Getting to College--Help You Might Need. Everyone needs help taking the steps to enroll in college. You may hear that the classes are different and sometimes demanding. How demanding? You need to know this as well as what kind of a class load you can handle with all the other things you must do in your life. The expense is a consideration, so you need information on financial aid--grants, loans, scholarships. The language about college is even a bit confusing sometimes, so you need to know what kind of terms are used and what they mean.
Therefore, during the quarter this class will focus on transitioning to college level. You will have the special opportunity to work with Angela Holley, Transition Specialist, who has arranged to help you get ready for pre-college and college courses and programs. She will give you information on programs of study, how to sign up for courses, how to apply for financial aid (many qualify!), and what to expect. Christina Winstead, Education Planner, will also meet with you to provide you with the help and support you need to be successful. Meanwhile, in class we will also work on "advising" for next quarter as well as on academic projects to get you ready to move on. We will do a Scavenger Hunt for college resources, an Instructor Interview (you will get to attend a class of your choice), and a vocabulary unit on college words that might be unfamiliar to you. Video:
When students move from Basic Skills to pre-college or college level programs or classes, we call it "transitioning." Getting a certificate or a degree can be life changing! Watch this video, made for Basic Skills students. When this was made in 2012, Building 22 was not yet open. Instead of going to Building 25 for registration, as in this video, you would go to Building 22. The video features a real student who eventually moved from ABE to take college courses for high school completion. Click on the image or on the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22lhFSKIdxU
There are two ways that you can begin taking for-credit pre-college courses in English and/or reading, the classes that are a level above the highest Basic Skills levels.
1.) You can qualify by earning a minimum score (59 or above in both Sentence Skills and Reading) on the Accuplacer Test (CPT) in the Testing Center. It costs $25.00. For this fee, you are allowed to take it twice. You might have taken it when you first came to the college. By opening the link, below, you can see what the questions for this test are like and get a description of the three different academic parts of the test.
2.) You can take the series of tests called "Transition Testing" after having attended an ABE class regularly. Of course, you must also do well in the course. To test, you must have a CASAS reading score of 230 or higher, and must demonstrate that you can write an organized and developed short essay in one class period. Instructors from ABE, ESL, and Pre-College Education will score your written essay together. You can pass with a score of 80% or better on this essay.