[nabs-l] taking a college class for no credit

Thu Dec 3 16:00:06 UTC 2015

Vejas,
One potential problem with not enrolling in a class could be that 
it may be difficult to get accommodations.  If you're only 
auditting, the professor or the disability student services may 
not be as willing to accommodate you.  Based on your email, you 
are looking to gain experience in advocating for your 
accommodations as well as insight to test taking in college.  
Personally, I think that these experiences are learned overtime 
and they definitely vary from class to class.  Every course has 
different expectations, different ways to test the students' 
knowledge, and the accommodations you would need for that class 
may be different as well.  With all this in mind, I think it 
would be hard to just take one or two classes and have your 
expectations met.  This is not to say that it wouldn't be a good 
idea to get some college experience before attending.
You could also find some blind students or recent graduates from 
the college you would be ajtending to ask how the accommodations 
worked out for them, and the classes they took that worked out 
well for them.  If you know your major already, you could do 
further research.  There are lots of resources to help you 
navigate college.  Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Best, Hannah

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing 
list<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Thu, 03 Dec 2015 06:54:31 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] taking a college class for no credit

You wouldn't want to sneak in, but it would maybe be possible to
get permission from the professor to do this.  Many schools won't
allow it though because they have rules against people who aren't
students there sitting in on classes.  I've sat in on several
classes at my college with professor permission, but it's
different because I'm a student there.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Ashley Bramlett via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Thu, 3 Dec 2015 01:51:46 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] taking a college class for no credit

Well, consistently sitting in on classes without registering
probably would
be a problem.
I suppose if the school and professor are okay with it, you
could.
But most professors take attendance unless it?? a large lecture
class.  You
cannot easily sneak in a class consistently.
Also, I cannot see the school approving an  unofficial audit.
Kaiti, I'm rather curious which schools people do this at and do
so without
questions.

Ashley

-----Original Message-----
From: Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2015 1:16 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Kaiti Shelton
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] taking a college class for no credit

Hi,

First, it depends on whether or not you actually plan to enroll
at
Tech.  As Arielle pointed out, you will only be there for a short
amount of time and if you don't officially enroll they can't even
issue you a transcript.  I definitely agree that you shouldn't
jeopardize your scholarship, but I also see the value in what you
are
wanting to do to gain some practical experience with college
before
jumping in.  One thing I've recently heard of someone doing was
"unofficially auditting" the class.  You might have interesting
times
figuring this out as a new incoming student, but I've heard of
people
just consistently sitting in on classes to learn without
registering
with the university or officially auditing the class.  I know at
our
university people who audit aren't really expected to take the
tests
and do the homework if they don't want to since they're not being
graded anyway, but if the prof is willing to still provide you
with
electronic coppies of the materials I don't see why you couldn't
still
do the work for practice.  I agree that you should ask the
college
prep coordinator or Pam, whoever you are in contact with.

You can also call your school's scholarship or financial aid
office
and explain the situation.  You don't have to give away specifics
if
you don't feel like it, but if you say you're a student with
deferred
enrollment who has an opportunity to practice adjusting to
college
while receiving some life skills training you could maintain some
annonymity if you're nervous about that being an issue.  However,
no
one you talk to on the front lines of an office phone should have
any
authority to mess with your scholarship even if you did use your
name
and say it was blindness training you're going for, because you
haven't made any final moves yet.  I'd personally recommend just
being
upfront about it and say that this is something you'd like to do
if it
will not jeopardize your scholarship, because then you could
outline
the benefits you'll get out of it.  You could also then have
someone
from disability services back you up if you wished, which could
possibly swing things in your favor since you are trying to do a
good
thing which would be beneficial to you.

Even if it doesn't work out, Justin makes a good point that you
do
have nabs as a resource, as well as any other college student
friends
or mentors you might have.  Don't forget about the resources that
are
already available, especially because even after you go to LCB
and
possibly take the class at Tech taking one class will be very
different from taking 4 or 5 at the same time.

HTH

On 12/2/15, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
wrote:
 Hello Vejas,

 I think Arielle made some great suggestions.  In addition, I am
wondering
 if
 it would make any difference as to what type of class you might
want to
 take
 while receiving training at the Louisiana Center for the Blind.

 I know some colleges offer classes on how to be a successful
college
 student
 where you learn things such as time management, effective study
habits,
 tips
 for taking tests, and other things that make for a successful
college
 student.  I am wondering what your college in California would
think about
 you taking such a class as a part of your training at the
Louisiana Center
 for the Blind.  Since most scholarships depend on maintaining a
certain
 grade
 point average, the college in California might be willing to
make an
 exception to their rules if you are interested in taking a
nonacademic
 class
 that would allow you to be a more successful student once you
start taking
 classes there.

 I have no idea if the college in California would be willing to
make an
 exception to their rules, but it might be something worth
investigating.  I
 know I was not prepared for college straight out of high school,
so I
 would
 definitely encourage anyone to take a college class as a part of
their
 training at the Louisiana Center for the Blind if they believe
it is
 something that would benefit them.

 Warm regards,
 Elizabeth

 -----Original Message-----
 From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Vejas
 Vasiliauskas via nabs-l
 Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2015 10:00 PM
 To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com
 Subject: [nabs-l] taking a college class for no credit

 Hi All,
 I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this, or
could give
 me
 some guidance on my situation.
 I live in California, but am taking a year off between my senior
year and
 my
 first year of college so that I can attend LCB.
 I applied for college last year as a senior, and already have a
place at a
 college in California, which I deferred.  I received a
scholarship from
 this
 school for a very generous amount of money.
 I am allowed to keep the scholarship provided that I don't take
any
 college
 courses at all from anywhere else.
 Most LCB students have the opportunity to take a college class
at Tech,
 and
 I would like to be able to do that too, for two main
 reasons: to learn about how tests work and to learn about asking
for
 accommodations in a place where I have lots of support