2: When I was heading off to college o-week, I read a book about being in college. It gave me a good working answer. Plan on spending 2 to 3 hours outside of class for every hour you spend in class. So, a 15 hour class schedule would imply 45-60 hours a week of class + homework combined.
Is that a lot? Depends on what else you’re involved in, such as major athletic activity. But keep in mind that there are 168 hours in a week (24x7), so there’s plenty of time for everything (including sleep) if you have good time management.
I wouldn’t expect a school to put up the student based on bad weather at home either.
There isn’t really “an answer” to what would happen with.a storm in the area of campus. It’s going to depend on the specific situation. But I would expect that if travel from campus is limited most schools would find some way to accommodate students who couldn’t leave.
I didn’t ask that exact question. I asked what happens if there’s a crippling snowstorm and the kids are stuck in the dorms? How are they fed?
The answer was “A snowstorm turns out not to be a big problem but hurricanes can be a problem because we don’t want students out and about in a hurricane.” (?!) Then the student went on to say that staff will bring food to the dorms in such weather. The food is pretty basic (sandwiches, canned soda, bottled water, chips and packaged salads).
What I got from the answer was “we will take care of your child when the unexpected happens”
This was my go-to question for tour guides (not info session leaders) because it was a huge issue for me at my college way back when we waited in line at tables in a large room to register.
The guide at the school D finally chose gave the best answer: If you get shut out of a class one semester, you are guaranteed to get it the following semester.
This turns out to be true, by and large (I suppose so many could get shut out that it isn’t possible without adding additional sections, maybe they do that). But so far D has gotten her first choice class AND section every time. They pre-register online, meet with their adviser who signs off or gives feedback, then go to the classes. If there are too many some do drop (a lot of people try out 6-7 to choose 4), and there are clear priorities for certain ones that are spelled out (“if over enrolled, preference to sophomores and majors” or something along those lines).
Some school guides were very honest about getting stuck with classes (or sections) they didn’t want. Or extolled the benefits of the honors program for registering early.
@intparent My son’s undergraduate college did leave the dorms open an extra few days in that situation. A huge storm impacts not only students flying home, but also those that live closer and need to drive home, take mass transit (which may be shut down) etc. I felt that was the appropriate action as no school wants to leave students stranded (ex. sleeping in an airport or bus terminal) or put them in an unsafe position (feeling forced to drive in a bad storm).
That said, I don’t expect that most schools have official policies on what would happen should a huge storm hit right at the end of the semester, but rather they would try to react appropriately and with their student’s safety and health in mind should such a circumstance comes up.
Here’s one for the applicant, not the college, to answer. Do I want to go to the same college as my high school bf/gf? Should I do anything to make that happen?
On the surface, it would seem as though this would work. After all, only a small number of students are likely to be affected, which means there would be only a small number of hotel rooms needed.
But the problem is that many hotels will not allow a person under age 21 to rent a room. And not all students have nearby friends whom they can stay with. So some students could be genuinely stranded, without a safe place to spend the night.
I was thrilled when my kids moved off-campus for just this reason. Their apartments didn’t close for Winter Break.
Two of my three kids ended up at the same college as their HS bf/gf. It wasn’t planned by any of them, it just worked out that way.
My son and his GF were the only two accepted at a particular large university from their high school that year. The university was both of their first choices, but neither of them thought they would both get in when they applied. They both went, and dated for the first year there. They were both so busy in very different majors that they hardly saw each other anyway. It was not a difficult break up when it eventually happened.
My daughter and her HS BF also ended up at the same (small, liberal arts) college. He applied ED, and she was a recruited athelete. It was a very difficult for her because she could see the relationship was nearing its sell-by date, but she really wanted to attend that particular college. She broke up with him about a week after they arrived in the fall. It has been a bit awkward because the college is small, and they have made mutual friends there. But life happens, and you can’t NOT attend a school you really want to attend just because someone else is also there. (Assuming the relationship wasn’t abusive, of course.)
Both of my kids just had to go into it with their eyes open to the probability that their HS relationship would end, and think it through ahead of time. We encouraged them to take their relationships out of the college decision process.
The snowstorm thing happens so often at my daughter’s school that they cover it at orientation. The highway in and out of Laramie often is closed, and you are snowed in or out. The school expects it, and often the school is not closed when the highway is, but they don’t want students making dangerous attempts to get back to campus. Professors allow make up classes, exams, labs. Dorms remain open if they have to. The two high rise dorms are connected to the dining hall by tunnels and the others are close enough to get there even in a blizzard.
My kid is going to school in New Orleans and the hurricane thing is pretty well covered on their website. But as I alluded to earlier, there’s not a single answer to “what happens during a storm?” They have guidelines about sheltering in place vs. evacuating and what is likely based on the categories of storms, etc., as well as some general info about communication during an emergency and such. But they can’t say “This is what will happen” because it’s going to depend on the specific situation.
Those kind of things aren’t a bad thing to ask about but the answer is likely to be complicated. Getting a sense that they will be on top of it and have some contingencies in place is what you want–not a definitive answer about what exactly they will do.