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Picking Classes Fall 2020


BusyMom5
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I'm not actually a college parent yet,  my oldest is a rising Senior.  She did all DE for Jr year, and that was the plan for Sr year as well.  If Covid had not happened,  she planned to take most classes on campus at our local CC.  Now everything is crazy!  We aren't sure what to do.  The only thing they have sent out is a notice last week saying they are making cleaning protocols, trying to make more online options, and to expect more hybrid classes.   I did hear a rumor they are trying to get everything online for fall, but that isnt official.   She still needs one more high school science credit,  preferably a lab. 

Are your kids signing up for lab sciences?  Classes that can't be easily done online?  At this point I'm leaning toward picking classes that can be done online, and saving college lab science for another year.  She has had both online and on campus classes, and online just isn't the same!  Are you all planning classes knowing that its z big possibility that they will end up online?  Are you picking professors that already do online classes?  Are you not even attempting on campus, and just doing online?  

 

 

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My dd had to register in March for fall classes.  Thus far, she registered for all classes assuming they would be in person.  If they change their minds and go online, she will probably restructure all her classes and drop many and add others.  She has, for instances, plans to take Chemistry and Biology in the fall.  That will be a fat no if they decide to go online.  However, I think they will be in person.  (We live in Texas.)  I can tell you that her summer class, a drawing class in July, is going to be in person.  I suspect they will require masks and 6 ft. between people but it is a small class also.

She hated the online stuff.

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1 hour ago, BusyMom5 said:

Are your kids signing up for lab sciences?  Classes that can't be easily done online?  At this point I'm leaning toward picking classes that can be done online, and saving college lab science for another year.  She has had both online and on campus classes, and online just isn't the same!  Are you all planning classes knowing that its z big possibility that they will end up online?  Are you picking professors that already do online classes?  Are you not even attempting on campus, and just doing online?  

 

Yeah, I am really worried about that.  My daughter already registered for the fall semester (this will be her 2nd semester of college).  So far, she's registered for English 2, Psychology, US History 2, Biology with Lab and Sailing 1.  If they don't let them go back to school in August, we're going to have to drop biology and sailing.  A lab science online is going to be junky.  (And I'm saying this as someone with a biology degree). She's going to replace it with something else and try for biology in January.  ☹️  Sailing counts as a kinesiology course and obviously, you can't do that online, either and it's not offered during the winter/spring semester.  So, yeah, it will be very disappointing to have to drop those and put something else in there.

A lot of people dropped out of her classes this spring when the classes all switched online.  She also decided to take the summer off, because she hates online classes.  But, I had to have a talk with her about the fall.  I don't want her not going back or delaying her school anymore, because she doesn't like online classes.  She promised she wouldn't....

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My son had to do a DE science class online due to scheduling snafus a couple years ago.  He was set up with a earth science lab kit from here ...

https://esciencelabs.com/

It was actually a good quality class and he learned a lot.  Most of the labs took 90 minutes - 3 hours.  They could be BIG and MESSY.   I was actually so happy with that, I bought some very basic chem and physics kits to fulfill my younger daughter's lab science reqs before she starts DE.  Which she was going to do this fall, but since she has a late birthday and we couldn't take the ACT again (she has year old scores that wouldn't be meaningful for placement) or tour DE programs this spring, we're pushing off for the year.  Those kits are all inclusive which is amazing.  I hate assembling lab stuff.  

My kid enjoyed this lab class so much he signed up for an earth science based physics class his first semester at a major university and that went great for him.  No problems moving to live format, got an A.

I would actually feel differently about a science based major doing lab sciences in person possibly, though a semester's delay might not be the end of the world.  I just wanted to put out there, some programs do a decent job with lab sciences online.  

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My dd#1 is a college sophomore and has already registered. I am most worried about one of her foreign language classes, a physics lab class, and a computer science class. If they are allowed to be on campus, only the one foreign language class  (of the three she is registered for) worries me because that teacher does not do well with online teaching  (i.e., she doesn't teach--she mostly just assigns work). If dd#1 has friends around,  she will have enough peer assistance to get through physics lab and the comp sci class.  (Some of the comp sci teachers just assign work online & don't teach at all thinking the kids will just figure it out. Some do. Dd#1 will need some teaching!)

Dd#2 is a rising high school senior and isn't registed for the fall yet, but will probably register for one live and one online class. She could take them both in person but if classes go online,  the online version of one of them is only half as long. Why get stuck with a long, modified version when you can just go short & online from the get-go? Plus, she isn't super fond of people interaction so one in person class is a good amount to start with, I think.

I just really want campus to be open to students for the fall so DD can be surrounded by her friends. But that is maybe too much wishful thinking.

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2 hours ago, RootAnn said:

I just really want campus to be open to students for the fall so DD can be surrounded by her friends. 

 

Me, too.  And it's so much easier to go to the Writing Lab, Math Lab or advisor appointments when it's in person.  

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2 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

I would actually feel differently about a science based major doing lab sciences in person possibly, though a semester's delay might not be the end of the world.  

 

True!  Mine has to take all the pre-nursing courses for the first two years and then the actual nursing classes the last two years (she wants to get her BSN).  I really hope they all get to go in-person!  Labs don't feel the same with everything online.  Go away, Coronavirus!!  Shoo!!   lol

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DD's college has stated that all classes will be online or hybrid, with the goal of having no more than 10 people in a room at a time (so, for a M-W-F class, 1/3 of the students would go each day, and do online the rest of the time. DD picked classes that will be OK online, plus some online classes from providers we've used before that are interesting, a stack of books to read, a Great Courses+ Subscription, and we're calling it good for fall. 

 

The plan had been that since she was finally eligible for state funded DE that she would use the paid credits for classes that are of interest at more expensive schools-there is an invertebrate zoology class, a biotechnology class, and a introduction to seismology class, but all three have labs, and just wouldn't be the same. With a little luck, she'll be able to do that in the Spring. 

 

She is really, really hoping that things are back on campus by 2021-her desire to go to college is to GO to college, and her first choice school is her first choice because she felt comfortable there socially. Living at home and taking classes online is, as she puts it, more of the same. She has missed going to the CC this semester.

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Dd's Environmental Geology class has moved to online. She'll still take it because it's just a distributional requirement for her and she has a good relationship with that professor.

Her calc professor told them about what faculty has heard. Apparently, in class spaces will need to be used for nursing/allied medical students first, then the lab sciences, then music, etc. so if a class can be taught online, it probably will be.

Dd is up in the air about taking Calc III if it's going to be online. Her Calc II class hasn't been great now that it's one short zoom class/week. Calc III is an elective for her and wouldn't actually be useful for her current "most likely" post high school plan. But, she does like math and would like to finish the whole Calc sequence. We'll see...

The rest of her classes don't matter much one way or the other. She'd rather have in person classes, but she'll put up with online if she has to. It's her last year of DE and high school and she has to take the classes to graduate and fulfill requirements for her eventual undergrad degree. 

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2 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

Dd's Environmental Geology class has moved to online. She'll still take it because it's just a distributional requirement for her and she has a good relationship with that professor.

Her calc professor told them about what faculty has heard. Apparently, in class spaces will need to be used for nursing/allied medical students first, then the lab sciences, then music, etc. so if a class can be taught online, it probably will be.

Dd is up in the air about taking Calc III if it's going to be online. Her Calc II class hasn't been great now that it's one short zoom class/week. Calc III is an elective for her and wouldn't actually be useful for her current "most likely" post high school plan. But, she does like math and would like to finish the whole Calc sequence. We'll see...

The rest of her classes don't matter much one way or the other. She'd rather have in person classes, but she'll put up with online if she has to. It's her last year of DE and high school and she has to take the classes to graduate and fulfill requirements for her eventual undergrad degree. 

 

Wow, what is she majoring in?

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14 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

Dd is up in the air about taking Calc III if it's going to be online. Her Calc II class hasn't been great now that it's one short zoom class/week.

There is a huge difference between "prepare an online class for the fall semester" and "move your in-seat class to emergency online delivery by the day after tomorrow". What professors are doing this semester is not well designed online instruction - it's emergency scrambling with no notice and no preparation. 
I would expect a lot more for the fall, whereas it borders on a miracle that almost all professors managed to convert their classes somehow this semester.

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1 minute ago, Evanthe said:

 

Wow, what is she majoring in?

She's doing DE right now and plans to major in a business field, probably Business Data Analysis or Computer Information Systems. If things do not go back to normal, she'll probably enlist in the Navy and finish her degree at ASU online during her service. Her preferred rating is a 6 year contract and a shore based desk job, so she'll have plenty of time to finish up one class at a time each session at ASU. If things do go back to normal, her first choice would be UT Austin and she would likely want to do some actuarial science classes that require Calc III along with a Finance/Risk Management major. But she'll only do that if she can live on campus and study abroad.

She needs two semesters of accounting, econ, intro to business information systems and all of her TX core classes for either option. She really wants to graduate since she's so close to being done. It's not so important if she goes to UT or TAMU or U of Houston, but for the Navy, it's a bonus and an automatic promotion to E3 and she wouldn't want to leave that on the table.

Both of us feel better having a plan in place for either contingency. 

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1 minute ago, regentrude said:

There is a huge difference between "prepare an online class for the fall semester" and "move your in-seat class to emergency online delivery by the day after tomorrow". What professors are doing this semester is not well designed online instruction - it's emergency scrambling with no notice and no preparation. 
I would expect a lot more for the fall, whereas it borders on a miracle that almost all professors managed to convert their classes somehow this semester.

Actually, her Calc professor has taught online and had a roster of videos from Khan Academy. It's just that without 4 hours of class time working through the problems, my dd finds it difficult to learn the material. This is more a reflection of her learning style than her professor's competence. But, even if it is her problem, she's still not going to sign up for Calc III if it's going to be online. 

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Ds is signed up for two classes at local LAC (well he has clearance to, when his spot on the registration waterfall comes up). We are hoping for in person (and the school has said that’s what they’re planning and preparing for ) but even if not: One he cannot take anywhere else bc it’s not available anywhere and for the second, the alternative would also be another online version. honestly I don’t feel like we have much of a choice, so it’s easy. 

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My son is a media studies major, which involves in class labs and working with the schools cameras and specialized software, and often teamwork. It was really difficult to have a class like that go to online only this spring. I think he would be disappointed if it was online again in the fall and might opt for a different class instead. I was waiting to discuss that with him until finals were over, but it’s definitely a consideration. 

Edited by MerryAtHope
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We never really planned to take any AP classes, but went with 2 online this fall, even though DE is free for us.

Dd is signed up for DE chemistry, but if it goes online, we're going to switch to anatomy at home for fall. She's done some of labs already and we could easily do a few more. She has no interest in doing more microchem.

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My DS15 is doing the next in sequence for summer and fall quarters at community college if he can get a seat even though Japanese is better done in person than online. We feel that taking a break from Japanese for two quarters would be even worse than doing the classes online and then hope that the winter quarter class would be in-person or hybrid.

His other dual enrollment classes are math and computer science. Computer science classes are all online so it is what it is. He hopes that math is going to be in-person or hybrid in the Fall or Winter quarter because he misses the in-person aspect. He has done math online classes since 2nd grade so he is used to it but it’s not what he wants if the in-person option comes back.

Both my teens have done three lab sciences so we are good on that. We were thinking of astronomy at community college as a fun fourth science but that can wait for winter/spring quarter.

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Ds was dual-enrolled this past year and signed up for a slot of online classes for spring term (which runs March-June here) knowing it was likely things were going to shut down when he enrolled in mid-Feb.  Many of the labs were flat out canceled.  He did not get to take his circuits class or a number of others that could not be reasonably converted to online.  For his remaining classes, he picked professors who already had established online offerings. The reality was a mixed bag. One professor is using decade old links and videos that aren't really relevant to current practices.  Another professor has been a good match.  He did suss them out over ratemyprofessor---so he did the best he could in picking them based on the info available. 

He's trying for labs again in the fall term. He thinks it will be easier than over winter term when things may shut down again. (His school runs on trimesters, thankfully, so he still has some hope of graduating on time.)  He's due to get his AA a year from now....we'll see what happens. I don't want him to transfer until he's sorted out whether he's going to go electrical engineering, computer engineering, or software engineering or until he has defined a focus area (like optics). It's easier to play around on in-state tuition fees, iykwim.

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