Taking classes

[tortugapirate]

I'm a little confused regarding taking classes during the CP.
I'm aware my college may or may not accept credit for it, so that is still one thing I need to get answered by my adviser.

-Are classes mandatory?
-If not, do you recommend taking them?
-Any thing else I should know?


Thank you!

 

[glendalais]

Depends on where you intend to work.

California-Site Disney College Program Participants at the Disneyland Resort are required to take Disney Education Courses.

Florida-Site Disney College Program Participants at the Walt Disney World Resort are not required to do so.

 

[Frizzbird]

If you plan on doing the CP at WDW I would still recommend doing a class just beacuse they are fun. I took Disney Corporate Analysis (one of the ACE accredited classes) and it was great. Corrie Kelly was my prof and she was super awesome. If you decide to take one of the ACE classes I would highly recommend that one. The class is all about Disney as a corporation and there wasn't a lot of out of class homework.

Things to know: In general the ACE classes have homework where as the Exploration Series don't (or not as much). I'm not positive but I believe that some of the Exploration classes might have some things to do outside of class. If they do have "homework" it isn't very much. If you successfully complete a ACE class at the end you get a "Mousters" degree and if you complete a Exploration Series class you get a "Ducktorate."

 

[tortugapirate]

Excellent! The homework portion was one concern of mine. Working and taking classes already takes a toll on me as it is...

How many times a week do the classes run, and for how long? I am doing Spring Advantage, so would I be taking a class the entire time I'm down there? And how do they work around your work schedule?

 

[Frizzbird]

For Spring advantage you would actually be able to take 2 classes (if you wanted to) since you would be there for two class "sessions." I was there for the Spring program and I think my class ran from the beginning of Feb to the end of April. If you took just one class you wouldn't be taking it the whole time your there.

For my class we met once a week for 3 hours. I believe for most class you meet once a week but it is usually 4 hours. The profs usually give you a break during class so it isn't 4 hours straight. I'm not sure if that is different for the Exploration Series classes since I didn't take them. I think they meet less but I'm really not sure. Like normal college classes when you register you can choose what time you want your class, but it is of course subject to availability. If the time you want is filled obviously you wont be able to get into that section.

For me I always had the day of my class off. My class was on Tuesdays so I always had Tuesdays off. This isn't necessarily true for everyone though. I know some people would have the time for their class off and then be scheduled to work after (or before). During peak periods like spring break classes are suspended so you can work as much as your location needs you too. You will never have to worry about being scheduled during your class time and if for some odd reason you are you can just talk to your managers and they will help you fix it.

When you get there they will have a meeting about the classes that you can go to if your interested. They show a video that has clips for each of the classes with like reviews of the class. And they will go over everything about the classes and answer any and all questions you could ever think of.

 

[tortugapirate]

Awesome! Thank you that was extremely helpful!!

 

[TinkerMouse]

I've read several explanations and opinions on various ACE and exploration series classes and they've all been very helpful, but I haven't seen any mention of any of the Professional Development Studies classes. Does anybody know anything about these classes other than what's on the syllabi and the fact that the participants are supposed to have matching specific majors. Any first hand experiences?