thread-index: AdBRC6BThkusDTFIREe5BtRmoXXpsg==
Thread-Topic: Please help with issue with Academic Common Market
From: <governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com>
To: <governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com>
Subject: Please help with issue with Academic Common Market
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:59:17 -0500
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<APP>CUSTOM
<PREFIX>Mrs</PREFIX>
<FIRST>Meredith</FIRST>
<MIDDLE>C</MIDDLE>
<LAST>Pitts</LAST>
<SUFFIX></SUFFIX>
<TITLE></TITLE>
<ORGANIZATION></ORGANIZATION>
<ADDR1>103 Barrett Dr.</ADDR1>
<ADDR2></ADDR2>
<CITY>Greenwood</CITY>
<STATE>SC</STATE>
<ZIP>29649</ZIP>
<EMAIL>thepitts@embarqmail.com</EMAIL>
<PHONE_H>8642276757</PHONE_H>
<PHONE_B>8649803706</PHONE_B>
<ISSUE>BOARDS</ISSUE>
<SUBJECT>Please help with issue with Academic Common Market</SUBJECT>
<MSG>
Good morning,



I am hoping you can help me with a situation involving my son's fall college plans. His name is Rylan Pitts and he's currently a senior at Greenwood High School here in Greenwood, SC. He will be graduating in June, and it's his heart's desire to attend LSU to major in Petroleum Engineering. Since that major is not offered in our state, he has researched schools and decided upon, and has been accepted to, L.S.U. in Baton Rouge. 



Late last summer we found out about Academic Common Market, and this was a God-send for us as out of state tuition at L.S.U. is approximately $40,000/year making it an impossibility for us. We started the paperwork process for Academic Common Market in September 2014 and STILL have not been able to get anywhere in the process. 


Here's the situation in a nutshell:  Saundra Carr with the S.C. division of S.E.R.E.B (Southeast Regional Education Board) states that S.C. cannot approve Petroleum Engineering for L.S.U. unless the student is admitted into the College of Engineering at L.S.U. **Students at L.S.U. are NOT admitted into the College of Engineering until they've earned 30 hours. **  Thus, incoming freshman have no way of (formally) being accepted into the College of Engineering. Thus, IT'S A CATCH 22. 



What we cannot understand is how a: 1. A student is supposed to achieve this unachievable status?!   2. How a student, in the exact same situation as our son, was awarded Academic Common Market for Petroleum Engineering, from his home state of Alabama in 4 HOURS yet we've been unable to even get past this first hurdle in a 6 month time frame? Are there different acceptance guidelines for each state?



Rylan currently has earned 21 credit hours from Piedmont Technical College which are, thankfully, transferable to L.S.U., but that's not enough to earn the hours needed to be officially accepted into the College of Engineering. So, we are at a standstill and need some help, reliable guidance, and goodwill!



Rylan has already toured the campus, paid the rooming deposit, and paid/made arrangements for his orientation in June. He has applied to no other schools and has his heart SET on this school and this degree. We just need the program, that is set up to help students in THIS EXACT SITUATION, to do what it was created to do and work for our son so that we can make this dream a reality for him, and obviously time is very much of the essence.



Thank you sincerely for taking the time to help us figure out how to maneuver this roadblock.



Please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience either via email or phone (864) 980-3706--my cell or (864) 377-0315--my husband's cell.



Respectfully yours,



Meredith Pitts

</MSG>

</APP>