Not Cool.

As this afternoon’s events transpired, I went from confused to miserable. I actually felt nauseous for a little bit. Not to the point of vomiting, but the anxious butterflies were definitely there and they were definitely breeding at exponential rates.

On August first I announced gleefully on this very website the completion of my mechanical engineering requirements. Nothing has changed. I still have all those requirements completed. Let’s drill down to make sure.

Requirements for a Mechanical Engineering Degree at the University of New Haven.
6 mandatory courses – Status: COMPLETE
Theory of Elasticity
Advanced Fluids
Advanced Thermodynamics
Advanced Dynamics
Numerical Methods
Mechanical Eng. Analysis

2 mechanical engineering course of our choice – Status: COMPLETE
Combustion
Heat Transfer

and 3 of anything – Status: COMPLETE
Independent Project: FEA analysis of Rock Climbing Carabiners
RPI TRANSFER: Statistics
RPI TRANSFER: Accounting

This adds up to a total of 33 credits. 27 in house, and 6 that I was able to transfer from RPI.

So I sent in my petition to graduate and was promptly informed that I did not meet the “residency” requirement of 30 credits and I need to take another class.

Wait.

What?

I did not meet the “residency” requirement of 30 credits and I need to take another class.

.

.

.

This is me shocked.
This is me facing 42 more hours of class time, 14 weeks of homework, 14 days without carpool, countless lost lunches, hours of cramming, two tests, a project, and another 2 months without a degree on my wall.
This is me depressed.

13 thoughts on “Not Cool.

  • 9/18/2008 at 8:42 am
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    Mike D! That is bunk.
    Funnily enough, I am taking ADLN classes at WPI, so there are…0 credits of residency requirements! However, my company only reimburses me the equivalent of 1 class per year, so it will take me 10 years to get a Masters Degree there. I will be graduating in December of 2016.

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  • 9/18/2008 at 9:14 am
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    Sounds like a great time to take Greek Mythology 101.

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  • 9/18/2008 at 9:58 am
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    Can you petition them to make an exception?

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  • 9/18/2008 at 10:56 am
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    I second this.

    Also my condolences, this sucks big time.

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  • 9/18/2008 at 10:58 am
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    Please don’t associate this depression with my lab, as this is where you got the news.

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  • 9/18/2008 at 2:49 pm
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    Long time reader, first time comment-writer….this had me so outraged on your behalf that I had to chime in!! Had they ever spoken to you about said “residency requirement” before? Perhaps it was something created after you started, so you can get grandfathered in…

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  • 9/18/2008 at 4:40 pm
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    That sucks. It could be worse, you’re almost there! (You think they’d let you retake one of the the RPI courses there? hopefully it would be easy and might not affect your life as much)

    Don’t know if this makes you feel better, but I had a similar thing happen when applying to medical schools. I was notified 3 months after graduating from UNH (new hampshire not new haven), that they were changing my transcript and one of my organic chem classes wouldn’t count (took a basic engineering one, then the advanced premed; advisor said it would be ok). Gave me some excuse that I wasn’t allowed to get credit for both even though they taught different things. Then I couldnt argue it because I had already graduated…and I had already sent out my stuff for med school. I was lucky that they didnt notice.

    In the end it will work out. Just one of those crappy things that happens. It will be worth it once its all over and you get the degree.

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  • 9/18/2008 at 5:38 pm
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    Booooooo.

    Can it be 3 hours of anything? Maybe there’s a rock climbing class or something. Looks like your engineering stuff is all lined up, so you might be able to turn this lemon into lemonade.

    Alternatively, you can probably get your kung-fu class to “persuade” some college admin folks to change this…

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  • 9/18/2008 at 7:58 pm
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    That sucks! Hope you can get it cleared up, or at the very least the extra class isn’t too much hard work.

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  • 9/19/2008 at 1:27 am
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    That sucks and I’m super sorry, Mike D. :( Man, I’d be bummed too. Then I’d try to find something cool to do with my last three credits, like another kickass sounding independent project like the one you listed. But I’d let myself be totally mopey first.

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  • 9/20/2008 at 11:06 am
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    big time bummer!! I second or third those that suggest taking some easy classes – maybe you can take yoga. Or ceramics, that’s a good one.

    Reply

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