College Course Advising and You

[Susan in TN]

Do you (as a parent) involve yourself in advising your college student on course selection and/or scheduling? 

[regentrude]

We offered some input on DD's class choices while she was taking college courses as a high school student.

I do not expect to involve myself in her course selections when she starts real college in the fall - unless she specifically asks me for my opinion. This should be for her and her academic advisor to discuss.

I would expect to be more involved if my student were attending the university where I teach, because I would be more knowledgeable about courses and faculty. But I do not know more about the courses and instructors at her university than she could find out from the website, and certainly less than her advisor.

[8filltheheart]

For their first semester, yes. The advising at freshman orientation is rushed and pretty pathetic. Once they are there, I stay out of it completely.

 

I have them put together several options in case classes are full, etc,bc if they don't go in with a plan, they will be railroaded by the advisor into taking generic first freshman semester 101.

[maize]

I plan to discuss course selection with my kids at least for their freshman year, if only because no one ever sat down and really discussed my course plan with my and I could have benefited from experience and insight. I was at a large university and while we did have academic advisers assigned my appointments with mine were always very perfunctory, essentially I showed him my proposed schedule and he signed off on it without offering any input. I know some schools and some advisers do a much better job, and some students may be better prepared with questions to ask, but my own academic advisement experience was quite useless.

[regentrude]

I have them put together several options in case classes are full, etc,bc if they don't go in with a plan, they will be railroaded by the advisor into taking generic first freshman semester 101.

 

I am pretty sure my DD will be putting together a plan B, C and D like this... that's just how she operates ;-)

[Barbara H]

One thing to know is that college varies widely in the type and quality of advising they provide. While I don't necessarily think parents should advise their students what courses to take, I do think it is quite reasonable to keep some dialogue going. Many colleges offer online course management systems that will show what courses the student has completed and what options they have to complete various requirements. I think it is a good idea to set the policy that once a semester you will sit down together and take a look at grades, major, and progress to degree. Some young people are more open to parental opinions than others, but really some kids kind of float along and it wouldn't occur to them to consider options such as an internship or a double major.

[Jane in NC]

Only when my son consulted me which he did his first semester and one other when all of the classes that he wanted to take conflicted with each other!

[In The Great White North]

Nope, I have no idea what courses they took or what grades they got in each class.

 

But their school has great advising and a vested interest in everyone graduating on time, with a degree.  And then, they have a guaranteed job. :patriot:

 

I don't remember consulting my parents either.

[Muttichen]

No -- our kids handle this on their own with their advisor.

[mom2att]

For the first semester, yes, which should also give her direction for future semesters.  She already has quite a few of the typical general ed requirements taken care of via dual enrollment, so her first semester is not going to be the typical first semester freshman schedule.  We've already talked a bit about what classes she needs for the GE requirements, plus those she needs for the college in which her major is located.  There are a lot of boxes to check when it comes to aquiring all of those credits, and while I do expect her to be the one in charge of this and of course she'll be one who is actually registering, I hope to get her started in the right direction, because who knows what the advising session at freshman orientation will be like (large state uni)?

[Sunshine State Sue]

I don't plan on it.  In fact, the school chooses classes for 1st semester for each student.  Maybe because it's an engineering school and the curriculum is fairly set in the beginning.

[SkateLeft]

Nope. I didn't.

 

I gave her some advice when she registered for her first semester as dual enrolled student back in 11th grade. Since then though, she's taken care of registration herself.

 

Her university has mandatory advising for engineering majors, so she has to meet with her academic advisor in order to register. I'm out of the loop.

[Susan in TN]

**I hope to get her started in the right direction, because who knows what the advising session at freshman orientation will be like (large state uni)?**

This is what I am thinking - ds has several gen eds already done, is planning to CLEP more this summer, has to take at least one Honors College course each semester, wants to study abroad, and is adding a double major. I am wanting to avoid being a helicopter, but at the same time I want ds to have a good idea going into his registration session of what he should be looking at for his first year and to be able to articulate these issues to his advisor, who will hopefully be fabulous, but this is a very large state school and one messed up semester of classes could mean an extra year of school or a whole lot of summer scrambling.

[Kathy in Richmond]

During the summer before their first semesters at college, the kids & I looked through their course options together. That's the only time that I gave them any advice. Whether or not they took it was totally their call. :001_smile:

 

Both of their schools had freshmen register for courses *after* they were dropped off on campus for their first term, & parents were long gone from the scene. At that time, they met with their academic advisors, made their course selections, and started school a couple of days later.

 

I'm trying to remember how it worked for subsequent semesters. I think that my son had to get his course selection form signed by an advisor before registration day. I do know that my daughter's advisor required her to meet with him quarterly to have a thorough discussion of her progress and goals, but I think she was free to register for classes on her own. In any case, I was out of the process at that point!

[Gwen in VA]

I don't give any advice on classes, but --

 

I do advise the student to go in with a plan of classes (most likely modeled on the "sample" that many departments provide their students online) and then to keep on updating that plan each semester. While academic advising is wonderful, students cannot rely on the advisor to actually connect the dots and make sure the student graduates with the classes/background he wants. (I do ask my kids how they are doing with respect to their "plan"!)

 

Also, I encourage my kids to seek an advisor who actually cares about them as individuals. That means that my kids usually change advisors at some point from their assigned advisors to a prof who knows them personally. That way their advisors care more and can also write a strong rec for grad schools.

 

 

[Nan in Mass]

We explained (and continue to remind about) the whole pick a good advisor/ask your friends about professors/avoid evening classes/double-check the requirements yourself/make a plan ahead of time/sign up right away/pick electives that will enrich the rest of your life/think about a minor and internships/it can be expensive if you mess this up thing worked.  We did push ours to go see their advisors when course choosing time came, at first.  We did double check that they had looked at the requirements for their major.  My husband helped youngest work out a four-year plan with stickies on a big white board when he asked for scheduling help, but that was mostly because it landed in the middle of some exams and he was having trouble concentrating.  For myself, I wish my parents had encouraged me to pay more attention to requirements.  My advisor was useless.  I could have minored but didn't realize it was a possibility and my advisor didn't tell me.  I was one of those "floating along" students and I've been worried about this, but I don't feel like I have a good idea of what would be best for them.  I don't know their professors.  Their major requirements are very defined.  Good advisors can be amazing.  They can suggest ways of fulfilling requirements that you would never think of, help with administration, and solve all sorts of problems.  (Youngest's helped him gain access to bigger whiteboards to study, since he was running out of room in the library.)  All three of mine have taken a few odd courses which were a complete surprise to me. They were good, useful classes that they enjoyed very much.  Those odd electives are a chance to try something completely new and I have no way of knowing what they would like.   Experience has confirmed that in my family, this is something students do for themselves. : )  The exception is one of my extra kids who is lacking the background knowledge about college that the rest of mine have.  For example, she didn't know what a prerequisite was or that required labs aren't always listed with the class.  It has taken a combination of "parent" and advisor and administration to get her classes scheduled.  She will be able to do it for herself eventually, but she needs extra support until she learns the vocabulary and system.  The financial aid vocabulary was particularly baffling.  Working with her has showed me why colleges need to offer extra support to first generation college students.

 

Nan

[Lolly]

My eldest asked for my help the first two years. She is the only one of her friends who made it through the CC in that time. The rest ended up taking 3. That has a lot to do with the poor advisors.If she had listened to them, she would have taken 3. I have helped DD19a plan out her next couple of years. She hasn't tried to register for everything yet, of course, but she has her plan in place. Dd 19B I haven't given a whole lot of input, but her advisor pretty much messed her first semester up a bit. Her new advisor seems to be more on the ball. It will probably cost her an additional semester due to the advise she was given for this first year. Overall, it will have been a better path for her to ease into school and gain confidence in her abilities in class. This year's biggest learning for her was that she is very bright. You don't necessarily realize that when you are homeschooled and don't have classmates to compare yourself to.

[Susan in TN]

 

Also, I encourage my kids to seek an advisor who actually cares about them as individuals. That means that my kids usually change advisors at some point from their assigned advisors to a prof who knows them personally. That way their advisors care more and can also write a strong rec for grad schools.

 

I didn't realize advisors could be changed.  At this point (in a week and a half) ds will be meeting with his appointed advisor to register for classes - but I will let him know of this possibility for the future.  I read that he will have a 20 minute advising session before registering for classes.  That doesn't seem like much to me, but maybe it goes faster than I imagine.

[MIch elle]

Yes

[katilac]

We aren't there yet. 

 

I expect we'll advise them to some extent - or perhaps not advise them so much as discuss it with them. Oh, who am I kidding, I am sure I will have plenty of advice  :lol:

 

My university advisors were were skimpy with the advice. They never told me anything I didn't already know for myself, such as which classes were required for my major. They weren't going to sit and discuss my future plans, or notice that I was one class away from a minor. They would point out that I had better schedule that fine arts survey and pay my library fines if I wanted to graduate, and call it a day. 

 

I sincerely hope my kids have better luck, lol. However, even if they do, I imagine it might be something we discuss, simply as an interesting point of conversation, and for them to bounce ideas off of us. 

[regentrude]

I didn't realize advisors could be changed.  At this point (in a week and a half) ds will be meeting with his appointed advisor to register for classes - but I will let him know of this possibility for the future.  I read that he will have a 20 minute advising session before registering for classes.  That doesn't seem like much to me, but maybe it goes faster than I imagine.

 

Whether advisors can be changed or not depends on the department. In our department, advising is done by certain faculty and you don't have the opportunity to change. In smaller departments there will usually be one designated person taking care of undergrad advising.

 

Twenty minutes for advising is usually plenty. We schedule every 15 minutes and most often do not need the time; the occasional  student who takes longer can sit there and continue until everything is sorted out.

Most students have looked at the degree requirements, know for which courses they have the prerequisites and which are next in the sequence of classes, have looked at the schedule of classes and filled out the trial schedule or at least have a list of options. Departments usually have proposed schedules for their majors on their website; they would list the required courses in the right sequence and the number and kind of electives students should be taking. There is a lot of info available online which the student should peruse before showing up for advising so the time with the advisor can be spent of discussing things  a student can not figure out from the course schedule/degree requirements/website info.

Things to discuss with the advisor are:

Does a certain course count towards the requirements?

I want to take these two classes but they are offered at the same time; which should I take this semester so that I am on track? (extremely important to ask, since student usually does not have enough background info to judge which needs to happen first

What course can I take if I am off sequence and the next course in the lineup is not offered this semester?

What courses will only be offered this semester and not for another few years that I should get in now?

I have transfer/AP credit but my schedule sheet still says I need this course. What do I do?

I took the equivalent course for xyz majors which should count for this major, but it still shows an unfulfilled requirement (advisor will fill out a substitution/waiver form).

 

[Tokyomarie]

I talked with my oldest two about their course schedules for their first semester and looked over the plan to make sure it was setting them on the right track. Both girls continued to consult with me to some degree in the first couple of years, but their ultimate course choices were dictated by course sequencing for their majors and their advisors' recommendations.

 

My son has a lot of gen eds finished because of his CC credits and is much further along in the math sequence than the majority of students. Now that he is finished with his Winter Semester courses at the CC, I'm going to coach him through contacting his assigned advisor and the advisor in his minor department to check with them about how scheduling will work for him, since he will need a different schedule from the typical first year student.

[Jenny in Florida]

Like Regentrude, I have worked closely with my son to choose and schedule his courses while he's been dual enrolled and living at home. 

 

The college he'll be attending full time in the fall, however, does the scheduling for every student's first semester. My son filled out a pretty detailed survey about his intended major and minor, the college credits he will have prior to fall, his interests outside of his major and other preferences, and the college staff will make up his schedule based on that information. 

 

My daughter's college did something similar. In her case, she did usually call and chat about her choices for each semester when the course schedule became available, but that was probably just because she tended to call and chat frequently, anyway. It remains to be seen whether my son will be as communicative, although I would be astonished if he is. 

[dirty ethel rackham]

My oldest son made an attempt at his first semester on his own and then had me look it over.  (This school required the students to submit their course plan over the summer - they were given lots of written guidelines, but they expected the kids they admitted to be smart enough to figure it out - they actually said that on their materials:). )  The semester plan was reviewed by an adviser and students who needed further guidance were contacted.  The following semester, ds texted me in a panic - he was supposed to have a plan done before meeting with his adviser - they wanted the students to make a stab at it.  I reminded him that he was at a small liberal arts college for a reason and that the adviser would not expect a perfectly thought out plan.  Otherwise, they would not have advising appointments.  I helped him think through his issues by asking leading questions and he was able to make decisions.  The last 2 semesters, he did it without my input.  I have had discussions with him on his direction and what options are available to him.  He figured out on his own that he had room for a double major - Classics to go along with Biology - just because he thinks it is cool. 

[MicheleinMN]

I did for the first year, especially for that first semester.  I actually thought of this the other day, as I noted that I hadn't even really paid any attention to what classes my daughter had taken this last semester, and hadn't even asked her what she is planning on taking in the fall.  By the summer after her freshman year, she was showing me the color-coded chart she had made to cover everything she needed to double major (Classics and Political Science) and how she could fit in a Spanish Minor as well.  At that point, I knew she didn't need my help in figuring out her classes. LOL

[Catherine]

I've tried : )

 

Ds is planning a very ambitious schedule of 6 courses next fall, the first semester of his junior year. He did not ask my advice, but I gave it anyway. I think he's taking on too much. However, his advisor, who is very involved and helpful, not only counseled him to do exactly this schedule, he agreed to personally tutor him through a required math course that is not offered in the summer and directly conflicts with other required courses. Since his grades this semester were not stellar, I asked him to agree that he would drop something if he is "in over his head" and he agreed.

[ThisIsTheDay]

My dd has at least two different advisors, one for her honors program, and one for her major--and she's long planned to double major, so she may have a third.

 

We have not advised her on class selection.  I am aware of the requirements, and I have a printout of a suggested course schedule over four years.  Dh and I have encouraged her to stick with a class she wanted to drop after the first week (and she ended up with an A), we've encouraged her to meet with her advisor when the need arose in another situation, and we've encouraged her to contact profs when we thought it was in her best interest to do so. She did not always follow our advice, but later saw the wisdom of our ways (lol).

 

She just completed her freshman year, and she's become more confident in these areas, now with more of a btdt attitude.  I happy to continue being the cheerleader and letting her navigate this stuff.

[cbollin]

Oldest goes to freshman orientation this coming week (classes start in August).  Her college sets the 4 year plan so there isn't a lot of having to figure out what to take (some variation in general ed requirements is pretty much it.) 

For scheduleing for her major it's a matter of when to take which class. Our style of academic advising for this first semester for her has been to talk about our memories of first semester in terms of not taking too many classes in a row on same day, and how hard it was to get up for 8 am course (even though in our group high schools we were in school by 8). Talked about the idea of "when you register this week, one of the things you might find beneficial is to think not just in terms of when to take Calc, and Chem and English, but what time of day do you want to eat lunch and what time of day do you want to finish classes on most days?"  to a smaller extent we mentioned about location of classes -- our undergrad was a larger campus.

 

That was stuff that I wish I had known when I was starting college and nobody told me.  So I don't have a problem telling it to my child a week ahead of time so she can think about that stuff instead of just picking randomly.  and she will have to decide on it for herself if she wants to listen to mom's and dad's stories.

 

and after first semster...  I don't think she'll need our stories.   she'll just need our money

[Vida Winter]

Do you (as a parent) involve yourself in advising your college student on course selection and/or scheduling? 

 

No. Dd has several advisors who are doing a fine job of assisting her.

[hillfarm]

This is what I am thinking - ds has several gen eds already done, is planning to CLEP more this summer, has to take at least one Honors College course each semester, wants to study abroad, and is adding a double major. I am wanting to avoid being a helicopter, but at the same time I want ds to have a good idea going into his registration session of what he should be looking at for his first year and to be able to articulate these issues to his advisor, who will hopefully be fabulous, but this is a very large state school and one messed up semester of classes could mean an extra year of school or a whole lot of summer scrambling.

 

IMO, there is nothing wrong with being a helicopter when your dc still need a bit of support. Particularly if they have chosen a non-standard path through the educational maze. My being a helicopter made it possible for my dd to get all her odds and ends high school requirements out of the way in 9th and 10th grades so that she could do a PSEO program and get a full AA degree and graduate from high school at the same time.

 

While she was finishing 8th grade and I was wearing my helicopter hat, I noticed that for the 3 or 4 different cc degrees she was considering, she would always end up one semester short in English, math or science. So I made a point of being sure that she took those extra semester classes as electives during 9th and 10th. Kids with helicopter moms get the full AA degree. Kids without helicopter moms will have to do 1 or 2 extra semesters to get the AA. On their own dime.

 

Not that I am suspicious or anything, but it hasn't escaped my notice that all of the instances of problematic advising seem to end with the student paying for one or more additional semesters. Rarely do the schools take responsibility for the poor job the advisor has done and cut the kid some slack for missing out on a class or allowing them to add it as an independent study for no extra fee.

 

I am sure there are many more excellent advisors than bad ones. I had a great one in college who pointed out to me that with only one extra class I could graduate a semester early (and save a substantial amount of money). But from what I have seen locally, this does not seem to be the trend lately.

[Lolly]

 

 

Not that I am suspicious or anything, but it hasn't escaped my notice that all of the instances of problematic advising seem to end with the student paying for one or more additional semesters. Rarely do the schools take responsibility for the poor job the advisor has done and cut the kid some slack for missing out on a class or allowing them to add it as an independent study for no extra fee.

 

I am sure there are many more excellent advisors than bad ones. I had a great one in college who pointed out to me that with only one extra class I could graduate a semester early (and save a substantial amount of money). But from what I have seen locally, this does not seem to be the trend lately.

 

I would change that rarely to never. I would also disagree with the more excellent than bad. I think there are more bad than excellent. I don't think they advise poorly on purpose. It just really doesn't matter much to them. They have nothing in the game, so to speak. They also don't know these kids. They don't realize that, no, this particular kid cannot wait until 2 to eat lunch. She cannot go past 12 without eating a meal. And, her meal cannot be a pack of crackers or something grabbed from the cafeteria. Or that that one cannot do well if they have all heavy reading classes. It needs to be mixed up a bit. (Yeah, this was done to my dyslexic kid her first semester. No parents allowed in advising. They thought they were doing her a favor because her testing indicated those subjects as her strongest areas...) Advising a kid to take classes from 8-3 nonstop in a single day because classes were full at other times? Not a good idea for anyone. No, I haven't been impressed with any of my kids' advisors in college so far.

[creekland]

I assist mine with their first semester and listen in thereafter just out of curiosity - well, that and I still buy books for them, so I do need to know what classes they are taking.  ;)

 

Even first semester, the classes they end up with are those they've chosen.  I just offer advice to get started - not ultimatums.  After that, they have college advisers who tend to know more about the specifics than I do.

[Sunshine State Sue]

post #34 reported

[AMJ]

I plan to discuss course selection with my kids at least for their freshman year, if only because no one ever sat down and really discussed my course plan with my and I could have benefited from experience and insight. I was at a large university and while we did have academic advisers assigned my appointments with mine were always very perfunctory, essentially I showed him my proposed schedule and he signed off on it without offering any input. I know some schools and some advisers do a much better job, and some students may be better prepared with questions to ask, but my own academic advisement experience was quite useless.

I didn't get an academic advisor until I declared a major. All incoming freshmen were given the same list of course recommendations to take for the first 18 months, and left to the luck of enrollment to figure out their schedules. (Small liberal arts school my first 2 years.)

 

We will be advising our kids, but part of that advice will be to listen to and consider the advice of any academic advisors they get. We will let them know we are available for questions and will ask about their study options and choices, but depending on their chosen pursuits we might not know enough to give meaningful advice. I do know that certain B.S. degrees depend upon freshman starting with the right courses their first year, since some later courses have prerequisites that have prerequisites that have prerequisites....

[Just Another Jen]

Can I get some strategy help? My DS goes for orientation next week. Its a giant cattle call like event where he will wait in one line for his id, wait again for a counselor, wait again to register for classes. For his major every student takes the same classes for the first two years. Then there is a portfolio review and for the last 2 years they specialize. So, should he have a back up plan for if those "track" classes are full? Do they get full if all those kids need to take them in order? 

  I realize he will meet with a counselor, but I can't see how that person is going to put much thought into it, with 100 kids standing behind him. My impulse is to have him sit down here at home and look at when the requirements are offered and come up with several variations of schedules to bring with to registration.

  Any thoughts?

[hillfarm]

rivendellmom, my situation is not exactly the same as yours, but I think going in prepared is the best way to go. Although we were expected to sit through advising quietly and take what the advisor told us dd needed to take, whenever it was available, that didn't work for me. So I went online, dug through the school's website until I found the schedule of course listings, which as luck would have it, also showed how many seats remained in each class.

 

Dd and I came up with an ideal schedule for her, with a couple of back up options in mind, in case something didn't work out. Then when we sat down with the advisor, dd was able to pull out a sheet of paper and say, "I'd like the 11:00 - 12:15 section of English 1510, ...". The advisor was surprised, but went with what we wanted. We later found it was good we did it that way, because the advisor announced to coworkers as we were walking out of her office that the particular slots we chose for English and Macroeconomics were now filled.

 

When I asked her what would happen to the students who hadn't signed up yet, she said that if there were more than 5 or so who couldn't get into the basic classes, they would have to add another section. But those kids were going to be stuck with whatever timeslot the added professor had available to teach the class. Not to mention having to wait to find out if there would be another section added, and dealing with the potential disruption to all the rest of their schedule if the class was added at an odd or very popular time.

 

IMO, this is why I wanted to be very involved in scheduling for dd's first semester. Next time, she can lead the process and the time after that, I hope I am relegated to merely a sounding board status. Although there is lots of sighing and rolled eyeballs, the advisors do seem to be quicker to make exceptions for the students who come in with a firm plan or significant backup. Whatever. I have been living with a teen for these last few years. No advisor alive can out-sigh or out-roll them! Just suck it up and give us the schedule we need/are requesting.

[Rebel Yell]

Do you (as a parent) involve yourself in advising your college student on course selection and/or scheduling? 

 

Yes, I do, by Diamond's request.

 

She is at Community College, halfway through her Assciate's in Small Business Management.

 

She has a "Checksheet" from the school, listing the required courses and a suggested sequence. She got a litttle off track due to an extra Math class she needed. There are also a few classes with choices- like Science, General Elective, Social Science, and a the need to take 5 out of 9 possible "Restricted Electives."

 

The main reason I help is to set her daily schedule.  Classes should start early enough that she has time for work after class, but not so early that she's miserable and useless at work. :huh:  I also need to fit her classes in with the rest of the family's schedule, since Diamond & I share a car.

 

So basically what I do is make a few sample schedules- depending on electives, and she picks and registers. I do the "hard" part, but she is still in control of registration and which classes she takes.

 

The other thing I do is find great deals on books. We are unable to contribute anything to her college expenses (other than free room/board and use of the car) so my "contribution" is saving her tons of money on books. She is full capable of doing that on her own, I just choose to do it so I feel like I'm doing SOMETHING to help, and she's happy to let me.

[regentrude]

. So I went online, dug through the school's website until I found the schedule of course listings, which as luck would have it, also showed how many seats remained in each class.

 

I am confused: why would you do the web search, and not your DD?

The above is the first thing my kids would do when figuring out her schedule. I'd expect a beginning college student to do this kind of research. Not the parent.

[Just Another Jen]

I am confused: why would you do the web search, and not your DD?

The above is the first thing my kids would do when figuring out her schedule. I'd expect a beginning college student to do this kind of research. Not the parent.

Right. I was going to suggest "how" he could handle the situation. I'm not planning on helping unless I'm asked for help.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I am confused: why would you do the web search, and not your DD?

The above is the first thing my kids would do when figuring out her schedule. I'd expect a beginning college student to do this kind of research. Not the parent.

Because said child said they couldn't find anything like that, but I, with more experience, knew something like that existed and I was not going to take my child's word for it, exasperatedly went and looked for it to prove my child wrong and showed them how I found it.   At least that is why I did it and not my child.  My child was new to this task, was failing at it so I used it as a teaching moment.  Show not Yell.  Said child navigated subsequent registration sessions more successfully.

[Just Another Jen]

Because said child said they couldn't find anything like that, but I, with more experience, knew something like that existed and I was not going to take my child's word for it, exasperatedly went and looked for it to prove my child wrong and showed them how I found it.   At least that is why I did it and not my child.  My child was new to this task, was failing at it so I used it as a teaching moment.  Show not Yell.  Said child navigated subsequent registration sessions more successfully.

That's a good point also. My son hadn't even thought about the fact that he should try and choose his classes for certain days and times. This time i will guide. I don't anticipate actually needing to help much after that.

[J-rap]

I think I would like to sit down with her and figure out a general plan in order to graduate in 4 years.  I have heard enough stories (including one with another daughter) where because of NOT having an overall plan and very poor advise from her adviser, her schedule got out of sync and she had to choose between not graduating on time or dropping one of her majors.  It was very, very frustrating and discouraging. 

 

 

[Rebel Yell]

I am confused: why would you do the web search, and not your DD?

The above is the first thing my kids would do when figuring out her schedule. I'd expect a beginning college student to do this kind of research. Not the parent.

 

Yeah- our school's website is a nightmare.

 

Diamond is fully capable- I do it for/with her because she lives at home and I need for her schedule to fit with mine.

[8filltheheart]

Ds's advising at orientation was beyond pathetic.   He had multiple schedules built and was able to walk in and get what he wanted.

 

One thing his university started using recently, apparently, is DegreeWorks.   Degree Works lets them put in double and triple majors and lets them see what exact courses need to be completed in order to earn the degrees.   It was really helpful for him b/c he didn't get to meet with an advisor to discuss anything beyond the initial declared major.

[Barbara H]

It does depend a lot on the school and the major, but I will say I think people often underestimate the complexity of this stuff. As someone who does this for a living, I think I'm quite good at this but I still find it to be complicated particularly at bigger state schools. There can be multiple sets of requirements - general education requirements, pre-major requirements, major requirements, and school (such as Arts and Sciences, engineering) requirements and often many different options for meeting those requirements. For students who want to do something tricky like graduate early, complete a BA and MA in three years, dual degree, double major, complete requirements for med school admissions, etc. it really does take some focused attention. Some schools do have great advising and they will really work students through the steps, but at the majority of schools it really is on the student to figure out and I personally feel like it is totally fine for parents to be involved if the kids want them to be. To me this is not at all in the league of micromanaging what your kid eats or if they are doing their laundry or how they are getting along with their roommate.

[hillfarm]

I am confused: why would you do the web search, and not your DD?

The above is the first thing my kids would do when figuring out her schedule. I'd expect a beginning college student to do this kind of research. Not the parent.

 

Two reasons. First, because my dd was fully consumed with studying for and taking finals at the same time this had to be done. I decided I would pitch in and do it rather than distract her from something I considered more pressing. I would have had her be more involved later had the scheduling not also needed done in a timely manner.

 

Second, this is my 15yo dd's very first experience with this. This will be the first time in her academic career where she will have a set schedule for classes and she had trouble trying to take a quick look at it and not accidentally overlap half of her classes. I do like the idea someone mentioned about using sticky notes and a white board to give the student a good, concrete idea of how to fit things together without overlapping.

 

[creekland]

I am confused: why would you do the web search, and not your DD?

The above is the first thing my kids would do when figuring out her schedule. I'd expect a beginning college student to do this kind of research. Not the parent.

 

As mentioned before, I did this with each of my kids the first time - a teaching moment rather than "sink or swim."  After first semester they always did it by themselves with or without their advisers (always needed adviser approval either way).

 

I can't really imagine just tossing it into their laps the first time and hoping for the best.

 

With middle son, I actually signed him up the day they were allowed to sign up online for their first choices.  Why didn't he do it?  He was in a third world country at the time - no computer.  He still managed to do things himself every other semester without problems.  We had already talked about what he wanted.

 

[Susan in TN]

Thought I'd add this information - dh is with ds at the university's 2-day new student orientation.  They encourage at least one family member to attend, though the student is off doing their thing(s) while the family members are attending separate information sessions and so forth. 

 

On the first day the student has information sessions on making schedules, navigating the student account and class registration site, and financial aid and paying their bills, and then meets with their advisor to discuss their major and classes.  They don't actually register for classes until the 2nd day.  Dh's session speaker said they arrange it this way so the student has an opportunity to learn how to communicate with an advisor on their own, and then if they desire, they can discuss their plans with parents before registering. 

 

 

[Tokyomarie]

My son just registered online for his fall semester classes. He was given a flow chart with a suggested 4 year coursework outline when we visited but otherwise has had no communication from the advisor in his major. Students are to register now and make any necessary adjustments to their schedules during orientation.

I am really glad I helped ds get it going. First, with the start of the semester being nearly 3 months away and ds's brain on shut-off just trying to reset from his last 3 years, he needed a nudge to think about it. Secondly, I don't think ds was aware of just how quickly some sections of courses might fill and create a problem for working out the rest of his schedule. He wasn't necessarily inclined to go online as soon as registration opened and by making a plan to sit down with him, we started the process right when registration opened.

As it turns out, what I thought might take 30 minutes tops ended up taking us 2.5 hours and still isn't finished. It turns out that he can't take Honors Physics for his minor because the time slots for available lab sections conflicts with the two required courses for his major. We ended up registering him for the regular calc-based physics, even though he doesn't learn well in massive, large lecture sections (the main reason for wanting to do the honors section). Then, the system has blocked him from registering for one of his required CS courses for some reason or another and he is now waiting on a response from his CS advisor about that one. In any case, now that I've walked with ds once through the process of registering at his new school, I figure he'll be off and running on his own the next time.

 

Update on registering for CS course: it looks like the reason ds couldn't register for that course is that it is restricted to 1st year students. Because of his transfer credit, the system didn't recognize ds as a 1st year and kept him out. A simple override from the CS advisor and voila! he's in! It's these little things that 1st year students often don't know how to navigate. If they haven't yet developed assertiveness and are not accustomed to speaking up, they can get lost in the fog and not get things sorted out until it's too late to avoid serious damage to timely progress towards the degree. Being available to coach ds on handling the situation helped him to navigate to a solution.

[Barbara H]

Marie is raising a good point. At least for the first time encourage your kids to register just as soon as their registration window opens online.