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When do most colleges start (Aug/Sep) and end (May/June)?


mirabillis
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9 minutes ago, Selkie said:

At my boys’ college, classes start just after Labor Day and end in mid-May. Their school has semesters.


This is true of most of the schools I know of in my state (MA).  All three of mine are in school now (two public U's and a CC).

It seems like schools start earlier in other parts of the country...

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DD's college starts mid-Aug & ends at the end of April (commencement is around May 1st every year). Others of her top picks start a week earlier or later & end at the same time or up to two weeks later.

None of her schools are in the north or west. So, no ideas about those.

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sIf you have any idea of the schools that might be applied to, just google the name and academic calendar.  All schools have their academic calendars posted on line, so it is easy enough to see exact dates.  USC already has their 2021-2022 calendar posted online: https://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/registrar/academic_calendars/2021-22_calendar.php

Edited by 8FillTheHeart
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All three colleges we will deal with next year will go mid Aug- very beginning of May (end of April if no exams towards the end of exam period). This is in TN, GA, and FL.

Oldest will graduate May 10, 2020. Yes, it is on the calendar and I have a countdown going on my phone 😂

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Community colleges around here start a few days to a week after public schools go back (early to mid August) to help accommodate parents of school age children who are seeking a degree. Fall semester ends in the first week or so of December. Spring semester starts mid January and ends the first week or two of May. Summer Semester starts just after Memorial Day and ends in mid to late July. There are "mini-mesters" between every semester except summer and fall. Each "mini-mester" class is 3 weeks long. Mini-mester and summer classes tend to be condensed classes for those who need to make up  a credit or cannot fit the class anywhere else in their schedule.

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There's a pretty wide variance. Oldest's school done May 3 but she's personally been done for nearly a week now. Youngest's school done May 16. Most schools do end before June because they have a summer semester, but I wouldn't be making any non-refundable travel plans, lol. Like my freshman will be done with classes in mid-May, but will be living and working on campus throughout the summer, something I would never have anticipated. 

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The schools we're involved with start August 19 or later, then they end no later than May 13.

Mine are commuter students, and I teach at a local college. So we juggled three different calendars. Next year it will be two, so a little easier.

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If you are thinking about the summer before your kid starts college, keep in mind that schools have very different patterns for freahman orientation. 

One kid had orientation scheduled as two days on a variety of dates in July.  Another had freshman move in a week before classes with orientation running the days before upperclass returned. 

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At my undergraduate institution, they run the last week of August, then started spring term a week before MLKjr Day. Finals were last week and graduation on the 4th. My graduate institution has one more week, then finals. Graduation is on the 17th. We started the day after MLKjr Day this spring. 

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On 5/5/2019 at 12:50 PM, Sebastian (a lady) said:

If you are thinking about the summer before your kid starts college, keep in mind that schools have very different patterns for freahman orientation. 

One kid had orientation scheduled as two days on a variety of dates in July.  Another had freshman move in a week before classes with orientation running the days before upperclass returned. 

 

The school my two go to have orientation dates from early June to late July for freshman and transfer students.  

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On 5/3/2019 at 11:15 PM, teachermom2834 said:

All three colleges we will deal with next year will go mid Aug- very beginning of May (end of April if no exams towards the end of exam period). This is in TN, GA, and FL.

Oldest will graduate May 10, 2020. Yes, it is on the calendar and I have a countdown going on my phone 😂

 

One son at college in GA and he goes from after Labor Day to the end of May.

Other son in NC, starts mid-Aug through mid-May.

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On 5/5/2019 at 9:50 AM, Sebastian (a lady) said:

If you are thinking about the summer before your kid starts college, keep in mind that schools have very different patterns for freahman orientation.

 

I am, yes... no idea what schools he'll apply to yet so a moot point to look at schedules. Do you have to be there for freshman orientations? I don't recall a freshman orientation when I went to university... we were planning to be out of town as a family one last time June-July ahead of his first fall semester. So thinking of making plans to be back by early August from what I can see here...

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32 minutes ago, mirabillis said:

 

I am, yes... no idea what schools he'll apply to yet so a moot point to look at schedules. Do you have to be there for freshman orientations? I don't recall a freshman orientation when I went to university... we were planning to be out of town as a family one last time June-July ahead of his first fall semester. So thinking of making plans to be back by early August from what I can see here...

The freshman orientation varies a lot.  At some schools that is when students register for classes for the fall.  

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At many schools, freshman orientation is required. However, there are usually a wide variety of dates. I've seen them as early as late May and as late as the day before school starts (for kids who live far away & can't afford multiple trips). So, I wouldn't worry as much about orientation.

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My kids both run mid/late August (starting between the 15th and the 20th) and end mid May (again 15th-20th).

Keep in mind the freshman orientation period. Each school has its own system. Some run a week or so before the first day of class, while others pick a random 3-5 day period during the summer to bring students to campus. In my experience, the small schools have orientation just before class and the very large universities run sessions in the summer. Sometimes, at the schools with summer sessions, they will allow out of state students to attend orientation closer to the first day of class so that they needn't make multiple trips to campus.  Students coming from abroad typically have their own orientation programs in addition to the regular program.

 

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I would worry a little about orientation, just because early orientation can be a huge advantage to getting the schedule you want and the classes you need. However, there's probably no reason he can't travel to school for orientation from wherever you are. 

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My dd's college had a 2 day orientation with several options for dates during the summer. We thought we were going to be away for the early ones, but in fact were able to fit in an earlyish one and were glad we did because they chose their schedule and there were more class options still open. They then had the freshmen arrive a couple of days before classes started and had activities etc for them - this was a really good thing to go to as it definitely helped them to find their way around campus and be aware of a lot of the options open to them.

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