Splitting up classes?

[hopskipjump]

nm

Edited March 2, 2018 by hopskipjump

[Crimson Wife]

Can she take summer courses? I know that's what many varsity athletes do in order to lighten their load during their competitive season. Summer semester is short but if she's only taking 1 or 2 courses, that may not be as much of an issue.

[hopskipjump]

Summer courses aren't a great option for her. She goes to school about 26-hours away from home, and we want her home, home, home! for the summer! :) That sure would make things simpler, though!

 

She may end up considering getting her "regular" bachelor's degree, and then taking a year here at home to cover the remaining grad-school requirements at a university close to home. . . hmmm... we've discussed this briefly, but haven't really put it "on the table." I'll bring it up to her tomorrow to gauge her thoughts.

[bettyandbob]

I will throw a story in here from when I was in college. Your dd may not need to split classes. She may need to think about the kind of student she is and whether she can adjust her study habits to spring semester training schedules. 

 

I have a friend who played baseball in college. We were in the same major, chemistry. It was rarely possible to take classes in off semesters. You could either do chem II or physics II in the spring or summer, not fall. So, he never split classes. He didn't do summer school either. The only time he stayed through the summer was after junior year to do research. What he found was spring was always his best semester. He studied every spare second in spring. He said he did that because he has no free time in spring, so if there appeared to be a free second he studied. Literally, every second. You know that 10-15 minute period one might have if classes were back to back in the day--he walked into the class room and studied something. Fall semester, he let himself relax a little. Senior year we were talking about this and he said he thought that in the end, he might have studied more in the spring than the fall. In the long run, his gpa was not radically different either semester--he was accepted to a very competitive PhD program specializing in physical chemistry. 

 

 

[Corraleno]

That advice makes no sense to me — Bio II is too difficult to take by itself in spring semester, but it'll be no problem to take Chem II + Phys II + Calc II in spring semester of her senior year, while competing in her sport? :confused1:

 

I would just do Bio I & II this yr, A&P I & II next year, then can she spread the chem, physics, and calc over junior & senior years? I don't understand why the advisor would have her doing all three of those as a senior — are there additional math & science classes she has scheduled for junior year?

[FaithManor]

I tend to agree with Corraleno. Is the adviser one in her major, or one assigned to freshman randomly? I had an adviser my first semester who was a psych professor, couldn't read a note on a page. So what he was doing trying to advise a piano performance major, I do.not.know. He had my schedule all balled up, Just a mess. I went to my piano professor whose eyeballs about popped out of her head when I told her what he was planning, and she promptly called him up, told him the way it was going to be, and presto, my four year plan and second semester were fixed.

 

So I would be inclined, if this is a case of not having an adviser in her major, to have her pop down to her department head and talk with his/her admin/assistant. We did that for our ds during freshman orientation because I had looked at the department information for ds's major and realized the college of arts and sciences adviser had him in the wrong social science course. There is one and only one that meets both the general education requirement and is also required for his major. He needed that class period. The department head was there, and he and his assistant had it worked out in five minutes. They located the course, found a section that did not conflict with his statistics class and required college writing class nor his biology, and called the college of arts and sciences adviser and told her to change it, get him in that section pronto. It was an easy peasy change. I also think that his arts and sciences adviser who helps coordinate gen ed and electives, now knows to confirm everything with his department adviser to make sure everything is occurring in the right sequence instead of trying to take care of his major and minor herself.

[Frances]

That advice makes no sense to me — Bio II is too difficult to take by itself in spring semester, but it'll be no problem to take Chem II + Phys II + Calc II in spring semester of her senior year, while competing in her sport? :confused1:

 

I would just do Bio I & II this yr, A&P I & II next year, then can she spread the chem, physics, and calc over junior & senior years? I don't understand why the advisor would have her doing all three of those as a senior — are there additional math & science classes she has scheduled for junior year?

This is also puzzling to me. What is her major that she is taking so many intro courses her senior year? Is she a non-science major taking math/science classes for grad school? Also, unless she's keeping her math skills fresh with other coursework, I would be concerned about putting off so many math heavy courses until her senior year.

[hopskipjump]

nm

Edited March 2, 2018 by hopskipjump

[Starr]

It may also be possible to take a summer course near home and transfer the credits. Be sure if she does this that the course is approved and signed off by her department people before taking it.

[J-rap]

About summer classes...  My dd attends a small private college right across the street from the state's big university.  Her college allows students to take courses at the university over the summer (even their on-line ones) and transfer them over.  I wonder if you could do something like?  She is thinking she'll need to do this between her junior and senior year, and if she takes their online ones, she could basically do it from anywhere.  I just noticed that previous poster suggested something similar.  Yes, just make sure the course is approved of ahead of time by her department!

[regentrude]

DDs major requires only College Algebra (which dd is CLEP'ing out of next month). But she needs the Calc for grad school requirements (as well as a pre-req for Physics).

 

She took AP Calc AND AP Physics in high school, 

 

Can't she also CLEP Calc and Physics?

 

Stupid question: her major requires a calculus based physics but not calculus? I find that very unusual. A non-calc physics does not cut it?

 

I agree with those who find the schedule crazy. I have many college athletes who manage to carry a rigorous class load even during competition semester. I recommend looking into summer classes.

Edited September 27, 2016 by regentrude

[MysteryJen]

Two things: the academic advisor is for the team, right? Certainly other people have done similar majors and received the same advice. She should definitely ask the upperclassmen on her team. They are teammates and have a couple of years under their belt. There may be a very good reason for doing things that way and she needs to get a good answer. The travel required for her sport may make hard classes in the spring really difficult, which the advisor/upperclassmen may have a better idea about or which classes are taught by less cooperative professors. 

Summer classes are used by most athletes in DI to spread out the load and be able to graduate on time. She should definitely look into that and what her scholarship might cover in the summer. Again, she needs to use her teammates and coaches as a resource. Better to err on the side of a light course load this spring. Once she has a season under her belt, she can make more independent choices. 

[hopskipjump]

nm

Edited March 2, 2018 by hopskipjump

[regentrude]

Good questions.  Her major is athletic training. There are no math or physics or chemistry requirements, really, for that major. I joke with her that she went from Engineering to a "dumb jock" major. (all said with love, of course... :laugh:). But, she's planning to become a physical therapist, and there are 10 (iirc) specific classes she needs to take before she can apply to a DPT program. So, she's fitting in the Gen Ed requirements + Athletic Training requirements ... and adding in the additional classes required to apply to most graduate PT programs into her "free elective" spots (Physics I/II, Chemistry I/II, Biology I/II, Statistics, A&P, Psychology, etc).

 

 

But you mention earlier calculus as a prerequisite for physics - I would be extremely surprised if grad school for PT required calculus based physics. She should check that out and see if the easier algebra/trig based physics that the pre-medical students take at most colleges would be acceptable.

[hopskipjump]

nm

Edited March 2, 2018 by hopskipjump

[bettyandbob]

Not to mess up scheduling your dd is doing, but my dd found that for math she has to take calculus and statistics for or DPT programs. I don't remember where she found it, but probably the APTA site. So maybe CLEPing calc is not a good plan.

[Crimson Wife]

Can't she also CLEP Calc and Physics?

 

Grad schools may not accept CLEP credits as satisfying admissions pre-reqs. I ran into this issue when I explored M.S.N. programs and my college courses were past the 7 year expiration. I was looking for an way to validate the old credits without having to re-take the courses but across the board I was told "no" about using CLEP tests.

[hopskipjump]

nm

Edited March 2, 2018 by hopskipjump

[Joules]

Can't she also CLEP Calc and Physics?

 

 

 

Just a note (I know this doesn't apply to OP's dd)...there is no CLEP test for Physics, so if students don't take the AP before starting college, there is no other way out unless there is a departmental exemption.

[regentrude]

Just a note (I know this doesn't apply to OP's dd)...there is no CLEP test for Physics, 

 

 

thanks - my bad.