freshman class scheduling; helicopter parent or legit concern?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did he get that many courses as a first semester freshman?

Also, which colleges had freshmen orientation this week? They just turned in their final commitments. Most orientations are later in the summer.

And yes, you are that parent.

OP here.

I'm not sure why he decided to take that many. Like I said, I wasn't trying to micromanage and if that's the load he wants to take, fine.

I'm not going to name my kid's college, but his has freshman orientation this week, and last week and the week before as well. A quick google search found many universities with orientation this week:
University of Texas Austin
Clemson
Loyola University Chicago
University of North Carolina Wilmington

Probably lots more, those are just the first several I found in less than one minute of google searching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. You are right, your son is not giving himself enough time to get between classes and he will have too many exams/assignment falling due the same day of the week.

18 credits is a lot even when they are split between M/W/F and T/H.

That said, your kid has his reasons for wanting a light T/TH. He is the one who made this schedule and he'll have to work it out with his professors if he's consistently a few minutes late every day. He may ask his professors if he can leave class 5 minutes early in order to make the classes on time.

He would have figured it out and you should have let him figure it out. I totally understand where you were coming from though. Your his mom and you don't suddenly stop looking out for his best interests the minute he goes into college. I get it. But you need to back off.

OP here. Thanks. Yes, my main concern was getting from class to class in that ten minute break, when it takes a full ten minutes just to walk between buildings. Just one "sprint" would probably be ok, but having 4 back to back classes where EVERY time, he would have to sprint between classes, just seemed insane to me. I don't think he or the advisors looked at which buildings the classes would be held in when they designed the schedule. The advisors were working with hundreds of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op. You are right, your son is not giving himself enough time to get between classes and he will have too many exams/assignment falling due the same day of the week.

18 credits is a lot even when they are split between M/W/F and T/H.

That said, your kid has his reasons for wanting a light T/TH. He is the one who made this schedule and he'll have to work it out with his professors if he's consistently a few minutes late every day. He may ask his professors if he can leave class 5 minutes early in order to make the classes on time.

He would have figured it out and you should have let him figure it out. I totally understand where you were coming from though. Your his mom and you don't suddenly stop looking out for his best interests the minute he goes into college. I get it. But you need to back off.

OP here. Thanks. Yes, my main concern was getting from class to class in that ten minute break, when it takes a full ten minutes just to walk between buildings. Just one "sprint" would probably be ok, but having 4 back to back classes where EVERY time, he would have to sprint between classes, just seemed insane to me. I don't think he or the advisors looked at which buildings the classes would be held in when they designed the schedule. The advisors were working with hundreds of students.

I love that you fake asked if you were a helicopter mom and "that parent". Despite all the posts saying you were, the only ones you respond to arr the ones to prove your point that you were "right". Not only are you a helicopter mom, you're the worst type of one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you’re a nightmare. You should apologize to your son.

I set up my schedule with three days on and two off because it gave me large chunks of time to write papers and study. Fortunately, my parents didn’t even consider overriding my decision. Honestly, I don’t think it would have occurred to them to micromanage to that degree.

although I agree with you, it might be legit to point out that scheduling classes with 10 minutes in between might be a problem on a big campus. I was on a campus where it couldn't be done sometimes. If they're in the same building no problem, but I'd tell my kid to look at the campus map and make sure the choices are feasible.

OP here.
His Thursday classes are also back to back, but in buildings that are only a 4 minute walk apart. For the M/W/F classes it wasn't as much about the back to back (though I wasn't thrilled) but the fact that each and every one of the 4 morning classes was half a mile away from the next, and only ten minutes to get there.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'll give you props for pretending like you cared about being a helicopter mom. Obviously you just wanted people to confirm that you were right!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you’re a nightmare. You should apologize to your son.

I set up my schedule with three days on and two off because it gave me large chunks of time to write papers and study. Fortunately, my parents didn’t even consider overriding my decision. Honestly, I don’t think it would have occurred to them to micromanage to that degree.

although I agree with you, it might be legit to point out that scheduling classes with 10 minutes in between might be a problem on a big campus. I was on a campus where it couldn't be done sometimes. If they're in the same building no problem, but I'd tell my kid to look at the campus map and make sure the choices are feasible.

OP here.
His Thursday classes are also back to back, but in buildings that are only a 4 minute walk apart. For the M/W/F classes it wasn't as much about the back to back (though I wasn't thrilled) but the fact that each and every one of the 4 morning classes was half a mile away from the next, and only ten minutes to get there.

Omg OP, we get it. You are right. Your son and the advisor have no idea what they are doing. Thank God for you to correct everything. You're just making yourself look worse. I hope your son is able to function without you breathing down his neck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are also these nifty things called bicycles now that can help you travel a half-mile in about two minutes.

Bikes aren't a good idea on this campus. I'm actually a cyclist so I know all about bikes. My son specifically asked about bikes on a campus tour he took a year ago, and the tour guide said no one really rides to class on this campus--he gave the reason and while I don't want to post it here (don't want to reveal the school), as a cyclist myself I will say it makes a lot of sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are also these nifty things called bicycles now that can help you travel a half-mile in about two minutes.

Bikes aren't a good idea on this campus. I'm actually a cyclist so I know all about bikes. My son specifically asked about bikes on a campus tour he took a year ago, and the tour guide said no one really rides to class on this campus--he gave the reason and while I don't want to post it here (don't want to reveal the school), as a cyclist myself I will say it makes a lot of sense.

Yes, you know everything about everything, it's clear.

Your poor kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'll give you props for pretending like you cared about being a helicopter mom. Obviously you just wanted people to confirm that you were right!

Anonymous wrote:Omg OP, we get it. You are right. Your son and the advisor have no idea what they are doing. Thank God for you to correct everything. You're just making yourself look worse. I hope your son is able to function without you breathing down his neck

Ok, I get it. I'll just stop.

[Anonymous]

Utter nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op. You are right, your son is not giving himself enough time to get between classes and he will have too many exams/assignment falling due the same day of the week.

18 credits is a lot even when they are split between M/W/F and T/H.

That said, your kid has his reasons for wanting a light T/TH. He is the one who made this schedule and he'll have to work it out with his professors if he's consistently a few minutes late every day. He may ask his professors if he can leave class 5 minutes early in order to make the classes on time.

He would have figured it out and you should have let him figure it out. I totally understand where you were coming from though. Your his mom and you don't suddenly stop looking out for his best interests the minute he goes into college. I get it. But you need to back off.

OP here. Thanks. Yes, my main concern was getting from class to class in that ten minute break, when it takes a full ten minutes just to walk between buildings. Just one "sprint" would probably be ok, but having 4 back to back classes where EVERY time, he would have to sprint between classes, just seemed insane to me. I don't think he or the advisors looked at which buildings the classes would be held in when they designed the schedule. The advisors were working with hundreds of students.

They make those things with 2 loopy thingamagits on each end. you sit on it and move your legs and it gets you places a lot quicker than walking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did he get that many courses as a first semester freshman?

Also, which colleges had freshmen orientation this week? They just turned in their final commitments. Most orientations are later in the summer.

And yes, you are that parent.

OP here.

I'm not sure why he decided to take that many. Like I said, I wasn't trying to micromanage and if that's the load he wants to take, fine.

I'm not going to name my kid's college, but his has freshman orientation this week, and last week and the week before as well. A quick google search found many universities with orientation this week:
University of Texas Austin
Clemson
Loyola University Chicago
University of North Carolina Wilmington

Probably lots more, those are just the first several I found in less than one minute of google searching.

. My nephew went to his last week at UConn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you are “that parent”. I’d have been horrified if my mom interfered with my class schedule.

If you’re worried about the ten minute walk, get him a cheap bike so he can do it in three minutes.

I was thinking she should get him a nice bike as an apology for embarrassing him like that.

[Anonymous]

There’s nothing wrong with the schedule as long as he can make it to class on time.

You were out of line.

—college professor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are also these nifty things called bicycles now that can help you travel a half-mile in about two minutes.

Bikes aren't a good idea on this campus. I'm actually a cyclist so I know all about bikes. My son specifically asked about bikes on a campus tour he took a year ago, and the tour guide said no one really rides to class on this campus--he gave the reason and while I don't want to post it here (don't want to reveal the school), as a cyclist myself I will say it makes a lot of sense.

What reason could that be ? Rain/snow? People commute in all kinds of weather and you'll get no wetter than walking. Theft? A cheap bike and a good lock make it unlikely. Hills? Shift and keep pedaling. People walking? Ring a bell. Cars? They are everywhere. Campus won't be worse. Seriously what is it , I'm reaching here ...