Deciding to go to college and continuing your education is a huge accomplishment. However, attending community college can be a fun and rewarding experience, but it can also be challenging and stressful if you aren’t fully prepared. Between what major you want to pursue,trying to figure out what classes to sign up for, how to pay for school and what books and supplies you need, it’s all too easy to feel overwhelmed. Let’s take a look at how you can prepare beforehand with all the student resources available to you on the Ventura College website to prepare you for Priority registration which opens soon on April 17th, 2023.
I had the pleasure to speak to one of our amazing Ventura College counselor Corey Wendt via cellphone and was able to interviewed him regarding how to prepare for registration, how to know what classes to take, how to figure out what major would interest you,how to create a schedule that works for you and how to prepare to transfer to a 4-year after. Earning a degree or certificate from a community college can be a complex task, but you can easily navigate the challenges of these programs, and resources with some basic planning and organization.
The interview began by asking counselor Wendt “ How can students begin to prepare for Summer and Fall 2023 registration coming up and what are some tips that can help not feel too overwhelmed”. Wendt stated that the first most important task is to make sure you have met with an academic counselor to develop an accurate education plan. This is a very important step, because the academic counselors help future and current students understand what classes they need to take in order to reach their goal for the semester’s academics. After creating their academic plan, the next step would be to go on the my.vcccd.edu student portal under the register tab to check their registration date assigned to them, specifically dates vary from student to student. Step three: is to make sure you have reviewed the class schedule and have chosen classes that go according to plan with your time, schedule and current education plan, it is very important to look at this beforehand to understand the times and dates of the courses and what is expected for the course and what is needed in the course as well. So, when your registration opens you are prepared and can sign up with the CRN number and get the classes you need.
The next common question I asked was “Some students do not have a full plan of what they want their education plan to look like for them, if they want to earn a certificate or degree, or transfer after a few years at a community college. What help is there for those students who are still unsure about their next step.” Wendt suggested that there are resources for students early on that are a little unsure and not decided yet about what field they want to pursue.Ventura offers great introductory classes such as introduction to business,introduction to psychology,introduction to sociology, etc. However if that is not too helpful to take it a step further the counseling department offers a class “V02 Counseling” which is Career & Major Exploration it is a 3 unit class it helps students decide who they are as people,what they want as far as their education and career and how to help them find a path and solution to achieve their goals. This class will help figure out students that feel unsure about what path is for them. Taking this can class will allow students to explore early on before committing and taking other classes they do not fits them or their goals. Another amazing resource that can help students is through the Career Center website. It allows students to do research with regards to career planning, exploration and assessments to help them figure out what is the best pathway and make the processes easier and smoother. These tools will help students have options it won’t be exactly spot on, but they will help come up with an idea and information of what fits them better and make pretty good decisions about the field they pursue. Even if they have an idea of what field they want to pursue, academic counselors encourage students to explore and take the assessment to make sure they feel the connection and want to fully commit, because it is the beginning of their process, students still have time to explore.
For new students there is a few more amazing tools that Ventura offers on their website under the academic counseling tab “student center” there are videos on how to read the class schedules,how to use the registration planner to register these are shortcuts that can help during this time of stress and excitement to begin your next chapter. Whether you’re pursuing an associate’s degree or a shorter certificate, talk to an adviser and devise a course of action that best suits your goals.It’s important to have at least the idea of an academic plan before you begin your classes, it’s okay to not be 100% sure of your future plans. Although this may sound like an intimidating process, you don’t have to do it alone.Ventura College has amazing academic advisers. Registration is coming soon, set sail with us at Ventura College to become a Pirate. Best of Good luck!
For more information click the link below to direct you to the Ventura College home page.
Ventura College Home Page Website
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