ASK ADVISOR ALEX
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Advisor Alex’s Apt Advice for the Week of May 14 & 21, 2007

• If you would like to use the Credit/No Credit option, you must submit the form to your instructor before your final exam or before the final paper is due if there is no exam. Finals start Friday 5/18, so if you plan to do it, now’s the time.

• If you haven’t registered for Summer classes, registration closes on Tuesday, May 22, and won’t open again until classes start on June 4. If you do register for Summer classes, or if you already have, payment is due Thursday, May 24. If you don’t register by this date your registration will be cancelled and you will have to wait until classes start on June 4 to try to get into classes again.

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Ask Advisor Alex

Dear Advisor Alex:
I am doing really poorly in all of my classes this semester- I’ve just been having trouble staying focused. I probably should have just withdrawn, but I was hoping I could pull it out so I stayed and now it’s too late. I am taking 5 classes, and I want to use the Credit/No Credit option for all of them so I won’t hurt my GPA with a bunch of Ds and Fs. Can I do this?

Thanks,
Floundering Florio

Dear Floundering:
I am sorry to hear about your semester. Before I address the CR/NC question, let me suggest that there are a lot of resources on campus that may be able to help you with your lack of “focus.” Talk to an advisor in Advising Services (1119E) about your course and major decisions, or in the Student Achievement Center (C001N) about your study habits, or to a personal counselor in the Personal Counseling Center (1214E) about what may be going on to distract you.

As for your CR/NC question, there are a couple of things that could stop you from using this option for all of your classes. First of all, some departments do not allow CR/NC grades for courses that are part of the major, so check with your department to make sure this option is permitted. Second, you can only use the CR/NC option 4 times while you are at Hunter, so you definitely can’t use it for all 5 of your classes, and if you have ever used it before that reduces the number of classes you can use it for now. The instructors are the ones who agree to grant the CR/NC grade, and they have no way of knowing how many times you have used it in the past. If you use it more than 4 times, this will get noticed when you apply for graduation and the Registrar will then change CR grades into Cs and NC grades into Fs, so make sure you are not exceeding the limit!

You will have to make the decision based on what courses you are allowed to use the CR/NC option in, how many times you can still use it, and a judgment call as to which classes you think you will do worst in. Talk to an advisor if you need help sorting it out.

Always,
Advisor Alex

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Dear Advisor Alex:
Why doesn’t ARTCR101 count towards the General Education Requirement as a Visual and Performing Arts class? This makes no sense to me.

Sincerely,
Perplexed Peter

Dear Perplexed:
ARTCR101 certainly does sound like a class that would fulfill a Visual and Performing Arts requirement, so I understand your confusion. The General Education Requirements are designed to provide students with a broad conceptual, theoretical and historical understanding across many disciplines, and they intentionally do not include courses that have applied or practical components. So while ARTCR101 is no doubt an art class, the classes that fulfill the GER are centered on the study or history of art, such as Introduction to Music, Introduction to Cinema and 20th Century Dance History, not the creation of art that occurs in classes like art studio or music performance.

Similarly, students may use Film and Media analysis courses for the GER, but not production courses, and you may use Economic theory courses, but not accounting or business law. In general courses that are practical or applied in nature will not fulfill the GER. Always check the catalog or consult with an advisor if you are uncertain of which courses may be used. I hope that helps.

Always,
Advisor Alex

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For more advisement information or questions, check out the advisement website: http://studentservices.hunter.cuny.edu/advising.htm
Contact Student Services at: 212-772-4882, Room #1119-East
Contact a Peer Advisor in the Student Center at: 212-650-3282, Room #417 West

For previous editions of Advisor Alex Apt Advice and Ask Advisor Alex letters, please visit: http://studentservices.hunter.cuny.edu/advising/advising_askarchives.htm

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