So it looks like the shutter on my life's picture regarding college is drawing to a close. The
deliberation and
application process has pretty much ended as a total and complete waste of physical and emotional energy. Basically the gist of things is that I'm not even going to be considered for admission at pretty much any Cal State college, that includes
SLO,
SJSU, and
CSU Pomona. Why you ask? Well it's pretty simple, thanks for California Education budget cuts all of the state funded colleges are being forced to find ways of saving money by curtailing the amount of new students admitted each year along with drastic cuts in many programs including Graphic Design which is included in the Fine Arts department.
I first received word from SLO who told me immediately that for these basic reasons my application for Graphic Design with minor in CS wouldn't even be considered. I called up for more info and was told that the cards were stacked against me due to the fact that I was lower division transfer (in other words a transfer student with less than 60 credits, aka Junior status). SLO first considers freshman then upper division transfers then lower division. Add to that the law of screwing people who are trying to further their dreams and knowledge and career and you get a department that has room for about 50 new students whether they're transfers or freshman. They never even bothered to ask for a portfolio, it doesn't matter. I could've been a dev on Photoshop and a National Geographic photographer and it wouldn't have mattered.
So onto CSU Pomona, I haven't received any word from them at all since I first applied in November. Well, unless you count the letter from the EOP which isn't a part of the normal admissions process. I did finally receive an email but the “bronco number” they provided didn't work so I couldn't login and find anything out. When I finally got logged in for the first time my application status was showing as “withdrawn at applicants request” or some bs like that. I found this quite hilarious since I had never logged in before and never called or received anything in the mail. So after about two weeks I was finally able to reach someone in the admissions department, it was such a pain because I could only call during the week when I wasn't busy with stuff in the studio. I got transferred four times, first time it seemed like a student secretary or something, pretty unprofessional sounding with “like, can I put you on hold for a minute?”. So I had to repeat my question each time, and finally on the forth time I got someone who basically asked if I had withdrawn the application and I said “no, someone in your department obviously made a mistake” then I got a big “oh!!!”, and then “I see why your application was withdrawn, you're a lower division transfer, we aren't accepting those.” I basically went through the entire history and said that I never went to high school, got my GED at 16, then did a year on a BSc. Computing Science course at UMIST in England then decided to come back here to finish up. She said that I needed at least 60 credits to even be considered. I said well great, but that doesn't mean anything to me because of the fact that in England I was working on 120 credits per year. At the end of this very frustrating conversation I was told to call up this lady named Gloria who could better comprehend my international credits or lack of whichever the case may be to them. Despite trying five times I've yet to get a hold of her because of her apparently long lunch hours. Oh and what I loved more was when I asked, “why couldn't I have just applied as a freshman and totally left off any mention of England and college there? At least that way I would actually be considered as an equal” to which she replied “Because that would be illegal and when we eventually found out, which we would, you'd be in an even bigger mess. Even if you only did a single college credit you must be considered as a transfer.” Then of course I had to ask, “so you're saying if I had gone to high school but decided that I wanted to take a single credit on networking at a nearby JC or college I'd be considered a lower division transfer and effectively would NOT be considered at all at any Cal State College unless I obtained 60 credits before the fall term started?” All I got was a very brusque “yes”. So I just said thanks and hung up then tried calling Gloria for the first time.
I called SJSU as well but their automated system is so borked I'm going to have to find a direct line on their site and try on Monday. Like CSU Pomona I haven't had a single word from them. I did receive an email from them around the same time as Pomona but their system uses PeopleSoft 8 and has never worked right for me to be able to log in.
I'm usually very optimistic about things but not this time, I was totally set on actually finishing college but not now. I know with near 100% certainty that when I do reach someone that will be able to answer my questions at SJSU and CSU Pomona I'll be told that I won't be considered due to my lower division status. So screw it, I'm totally sick to my stomach with the way people like me are being treated.
After talking to Kyle a bit about technical schools I'm curious what the general opinion is of bachelors degrees from schools like these in Corporate America (read: Microsoft) really is. I don't think I'll be able to fit a stereotypical college degree into my life.