parents of college students - feedback, please

[rockin_rep]

As a parent who is fairly new to having a college student, i would LOVE to have the entire family at WDW. What are your thoughts on missing classes for a few days. (student with As & Bs, not missing before, caught up on work ect.)

Parents of college aged kids, please give me feedback, as its been a few years since i was in college so i'm wondering if / how / under what circumstance would professors excuse a student for a few days.

And literally, what reason would they give, or what would professors find acceptable - if any?

I realize i'm opening myself up to flames etc., but before i suggest it, i wanted your expert opinions.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

Only your kids will be able to tell you this.

As far as my kids are concerned, once they went to college, they were on their own and their own concience concerning cutting class. (Neither of them have done it more than once or twice.)

It's not whether the teachers will let them or not, it's what they'll miss. A couple of times the kids have left early for break if a snow storm was coming or something like that if nothing big was planned for the class, and if the teacher was cool with it.

Teachers are different. The kids have to get to know whether or not they should be in class.

 

[kpm76]

I hope you don't get flamed for asking an honest question I am not a parent of a college aged kid but I was in college not that long ago (or at least that's what I like to think....haha). Speaking from personal experience, it would have been very difficult if not nearly impossible for me to have missed more than a day or two of classes. I'm guessing every student is going to be different depending on what year they are in, what types of classes they are taking and how their classes are dispersed throughout the week. I think my professors would not have been sympathetic to me taking time off for a family vacation. Some even imposed rules on missed classes and the implications. I never know anyone who took time off from school for a family vacation. Hope this helps!

 

[tar heel]

There's no way I would do that. Even if it didn't affect the student (feeling behind, having to make-up work, being penalized grade wise), I think it absolutely sends a host of wrong messages -- that being in class isn't important, that the professors' expectations about class attendance are not important, that school isn't really your main job, that taking a vacation is more important than school, etc.

Some professors would excuse students b/c they were sick or their close family member was sick or died, but that's not the kind of excuses you're talking about. I'm sure there are probably some that would be okay with this, but I didn't have many of them when I was in school.

You'll find support on this board b/c there are a lot of people who take their kids out of school for long vacations. I expect I will get flamed more than you!

BTW, I have one college student now and will have two next year.

 

[In a hurry]

I cut as many classes as a prof would allow thruout my college history. (Including my Master's work .) I would just ask your student how they feel about it and whether they are concerned. They are old enough to figure it out!

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

College is a bit different than HS, though, and I think the kids figure this stuff out themselves. It's not like they can never, ever cut a class. She was coming home for Christmas and had a ride with someone and a big storm was coming and they found out that nothing much was happening in their last classes of the day because the teachers were counting on no one being there ( that's not so good, I guess), so after having a frank conversation with the teachers, they left early.

My daughter would never in a million, zillion years take off in the middle of a semester for a vacation. Neither would my son. I would get my head bit off if I suggested it!

 

[goodeats]

What college are they going to? The bigger the college, the more likely the professor won't even know your child's name or who is not there. My freshman year I had three lectures and two discussion groups Fall quarter. The discussion groups took attendance, but you could still miss, the lectures you could get caught up in other ways, lecture notes, read the book, etc. Depending on the professor, there were some lectures that were just plain a waste of time. And some that were extremely valuable that I'd never miss. Your child will let you know if they can go or not. It's really none of your business.

If they schedule there classes right, they could take a long weekend easily and not have too much work to catch up on. But again, it's up to your child.

 

[golfgal]

I had some college professors that would dock you if you missed class for any reason, 1/2 a letter grade for each absence. I had other profs that never knew if you were in class or not so you could miss the entire semester, just show up for tests and you were fine. Your child will have to determine if he/she is able to miss or not. Does your college student even want to go? Is there a way to plan it around a school vacation? We had a long weekend every semester that we would have Thursday/Friday off. Those would have been good times for a family trip.

 

[Crankyshank]

As a college student I would say it's not a very good idea unless it absolutely can't be helped and definitely not more than 1 or 2 days or you risk falling behind in all of your classes which requires lots of work to catch up.
Also many professors have attendance policies and will penalize students for disregarding them.

 

[HaleyB]

I agree, it is up to the student at this point. They will know if they can miss class and how n=many they can miss. My son does not like to miss any, or one at the most. I figured out how much we were paying by the class hour and I have to say I am pretty glad he considers going to class important.

We went to WDW without him this fall. He had a long weekend and could have flown in for a few days but didn't really want to. He had a party to go to, and that sounded better to him.

 

[Lynn CC]

My DS who is a freshman wouldn't cut classes to go anywhere. He loves his classes, plus most of his professors in the honors classes cut a half grade for every class missed. They are very strict, so he has to be nearly dying before he's willing lose that kind of credit. All his classes have between 6 and 20 students in them, so the professor knows!
Couldn't you schedule around breaks, there's so many of them? Thanksgiving recess, a month in January, Spring Break, summer months.

I think it's great that your college student would even want to go on a family vacation, my DS doesn't, although he didn't want to in HS either. We haven't been on a vacation all together since 2001. We still do A LOT of family things together, but he's just not the vacation type, he likes to be home during breaks catching up on sleep, reading for pleasure that type of thing.
Have Fun planning!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Well i am a college student at a state university(finishing my junior year).
I have taken off a week of classes every semester for a vacation..plus some days every now and then for being sick or something. I am an A/B student and i get copies of the notes from a classmate..usually, the syllabus will have assignments,papers, tests, etc listed--I just make sure i hand in anything that i will miss or make up tests early if i will miss them. I have had professors cancel class because they were going out of town so they dont mind as long as you get the work done..

 

[va32h]

In my senior year, I was absent from my Russian class nine times; two more than allowed by the Professor. Although I passed the class academically, I was flunked for excessive absences, and by diploma was revoked. I had to pay for another semester, just to take this one class over in order to graduate.

So I would say that missing class, even at the college level, is a big deal.

 

[In a hurry]

My DS who is a freshman wouldn't cut classes to go anywhere. He loves his classes, plus most of his professors in the honors classes cut a half grade for every class missed. They are very strict, so he has to be nearly dying before he's willing lose that kind of credit. All his classes have between 6 and 20 students in them, so the professor knows!
Couldn't you schedule around breaks, there's so many of them? Thanksgiving recess, a month in January, Spring Break, summer months.

I think it's great that your college student would even want to go on a family vacation, my DS doesn't, although he didn't want to in HS either. We haven't been on a vacation all together since 2001. We still do A LOT of family things together, but he's just not the vacation type, he likes to be home during breaks catching up on sleep, reading for pleasure that type of thing.
Have Fun planning!

I've never heard of college honors classes! Every school I went to had different class levels that you enrolled in as you progressed.

 

[In a hurry]

In my senior year, I was absent from my Russian class nine times; two more than allowed by the Professor. Although I passed the class academically, I was flunked for excessive absences, and by diploma was revoked. I had to pay for another semester, just to take this one class over in order to graduate.

So I would say that missing class, even at the college level, is a big deal.

But it was only an issue because you missed more than the prof allowed, right. Not because it caused you to fail knowing the academics.

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

Maybe the answer to this question varies according to school size (for one thing anyway).

My kids go to small schools and cutting class is a big deal. (10 kids in a class and the teacher notices who's there!)

But I went to a huge school and I feel like I could have cut class whenever I felt like it. No one would have known. I could have just gotten notes from friends.

I think the bottom line is the kid has to be the judge.

 

[Michie]

There's no way I would do that. Even if it didn't affect the student (feeling behind, having to make-up work, being penalized grade wise), I think it absolutely sends a host of wrong messages -- that being in class isn't important, that the professors' expectations about class attendance are not important, that school isn't really your main job, that taking a vacation is more important than school, etc.

Some professors would excuse students b/c they were sick or their close family member was sick or died, but that's not the kind of excuses you're talking about. I'm sure there are probably some that would be okay with this, but I didn't have many of them when I was in school.

You'll find support on this board b/c there are a lot of people who take their kids out of school for long vacations. I expect I will get flamed more than you!

BTW, I have one college student now and will have two next year.

I agree with this!! I have 2 in college, and like I have told them, going to college is like a job, you need to be there and on time!

 

[horseshowmom]

DD started college this year and was really hoping to do a certain Rodeo Queen competition. All of her professor's gave them a syllabus when the semester started. According to her syllabus, she had a test scheduled for the day she would have had to miss, so she decided not to register for the competition (tests are only made up if you have a doctor's excuse - and she said they act ugly about it even then).

Generally, the syllabus also lists the number of absences a professor allows (or he/she will tell them). So far, DD has only had one who didn't keep up with absences. Even her large classes with 200-300 students had assigned seating, and the teachers just looked at the empty seats to determine who was absent (and absences are shown on their midterm grade report).

She's missed class some for various reasons - missed the class before to review for a major test just before going in, severe weather, being sick, etc. -but she knew she could get the notes from friends.

She keeps up with her absences carefully, because (as another poster said) she can be docked 1/2 to 1 letter grade (depending on the teacher) for every absence over what's allowed. Also, her teachers have always said that they don't want to know (or care why) the student is absent and NOT to come tell them.

 

[tw1nsmom]

It really depends on the school and the individual class. In most cases it would be very detrimental to miss more than one or two classes in a semester. Some of my professors (a long long time ago ) would fail a student if they missed more than two classes in a semester...no exceptions, even illness.

I wouldn't pressure or encourage him to miss school in any way. If he makes the decision himself, then that's his choice. It's time to let him make his own decisions, but he's still young enough to be swayed by you.

If you really want the whole family to be part of this vacation, then have it during college break. Actually, this could work to your advantage. Most colleges either have from Thanksgiving to New Years off, or from Christmas to the end of January for winter break. You could go the beginning of December or the beginning of January. The weather would be cool, it's value season, and the crowds would be light. Another time might be the end of May beginning of June. Not quite summer heat and not yet peak crowds.

Finally, consider having him fly in and join you for the weekend. It would be too much for me, but 18 year olds have a lot more energy than those of us who are no longer 18. If you can't work it out, know that there will be opportunities to vacation together in the future.

 

[RadioNate]

What kind of colleges did you people go to? I went to two nationally known schools (one for undergrad, one for grad) and believe me the entire school would have flunked out if people were docked letter grades for missing a class or 2.

This all depends on the University and what type of classes they will miss. Survey classes and giant lecture halls are generally easy to miss and require little to no make up work, small labs and graduate level classes are definately nearly impossible to make up.