<p>Son is a new transfer to Chicago, and as his schedule currrently stands, he will not have classes on Tues., and Wed. is going to be his longest day. I was wondering if professors regularily cancel classes on the Wed. before Thanksgiving because they know many students won't be there? Just trying to gauge if it is worth buying a plane tix for Tues on the off chance that he won't have classes the next day.</p>
<p>If he does have Wed. classes and he's not there, profs will understand. If the prof doesn't cancel class that day, attendance is somewhere between 30 and 40%, with the other 60 or 70% going home for the holiday.</p>
<p>My daughter has never had a Wednesday class cancelled. Yes, attendance is down, but it is also usually one of the last 3 or 4 classes before exams. Quarters are short, and most classes have only 20 sessions. Cancelling a class is cancelling 5% of the class meetings. It isn't done lightly.</p>
<p>Oh crap... I'm in the same situation. I might have to skip both my Hum and my Calc... is that a good idea? =/</p>
<p>My son always stays for his Wednesday classes. He will be staying at Chicago for T'day this year.</p>
<p>"He will be staying at Chicago for T'day this year."</p>
<p>to ohio_mom: oh, good, my son won't be the only one!</p>
<p>There's a dinner in Hutch Commons for those who stay-- it looks like a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Many professors give one or two unexcused absences-- I've used the Weds. before Thanksgiving as that unexcused absence.</p>
<p>Also, college is not high school.... nobody is going to complain if you miss a class. Obviously, you are responsible for what you miss and for following along in the readings.</p>
<p>thanks, I'll pass this on to S.</p>
<p>I disagree. In core courses like hum and sosc, you need to try to go to every class of the quarter. Yes, some professors cancel that class before Thanksgiving. Yes, some professors give you a free missed class. But there are also many professors who will reduce your participation grade (which is often around 30% of your final grade) very significantly for even one unexcused absence--and unlike high school, something like having a flight home may not qualify as a very good reason. You can guess that it won't be a problem and take the early flight, but your son should recognize the possible consequences.</p>
<p>I would not plan to skip. I have had on more than one occasion professors at the last minute assign something to compel attendance. In HUM my freshmen year it was a paper that could not be submitted electronically; I did so anyway and lost a half letter grade as a penalty. This year in an upper level econ course there was a pop quiz which adversely impacted your participation grade if you were not there.</p>
<p>The reality is if you extrapolate out over the whole year the number of days where you could argue for a preemptive holiday absence, you would end up taking off almost an entire week of school.</p>
<p>Haha maybe I've ended up with softies all this time.</p>
<p>pesto -</p>
<p>your son's house will probably be doing something fun together over the holiday. If they are planning on cooking a meal together (I know my son is planning on a turkey), a care package with seasonal goodies would probably not be refused. Remember that the RH's and RA's will probably be sticking around, along with the international students, and a lot of the the upper classmen. I am sure that we miss them a lot more than they miss us!</p>
<p>This is one of those issues all colleges should address. Is it a good idea to even hold classes that week? Every year across the country, somebody's kid doesn't make it home for thanksgiving because they are trying to race home the night before. </p>
<p>My D is trying to talk with her college president about this fact. Last year one of her classmates died on the way home. It should be a known subject that youth and no time means problems. Many kids face a long drive home in bad weather in the dark and they are in a hurry. It's a terrible combination.</p>
<p>S's med school got it right. Since more than half the class is out of state, they will skip school that week and have a Saturday class for exams before thanksgiving. This way my S can get organized and head home Sunday rested rather than trying to race the clock. Somebody's thinking of student safety.</p>
<p>It seems the more general trend at leading universities is to downplay Easter and Thanksgiving as legit holidays and basically pitch them as a long weekend at school. A turkey dinner, some football, perhaps a university wide mixer, and importantly a few days to catch up on reading are pretty much all students should expect. To me this seems pretty obtuse, especially at those schools that give an entirely random spring break to students (were many feel disinclined to return home if their siblings and parents will be at school and work). Unfortunately, Easter is all too easy to do away with since it always comes on a Sunday (as evinced by the schools that give neither Friday nor Monday off anymore).</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind regarding Thanksgiving at Chicago is that the quarter ends completely two weeks later. So students will be on break for 4 (actually 5 this year) straight weeks within 14 days of Thanksgiving. Combined with starting a month (or more) later than other schools, it makes Thanksgiving in the quarter system a bit of a different situation than if students had been at school for 3.5 months, and still had 3-4 weeks remaining.</p>
<p>5 weeks? Classes start on Jan 7. I count only 4 weeks off after finals week.</p>
<p>Most students end up leaving part way through finals week, so that adds a few days. Some students need to stay through Friday (like me this year), but some students don't even need to stay for finals week at all. It depends on your classes.</p>