Thursday, 16 November 2006, 8:33:09 EST

I read a post a couple of days ago about the elective requirements for the mathematics degree at CSU. It prompted me to reexamine my degree path. I was under the impression that I had to complete an approved minor, and was planning on minoring in computer science. There are advisement sheets available for the math majors; I keep one of these sheets (the 1113 version) in my computer bag. After the grades have been recorded each semester, I mark my grade in each course on the sheet. On the second page of the sheet, should I really be calling it a sheet?, there is a box that details the elective requirements. For some reason, I wasn't quite understanding the wording in this box so I went to talk with my advisor about it yesterday. It turns out I don't need to minor in anything. Also, the twelve hours of computer science I thought I had to take is canceled out by my current plan to take three business courses. I just need to fill in the remaining hours with twelve hours of upper division courses and whatever else I wish to take.

Later in the day, yesterday, I ran into Justin (the author of the aforementioned post) and told him about this. He was relieved and said "That could work. I've taken a lot of crap." His statement made me realize that I, too, have taken several classes that don't necessarily apply toward my degree. So I went back to my desk and printed out my transcript. I then crossed out everything that I have taken which I've either failed, is already accounted for on my advisement sheet, or doesn't count at all toward my degree. I ended up finding eleven hours of credits that I can use as electives. That leaves me with nineteen hours of electives left to take, with twelve of them being upper division. My preliminary estimate, based on this information, is that I have forty-five total hours of credits left before I graduate. If I keep taking nine hours per semester, I have five semesters to go before graduation. If that is the case, I should finish school in the summer of 2008. This is a very exciting development. One that makes the stress of these last couple semesters worth it.

Of course, all of this is contingent upon me passing every single course on the first try. Something that I have been doing consistently since I got serious about school. It also depends on what courses I will be able to take during the next two summer semesters. They don't offer as many courses during the summer as during the fall and spring, so it could turn out that I won't be able to take nine hours in the summer. If that is the case, I may have to increase my course load to twelve hours for a couple semesters. I really don't want to do that. Nine hours is already almost too much work for me to juggle at one time. But most of the courses I have left to take, outside of mathematics, shouldn't be too difficult. I'll just have to wait and see what the summer schedule is like and work from there. But, as of right now, I'm ecstatic.

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