Transfer Credits

One of the best ways, regardless of major, to get ahead at college is to come in with credits already completed. For me, this meant both Advanced Placement (AP) and community college credit. This can also generally be accomplished through IB courses and CLEP exams (I think, I've done neither).

In high school, I went through two phases. My junior year I took three AP classes: Calculus AB/BC ("fast calc"), US History ("A-PUSH"), and Physics C: Mechanics. That... went okay, I guess. More details below!

Then, for my senior year, I took advantage of what my high school referred to as "dual enrollment" and "open campus" courses. Dual enrollment meant that a class from the local community college where taught at the high school by teachers there, but followed the college's schedule (classes two days a week). Open campus was basically permission from the school to leave campus and I drove to the community college and took my classes there!

AP Classes

I'm not the biggest fan of AP classes, to be honest. They are an insane amount of work with no guarantee that you'll actually get credit for it. I got a 5 on my calculus exam, which covered both Calc 1 and Calc 2 at OU. However, I got a 3 on the physics exam and the APUSH exam. The physics score did transfer in as a freshman level physics class, but not the one I needed. OU makes life science and engineering majors take a different set of physics classes and my AP score wasn't high enough tp get me out of that specialized class. My APUSH class was honestly the most frustrating outcome. My 3 would have normally gotten me out of my history gen ed, but OU changed the minimum score to a 4 starting the semester I enrolled. So basically if I had graduated a year earlier it would have counted. The worst part? I finished the actual class with a 98%. I just get nervous on big tests. Needless to say, I can't in good conscious recommend AP classes unless there are no other options available to you.

Dual (Concurrent) Enrollment

I LOVED my dual enrollment classes! It afforded me a level of freedom that my newly minted adult self craved (I turned 18 in December of my senior year). The best part was that, unlike with AP classes, as long as you passed the class (and there was a transfer equivalency) you got credit for it! At OU the credits also transferred in as grade point rather than pass/fail, which helped boost my GPA! I would highly recommend taking community college classes as an upperclassmen in high school if at all possible.

My Schedule Junior/Senior Year:

                Junior Year (Fall)            Junior Year (Spring)            Senior Year (Fall)            Senior Year (Spring)

1st            English 11                      AP Calculus BC                    FCC English @WHS    "Internship"

Period                                                                                           (T/R only)                       (Not locked to this time-basically a free block)

2nd           Forensics                       Orchestra                              FCC Biology @WHS      Orchestra

Period

                   *    *    *    *    *    F L E X    ( H o m e r o o m )    *    *    *    *    *            (Excused - Wednesday Lab at FCC)

3rd            AP Calc AB                   AP US History                        Aquatics                      Open Campus (Chemistry - M/W Only)

Period        

4th            Digital                             AP Physics                            Library                         Open Campus (Statistics - T/R Only)

Period       Photography                                                                 Assistant

**Note: For Open Campus classes, the courses weren't actually held at that time. That was just the school's way of allowing community                     college enrollment to excuse students from high school classes, because god forbid they just let me enroll in the one (1) class I needed              to graduate and then just fuck off... All students were required to be enrolled in 4 "classes" each semester. One for each block/period.

Welcome!

Hi there! If you've managed to stumble your way onto this itty-bitty blog, then you must be either hella bored, super desperate, or lost. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt! Please feel free to stay and look around. I'm happy to have you! This pandemic has left me at home with more free time than usual (and a summer class to avoid), so I thought I'd put my thoughts out into the world on how my undergraduate career has gone thus far. I hope to update it as fully and quickly as I can, but I apologize if the site is not complete now.

Hopefully you can take something from this little side project of mine. Whether you learn from my mistakes, or simply get a chuckle out of my struggles, I can promise that the commentary will be 100% genuine. If you have any questions or want advice (I make no promises) you can email me at: jessica.handwerk-1@ou.edu or drop a comment!

One important note before you set off exploring:

All of the advice and experiences on here are based solely on MY PERSONAL journey. They are specific to me and the classes/organizations/experiences I had at the University of Oklahoma from fall 2017 to spring 2021. I am in no way a certified advisor, counselor, or therapist. Remember that the whole point of college is to make your own path and discover who you are as a person.

Also, I am NOT a pre-anything student.