Let’s also remember that at a large number of colleges and universities students actually take 5 courses a semester, or a total of 9 courses over two semesters. So if we are going to judge value by the number of courses students normally take, one could claim colleges that only require four courses each semester are not providing the same value as the colleges requiring five. Of course, I don’t think anyone would argue that Bowdoin does not provide the same value as Fordham, for example.
The value on the class’s sorta sickens me. Your kid takes classes to hopefully stay on target to graduate successfully for the intended major /with Minors or not. Kids take less classes for many reason. Heh, some have to retake classes etc. It’s all part of life. But taking more classes for the sake of it to get a value makes no sense to me
Now, I understand the why of it but you might be putting undo stress on your children. College suicide is a real thing. You can afford Bowdoin or XXX… If they take an extra semester to finish or go in the summer so be it. But taking class’s for the sake of it to get a certain value,is just sad.
My kid took 18 credits almost every semester. But was told he didn’t have to. I told him it’s OK to fail. It’s OK to retake a class. College to me is about understanding at a very high level. I stressed him out enough to get into college. He’s actually shocked that I laid off in college. He’s also happier. He’s doing great at a very challenging school and major. Will have a major with 2 minors that is what he wanted. But didn’t put a certain value per classes. Might as well take an extra apple to get better value at lunch…
He has joined several clubs and organizations. He gets free t-shirts and gear. Have to evaluate what the cost savings was on the clothes I didn’t have to buy him ??.
Funny, schools and students have gotten smart over the years. I knew people who graduated in less than 4 years by taking more classes or by having AP’s. That’s rare today. Most school require the full four years. They want their dough. And they want to be able to manage enrollment.
There will be lots of kids with issues ( there always are) but perhaps more than usual. So having a lower course load makes sense. Take it or don’t the college doesn’t care. Taking fewer classes makes it easier for them and the student. Many will subscribe.
@homerdog what makes you think that kids at public universities who are taking a lot of credits…have easier classes mixed in? My guess is that this may be true at some schools (public or private), but not all.
@knowstuff Hm. We aren’t forcing S19 to take four classes. I don’t know how many times I have to say that a NORMAL class load. 32 classes to graduate. That eight semesters times four. Bowdoin gives little to no AP credit so you can’t apply much if any credits from AP or IB. I don’t see why he would ever take fewer classes even if Bowdoin allowed it. It’s not a stress inducer. It’s the regular class load. And he works hard but has done well so far without being especially stressed out.
Just fyi, I just mentioned the Amherst three-class option to S19 and he asked why anyone would do that. Lol.
Anyway, the reason I was even commenting is that, with Williams and Amherst “suggesting” this option, I suppose Bowdoin could follow suit. We should know soon.
Students take 3 classes on occasion…or maybe even often…due to mental health issues that are so prevalent now.
@Happytimes2001 I believe most private colleges are no longer allowing people to accelerate graduation, but most public universities still are. Per last year’s new NC law, all state universities are required to count all AP exams in which the student scored a “3” or higher towards graduation. Per that new law, if I had gone to UNC or NC State, I actually would have been able to graduate in five semesters (but I wouldn’t have any leeway in terms of taking classes; I would have to follow a very sequenced, specific path).
I hate this public vs private stuff. My D has never taken fewer than five courses/semester either. Her “easiest” course this semester was organic chem. Do we really need to have this ridiculous debate again on a thread that is supposed to be about Covid?
Because the two kids I know well enough to know their schedules at Big Ten schools only took max credits when they had classes like I mentioned - one took a “marathon” class where the kids trained for a marathon. One took a bowling class that semester. Both schools I believe had a physical fitness distribution requirement.
Anyway - way off topic. I just think that, at schools (public or private) where credit hour options are more complicated, it sounds like it makes sense to sometimes take more credits and sometimes less. It just doesn’t happen at schools that don’t do credit hours. Northwestern (at least when I was there) didn’t do credit hours either. You had to take 12 classes per year (for three quarters). I did have some AP credit so senior year, when I wrote a thesis, I took three classes for one quarter so I had more time for that. It’s just a little more straightforward of a system. We got into this discussion because I thought taking three classes at Amherst for the same price seemed like a bad value. Since then I’ve been trying to explain myself because Amherst does credits like Bowdoin and it’s just different from a school where kids take different numbers of credits each semester. Taking three classes instead of four actually is a departure from what a vast majority of kids do.
Ok. but I can’t help myself. @momofsenior1 what if Purdue “suggested” your D take fewer classes this coming semester because of Covid and social distancing. Even if they changed grad requirements, it sounds like she wouldn’t take advantage of that offer. That’s all I’m saying.
But the public versus private talk should really stop. There are students in private schools who do the same. My friend’s daughter attended an expensive private and spent most of her time at the beach.
And I agree with post 6389. My D took 5 classes plus labs…and her classes weren’t a walk in the park.
I understand the math now. 4 classes are typically taken…it’s the norm at many LACs.
Now…back to covid. ?
Also interesting about the Amherst survey with new details about what each option would look like: nothing was said about having to stay (as in not leave the campus); like I noted earlier, it seems they may be moving away from that idea. Similarly, they mentioned there would be “modifications to residence hall assignments,” even though the general housing selection process has not taken place yet. Which seems to suggest they may be expanding into off-campus housing.
Totally get it. Honestly. Just the way I read it. I had a kid at a Lac so I get it. Somehow she took more then 4 classes some semesters. But also factor in the other stuff. Both my kids wanted to but didn’t have to work. Both extremely active on campus and going beyond. Not every kid can do that and get decent grades etc. Don’t assume that kids at publics are mixing in “easy” classes to make it lighter. My daughter left Lac number 1 for number 2 since kids at 1 seemed to take classes to get the easy A. She would rather take the harder course and learn and take the B. Still graduated Magna and missed Summa by. 4… But that’s another story.
LOL.
First , you hope your yield is good, 2 you want/ need dorms open for the cash they bring in, the classes sadly are less important, you do not want your paying customers sitting home demanding tuition discounts, so you open dorms and say hybrid is the way this semester, 1/3 of the students in a classroom, the other 2/3 form somewhere, dorm room , home, as long as you offer a class w some kids sitting there you can win the tuition battle. , then you pray you make it to Thanksgiving. ThaT IS MORE LIKELY THE REALITY , schools need to stay in business and they need students on campus to do that, 90 % of schools live paycheck to paycheck or get a big allowance from the state if they are public and that allowance is getting cut. Both teachers and students are cannon fodder to the business of college in 99 % of the cases. sad but true.
Don’t know any kid taking gym or music or choir for easy A in college . This is sorta insulting.
“Picking on the reports - trying to say that they are not legit.”
It’s not they’re not legit, it’s just that they’re not the best model out there, so far at least. IHME got a lot of scrutiny because the administration cited them for re-opening.
According, to their model, on May 20, the model is entirely sure there will be zero deaths in Califonia in article quoting the IMHE director. The author writes:
"That’s an extremely strong claim. I pressed the IHME team about whether they were sure of it. Mokdad said the model’s zero-deaths predictions were correct: “Based on the graph, in certain states, yes — in California, May 17, zero. The virus is not circulating anymore; you would expect it to go to zero.”
With that kind of record, you really don’t want to use them for policy making, whether it’s colleges or amusement parks. It doesn’t mean the model can’t get better of course.
Sorry, I am late to the party but digging a deeper hole. One of my son’s semesters early on was Chemistry 2 with a lab class, physics 2 with a lab class, Calc 2 or 3 and advanced sociology and an English class Think Roman philosophy or something like that. . Each lab is a half credit I think. Think this was first semester freshman year. This was the easy schedule.
Plus intermural flag football and working 10-15 hours and starting a club with getting grants.
Cool things happen at both private and public schools
I mentioned Amherst’ option to take only 3 classes to my D, and her opinion was, “who’d want to do that?” Followed by, “I’d want to take 5”. In her opinion, there are way more interesting classes to take than you have time to take, and she also thinks there will be way less to do next semester, so why not take another class.
I know kids get sick every year with mono, the flu, etc, but I don’t know how they can get so sick and manage to finish the semester. So much ground is covered every day. So I wonder if Amherst’s offer to kids who come back to campus to only take 3 classes is in partial response to the concern about getting sick and missing school? Otherwise why treat on-campus kids differently than at-home kids? I also don’t know Amherst’s drop policy, but it makes a lot of sense to me if all colleges would have a generous drop period this year for kids who get sick or have Covid related issues (like a parent gets very sick, or loses a job, or other stressful repercussion).
A student may take a course like bowling or swimming at a school, and usually it is for 1 credit, not 4 or 5 like a chemistry class would be.
Stanford lets football and basketball players get 2 credits for a season. My daughter got 1 credit (I think in two different years) for being a varsity athlete and she had to write a paper about something. Believe me, the paper was harder for her than the hundreds of hours she put in for her sport. My niece got a credit for her club sport at USD. I know students who have received credits for working on the newspaper, student council, or interning for the dean of a department.
The LACs have a different system than the big publics or even bigger privates. My daughter needed 131 semester credits for her engineering degree while my nephew only needed 125. Schools can set up any requirements they want.
@melvin123 Both on-campus students and those continuing remote learning are being given the option of reducing their courseload to three courses.