Roadrunner
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Posts posted by Roadrunner
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29 minutes ago, SanDiegoMom said:
My son committed to UCLA yesterday! Then he went and declined the rest of the schools he was accepted to. Berkeley was the toughest to find the withdrawal button - we joked that they probably couldn't believe someone would be declining admission! The rest were much easier to find. 🙂
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
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8 hours ago, Clemsondana said:
My older has taken 6 DE classes from 2 CCs and found that variation is huge. 5 of the classes were online due to scheduling difficulty, and even within that group the experience is not the same.
In the humanities classes, kid's biggest complaint is that the classes seemed designed to encourage cheating. Texts were online, so it was simple to search the text while taking a quiz if one was inclined to do so. I know that one can do that with a book, but it's easier to copy the unknown term to the search bar than it is to scan 100 pages of textbook. Kid thought 2 of the 3 humanities classes were reasonably OK, and it's hard to say otherwise - Psych 101 is pretty easy at most schools. There was some complaint about a British Lit class - they were assigned a specific version of the text, but the quiz questions sometimes came from online quiz sources that used different versions or translations, such that the term or description wasn't present in the assigned version of the text. Although there were a few deadline issues, it was mostly OK and of the sort that is easy to work with - forgetting to post an assignment, so allowing a few extra days to finish.
The online physics and calc 3 were a real challenge. I had worried about the physics lab, but that was actually reasonably done - dropping items or rolling them down inclines can be done at home and is on par with what I remember doing as a student. But, these classes involved a ton of self-teaching, with no book or video lecture (there were little snippet lectures linked to certain homework problems, which could help but gave no context or big picture). The calc class was reasonable, with quick responses from the managing instructor (the course itself was part of a state-wide ecampus program). The midterm and final were taken at the campus testing center. The physics was a real challenge. There was minimal feedback - you could see your grade, but had to ask to even find out what problems you missed on tests. There was no partial credit - on one test kid miscalculated the first part of a problem and subsequently missed the next 2 subparts (done correctly, but using the wrong answer from part 1), so earned a 75%. Despite earning As on every other assignment and test, kid went into the final knowing that if a single question was missed kid would likely earn a B in the class. Kid was incredibly relieved to earn an A, but it seemed absurd that missing 2 questions in a semester (in which there were multiple tests) would be enough to pull your grade to a B. We did think it was good that the homework was self-checking and you had multiple tries to get each question right - it encouraged students to work until they could do most of it.
After that, kid decided to take the next physics class in person. Kid has found it to be very well done - much easier and less stress, but mostly because there is actual teaching and ability to ask questions. The instructor has had to make changes to the schedule and syllabus - there was a week of snow closure, and also an event on campus that caused classes to be canceled. It's been handled in a very reasonable way, with some of the lab time being diverted to working problem sets and taking tests, and 2 short labs being done in one lab session. It's all been clearly communicated. The only complaint is that some work isn't graded promptly.
There are big problems with unprepared students in classes. My kid has been amazed that in easy classes assignments like 'make a discussion post on the topic, 2 paragraphs of at least 4 sentences each' lead to students writing 1 paragraph, or 2 paragraphs of 2 sentences each, or posts on the wrong topic. But, there are also issues with too much self-teaching being required. My younger kid has taken a couple of Derek Owens math classes, which are online, but involve teaching and reasonably prompt feedback on your work. I recommend those classes to others looking for solid math instruction. I would never recommend that anybody take the online math and physics classes at the CC. I would recommend the in-person class, and would say that, at least for the classes that my kid took, the online humanities was fine - nothing spectacular, but 2 were 100-level classes, and those are usually pretty generic and easy no matter where you take them.
We had similar experience with physics classes. But I will say that even now at a four year school, a couple of problems can really cost you a grade. My kid’s physics midterm had three questions. The grade in the class is based on two midterms and one final.
What we found is upper division math and physics had the most motivated kids. Those were students hoping to transfer into engineering to four year schools. The classes were always spilt into kids who were excellent (maybe 10% of the class) and everybody else struggling. Almost no middle.
The biggest issue is kids just want a paper. Most think what matters isn’t knowledge, but a paper that says you earned a credit. Well a credit without knowledge is worthless. But if you don’t understand it, you cheat. And cheating in online classes is rampant. -
Does anybody know if a best way to prep for a French placement test? Any good (and not too massive) review prep either in book or video form?
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Quality of CCs varies substantially in my experience. Some CCs in CA are absolutely excellent. But some more rural ones (like ours sadly) aren’t. I think Covid made things much worse. I worry that the quality lost during Covid is now impossible to regain.
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You are not alone. I have lots of regrets. Homeschooling was extremely isolating for us. Academically excellent but a disaster in all other ways.
Whatever is driving the misery, I hope you find answers. Hugs.-
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2 hours ago, jplain said:
Yup, I think applying early to IU is a good idea. Even though IU transitioned away from rolling admissions this year, those who applied earlier got acceptances and merit offers in late November or early December. My kid applied within a few days of the EA deadline and didn't hear back until early January.
Oh, I didn’t realize they didn’t have rolling admissions anymore.
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1 hour ago, bibiche said:
I was just reading about their Language Flagship program. It sounds fantastic!
And their business and their music. 🤞❤️
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2 hours ago, SanDiegoMom said:
My oldest dd's two roommates were life sciences majors, and they both didn't have calculus until college. One said their math series was lighter calculus and geared towards life sciences. This page lists what is covered in the class: Undergraduate Courses - UCLA Mathematics I just assume it wouldn't be extensive enough to set them up for Physics 1 series?
Gosh, I can’t imagine it being any lesser than AP Calculus, which really all it takes for the 1 series. UCLa runs honors sequence in Calc and physics for those majoring in these areas and needing Caltech level learning. Regular 1 series isn’t that.
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Can he write a solid paragraph? I would keep building on that with the goal of an essay before graduation. I don’t know that I would use a curriculum. WWS seems too much work. I think writing across curriculum as much as he can handle and polishing up paragraphs would be the way I would approach it.
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I am hoping August 1st. We are looking at University of Indiana.
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I will say my kid hasn’t had a single issue with registration down there. Smooth sailing so far. But he isn’t in the bio department.
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1 hour ago, Malam said:
What's the more reason? Both benefit from the conceptual benefits of calculus, but physics 1 is harder and less relevant to medicine
I thought kids couldn’t handle calculus and wanted algebra based so that’s why they were all flocking to 5. If you can’t find a class, it’s better to take 1 series and get it out of the way than spending years attempting to get into 5 series. I have seen juniors still not managing to secure spots in the 5 series. Honestly so much of the difficulty is teacher dependent. As I said, Corbin (notorious for being the hardest prof) often teaches courses in the 5 series.
also, you get a more solid take on physics from 1. Learning never hurts. -
5 hours ago, Malam said:
But the 5abc sequence is calculus based, isn't it?
I stand corrected. I thought it wasn’t. I think in many places bio majors are able to take non calculus version.
Even more reason to attempt the 1 series then. I see Corbin sometimes teaches 5 series. I can’t imaging anything with him could be easy, 5 or 1.
But yes, UCLA seems to have too many premeds. They really need to do a better job matching demand.
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2 hours ago, rzberrymom said:
The students at UCLA sell everything to each other. Freshman and sophomores are in triple rooms that were built as doubles—have a spare $2000 and you can find someone to switch with you. Need someone to hold a spot in a class for you? That’s another $500. It makes me sick. It’s all over Reddit and I’ve been waiting for someone to get them in a sting operation.
On the other hand, my kid is THRILLED she’s at a school where no one bought their way in, either with donations, fancy private high schools, or even well-funded public schools (most kids there are ELC, which means they’re top of their high school rather than top overall across the state, to TRY to maintain some equity). The egalitarianism is strong there.
This, especially after witnessing who gets into and why into privates.
And neither of our kids have experienced any issues around registration.-
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Enterprising LA culture 😂🤦♀️
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47 minutes ago, EKS said:
Because they think it will be easier (we're talking about life science majors here, many of which are premed and protecting their gpas). What's funny is that it is actually harder.
Having taken physics for poets, physics for biology majors, and physics for chemistry majors, I was pretty amazed at how calculus made everything so elegant. I'm assuming that the physics for physics majors would have been more difficult though.
My son agrees. He also says calculus makes physics easier.
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I agree that these students need to be expelled.
UCs accept more students than they can accommodate because of unrelenting pressure from politicians to increase the number of kids attending. Never mind that many CSU campuses have plenty of space. And CA population where in the cities it it’s uncommon to see families with $300k combined incomes (that makes you pretty much full pay) most still can’t afford to shell out $95k for private universities (cost of living here and multiple children pretty much makes private education impossible for those families), putting more pressure on UC admissions.
Also the dreaded physics courses that are always in short supply have a calculus based equivalents and they always have space. I don’t understand why any stem major would want to take algebra based physics frankly. But yes, UCLA seems to put everybody through the dreaded three quarter physics sequence, including CS folks. Maybe it’s a common practice. I don’t know. But in short I agree, let’s stop cramming kids into campuses that are at capacity.
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If you want a composition class, look at WTMA. I believe rhetoric classes are solid high school composition.
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Are you able to help at all?
This is another interesting take. It teaches with problems. I didn’t have as much luck with this text but in knowledgeable hands, it can be very good.also Gamow books are fun reads and really got my kid into physics. Along with @MorningGlory Jetta and her wonderful class that uses conceptual physics. He is now a physics major and pretty much wants to do nothing else.
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peak at this book. It’s a physics textbook with a more engaging take. See if she likes it.
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Mine is back to school for another 10 week quarter. He is super excited to be taking all new classes. This is definitely the benefit of a quarter system. But not so excited to be dealing with finals second time since January. And that is a drawback of this fast paced madness. Having him home for a week with nothing to do I realize his life here is over. This is now a temporary relaxation station in life. It’s sad and exciting.
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34 minutes ago, SanDiegoMom said:
- DS finished off strong with an acceptance to Berkeley. This is the school his older sister applied to and got rejected or waitlisted three times - once for undergrad and twice for law school... so she's going to kill him:)
You know which one I am rooting he chooses. 😂😉Congratulations!!!!
if he goes to the southern one, we should do a get together with WTM moms down there!
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2 hours ago, kokotg said:
He did not get into the con (didn't pass the prescreen back in the fall)...so that's the main thing he needs to figure out: how good the opportunities are for non conservatory students. They have a "musical studies" major that's supposed to give a lot of access to the conservatory for arts and sciences students who are serious musicians...but the details on the website are a little sparse.
Thanks for keeping the list up, btw--it's so great to see it growing as the year goes on!
Did he have a lesson with Amherst teachers? I would go with the teacher he likes. I don’t trust places with conservatories for non conservatory kids because I was told you don’t get access to “real” teachers there. I know in places with grad school, you get assigned grad students. Oberlin has no grad school though, but if you don’t have a spot in a studio for a conservatory kid, how do you find a place for a non conservatory one? I am musing aloud here. Congrats to your DS though. I know how much of a roller coaster this process is, especially for music kids.
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What’s happening?
We don’t input any data but it was all brought in from IRS without our handling a single number. I am looking at SAI now and it seems a bit lower to me than what we anticipated. How do I know if there is a mistake?
Skills for Successfully Launching into College Life
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
I agree with @lewelma. Mine was certainly lacking in all skills other than academic and has been learning slowly. Now almost finishing up his freshman year, he can do a lot he wasn’t able when he started out (from vacuuming to attending an office hour). He hasn’t been away from home prior to college.