Planning for college and class load

[Anonymous]

MY DD is graduating this June from high school. She will attend NOVA in the Fall. She has ADHD/LD and OHI. is taking 6 credits classes or about 2 classes each semester okay for someone with SN. do you have any DC that attend college if so how was the class load? I know it will take way longer but at least I know she might do better this way, than taking 4 or 5 classes each semester.

[Anonymous]

Nothing wrong with that approach. Another approach - DS wanted to "try out' the class and the teacher. Usually dropped a class (or two) later in the semester. Sometimes he had fallen behind. We wanted him to feel very free to alleviate the pressure as needed. This means he signed up for a heavy load knowing he would adjust it later. Sometimes he dropped a class immediately after the first or second class if he suspected it was not a good fit. He went to a large state U so a different scenario. I write this in case it helps others (even if it isn't quite your situation Op) I think there can be advantages - in flexibility - for a large school environnment.

Was able to graduate in 4 yrs + 1 summer but it was a very zig zag journey.

[Anonymous]

My DC took a full load each semester but had to drop a couple of classes along the way. Also met the language requirement through an immersion summer program, which worked better than the traditional classroom. DC also balanced reading levels of the classes, exams vs papers (DC does much better on papers than on final exams), etc.

In DCs case being in school for 6-8 years would not have been appealing at all, so getting it done in 4 was a big personal priority.

[Anonymous]

We started with 2 classes per semester and moved up to 3. Depending on what they are, this works fine. DC tried to move to a full load and gets quickly overloaded and drops everything. (Really depends on your kid.) My suggestion is to start slow and see how it goes. You can withdraw from a class until quite late in the semester but you don't get $$ back and it shows up as a W on the transcript. You can drop a class, usually in the first week of the semester, and it doesn't show up and your tuition is refunded. IME, it's pretty hard to know that early if the load will be too much or not.

[Anonymous]

OP - Also remember that your DD could take a summer session class. And if she is looking to transfer to a 4-year college, she should be able to get the subject(s) that she will find the hardest out of the way with the ability to concentrate on them and not the pressure to finish in four years or carry 12 credits. In addition, she might schedule some 'fun" electives during the summer months for credit and if there is any sort of a recreation requirement, do it during the summer term.

Also in the future, you might look at area colleges to see if one can start out as a part-time students in any sort of a part-time student status. Some places there may be age restrictions, but perhaps not all. Or see if one might attend a summer session class there to transfer back to community college for credit, but also as a "testing of the waters" in terms of the college level work and also the campus environment.

You are very wise to realize there is "no time table" to complete college as it is a lot better to go slow and steady then to flunk out and have to explain it and try to rebuild a suitable GPA if graduate or professional school are in the cards later in life. She may well also gain some more independent life skills by balancing out school a bit with volunteer work or some part-time sitting.

Cheryl