Parent here, looking for info to help S decide on a school. I have a couple of detailed questions:
- S wants a college environment where it is assumed that students go to class having done the pre-work and are eager to discuss the material. He left a high school where, instead of assuming that students did the pre-work, students were required to take notes on the reading (in the manner dictated by the teacher), and then these notes were graded. As this is not my S’s learning style (he makes annotations in the books he owns), it ended up being a considerable waste of time for him. I would not have thought this would be an issue at a college, but, while looking at sample syllabi for the Honors Western Civilization Program, I noticed a professor had a syllabus that mentioned how important reading notes are and that the notes are graded. Really??? Is this a common practice at BC?
- Similarly, is Webassign (or similar) used often? It takes S longer to enter his answers on Webassign than it does to do the math problems in the first place. He would much prefer an environment where students did hw and then came to class prepared to ask any questions they had.
Am I right to assume your son got into the Honors program?
If so, the classes really depend on the professor. My professor does not grade notes but it is expected that when we come to class we are ready to discuss what we read, and a lot of kids annotate or take notes for that purpose.
Other than that, a lot of your son’s classes might be big lectures. For my lecture classes (chem/bio stuff) the only grades were exams and quizzes, so notes weren’t graded at all.
To answer your second question, I’ve actually never heard of Webassign. It sounds like two things I have used though: CalcPortal an Mastering Chemistry. These are online programs but at least for my calc class there is also written homework besides the online stuff.
I really can’t speak for any classes I haven’t taken. If your son will be taking chem & bio classes, I can help!
S is always prepared and very eager to discuss what he reads, so that would work for him. 
However, that a professor felt the need to specify that reading notes were required and would be graded (vs. notes students take on their own because that’s how they like to learn) makes me wonder about the motivational level of the students as a whole. And, it makes me wonder about the level at which the honors seminar is actually taught. Aka is BC worth $65-$70,000?
I’m glad to hear you don’t use Webassign. Hopefully, CalcPortal and Mastering Chemistry are better programs. I’ll take it as a good sign that you also have written homework in those classes.
Thanks for replying @tiva_mcabby5 !
If you, or others, have more info about whether or not it’s a common practice at BC for reading notes to be part of the course grade, please post.
cc cut off my edit: @tiva_mcabby5 is clearly a motivated student - I meant BC students in general; and, I meant whether or not the $$$ made sense for us.
honors courses are definitely rigorous. Lotsa reading’ and writing’. Grading notes is not typical, but they may substitute for a short paper, depending on the prof. So, a review of Notes is not meant to to be putative, rather in lieu of another written assignment. (It’s also a way for the Prof to ensure that kids don’t get too far behind; again, honors courses have a lot of reading, which can be a shock to some first years.)
Seminar classes do expect that you will have read the material prior to class so that you can participate in the discussion. A prof may award 10-15% of the grade for participation.
Some larger, lecture style classes, however, are not that conducive to class discussions, so some students will put off the reading until the weekends – or later (that’s what cramming is for!!!)
My D only took a couple of math classes, and all HW was written and either graded by the TA by hand (old school!), or passed to a neighbor who marks correct and it was returned for a chance to redo incorrect problems for partial credit. Of course, HW only counts for a small portion of the semester grade.