freshman schedule issues

Parents Forum
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<p>DD will be starting at RPI, Arch program (accredited 5 year B Arch)</p>

<p>Standard first semester Arch schedule is A. Building and Thinking Arch 1 B. Two dimensional design (the beginning of the studio sequence,) C. Intro Bio (yes, bio is required for archies at RPI, its considered central to Arch practice and theory these days) D. Calc 1</p>

<p>DD placed out of calc 1 (and 2) based on her AP score in BC Calc. So she had room for an elective. She chose to take a liberal arts elective, to balance out the arch and science. Some are not open to freshmen, some conflicted with her Arch courses, and of course some she just wasnt interested in. She wanted intro to sociology, but it was filled when she registered. So she registered for intro to Psych (also an area of interest)</p>

<p>First problem - only two sections of Bio are open to archies - its not Bio FOR archies, but the arch school really wants the archies together in bio, I think they want to push the Bio dept in that direction. The only one that was open has a session late friday afternoon. </p>

<p>DD is now shabbat observant. The class will be over before shabbat begins (even in the Troy winter) but this will make it almost impossible for her to leave Troy (she won't drive/ride in car/bus on shabbat) for a weekend. I have encouraged her to talk to her Bio prof and see what can be worked out (so she can make up class at least on occasion). She has said "well my friends can visit me" and "I will see if there is as much going on oncampus as they say"</p>

<p>Second problem - we just realized that two days a week she will go from Arch lecture to Psych to Studio with only ten minute breaks in between. A 10 to 5 (I think) schedule with no break for lunch. </p>

<p>She is going to try and see if she can still get into Sociology. We are leaving it to her to pursue that, of course, but parental worry has been created. </p>

<p>More venting (not really venting - no one at RPI did anything wrong, and so far they have been very helpful as things come up) here than looking for solutions - I think DD knows what she needs to do.</p>

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<p>Hi - My D is also entering an arch program and she has studio on Fri afternoons until 5:00…I know of another student at a different school with the same issue…I am wondering if they are scheduling required courses at this time to keep the archies on campus over the weekend?</p>

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<p>Really not a “problem” or not unusual. DD will have to pack a snack to take with her on those days. If she needs to live or die by having a large break in between classes, she will have to change her program again.</p>

<p>Will the other Bio course fit into her schedule? perhaps she could contact the professor or department chair about getting an override into the class that she needs, ,especially since the Arch department wants their students together in Bio.</p>

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<p>“Hi - My D is also entering an arch program and she has studio on Fri afternoons until 5:00…I know of another student at a different school with the same issue…I am wondering if they are scheduling required courses at this time to keep the archies on campus over the weekend?”</p>

<p>I assume the other archies dont have the same issues with traveling after sundown on Friday ;)</p>

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<p>“Really not a “problem” or not unusual. DD will have to pack a snack to take with her on those days. If she needs to live or die by having a large break in between classes, she will have to change her program again.”</p>

<p>Well I never would have scheduled that for myself. Im not sure we want her (ADD) to have the burden of packing lunch - isn’t that why we are paying for meal plan? And we think sitting and eating a full lunch will help with concentration. Esp since last of those periods is studio, and thats important to Archies.</p>

<p>"Will the other Bio course fit into her schedule? perhaps she could contact the professor or department chair about getting an override into the class that she needs, ,especially since the Arch department wants their students together in Bio. "</p>

<p>I dont think she wants to switch sections of bio, and I agree with her. She has had social issues in the past, and staying with the “arch community” instead of being odd gal out is probably to be preferred. She is also anxious, I think, about asking for changes based on her shabbat observance - she already knows that keeping the holidays this year will be challenging (I have of course suggested that she look at the syllabi for conflicts as soon as possible).</p>

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<p>I agree with Sybbie that your daughter should contact the professor to see if she can will allow her to move to the other section. If not, she could ask if she could attend the earlier session on weeks when she plans to travel.</p>

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<p>“If not, she could ask if she could attend the earlier session on weeks when she plans to travel”</p>

<p>Of course. Where was my head at? thanks.</p>

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<p>I assume the other archies dont have the same issues with traveling after sundown on Friday </p>

<p>I wouldn’t assume anything…I would bet there are other kids like your daughter. I think the archie folks just like to make things extra difficult. I think they do that to keep the kids working in the studio on weekends.</p>

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<p>heh. DD will hopefully soon start networking to find other shomer shabbat archie majors and practicing architects, to find out how they do it (she has found that even at Technion in Israel observant archies are uncommon - most shomer shabbat students at Technion are engineers) . I didnt mean that there are no other shomer shabbat archies.</p>

<p>But I dont think scheduling a late class on friday will keep kids in by itself, for the non shomer shabbat majority. Not nearly as effectively as having a project due on Monday.</p>

<p>DD is already wrestling with handling school work on shabbat. If she were in liberal arts, she could decide to do her reading on shabbat, and do writing on other days. Studio presents its own challenges, and building anything has to be as much of a violation as writing (though if anyone knows of an O or C rabbi who thinks otherwise, let me know :wink: ) </p>

<p>Perhaps she could do her creative angsting on shabbat?</p>

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<p>Some schools have a bag lunch that you can pick up at the dining hall. Maybe RPI does too? Or someone could lobby for one?</p>

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<p>I honestly think you are overthinking this and taking on unnecessary worrying. What is the worst that is actually going to happen? Its a semester. </p>

<p>Now if she hasn’t learned to make her own lunch yet, or will be mentally impacted by not having a full hot sit down lunch, or can’t figure out a work-around on her own for the occasional Friday class that interferes with travel plans, THAT would worry me far more than a schedule per se. </p>

<p>Such are college schedules, and more generally, such is life, so probably good for her to have these kinds of ‘problems’. And yes, you DO want her to have the burden of figuring out what to do when she can’t make dining hall and has to (gasp!) fend for herself…ADD or not…a day of hungry or two, and she might just figure out a good advance plan. That is the great thing about the whole living away at college thing (especially if a kid has been protected from real life responsibilities in highschool).</p>

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<p>My DS will be starting at RPI as well next week and from what I have read elsewhere, the students can check to see if there are any openings (via the same method she used to register) in classes after SO5 ends next week and during the first few days of classes. I think someone also mentioned during orientation that professors really try to be accommodating so it is definitely worth it to ask. Good luck to her!</p>

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<p>Also, my older son’s experience (not at RPI) is that often if you are patient and just keep attending the class you want to take, eventually a place will open up.</p>

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<p>Architecture parents would do well to read up on the various blogs describing architecture studio life :slight_smile: My DD1 also has studio till 5 on Friday (all Arch studios are MWF 12 to 5 or some such). </p>

<p>This poses issues with scheduling of other classes around studio. In a big university with 30-odd sections of Math this and Physics that it’s no problem, but in a smaller school or even courses from a department that does not offer many sections it’s a problem.</p>

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<p>The way studio mostly worked when I was in school was that the prof would go from desk to desk and discuss designs individually. So if shabbat were a problem you could probably ask to be seen earlier on Fridays. Sometimes there were group critiques (and sometimes those would run over the allotted time.)</p>

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<p>“I honestly think you are overthinking this and taking on unnecessary worrying. What is the worst that is actually going to happen? Its a semester”</p>

<p>we are worriers. we worry. and to be fair to us DD had a very hard time transitioning to her first semester at TJ, her grades collapsed, she became isolated and somewhat depressed, etc. We want to do everything we can (sikorsky parenting aside) to prevent that. </p>

<p>"Now if she hasn’t learned to make her own lunch yet, or will be mentally impacted by not having a full hot sit down lunch, or can’t figure out a work-around on her own for the occasional Friday class that interferes with travel plans, THAT would worry me far more than a schedule per se. "</p>

<p>She made dinners for housemates when she was in Israel, and became the go to person for knowledge of Israeli bus schedules. The friday afternoon thing is minor (though it is a concern - we did not raise her that strictly observant, and while we are supportive, its thrown us a bit). We know she cam make lunch - but that would be one more thing for her to do in the morning. We think (and SHE THINKS) that it would be much better if she had time for lunch. </p>

<p>"Architecture parents would do well to read up on the various blogs describing architecture studio life :slight_smile: My DD1 also has studio till 5 on Friday (all Arch studios are MWF 12 to 5 or some such). "</p>

<p>we are quite aware of all that. The joke at RPI is that the Greene building (where the Arch school is) is called “the lighthouse” cause the lights are on all night). This is NOT a 12 to 5 studio. Its a pair of lecture classes and THEN studio. I am guessing most of the other freshman archies will have break between BTA1 in the morning and studio in the afternoon. Its psych 1 that created the issue.</p>

<p>"The way studio mostly worked when I was in school was that the prof would go from desk to desk and discuss designs individually. So if shabbat were a problem you could probably ask to be seen earlier on Fridays. Sometimes there were group critiques (and sometimes those would run over the allotted time.) "</p>

<p>The class on Friday PM will be biology 1, not arch studio. DD very much liked the solution of occasionally going to the other section’s lecture (and realizes she will have to check with the prof to make sure its the same material)</p>

<p>“My DS will be starting at RPI as well next week and from what I have read elsewhere, the students can check to see if there are any openings (via the same method she used to register) in classes after SO5 ends next week and during the first few days of classes. I think someone also mentioned during orientation that professors really try to be accommodating so it is definitely worth it to ask. Good luck to her!”</p>

<p>thank you, that’s helpful. </p>

<p>To be clear DD came off a gap year in Israel. She spent her couple of weeks at home mouring that she was no longer in israel, and then preparing for her sleepaway camp counselor job. She has four days at home before we head north - she is busy with doc visits, shopping, and packing. I would like to help with an idea or two. We are not doing the Bell Huey thing, but we have always problem solved together as a family.</p>

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<p>BBDad–I read half this thread before I realized it was YOUR daughter, the one who spent last year on Nativ. Not an over-protected little upcoming freshman. :)</p>

<p>Not to worry. She has had experiences and is surely mature enough to figure this out (with your help & that of CC!) And there may be no “perfect” solution, but she’ll be ok.</p>

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<p>

Thirty years ago for sure, but I recall plenty of eating going on in studio. Some fellow students went so far as to locate their mini-fridge under their drawing table. Take advantage of the bag lunch pick-up if available and eat sometime after the period begins while the prof is seeing individual students.</p>

<p>This is not an unusual situation for any student, not just architecture students. In fact it can be a little easier because attendance at studio might not be required for the entire 5 hour session (it’s generally about meeting the project deadline, you know).</p>

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<p>^Yes I agree. The last time I wandered through the studios at Columbia they looked pretty similar, except there are now computers on every desk. I know we had a fridge in the studio and we also had storage space with our desks. We basically “owned” our space.</p>

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<p>So it looks like DD managed to get a spot in Intro to Sociology, and switched out of Intro to Psych. So she will now have a block of free time between Building Thinking Arch, and Design Studio. And she made the change herself, without parental involvement (of course, but a refreshing change from HS) In fact we only found out this AM, from her Facebook post :)</p>