Ultimately it’s my son’s decision but I want to hear your input.
I have 3 sons. 2 are great in school and the third one well...
There has been a college strike for 5 weeks and the teachers only returned this week because the government intervened and made them go back. The strike started during midterm exam week.
DS19 is not a strong student. 5 weeks worth of missed work will have to be crammed in tight to finish the semester.
College is giving the option to finish the semester with cramming in all this work or refunding tuition for the semester and starting over next September, therefore losing a year.
My son is concerned he won’t be able to do it
I am concerned he will be home for a year and possibly lose interest in finishing
It’s his decision but he values my input and also I am paying fully for his education
What do you think?
The program is not offered in spring. It only starts September or January. He went to Student Services on the day back from the strike. He went almost 2 hours before they opened and he was told January is full.
as a PP already noted. Canadian college and univerfsity programs (much like those in Germany, and I expect a good amount of the world) do not really have "fluff" courses (or core curriculumn)--- every course taken is generally major specific and required.That sucks.
Can he take "fluff courses" next semester? Or would he rather work?
as a PP already noted. Canadian college and univerfsity programs (much like those in Germany, and I expect a good amount of the owrld) do not really have "fluff" courses (or core curriculumn)--- every course taken is generally major specific and required.
One thing I've gleaned is that the word "college" is a term used by Americans to refer to any type of post-secondary education. That probably caused some confusion in this thread.Honestly if the OP is Canadian that would have been helpful to know. As is I don't know the structure of the Canadian system, the expectations, the grading system, the culture of higher education even and as you can see for those of us who are unfamiliar with it our (edited: corrected word) advice isn't helping. I don't mean that in a bad way it's just my advice and clearly others is not working since our system is set up differently as I have sorta found out from others comments.
Having said that are community colleges a big enough thing in Canada? Only reason I even mention that is if some of the courses (unless they are too specialized of courses) the OP's son would take in the program not offered in the Spring were available at a community college or something like that where it would allow the son not to fall too far behind.
Just my $.02 but a lot of people have mentioned fluff classes. I have two in college right now and I'm not seeing a lot of fluff. DD has an Art course as an elective this year and she's spent more time on it than any of her other classes, plus the tests are HARD! (I'd kind of warned her about that given my own history with a Music elective - also one of the hardest classes I ever had - for me!) DS is taking an Astronomy class this semester he thought would be fluff but it's kicking his butt. So, so much for that! I suppose there are some out there, and much of it probably depends on what they are and where they're being taken. DD took a summer course at a different school this year and it did seem a little easier than the courses she takes at her own school - the same course that all her friends this year have been complaining how hard it is. So there's probably a lot of variation, but most courses will probably involve a decent amount of time and effort.
Almost no fluff classes in either of my sons' college experiences either. But one was an accounting major and one was a Chem E major. Maybe liberal arts is different?Just my $.02 but a lot of people have mentioned fluff classes. I have two in college right now and I'm not seeing a lot of fluff. DD has an Art course as an elective this year and she's spent more time on it than any of her other classes, plus the tests are HARD! (I'd kind of warned her about that given my own history with a Music elective - also one of the hardest classes I ever had - for me!) DS is taking an Astronomy class this semester he thought would be fluff but it's kicking his butt. So, so much for that! I suppose there are some out there, and much of it probably depends on what they are and where they're being taken. DD took a summer course at a different school this year and it did seem a little easier than the courses she takes at her own school - the same course that all her friends this year have been complaining how hard it is. So there's probably a lot of variation, but most courses will probably involve a decent amount of time and effort.
Thank you for that clarification. I vaguely remembered previously learning here on the DIS that college and university were not the same thing.One thing I've gleaned is that the word "college" is a term used by Americans to refer to any type of post-secondary education. That probably caused some confusion in this thread.
The OP's son IS in college, not university. Colleges here have specific, skills-focussed 1, 2 or 3 year diploma or certificate programs in fine arts, technologies and trades. They do not offer "liberal arts" or what you might refer to as "academic" courses. College programs (generally) do not have any general education components that transfer one-to-another. They are not "starter-university". One would not enrol in college here and consider it a stream into university. Students who choose college have a specific career path in mind and the OP didn't tell us if her DS is particularly passionate about whatever it is he's studying.
I understand. DD is a Nursing major so in the same boat. For the Art class, three times they went offsite to different art museums for class, and had assignments to do there looking at the different artwork. (Which I think she really enjoyed!) She had to scramble to get there and back in order to go to her other classes. She had one weekend project which was really over the top as she spent about 12 hours just on that alone, and it still wasn't done, she had to finish it in class. She's a good student but the midterm test was hard and she didn't do that well on it. Fortunately she'll get credit for actually making it to the museums and doing all her projects so it will turn out fine, but man, it was a lot! She also spent quite a bit of money on supplies. Definitely not fluff!I thought the same thing about the fluff courses. It really depends, my dd is in general studies. This semester I would say her only fluff course is a creative writing course. While the content may be fluff in the sense that if she missed 5 weeks she wouldn't really miss anything, the work load is not fluff, it is a ton of writing (obviously LOL).
Next semester it is an online art course. She considers it fluff because it is a requirement and she has no interest in art. Who knows what the work will entail though.
In the past 3 semesters she has filled her electives with things like Chem 1 and Chem 2, Calculus, Bio 2, Ecology and some other sciences because they will transfer to her desired major at the University. Definitely not fluff classes, and no way could a student miss 5 weeks and then be taken easy on by the professor/teacher and continue on to more academically challenging classes with success.