DE English comp 101 @ CC

[Hilltopmom]

My last DE question for awhile, I promise!

 

My kiddo is not a gifted writer, but he can churn out an organized 5 paragraph essay & a research paper when he has to. Not sophisticated or very polished (he's more a computer geek than a writer, but writing is important he's starting to learn).

Has completed a few levels of EIW & just finished the Bravewriter Expository Essay class.

 

Thinking of having him DE Eng comp 101 at CC.

 

A casual friend of mine teaches it & just promised to send me her syllabus, but says its not hard: 6 papers- 2 in class timed that are about " middle school level", a research paper, & 3 other (done at home) essays.

 

I can't decide if it will be too difficult for him or not. I guess I just don't know what level writing they expect.

I'd want him to do well, obviously, as its on your college record. But am worried his writing is not college level (although, it's CC & I've been told by other parents that the writing expectations are low at ours?)

 

** Maybe I should ask her to read the last essay he wrote & help me decide?

 

He is taking the writing placement test, but it's After registration opens by a few weeks (bad timing).

[marbel]

My daughter did this class at our CC as a high school  sophomore, and my son is doing it now as a senior.  It is pretty much as you describe above.

 

She did great in it, but she is a natural and came close to testing out of it when she did the placement test. 

 

My son is doing well, but struggles with the mechanics of writing (dang commas!) and had a tough time with the first in-class essay because of his mechanics problems.  Still, he has a solid B. His instructor did refer him to the tutoring center for help with his mechanics problems; she has no way of knowing that we spent years working on that at home.  He was actually exempted from taking the writing placement test because of his great score on the English portion of the ACT, but that did not include writing an essay.  He is great at seeing good and bad writing, as long as it's not his! 

 

Don't know if that is helpful to you.  My guess is that with his background and no other issues, he would do fine. 

 

If the placement test is after registration, is it also within the no-penalty drop window?   Because then he could sign up and then drop if he doesn't test into it. 

[Hilltopmom]

Yes, he could still drop it.

They also offer the same class with an extra hour of weekly (non credit) tutoring built in with same prof, that he could do instead.

[quark]

Not able to tell from course code English 101. Our CC uses a different numbering system. Is this an equivalent to freshman composition? At our flagship state university, a grade of C and above in the freshman comp course at DS's CC will exempt the student from their writing proficiency requirement.

 

DS will not be taking freshman comp at the CC so I have stopped looking into it. However, friends have described their experience as being very varied depending on the instructor. Some instructors assign easier books and discussion/ essay topics. Some pick more lit than non fiction. Some use the class as a vehicle to deeply explore areas of their own interest e.g. gender and wealth disparity, environmental policy, international issues, freedom of expression etc. and essays are much more challenging (perhaps because more critical thinking is required).

 

It might be a wonderful fit for your DS if he gets an instructor with mutual interests. Could you check the instructors on rate my prof and see what the reviews say? Could he email individual instructors with questions on their assigned reading (assuming he has no access to each one's syllabus/ reading list)?

[Hilltopmom]

This one is just freshman composition, writing only. 102 is literature & composition.

 

Good idea to check the prof reviews, thanks.

[The Girls' Mom]

I would try it.  1.  You can drop it by the drop date with no ill effects if he ends up floundering.  2.  They really do seem to start with the basics.  At least my class did a couple of semesters ago.  3.  He can take full advantage of any tutoring they offer.  

 

I wouldn't hesitate to send a kid that can write a 5 paragraph essay.  

[EKS]

My dyslexic, hates-to-write son, who I thought would *never* learn to write coherently, let alone well, got solid As in both comp classes he took at the CC.  I thought that that said more about the other students than anything about his writing ability, but he is also getting excellent grades on his written work at his 4 year school, so go figure.

[MerryAtHope]

I think this is going to vary a lot from school to school, and even instructor to instructor. Does the CC have a placement test? Ours requires one  (or a certain ACT score--but I think the placement test is probably a better indicator of how the student would do) before taking the college-level writing course. 

[G5052]

Some instructors assign easier books and discussion/ essay topics. Some pick more lit than non fiction. Some use the class as a vehicle to deeply explore areas of their own interest e.g. gender and wealth disparity, environmental policy, international issues, freedom of expression etc. and essays are much more challenging (perhaps because more critical thinking is required).

 

It might be a wonderful fit for your DS if he gets an instructor with mutual interests. Could you check the instructors on rate my prof and see what the reviews say? Could he email individual instructors with questions on their assigned reading (assuming he has no access to each one's syllabus/ reading list)?

 

This would be my concern as well. The local CC used to use a textbook that had a lot of offensive material. Even the adjuncts would talk about it in the adjunct office! They hated teaching from it.

 

Now the textbooks they use are more neutral. My oldest has read quite a few poems, stories, and essays that he read in high school. His professor views things differently than we do on quite a few issues, but as long as you can argue your point, she's respectful. Unfortunately not all of the professors are like that. I know of one in particular that I would never recommend for dual enrollment because of her attitude towards those who don't agree with her.

 

Would he do OK in the class academically? Probably. I know of quite a few people locally who have used it since they changed the textbook, and they've all been happy other than those who went with the difficult professor.

Edited April 11, 2016 by G5052