<p>So, we're trying to book by daughter's air travel to come home for Thanksgiving to get the best fare. Her school, Occidental, only has Wed - Friday off but I'm thinking most people will be leaving the Friday before. I know it's sort of a gamble, not knowing what her schedule is, but how likely do you think it is that a professor would be testing or doing something really critical on that Monday or Tuesday? I hate to have her there if most people have gone home, but I also hate to put her in a bad situation if she really shouldn't be leaving. Any thoughts or experience on this one?</p>
<p>She really shouldn’t be leaving. Book her flight for Tuesday evening.</p>
<p>Both my kids flew home for every Thanksgiving while they were at college…Tuesday night or Wednesday AM.</p>
<p>Email her professors. It could be different for every class. Its generally a good idea to be there for all those days when possible. See how the other school administrators and her peers react.</p>
<p>I hope you mean have the D email her professors, not the OP. </p>
<p>Don’t assume you can take the whole week off. That’s a lot of time right before finals. There’s also a possibility of her changing classes come fall (which makes talking to professors now useless), she could get a job where she can’t take off a whole week, etc.</p>
<p>Most people will not have gone home, I promise.</p>
<p>It’s too soon. And there are other things besides classes sometimes. My DD’s freshman year I made the mistake of booking her flight the day classes ended without talking to her thinking she’d fly right home (her school did have the whole week off). I did not know that Saturday of that weekend was The Game, an event that is a very big deal. I was able to change the flight, but I learned a good lesson. And I wouldn’t assume it’s okay to miss class. </p>
<p>Op,
You and she should not assume that it is ok to miss class. She could email her academic advisor or dean and ask what standard protocols are. </p>
<p>Lots of kids don’t come home for thanksgiving.
Not sure where you are getting the idea kids are taking a week off.
My kids always had class on Wednesday before.</p>
<p>absolutely do NOT assume that most kids will take off early. Not at my kid’s school.</p>
<p>She may actually want to see if her friends are staying for the Thanksgiving break, especially if you have to fly her a long distance. Many students don’t go home because it’s such a short break. I know my siblings and I always brought home roommates and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner, and my father sometimes had doctoral students and post docs over as well.</p>
<p>I usually didn’t book anything until classes have started and my kids knew their schedule. When D1 was in college, she was able to take a week off, but not D2. Some professors may schedule an exam the week of Thanksgiving, or they may count attendance. </p>
<p>I really agree with those who say wait until your D knows her schedule. Also, it’s true that Thanksgiving, in the academic calendar, is the time when work starts to ramp up. A lot of students have things due the following week and have a lot of work. It may not be possible for your D to take a whole week off from school at that time.</p>
<p>In our experience, most people will definitely not leave the previous Friday.</p>
<p>If she misses class, it will be up to the individual professor whether she is allowed to make up the work, and most of the professors I know will NOT let the work be made up - and many of them give quizzes that week. If there is an attendance policy, absences for travel convenience would be considered unexcused absences and could hurt them. What ends up happening is the kids who have to travel a distance blow off those days, while the kids who live closer by wonder why they should bother attending class if the distance kids aren’t. Since the professor has no choice but to hold class, and it is very close to finals, valuable work can be missed by skipping those days. Yes, it is hard on the kids who have to travel, but that’s part of what you agree to when you attend school some distance from home. </p>
<p>Her first year, D had a night class that met on Tuesdays. So we had to work her travel around her not being done until 9pm that night. Missing a class that met only once a week for three hours would mean missing way too much instructional time.</p>
<p>There’s a good chance that she could miss classes on Monday and Tuesday, but there’s no guarantee. My D attends college in Boston, and most of the west coast students take the entire week for Thanksgiving. One year we had a family wedding the weekend before Thanksgiving, and my D emailed her profs about the situation and was able to miss classes on Monday and Tuesday. Your D might want to try contacting current students at her college to see how most profs handle this. You might also want to see if you can book a flight that you can change without a big penalty. If Southwest is an option, you can cancel any flight and get a credit that is good for a year. </p>
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<p>not at my kids’ school either. Many profs do tests that week because finals are in a couple of weeks. Many profs will not work-around a desire to leave the friday before. the school itself may discourage this because if most kids did this, it would make those 2 school days worthless.</p>
<p>many kids do not come home for tgiving.</p>
<p>The schools give Wed. off as a travel day. Monday and Tuesday classes are generally not cancelled. Book flight Tuesday night or Wed. morning.</p>
<p>As a college professor, I have three internal reactions when a student alerts me to plans like this:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>College is not high school. We’re working before Thanksgiving, not just playing Scrabble.</p></li>
<li><p>If you can’t wait 3 weeks for Christmas break, then I guess you really don’t want to be here.</p></li>
<li><p>Apparently you still let your mommy pull your strings. Try growing up for a change.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>On top of this, it’s foolish to assume that this will be the student’s only down time. Kids get sick. They oversleep. They have personal or family emergencies. An extended vacation could easily compound an already bad situation.</p>
<p>Do not email profs about this. Just follow the published academic calendar and book a flight Tuesday night or Wed.</p>
<p>My son had a professor schedule a quiz the class before break. A semester is only 14 weeks long. Don’t throw classes away.</p>