for equivalency, and approved in time for me to drop the course!

Now, why didn't I do my portfolio review last term, if I knew about it then, and then avoid having to sign up for English this term, you ask. Well, partly it was procrastination. (I am a very bad procrastinator). There is another reason, however. A major part of English 101 is a research paper they do at the end of the term. Now I had done a major research paper, the extended essay, as part of my IB diploma, that would get me out of English 101 (most likely). However, I had lost all copies of it. The school didn't have it anymore, since that was almost 4 years ago. So, I did my portfolio without it, citing IB publications about the extended essay, and my IB transcript on file with the university. I also included other writing I had done at OSU, but it wasn't a large research paper. Well, because of my procrastination, I didn't finish this portfolio until right before finals, and I was about to leave to go back home to Alaska. I hoped that I could find a hard copy at home in my files somewhere (my mom couldn't find an electronic copy on our computer), so I put it off until I got back, thinking that I could send my portfolio back to Maryland with Lloyd, either way, and get it in before school started.

Well, I did find my extended essay! A hard copy, one of my final drafts right before I turned it in back in October 2005. But then my procrastination kicked in, and my lap top died, so I didn't start retyping it up (I couldn't just scan it, it had a lot of notes on it) until a week before class started, on my mom's computer. So here I am, finally finishing it up and turning it in tomorrow, hoping that my procrastination won't get me stuck in English 101. My friend LP gave me the name of a guy who helped speed up her portfolio process, so maybe that will help, too. I'll know more tomorrow!