I’m helping S19 put together his fall class schedule, and remembering that some schools we talked to in the NESCAC and Ivy League have a sacred time when no classes are held. He’s at an Ivy without that policy, and between a couple of required classes and practice times it’s been a royal pain to put together. Not sure what he will do if the classes he wants fill up, there isn’t a realistic backup plan.
Tbh, the real problem is a required class with only one lab section that doesn’t meet during practice. But that lab knocks out a surprising number of classes. Between that and actual practice it’s pretty limiting. And he already has to miss Thursday practice for a required freshman class for his major that is only offered in one section.
Some schools have an athletic academic coordinator that can help get kids into the class sections that will fit with their practice schedule. Is it possible that your son’s school has that? Also, one of my kids was able to get permission to take the required freshman class in the off season of her sport, perhaps that is possible??
I attended one of those, so I have a bit of knowledge.
Without knowing the specifics, the challenge may be that the class serves as a prereq to other needed classes, in which case, postponing it is not the best option.
At least there is one section.
Putting athletics aside, that is a struggle for many students. Needed/wanted classes overlap. Very few classes run every semester. Most run once a year with one lecture section. A sizable percentage run only every second or third year.
In general, IME, coaches will be accommodating with one course conflicting with practice. If there is an issue with more than one course, the student generally has to make choices. Often there is a class that a student wants, but there is another option that can fill the need.
The OP did not ask a specific question, so I’m not sure what additional insight he needs or wants.
@skieurope I’m not really asking a question, just kind of venting and also flagging it as something for others to consider. I do appreciate the advice though. My guess was what you are saying, one class that is required isn’t a big deal, but more than that could be. It does look like a class he wanted to take is usually offered every semester but only during practice times, so I guess he will need to find an alternative. He’s a bit bummed about that. The alternatives are a lot less appealing.
@HMom16 the class that conflicts is a collaborative major specific class that has literally all of the freshmen in it. So not really one that can be worked around. If he doesn’t get into the lab that doesn’t conflict, in assuming they will find a way to get him in it anyway. He will have to talk to the coach if that happens and find out what the process is.
Well, we used the hook to get in, so I expect some pain is warranted. Between overloading in the off season, and working in her lab one night from 8pm to 2am, D has stayed on track.t We’ve already said summer semester is always an option. At Ds’ top 10 University there are designated tutors for anyone who wants them, but no schedule accommodations. I may be a bit cynical, but I always believe there is a price to be paid. I don’t think this one is too much.
Agree @RW1 , he wouldn’t be there without the sport. He is getting a phenomenal educational opportunity as well as an athletic one, for which we are both grateful. Unfortunately his sport crosses semesters, so there’s never a semester that he doesn’t have to deal with practice. I don’t think dropping the sport will ever be a consideration, he will just deal with not taking exactly the classes he wants.
I think he’s going to have to take some summer classes at some point. He’s always been a good student, but that was swimming in a much smaller pond than he is in now. Scheduling would be easier if he just followed the department suggestions, but we are both afraid that may be a bit much until he adjusts to the reality of Ivy League classes. So I’m trying to help him find a way to still make things work. That probably means taking a lighter load, at least for the first semester.
Next semester he is supposed to be taking chemistry, biology, calculus, and a first-year writing class that should be not that difficult but he has always struggled with writing so that might be tougher for him than calculus. Plus a class for his major that actually looks and sounds like a fun class. He’s going to talk to his adviser and see if he can put the biology or math off until next year. It looks to me like it shouldn’t cause any prerequisite problems until at earliest second semester soph year, I’m guessing they just want them to take it to get some of the general math and science requirements out of the way.
It’s a puzzle with lots of moving pieces, which I know everyone has to deal with. Athletes just have a big unmovable piece that most students don’t have to deal with. It is a bit better than I thought last night, because when I searched online for classes that meet distribution requirements I was doing it wrong. So he does have more options than I thought. Practice still messes up his choices for Biology, but overall it looks more workable than I thought it was last night.
One thought that might be helpful. D got into lab at end of first semester to do research for premed and stayed there for 3 semesters which will allow grad w honors. This allowed her to fit it in in some crazy hours. Now that she has junior standing, she went back and did the freshman writing that fits etc. Her peers are starting they’re research now . A hidden bonus she was one of only a few freshman trying to get research and therefore she was a rare bird and got into a great lab. Who knew?
My daughter’s first semester classes were assigned (STEM school, so most taking required classes). Athletes did get preference in registration, but because of a school mix up daughter missed the early registration for second semester and couldn’t get the lab she needed and had to sign up for one right smack during practice. The coach had it fixed within an hour. Coaches have pull in these types of things.
On the other hand, sometimes D had to take a section later in the day when daughter would have preferred the 8 am section. Coach requirement to take no 8 am classes.
The only class daughter couldn’t take was the cement canoe competition. It was only offered in the spring and had too many Saturday competitions that conflicted with her games. The coach (and entire athletic department) often adjusted team trips and practices for academics. All calc exams were given on Thursday nights so no games scheduled and practices ended early. Math quizzes were Fridays during class times, but athletes took the quiz with the 8 am class and then the buses left for the weekend trips. Other departments had similar ‘group tests’ and the coaches adjusted.
My D had a similar issue, unable to take a class required for her major due to overlap with practice. It is never offered at other times, so unless practice times change, she is unable to take it at her school. We just decided to suck it up and she will have to take some classes during the summer.
My son graduated with engineering and was a successful track athlete but it took some work. He had a perpetual battle between the athletic academic advisor who would tell him to take a different class vs. the academic advisor who would tell him to skip practice for one day. His first year I helped him navigate all of the conflicting direction, and then subsequent years he was able to fend for himself. He was not on a full ride, so I felt I had the right to make sure he was getting what we paid for. We met with the dean of the engineering school and got some flexibility on the curriculum map, (the standard engineering curriculum had 4 years mapped out with each semester between 16-18 credits) but he needed to keep spring at 12 credits, since he missed Friday classes almost every week. In the end, he got the degree he wanted but it took 5 years, 3 summers of summer school and two semesters where the coach modified his practice times to accommodate upper level, one session, core lab classes that were only offered right smack in the middle of practice. He also needed an NCAA waiver going into junior year when his percent to degree completion dipped below standard since he stretched out the curriculum.
Our biggest ally in this was the coach, who was supportive of what my son was trying to do. It also helped that my son was as dedicated to sports as academics, was a national level competitor and won the conference for his event, this gave him lots of leverage to make requests. So see if your son can work with the coaches, (it can’t hurt) they may not understand the difficulty he is having with scheduling.
One other tip, get everything from dean’s, advisors, etc. in writing. Just like coaches, the advisors kept changing and more than once he had to “educate” a new advisor as to what his plan was.
Thanks for all the above advice. His major is specialized enough that pretty much all of the classes for the major have to be taken during the regular school year. There isn’t a summer alternative, either at his school or any other that could transfer. So if it is only offered during practice times, there really isn’t an alternative. Fortunately it is an individual sport so not quite as critical to work with teammates every single day. There are no new defensive schemes to be implemented for this week’s opponent, etc. And I know at least one junior on the team has the same major, so the coach is familiar with the issue.
I hadn’t thought to document any exceptions @OnTrack2013 , so thanks for that. I will be sure to do so.
If he is a STEM/Eng student, do your best to keep him on track with other non athlete students. If this cannot happen, make sure classes such as Eng slide rather than math or eng or sci. My D, in a non stem field was told end of her freshman year she could not graduate in 4 years. WRF??? Ends up her advisor did not think she could, but a dept advisor in her major gave her a plan where she could. As an engineer, and with an undergraduate degree in Chem, I know many courses are sequential and not necessarily offer each year. You need Chem 101 to get Fliud Dynamics 101 (made up example).
Yes, my daughter only dropped one class in the 4 years, and it was a humanities class (World Civ?) She stayed on track for all the science sequences. Because civil engineering is the smallest department at the school, most upper level courses were only offered in one section, and sometimes only fall or spring, not both.
Thanks for the advice. He’s in a STEMish field, but taking a business track instead of the hard science track in his major. So only 2 semesters of Chem instead of 4, only first semester calc, etc. I looked through every required class and prerequisites. Nothing requires calc (he can take the non-calc physics). If he missed chem it doesn’t work at all, and bio is dicey. So he didn’t sign up for calc. Mostly he wants it done asap before he forgets what he knows, but probably taking it over the summer. Once he gets to upper level classes in his major, it’s mostly classes that are fall or spring not both. I think he is covered to get all the hard science classes that are prerequisites done by end of soph year, which is what he needs to stay on track.
He got everything to work I think. He signed up for a couple humanities classes and will figure out which one to keep and which to drop. So it isn’t exactly the recommended sequence but he should be able to still keep on track.