Fall term begins August 31st, but things are changing this coming year. So far I've been looking at taking 2-3 classes a term and working towards an associates degree in accounting from CNM. After consideration I've decided it would be better to work towards a bachelor's degree from UNM. What has changed my mind?
- Accreditation: A bachelor's degree is going to hold more weight in a business field that doesn't require any specific sort of certification (which is true of bookkeeping and basic accounting). In addition, a degree from a 4-year university will also hold more weight than one from a 2-year community college.
- Time: At the end of June we had the wonderful opportunity of spending several days in Angel Fire, NM with my father, siblings, and their kids. Upon returning to work on the first Monday in July, Dan found that his company had had another round of lay-offs despite their assurances that the lay-offs in February were to prevent any need for any more. These new lay-offs have added to the work load of surviving employees. This combined with the possibility of additional lay-offs has made work very stressful for Dan. With this in mind I've stepped up my education to try and get my business together sooner. With that in mind I'll be taking a full load each term until graduation. This term is 13 credit hours split between 5 classes both in the classroom and online.
- Money: While I have help with paying for school. I was looking for additional help through financial aid. Joy of joys I found that I not only qualified for financial aid, but it would cover more than just school costs which would help with financial stress here at home. Then the bombshell hit. Financial aid holds certain requirements beyond financial needs. I expected the GPA requirements. What I hadn't anticipated was that you also have to complete your degree within a certain time frame and since I'd attended courses several years ago all the credits I had (even though they weren't towards my degree) counted towards this "Maximum Time Frame." The financial aid and scholarships I was looking forward to helping me out went "POOF" on the 14th. If my research is correct, however, financial aid will once again be available to me once I enter Anderson School of Management at UNM because it's considered a graduate program even though I'm working towards a bachelor's degree. I haven't confirmed this, but I'm really hoping I'm right and I feel that it's the best course for me even if I'm wrong.
So what does this change? First of all, as I mentioned in #2, I'm going to be taking a full load starting this term. Second, since I'm working towards getting into Anderson, I need to fulfill certain requirements which means that the accounting classes will be taking a back seat to the general education classes I'm missing. I'm still taking Accounting 1B because it's the second half of a class I took in the spring, but the rest of my courses are Sociology, Economics, Chemistry, and English. My spring 2010 term will be similar, with the summer 2010 term dedicated to finishing off the accounting and business classes I'm able to transfer over. I have to be careful which classes I take because UNM will only transfer certain classes which is why I can't just take all the classes towards the associates degree and expect them to count.
So that's my school update in a rather large nutshell. I'll continue to post changes as things progress.
