Hmm, was just browsing the newest academic catalog while on hold on a phone call and I noticed that her major requirements have had a change this year. Instead of having to choose from 3 tracks within the major, it has become more of a ‘choose your own adventure’ with a list of electives to pick from. This would be very beneficial to DD since she was wanting parts of two tracks. Plus they have made some courses she has already taken count which helps her get done early or leave room for other electives.
Her degree audit still reflects the major as it was before but I know software changes don’t happen fast. I wonder if she would be able to take advantage of the change, or if she has to stick to the major plan as it was when she started. I will have her inquire, just wondering in the meantime if anyone has encountered this.
So she’s in my department, I see!? (We just changed our major requirements last year to go from three tracks to something much less restrictive, and definitely no rigid tracks.)
But yeah, it’s a trend across a lot of the humanities and social sciences (and, to a lesser extent, the bench sciences) nationally, to not try to channel undergrads into particular subfields/tracks early on, but to allow students the opportunity to either go broad-based or specialize (to some extent), depending on interest.
I like it because it means that, at some level, we’re trusting our students to know what will be good for them. Yeah, there’s still some foundational and capstone-ish stuff we’re going to make sure they have, but in between? Yeah, do what’s fulfilling. By the end of it all you’ll have gathered the skills we want you to have no matter which courses you take, so why should we channel you based on our expectations from our own undergrad experiences [mumble] decades ago?
@dfbdfb Well I was wrong there used to be 5 tracks within her setting instead of 3 so I guess it’s not your department after all :lol:
Interesting to hear it’s a trend- I think that’s great! I’m pretty excited. Not only because she can take more of what she wanted but because there just hasn’t been much college research to do anymore and I miss that! I sent her an email last night with my findings but she hasn’t replied yet…
D19 at Emory just found out today that Emory will be remote for spring 2021 also. So, in two years, she’ll have gotten one full semester plus 2 months on campus. It makes me so sad. She is also an athlete, so will be missing more seasons. Sigh.
@SammoJ, I’m sorry to hear about WSU! We just found out that winter quarter at the UW will be mostly virtual, but we haven’t heard anything about spring break.
@Creaky, I’m sorry to hear about your daughter’s experience at Emory. Such a rough college experience.
D19 reports that Mississippi State has confirmed no spring break, and no additional holidays aside from what they’d normally have in a spring semester.
@Creaky - So sorry! That really stinks for your daughter. There are so many similarities between Emory and Vanderbilt. I’m surprised they are not willing to try a similar plan to have students on campus.
S19 is at Washington State University. WSU also announced today it will be an all virtual spring semester. It’s just been a dandy day for this family. Both my older kids are unhappy.
I also have a D21 who is in the midst of college applications and these announcements worry her for fall 2021.
@SammoJ Bowdoin will have short Thurs-Sun spring break but kids won’t be able to leave Maine. That’s what they did this fall break as well. I don’t know what the exact direction was for fall but they asked the kids to please take a break from studying and had a lot of activities - small group hiking, pumpkin painting, badmitton tournament. I think it’s important for the students to get some sort of break even if they can’t travel somewhere else.
@bjscheel she should check with her department/advisor. When my daughter’s college made a change to the catalog like that (in her case it was a change in general education, not major requirements), students were given an option to stick with the catalog in place when they started, or switch to the new one. If you switched to the new one you couldn’t go back. I expect the policies vary by school but she may very well have a choice.
No Spring Break for Tufts either, maybe a long weekend.
They are also waiting to start the semester until the beginning of February. So far their plan has worked well, no kids tested positive last week. Pretty rare in MA because there are a decent amount of people still catching the virus. They are testing the students 3x per week.
The no sports thing kind of stinks. HS kids are playing, and other local colleges playing. Winter sports season already cancelled, but I’m hoping they figure out a plan to let the kids play in the Spring.
I think Emory does have most first years on campus and they’ll get the whole year in residence. D19 only got one semester plus 6 weeks of her freshman year. Sorry to be whiny. I know this is a mess for everyone.
Did anyone else’s kid’s college use Storage Partners to store belongings when students were sent home in spring 2020? We are experiencing some problems with the company.
Hi everyone. Tulane has not announced plans for spring yet, we are still not even sure what day the kids need to go back to campus.
D19 is managing to have a good semester now that she knows she is free from testing/quarantining until Thanksgiving. New Orleans is opening up little by little and she and her friends have found some cute outdoor places to eat. They also love to go to Audubon Park right across the street from school to lay in the sun, study, eat picnic dinners and watch the sunset.
Classes are going well, she is managing to pass calculus so far but she is still afraid of the final. All of her classes are in person with some having the option of doing virtual. She does two virtual - calculus because she finds it easier to understand the teacher online vs the big auditorium and a psych class because it is right after calculus and she said it’s just easier to stay in one place.
That’s so great that your D has in person classes. No more testing for her because she had Covid already, right?
I would assume Tulane and other schools will be getting spring plans out by mid-Nov. That seems to be the date I’m hearing the most. Get ready for a longer winter break. Seems like a lot of schools are elongating winter break and going back a little later than usual.
@homerdog Yes, she does not have to quarantine again this semester because she already had Covid in August. Once school starts back up in January she will be back on the twice a week testing schedule.
I would be happy for a longer winter break, DH turns 50 in January and it would be nice if she is home for that. I know one consideration for Tulane is Mardi Gras. They usually get two days off that week then their spring break is a little bit later then most other schools. If Mardi Gras is completely cancelled this year (which I am sure it will be) they will have to readjust the whole semester.
I know one consideration for Tulane is Mardi Gras. They usually get two days off that week then their spring break is a little bit later then most other schools. If Mardi Gras is completely cancelled this year (which I am sure it will be) they will have to readjust the whole semester.