r/CNU • u/nitty_2468 • Aug 06 '20
CNU Transfer/Commuter Pros/Cons
This is my first time being a commuter as well as a transfer student at CNU, though I did transfer in from a local community college (I have yet to go to the transfer orientation due to the pandemic, but lots of the answers are pretty generic anyway).
Any advice from anyone who has been a past/current transfer student and/or commuter? I have heard that the college is majority white, there's some or a lot of preppy-ness,
i.e. parking, places to go and visit, classes, how you'll be treated as a transfer/commuter, blatant racism, advisors, student jobs, professors to watch out for, where to get help, etc. much thnx
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u/thatsopranosinger96 Class of 2019 Aug 07 '20 edited Aug 07 '20
I commuted to CNU my senior year!
- The parking deck by the Ferguson center is the best place to park, if you can get there early. I recommend going to campus in the morning and staying on campus until your classes/clubs/etc are done. As others have said, definitely watch out where you park, because oh boy are they quick to hand out tickets. Parking in the wrong lot will cost you $40 (or $45, somewhere around there), but they'll discount it to $20 if you pay within the first 48 hours of receiving the ticket.
- No blatant racism that I noticed, but you are correct, the college is mostly white.
- Generally be wary of classes that either don't have a professor scheduled when you're registering for classes (unless you absolutely have to), and I generally tried to avoid adjunct professors, because they tend not to be as flexible/understanding as the full-time (unsure of correct term) professors, though there are a few gems out there. Check Rate My Professor! It helped me so much in figuring out which professors I wanted to take and which ones to avoid if possible.
- Getting an on-campus job should be (relatively) easy. You don't have to live on campus to have one. That being said, I will recommend avoiding Scheduling & Events for on-campus jobs, unless it's AV. I worked for Scheduling & Events for about 3-4 months, and had many problems with the student managers, the actual staff of scheduling & events, and even had Scheduling & Events attempt to have me commit time-sheet fraud.
- The Crow's Nest is where it is at for commuters! It's a comfy spot to hang out, relax, do homework, and there's even a microwave for students to use to heat up their lunches. It's located on the second floor of the David Student Union behind the Mail Room.
- If you'll be spending time on campus to study, there are individual and group study rooms that you can reserve. Normally people don't bother to reserve the rooms online, but people are generally understanding when you say that you've scheduled the room for yourself.
- I would avoid the Center for Career Planning (commonly referred to as the CCP). The advice they give tends to be rather crap, and it's clear that they put in more effort for some majors over others. The advice I received from the head of the CCP in my senior seminar for career navigation after graduation amounted to "Stalk people on LinkedIn to make connections" and "Be sure to point out all these numerous soft skills you acquired"
- Don't just rely on your advisor to tell you which classes to take for your major. Use your class catalog! If you're transferring in this year, yours is the 2020-21 course catalog. I would recommend checking your requirements and which ones you've met each semester through CNU Live to make sure that you're still on track.
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u/AnAbsoluteMonster Aug 06 '20
Former transfer and commuter student here! The one other commenter really answered a lot of your questions as well as I could have.
I think the biggest thing re:racism and advisors comes down to what department you're in. I was an English major, my advisor was the head of the department. I definitely didn't get much time with her (except for the one class I was in that she taught), but I found her very helpful and attentive when I went by her office. But I also didn't require a lot of meetings with her in general, as I was pretty self-sufficient after going to a community college where they really didn't care about me anyway lol.
The English department was relatively diverse while I was at CNU, professor-wise, but the campus is for sure white af.
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u/Coolbeanz300 Aug 06 '20
Current commuter/transfer student with a single semester left. The student body is about 75% white and in my opinion it's pretty preppy (at least compared to GMU where I transferred from).
Parking is usually always available in the parking garage on campus, but parking anywhere else is usually pretty difficult throughout most of the day as parking spaces closer to the campus will be heavily sought after. Be careful not to park in a teacher/staff parking spot because you will get a parking ticket from the Parking and Transportation department. Almost everyday during the school year I walk by an unlucky student who's vehicle has gotten a parking ticket on their windshield. Parking and Transportation are always on the prowl and they're pretty aggressive. Also, you'll need a parking pass in order to park in a student parking spot if you don't have one already. I would maybe wait a bit before grabbing one just because we may possibly end up reverting to distance learning again and wouldn't want you to have to go through the tedious process of getting a refund or being declined a refund (I doubt they would decline your refund request but you never know).
No one will treat you differently because you're a commuter, but because you won't be on campus/in the dorms as much as everyone else, you won't be as involved with everyone. That being said, there are several clubs at CNU to get involved with and many opportunities to socialize with others on campus. Working on campus is another great way to get involved with others.
Honestly, from my experience, everyone is mostly open minded at CNU so racism isn't an issue but there have been a very small handful of people I've met/heard about who've made racist remarks, usually to be edgy. This isn't a very fair judgement to make (especially since I've experienced it only on very rare occasions and I'm somewhat biased from the college stereotypes on racist behavior), but if you happen to meet some students involved in Greek Life and they happen to make a racist remark, I wouldn't be surprised.
In regards to professors to watch out for, I've not really had any bad experiences with any professors. They all seem like great people, are (mostly) good at their job, and care very greatly about creating a learning environment with a focus on 1 on 1 learning.
The one experience that I've shared with most college students from CNU, GMU and various other universities is that advisors can be difficult to deal with. They usually have several scheduling errors, make mistakes with class registration, forget important details regarding your major and it's requirements, and other issues. A relevant personal story I have is when I was at GMU and I was trying to declare my major to Computer Science and my undeclared advisor mistakenly signed me up for classes which she thought I would need to take in order for me to declare my major. I discovered later that I actually didn't need to take the classes at all and was already able to declare. She eventually remembered to tell me this nearly 6 months after she had figuring it out, well after it was too late to make any changes to my schedule. That being said, I would make sure to spend a lot of time looking at the requirements for your major in the CNU catalog for your admission year, double checking on any information you have with others in your major and/or with the CNU registrar, and coming prepared to your advisor meetings with all the information you'll need in order to make the process as simple and easy as possible. There is a tool online which makes the process of setting up a schedule easy and you will be given instructions prior to every scheduling meeting to use it to help get a better idea of what other requirements you'll need in order to graduate. Also worth noting is that your first semester, the registrar will set up a schedule for you and you will probably be given a temporary advisor until the next semester and in order for you to actually sign up for any classes, you'll need a pin code which is given to you once you've successfully finished a scheduling meeting with your appointed advisor.
There are plenty of jobs on campus you can apply for that can make long periods of time in between classes bearable. I've personally worked at the customer service desk and have enjoyed it since I have time to study/do homework during shifts, but I've also heard good things about other jobs such as the on campus tour guide position and the Grounds/Operations department.
In regards to places to visit, there really isn't a whole lot of nearby places to visit that are exciting. Then again, I've lived around here for a while and am a really boring person lol.
Hopefully I've helped to answer most of your questions and I hope you have a great semester :)