By: Hayley Richards
The overwhelming excitement of finishing up the last semester of college and starting a career can be shattered with one sentence – “You’re missing a credit.” College students are finding out that they lack a credit mid-semester. This news is enough to send students into a panic. Luckily, options are often available to solve the issue and allow the student to graduate on time.
University students are encouraged to meet with their advisors each semester. These meetings keep the students accountable and give access to class registration for the following semester. It never hurts to check on the status of credits throughout the semester. That way, in case there happens to be a mistake it can be caught early enough to be corrected. For transfer students, it is crucial to keep up with credits and degree completion scores. According to the Daily Free Press, more than 10 percent of students who transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions such as Boston University lose a majority of their credits during the switch.
These mishaps can be prevented with communication. If something appears to be wrong, students should contact their advisors immediately. If the missing credit is caught in time, students have a few different options. Courses typically have a “late-add” deadline option. This can be an option for missing credits caught within the first few weeks of the semester. The class options may be limited, but it is a potential solution for some. Some semesters offer “Maymesters.” These mid-semester courses fit a semester’s worth of knowledge into a one-month course. The workload may be a little heavier but it is an efficient way to obtain a credit at the last minute.
Advisors are there to monitor records and keep students on track, but ultimately it is a student’s responsibility to keep up with their graduation progress. If you find yourself in a ‘credit catastrophe’, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. Schedule meetings with your advisor, keep in touch and keep an eye out for anything that seems incorrect. Just remember, the earlier the error is found the sooner it can be fixed.