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| Advice
for Transfer Students This page of information is designed to supplement rather than replace the meetings you should be having with an advisor in the CJ department. The page is divided into sections, as below: Many of our criminal justice (CJ) majors at Rutgers-Camden come from local community colleges. Here's a few pointers to help those who are currently at a community college and plan to transfer to Rutgers-Camden. Though this document is written for students transferring in from our local community colleges, it may be useful for all transfer students. First, check out ARTSYS (https://www.njtransfer.org/artweb/chgri.cgi), a website that allows you to check the transferability of any course from NJ colleges into Rutgers-Camden. Just enter the information of any courses you are planning to take and see what they will come in as. If they don't transfer, take something else if you can. If they transfer as EC (elective credit) only (see #2 below for more on EC courses), consider taking a course that will fulfill a requirement here. The idea is to make your time at your community college count! Courses can be evaluated by Rutgers-Camden in one of three ways:
Students coming to Rutgers-Camden from community colleges can transfer in up to 64 credits. If you take more than 64 credits, you can ask to have the "best" classes transferred in. For example, if you took a history course that transfers in as one of our history courses, but another course you took only comes in as EC, you should make sure the history course is included in the 64 credits you bring in so that it can be used to fulfill a requirement. Another scenario: If you took Introduction to Psychology and a Biology class, you might want the biology class to come in as it will fulfill one of the science requirements while the psychology class is not needed to fulfill any requirements (if you major in CJ, you will be taking other social sciences classes that can be used to fulfill the Social Science requirement). The goal is to make your classes count the best way to satisfy your needs! You are the best person to stay on top of your credits because it is you who will benefit from doing so. Our admissions and other offices do a good job of evaluating transcripts, but they cannot be expected to know what classes will best help you in particular. So, wait until after our campus evaluates your transcript, then do your own assessment (using ARTSYS if necessary). If you see courses that will fulfill requirements you need but that are not on your transcript, see an advisor to get the problem fixed. IMPORTANT NOTE: You would not believe the number of students I have advised who forget to have their final community college transcripts sent over for evaluation. If you do not have them sent over, you cannot get credit for those classes. Make sure your last semester of courses shows up on your Rutgers transcript. If it does not, see an advisor. In order to help you navigate our system, there are several types of advisors. The most important ones for all students are the assistant deans in Student Affairs (e.g., deans Detterline, Greenup, Gulick, Muse, Parker, and Thurman). These folks can answer general education requirement questions such as "What language course do I need to take?" The second type of advisors are departmental. You should see an advisor in your major (and minor if you have one) at least once a year. In CJ, we recommend that our students see an advisor once a semester. Advisors in Student Affairs and for other majors cannot be expected to understand the requirements for our major, so make sure you check with CJ advisor before enrolling in classes. If you change your schedule around AFTER seeing an advisor, make sure to check in again to ensure that you are still on track. The CJ department operates on a drop-in advising basis. Each faculty member advises students during set hours, so you can see any advisor by just checking the drop-in hours posted near the entrance of the Sociology building (405-407 Cooper) and picking the most convenient time for you to come in. There is no need to make an appointment, but it is advisable to let the faculty member know that you are coming in case she will not be in on the day you plan to visit (e.g., due to attending a conference). The following faculty members provide CJ advising to undergraduate majors: Dr. Gail Caputo, Dr. Drew Humphries, Dr. Michelle Meloy, and Dr. Jane Siegel. Dr. Jon'a Meyer advises the graduate CJ students. The third type of advisors are programmatic ones. Athletics, EOF, and some other offices have academic counselors to help students served by those office arrange schedules. While these individuals are often great sources of information, make sure you run your intended schedule by a CJ advisor to avoid any bad surprises. Specific
Course Ideas
Now that I'm at Rutgers-Camden, what should I do? We in the CJ program recommend that you take Methods & Techniques of Social Research (920:301) as soon as you can. The course is a prerequisite for two of our required courses, Theories of Crime & Delinquency (920:313) and Ethics & Policy (202:449). When fulfilling CJ requirements, remember that we draw courses from several departments. Several of the courses in sociology and anthropology fulfill our requirements (a few sociology classes are even required for CJ majors) as do limited courses in philosophy, political science, psychology, social work, urban studies, and other departments. Look at our major checklist to see which courses fulfill a CJ requirement, then look up times for those courses to pick a schedule that you find interesting. For more advice, see my advising page written for current students at: http://sociology.camden.rutgers.edu/advising-cj.htm. It has advice and links that all students will find useful.
Most transfer students want to tackle many courses to accelerate their graduation dates. I have found that this sometimes delays their graduation dates because they fail a course or two. Even if they do not fail a course, their performance is not what they expected for themselves. I recommend that full-time students take only four courses their first semester here so they can see what our campus and course requirements are like. If you have a high GPA, you might be able to tackle more courses, but be wary; that high GPA might go down if you get overwhelmed with classwork. Many of our classes here require substantial writing, so you should allow time for yourself to do your best. The goal is to make sure you can do your best here! Do NOT register for courses you will not attend. Our courses here expect that you will attend regularly. If you are not a morning person, do not enroll in early courses. If you have to leave at 2:00 for work, do not take courses that get out at 2:40. Make sure you can be there for your classes so you can do your best. On the first day of class, evaluate your syllabi and decide if the courses will be "too much" for you. Having to write three 25-page papers might not be your idea of a feasible semester. Evaluate the courses and change your schedule quickly as you can only add courses during the first couple of weeks of class. And, every day you put off registering for a different course is a day you have missed of the new course (which might it hard to do your best in that course). Watch how you fashion your schedule. For example, you might not want to take a foreign language class in addition to two sciences and a math course in the same term. Such a schedule would doom all but the strongest students. Instead, try to cushion difficult courses by taking courses that fulfill requirements but that also interest you. For example, taking a course in Religion or History that appeals to you can fulfill a general education requirement and cushion a required class that you dread taking. If you take only courses that you dislike, you will not perform as well as you would if you balanced your schedule. Try not to
leave the courses you especially dread until your last semester.
I know of several students who hated math, so they put it off
until the second semester of their senior year (what they thought
was going to be their last semester). Because they hated the course,
they did not attend regularly and failed it, thus making them
a third semester senior. It took one of my students many years
to pass a required class that he kept failing. Had he taken that
course early in his academic career, he could have retaken it
and graduated on time rather than having to delay his graduation
for several years. This was an isolated incident, but I have encountered
literally dozens of students who had to delay graduation for a
semester due to a run-in with a class they failed. The moral of
the story is not to put off courses you dread until your last
semester or it might not be your last semester after all! |
ARTSYS and Transfer Courses