<p>Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, IA) has just crossed our radar. It fits the general profile of schools my daughter is looking at.</p>
<p>We are intrigued by what we read about their unique OCAAT block scheduling. It certainly is not for everyone, but D thinks it might be for her.</p>
<p>Do you have any direct experience with this program or know of anyone who does? I'm interested in hearing from/about students or alums who have actually experienced it (beyond the testimonials on their website).</p>
<p>One of my good friends is attending Colorado College, which has the same block schedule. She told me she’s actually not a huge fan of the system, since it’s an unending regular cycle of stress as there are weekly tests and a final every 3 weeks.</p>
<p>That’s helpful. Do you know if this system was one of the things that originally drew her to that school? In other words, was it something she expected to love, and then didn’t? Or did it happen to be a feature of the school that she was drawn to for other reasons?</p>
<p>My son also has a friend at Colorado College who he visited last January. One drawback that he noted was that you really had to keep up with the work and it made it difficult to have outside activities like sports. If you miss a day, you have really missed a week of class in a regular college. He felt it could be beneficial for non-science/math majors because it would give the class more continuity as the subject evolves, but in the sciences or math, if you are having difficulty dealing with a concept, you will very quickly fall behind.</p>
<p>My D was interested in Colorado College but the block system made us really discourage it. I went to a school with a January term and knew what it was like to live one class at a time. Great for art and music, do-able for the lit class I took (but writing 3 papers a week was horrible) - for math or science, for an average kid: not an option.
YMMV</p>