College Admissions Questions (2 Viewers)

[Galileo]

I am catching news, admittedly through the grapevine so take it fwiw, from a source at the College Board that even though students were getting error messages, that in many cases the submissions actually did go through.  If a student submits a make up request because of the submission issue, CB will check for original submission.  If it is there, the original will be graded and the make up test will be cancelled.  They will notify students the week of May 25th if their original was intact and they do not need a re-take. This is the same time student answers are going to be sent to their teachers for review.  Two weeks of not knowing would suck, not sure why it would have to wait that long,  but maybe the issue isn't as widespread as it seems.

One of my colleagues in the AP Physics community put together a survey for teachers to report issues.  With 71 teachers submitting the survey so far representing 1640 students, the problem rate is running at about 9.2%.  This is much higher than Packer's claim of 2%, but again, this could very well be the vocal minority speaking out thus inflating the numbers...also, if what was reported above is true, some of these people who think they are having a problem may not actually be having the problem.  Also, many teachers simply have no way of knowing unless their students have reported to them.

ETA...not sure if anyone is actually interested, but since I started it...Survey Update:  104 teachers/2175 students - 182 problems/8.4%

ETA...Survey Update: 154 teachers/3054 students - 247 problems/8.1%   FYI...I think there were about 53,000 test takers.  I am not hearing much at all about AP Government issues with over 300,000 test takers

 

[bigbottom]

I am catching news, admittedly through the grapevine so take it fwiw, from a source at the College Board that even though students were getting error messages, that in many cases the submissions actually did go through.  If a student submits a make up request because of the submission issue, CB will check for original submission.  If it is there, the original will be graded and the make up test will be cancelled.  They will notify students the week of May 25th if their original was intact and they do not need a re-take. This is the same time student answers are going to be sent to their teachers for review.  Two weeks of not knowing would suck, not sure why it would have to wait that long,  but maybe the issue isn't as widespread as it seems.

One of my colleagues in the AP Physics community put together a survey for teachers to report issues.  With 71 teachers submitting the survey so far representing 1640 students, the problem rate is running at about 9.2%.  This is much higher than Packer's claim of 2%, but again, this could very well be the vocal minority speaking out thus inflating the numbers...also, if what was reported above is true, some of these people who think they are having a problem may not actually be having the problem.  Also, many teachers simply have no way of knowing unless their students have reported to them.

Thanks for the update.  My son had no problems submitting for either part of Physics C, so there are two more data points for you!

 

[Dr_Zaius]

Oh, I've had the conversation with him about taking the two Calc semesters even if he tests out of them.  He was pretty adamant that he wasn't going to take classes he doesn't need to take as he is comfortable with the material.

Now I understand your conundrum.  I am going through the same questions with my daughter, although she is open to my advice at least - just not sure what the right answer is.  Back in the day, I had credit for Calc 1 and 2 and chose to take Calc 2 in college anyway and felt I learned some stuff I had missed in high school, but I think these days HS Calculus is more comprehensive.  Oh the other hand, the program wouldn't give me credit for Physics because it was AB, and so I was bored to tears in Physics 1 and got into the habit of skipping classes, which is obviously a bad road to go down. 

I am hoping that the college will help give her some guidance.  In a vacuum being able to reduce the load by a course or two can help keep you sane, but the way everything builds on the foundational stuff you definitely don't want to have missed something major.  I also agree that taking some of the sophomore year engineering courses freshman year seems a bit ambitious.  If my daughter takes the credits we were suggesting maybe she should fill the slot with a required non-engineering elective rather than diving right into some of the more advanced stuff.

 

[bigbottom]

Now I understand your conundrum.  I am going through the same questions with my daughter, although she is open to my advice at least - just not sure what the right answer is.  Back in the day, I had credit for Calc 1 and 2 and chose to take Calc 2 in college anyway and felt I learned some stuff I had missed in high school, but I think these days HS Calculus is more comprehensive.  Oh the other hand, the program wouldn't give me credit for Physics because it was AB, and so I was bored to tears in Physics 1 and got into the habit of skipping classes, which is obviously a bad road to go down. 

I am hoping that the college will help give her some guidance.  In a vacuum being able to reduce the load by a course or two can help keep you sane, but the way everything builds on the foundational stuff you definitely don't want to have missed something major.  I also agree that taking some of the sophomore year engineering courses freshman year seems a bit ambitious.  If my daughter takes the credits we were suggesting maybe she should fill the slot with a required non-engineering elective rather than diving right into some of the more advanced stuff.

Thanks for the response.  I agree that you and I seem to be on the same page on this.  Kid said the Calc BC exam went well today, except for one part that he had no idea how to answer.  Maybe he'll get a 4 and then only test out of Calc 1.  I wouldn't mind him taking the approach you did.

 

[bigbottom]

Well, this does not bode well for starting college on campus in the fall (in California).

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/05/12/Cal-State-schools-to-keep-campuses-closed-for-fall-semester/7361589325441/?ls=1

 

[stbugs]

Well, this does not bode well for starting college on campus in the fall (in California).

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/05/12/Cal-State-schools-to-keep-campuses-closed-for-fall-semester/7361589325441/?ls=1

Geez, not even going to give it a chance are they?

 

[Galileo]

Wow.  The  schools around my neck of the woods seem to be trending in the opposite direction.  More and more universities keep announcing their intent to be back on campus in the fall.  I guess we'll see how many will be able to follow through with that plan.

 

[NewlyRetired]

My daughters college just sent an email informing the students that while every one will receive grades this semester, that the school will be suspending all honors rewards for the semester and that this semester grades will not be used to factor in Latin Honors at graduation for all students nor factor into class rank.

The theory being that some kids transitioned into learning online smoothly while others had their life turned upside down.

 

[zoobird]

My daughters college just sent an email informing the students that while every one will receive grades this semester, that the school will be suspending all honors rewards for the semester and that this semester grades will not be used to factor in Latin Honors at graduation for all students nor factor into class rank.

The theory being that some kids transitioned into learning online smoothly while others had their life turned upside down.

Probably would be more fair to count this semester for kids who are helped by it, and exclude it for those who would be hurt by it.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

Thanks for the response.  I agree that you and I seem to be on the same page on this.  Kid said the Calc BC exam went well today, except for one part that he had no idea how to answer.  Maybe he'll get a 4 and then only test out of Calc 1.  I wouldn't mind him taking the approach you did.

This goes back like 25 years, but I was good at math in high school.  I actually thought maybe I would be a math major in college.  I tested into multivariable calculus based on my AP scores when I went to college.  I tried taking it.  I got a 26 on the first test.  I had no idea what was going on,  I dropped the class.  I never took another math class again.

I would have definitely benefited by just taking Calc 1 over again in college.

 

[stbugs]

This goes back like 25 years, but I was good at math in high school.  I actually thought maybe I would be a math major in college.  I tested into multivariable calculus based on my AP scores when I went to college.  I tried taking it.  I got a 26 on the first test.  I had no idea what was going on,  I dropped the class.  I never took another math class again.

I would have definitely benefited by just taking Calc 1 over again in college.

Lol. I did the same thing but not so bad. I got a B+ in multi-variable but it was like a tidal wave that Fall. It was definitely an adjustment and way harder/more work than I was expecting. I think I got a 3.1 or so. It was my worst semester except one where my fraternity was in court (not fun and not injury related, underage drinking related). That was more of everyone being on edge and hard to focus on a compiler class that I didn’t like.

That’s why I cautioned my son to take every credit and make his first semester really hard. He was able to spread out the “harder” Calculus class he placed into and Orgo. It worked out and honestly, I think finishing the year with a 4.0 will help out more than being in one more Sophomore class.

 

[stbugs]

Probably would be more fair to count this semester for kids who are helped by it, and exclude it for those who would be hurt by it.

I can see that in HS and Middle School because those teachers and schools don’t really have the online resources yet. Also, HS and middle school kids haven’t ever been on their own so to speak. Colleges should have more of that setup already and kids in college should be a bit more focused and honestly, partying less at home.

That said, I do know my son said that some of his friends did struggle but again it had more to do with not being on the ball than lack of resources. All kids at Clemson have to have a laptop. He actually said the online stuff was easier because more tests were open notes.

 

[The Z Machine]

This goes back like 25 years, but I was good at math in high school.  I actually thought maybe I would be a math major in college.  I tested into multivariable calculus based on my AP scores when I went to college.  I tried taking it.  I got a 26 on the first test.  I had no idea what was going on,  I dropped the class.  I never took another math class again.

I would have definitely benefited by just taking Calc 1 over again in college.

If he gets a 4 or a 5, I would recommend skipping the first calc semester in college, by don't skip any more than that. By skipping one, he'll lighten the load freshman year, but he won't have many gaps in his understanding of the subject that will be necessary for the physics and engineering courses to come later.

 

[bigbottom]

If he gets a 4 or a 5, I would recommend skipping the first calc semester in college, by don't skip any more than that. By skipping one, he'll lighten the load freshman year, but he won't have many gaps in his understanding of the subject that will be necessary for the physics and engineering courses to come later.

Thanks Z. We’ll see what happens once the score comes in. I think there will really only be a debate if he gets a 5 (and thus gets credit for two semesters). Given there was a part he didn’t know how to answer on the test, I’m guessing (secretly hoping) that may not be all too likely. 

And fatguy, what you describe is precisely what has me nervous. 

 

[bigbottom]

This probably deserves its own thread, but I’ll just put it here for now. A pretty fascinating read:

The Coming Disruption





Scott Galloway predicts a handful of elite cyborg universities will soon monopolize higher education.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/scott-galloway-future-of-college.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=p2&utm_campaign=FB+and+IG+Page+Engagers&utm_id=fb_cmp-6186893883607_adg-6186893905807_ad-6191200040607&k_cca=subscriptions

 

[MAC_32]

This probably deserves its own thread, but I’ll just put it here for now. A pretty fascinating read:

The Coming Disruption

Scott Galloway predicts a handful of elite cyborg universities will soon monopolize higher education.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/scott-galloway-future-of-college.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=p2&utm_campaign=FB+and+IG+Page+Engagers&utm_id=fb_cmp-6186893883607_adg-6186893905807_ad-6191200040607&k_cca=subscriptions

Good read.

I wouldn't dismiss this in the range of potential outcomes, and there will be some (quite a bit?) of this going on, but on this scale? Well, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Sure, there's a segment of the top of the food chain that prefers to manufacture human robots instead of more nuanced thinking, but I don't think their collective voice is loud enough to influence changes of this magnitude in this industry. I think we'll see some of what he's talking about. And there is going to be at least a couple waves of closings coming in the near future. But college as we experienced it will still be there. Sorta anyway. It's a dated model in need of enhancement and I think that's what we're gonna see over the next decade or so - enhancement; not developing monopoly's.

 

[Galileo]

This probably deserves its own thread, but I’ll just put it here for now. A pretty fascinating read:

The Coming Disruption

Scott Galloway predicts a handful of elite cyborg universities will soon monopolize higher education.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/scott-galloway-future-of-college.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=p2&utm_campaign=FB+and+IG+Page+Engagers&utm_id=fb_cmp-6186893883607_adg-6186893905807_ad-6191200040607&k_cca=subscriptions

At universities, we’re having constant meetings, and we’ve all adopted this narrative of “This is unprecedented, and we’re in this together,” which is Latin for “We’re not lowering our prices, #####es.”

 

[Galileo]

Another chaotic day for AP Physics 1 issues.  There are many reports of submission trouble for the second question.  My students seemed to have emerged unscathed (at least by the system...will see what their test results show later).

For those following the survey results of issues I posted earlier, the current tally accounts for 233 teachers responding to the survey representing 4755 students (still a small sample in the grand scheme of things) with 411 errors reported.  This is about an 8.6% error rate.  

 

[MindCrime]

My son has AP World History and AP Psychology next week, was hoping some of the kinks were worked out in the system.

 

[Galileo]

On another note, I spent about an hour early this evening with my son digging into Georgia Tech with virtual campus tours, housing tours, admissions policies, and reading up on the research going on there.  With an out of state price tag coming in under $50k, this seems to be one of the better values out there for a quality engineering school.  Anyone out there with GT experience to share?

 

[ex-ghost]

My son has AP World History and AP Psychology next week, was hoping some of the kinks were worked out in the system.

Daughter had Chem test today. Two of her friends had issues (dropping off and not being able to submit). 

 

[MindCrime]

So random question for all of you with experience... When did your kids start thinking about a major? My oldest is finishing up his sophomore year of hs, and while I don’t want to rush him, he’s just not sure what he’d want to settle on. He’s a great student, loves history, really enjoyed Psych this year, but he’s also pretty well rounded. It almost seems he has too many choices. When should i be looking for him to focus in on a major? Middle of Junior year? Start of senior year? 

 

[MindCrime]

Daughter had Chem test today. Two of her friends had issues (dropping off and not being able to submit). 

Uggh. Thanks for the info. Hopefully your daughter wasn’t directly affected.

 

[Galileo]

So random question for all of you with experience... When did your kids start thinking about a major? My oldest is finishing up his sophomore year of hs, and while I don’t want to rush him, he’s just not sure what he’d want to settle on. He’s a great student, loves history, really enjoyed Psych this year, but he’s also pretty well rounded. It almost seems he has too many choices. When should i be looking for him to focus in on a major? Middle of Junior year? Start of senior year? 

My junior son has known for a while it would be something science/math related.  Just this year did he start getting specific about nuclear engineering.  My sophomore has been talking about mechanical or electrical engineering for a while now.   We have to take these things with a grain of salt.  They will continue to evolve and change.  No rush to be hyper-focused, IMO.  I keep telling my son as he looks at potential university options to consider a couple alternative major paths as well.  Try to pick a university that has decent programming in a few his areas of interest.  Even if he picks something now, there is a high probability that things change along the journey.

 

[BeTheMatch]

So random question for all of you with experience... When did your kids start thinking about a major? My oldest is finishing up his sophomore year of hs, and while I don’t want to rush him, he’s just not sure what he’d want to settle on. He’s a great student, loves history, really enjoyed Psych this year, but he’s also pretty well rounded. It almost seems he has too many choices. When should i be looking for him to focus in on a major? Middle of Junior year? Start of senior year? 

Isn't that what college is for?

 

[MindCrime]

My junior son has known for a while it would be something science/math related.  Just this year did he start getting specific about nuclear engineering.  My sophomore has been talking about mechanical or electrical engineering for a while now.   We have to take these things with a grain of salt.  They will continue to evolve and change.  No rush to be hyper-focused, IMO.  I keep telling my son as he looks at potential university options to consider a couple alternative major paths as well.  Try to pick a university that has decent programming in a few his areas of interest.  Even if he picks something now, there is a high probability that things change along the journey.

Thanks. I’ve been following this thread for a couple of years now out of curiosity, but I’m getting closer to having to deal with all of this stuff. My game plan was never to push him in a single direction because I’m sure he will change his mind, but some of his friends are already locking in on a career idea and I wasn’t sure what the standard timeline for this was. We still have time, but as you said, I hope he has a general idea prior to us looking at colleges.

 

[NewlyRetired]

On another note, I spent about an hour early this evening with my son digging into Georgia Tech with virtual campus tours, housing tours, admissions policies, and reading up on the research going on there.  With an out of state price tag coming in under $50k, this seems to be one of the better values out there for a quality engineering school.  Anyone out there with GT experience to share?

Calling @bigbottom

 

[Drunken Cowboy]

On another note, I spent about an hour early this evening with my son digging into Georgia Tech with virtual campus tours, housing tours, admissions policies, and reading up on the research going on there.  With an out of state price tag coming in under $50k, this seems to be one of the better values out there for a quality engineering school.  Anyone out there with GT experience to share?

A great school. I know a lot about their biomedical engineering program. It is one of the best there is. 

 

[Whyatt]

On another note, I spent about an hour early this evening with my son digging into Georgia Tech with virtual campus tours, housing tours, admissions policies, and reading up on the research going on there.  With an out of state price tag coming in under $50k, this seems to be one of the better values out there for a quality engineering school.  Anyone out there with GT experience to share?

I was very impressed with the school on our campus visit. The area of Atlanta is quite nice too. My daughter switched her major to business so the school fell out of consideration. 

Georgia Tech has highly selective admission, if you are out of state without any “hooks” your child will need a great application to have a chance. If you're interested, consider early action. 

 

[bigbottom]

On another note, I spent about an hour early this evening with my son digging into Georgia Tech with virtual campus tours, housing tours, admissions policies, and reading up on the research going on there.  With an out of state price tag coming in under $50k, this seems to be one of the better values out there for a quality engineering school.  Anyone out there with GT experience to share?

My son really liked his GT visit. Loved the location in Atlanta (his preference is to be in or near a big city) and was very impressed with the sessions and tour. It is the most well-regarded engineering program to which he applied. My son did end up ranking it behind at least three other schools due to a variety of factors. A couple concerns I had which may or may not have affected his thinking: First, the program seemed closer along the continuum toward the Cal Tech and MIT end of things where you have a lot of intense geeked out engineering students doing engineering things most of the time. That may or may not be the case, but that’s the vibe we got. While that is a fantastic environment for a lot of smart kids who aspire to be engineers, we weren’t sure that was the right fit for our son. Second, while it’s really well-regarded for engineering, it is not as well regarded in other non-math/science fields. We wanted to make sure our son had lots of good options in the event he decided to change his major at some point. At GT, 65% of the student body are engineering majors. If you add in computer and information science majors, it’s 78%. And that’s not even including the other science and math majors.

The above said, if your kid is really set on engineering and is interested in being immersed in a prestigious engineering program surrounded by countless talented engineering students in a city with lots of co-op and other internship opportunities, GT would fit the bill to a tee. And pretty much every major company interviews at GT. There are amazing employment opportunities for GT grads.

And of course there is this awesome freshman convocation speech: https://youtu.be/98nNpzE6gIs

By the way, all of the above considerations ended up being moot, as my son got waitlisted at GT.

Hopefully @The Z Machine can weigh in here as well. 

 

[bigbottom]

Thanks. I’ve been following this thread for a couple of years now out of curiosity, but I’m getting closer to having to deal with all of this stuff. My game plan was never to push him in a single direction because I’m sure he will change his mind, but some of his friends are already locking in on a career idea and I wasn’t sure what the standard timeline for this was. We still have time, but as you said, I hope he has a general idea prior to us looking at colleges.

When it comes to focusing on a major, some kids have no idea, some kids know, and some kids only think they know.  I wouldn’t stress about it or try to force it, but will say that it makes it a lot easier to cull down a nearly infinite number of options when looking at schools if your kid has an idea of what he or she wants to study. 

I think this was discussed upthread, but we had our son do the Johnson O’Connor aptitude testing early in his Junior year.  He was thinking about engineering and the testing confirmed that pursuing a career in that field would match his aptitudes.  The general theory is that a person is more successful and happy if they are pursuing a career that is aligned with their natural aptitudes. In other words, just because you like something (or think you like it) doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be good at it. The testing shouldn’t drive any decision-making, but it could be a data point.

After taking the test, a consultant sits down with you and talks about your various aptitudes, where you are well above average, and where you are below average. Following that is a discussion of various careers that match your natural aptitudes. Again, it doesn’t necessarily mean those are the right careers for you, or that you couldn’t learn to be successful in other careers that don’t match your natural aptitudes. But it can be a helpful tool, particularly for kids who have no idea what they want to pursue. 

The cost was $800, and you have to go to one of their testing centers  Here’s a video with more info:

https://youtu.be/IhT1kFHyyiw

 

[bigbottom]

One other random GT nugget. When our friends’ kid was doing the campus tour at GT, someone asked a question that somehow invited a comparison between GT and MIT. The response from the GT rep was something along the lines of “MIT is an absolutely fantastic school to study engineering. Here, at Georgia Tech, we fix stuff.”

 

[bigbottom]

I was very impressed with the school on our campus visit. The area of Atlanta is quite nice too. My daughter switched her major to business so the school fell out of consideration. 

Georgia Tech has highly selective admission, if you are out of state without any “hooks” your child will need a great application to have a chance. If you're interested, consider early action. 

Georgia Tech’s admission rate for out of state applicants this year was 16%. Also, there is a bill pending in the Georgia legislature that would require that 90% of early action slots be reserved for Georgia residents. 

 

[zoobird]

Thanks. I’ve been following this thread for a couple of years now out of curiosity, but I’m getting closer to having to deal with all of this stuff. My game plan was never to push him in a single direction because I’m sure he will change his mind, but some of his friends are already locking in on a career idea and I wasn’t sure what the standard timeline for this was. We still have time, but as you said, I hope he has a general idea prior to us looking at colleges.

The approach we're taking with my daughter (soph in high school) hasn't been to push her to make a decision soon...it's been to push her to try stuff, learn about different options and take any opportunity to get a real feel for what she likes and doesn't like...while developing some skills and accomplishments that she can build on regardless of which direction she goes.

Happy to share specifics of what that's looked like for her (math-y kid at selective engineering high school, who also has a creative streak) or what it could look like for kids with some other combination of traits and interests.

 

[stbugs]

My son really liked his GT visit. Loved the location in Atlanta (his preference is to be in or near a big city) and was very impressed with the sessions and tour. It is the most well-regarded engineering program to which he applied. My son did end up ranking it behind at least three other schools due to a variety of factors. A couple concerns I had which may or may not have affected his thinking: First, the program seemed closer along the continuum toward the Cal Tech and MIT end of things where you have a lot of intense geeked out engineering students doing engineering things most of the time. That may or may not be the case, but that’s the vibe we got. While that is a fantastic environment for a lot of smart kids who aspire to be engineers, we weren’t sure that was the right fit for our son. Second, while it’s really well-regarded for engineering, it is not as well regarded in other non-math/science fields. We wanted to make sure our son had lots of good options in the event he decided to change his major at some point. At GT, 65% of the student body are engineering majors. If you add in computer and information science majors, it’s 78%. And that’s not even including the other science and math majors.

The above said, if your kid is really set on engineering and is interested in being immersed in a prestigious engineering program surrounded by countless talented engineering students in a city with lots of co-op and other internship opportunities, GT would fit the bill to a tee. And pretty much every major company interviews at GT. There are amazing employment opportunities for GT grads.

And of course there is this awesome freshman convocation speech: https://youtu.be/98nNpzE6gIs

By the way, all of the above considerations ended up being moot, as my son got waitlisted at GT.

Hopefully @The Z Machine can weigh in here as well. 

I had a funny story about MIT. I went there for a college visit way back when and I still remember exactly what I told my dad after the visit. First, there was 1 attractive girl (remember I was a 16 year old boy) who may or may not have even gone there and second, I saw one nude picture posted up on a dorm wall. The nude picture wasn’t the problem, I would have felt more comfortable with more of them. The problem was that it was black and white and looked like it was 20 years old. I realized that MIT was not for me.

 

[stbugs]

Georgia Tech’s admission rate for out of state applicants this year was 16%. Also, there is a bill pending in the Georgia Tech legislature that would require that 90% of early action slots be reserved for Georgia residents. 

My son didn’t get in to GT. He didn’t think he had much of a shot since he was applying regular decision and it’s ridiculously hard out of state. I’d imagine that the scholarships were even harder to get, so I doubt it would have mattered for us anyway. I have no clue what’s happening admissions wise this year due to CV but I know the schools in this area all saw record applications when my son applied last year. Charlotte metro has UGA, GT, NC State, USC, Clemson, UNC and others in 3.5 hour radius, assuming non-horrific traffic. That was a big topic at orientation at Clemson about how many more apps they received and how many OOS students there were.

 

[bigbottom]

My son didn’t get in to GT. He didn’t think he had much of a shot since he was applying regular decision and it’s ridiculously hard out of state. I’d imagine that the scholarships were even harder to get, so I doubt it would have mattered for us anyway. I have no clue what’s happening admissions wise this year due to CV but I know the schools in this area all saw record applications when my son applied last year. Charlotte metro has UGA, GT, NC State, USC, Clemson, UNC and others in 3.5 hour radius, assuming non-horrific traffic. That was a big topic at orientation at Clemson about how many more apps they received and how many OOS students there were.

My son applied early action at Georgia Tech this year (from out of state) and was waitlisted. When you get waitlisted, GT asks if you want to keep your application under consideration if additional spots open up. We ended up declining in light of other acceptances, not that it would have really mattered. I don’t imagine a lot of kids at Georgia Tech get in off the waitlist. 

 

[NewlyRetired]

My daughters college just sent an email informing the students that while every one will receive grades this semester, that the school will be suspending all honors rewards for the semester and that this semester grades will not be used to factor in Latin Honors at graduation for all students nor factor into class rank.

The theory being that some kids transitioned into learning online smoothly while others had their life turned upside down.

Probably would be more fair to count this semester for kids who are helped by it, and exclude it for those who would be hurt by it.

The college sent an email today saying they have now changed the policy to be what you suggested, based on feedback they received from the first idea.

Now GPA will be calculated two ways.  1 with spring 2020 and 1 with out spring 2020.  Which ever one is higher will be used to determine things like Latin Honors at graduation.

 

[Galileo]

My son really liked his GT visit. Loved the location in Atlanta (his preference is to be in or near a big city) and was very impressed with the sessions and tour. It is the most well-regarded engineering program to which he applied. My son did end up ranking it behind at least three other schools due to a variety of factors. A couple concerns I had which may or may not have affected his thinking: First, the program seemed closer along the continuum toward the Cal Tech and MIT end of things where you have a lot of intense geeked out engineering students doing engineering things most of the time. That may or may not be the case, but that’s the vibe we got. While that is a fantastic environment for a lot of smart kids who aspire to be engineers, we weren’t sure that was the right fit for our son. Second, while it’s really well-regarded for engineering, it is not as well regarded in other non-math/science fields. We wanted to make sure our son had lots of good options in the event he decided to change his major at some point. At GT, 65% of the student body are engineering majors. If you add in computer and information science majors, it’s 78%. And that’s not even including the other science and math majors.

Thanks for your perspective.  The bolded stuff there does give me reason something to think about.  The exposure to diversity in college is one of the big benefits of the college experience.   But, all nerd all the time works for some.  My nephew is an engineering physics major at Case Western Reserve in CLE...a place that you would think is similar to what you describe here.  It ended up that his best friends and roommates are studying music and and performance art type programs.  I have a sister that has lived in Atlanta for a number of years and a niece that also lives there, so I am somewhat familiar with the city and area, just never had any experience with GT until now.  It would be nice bonus, should he end up far from home, that family is nearby.  

 

[tri-man 47]

On another note, I spent about an hour early this evening with my son digging into Georgia Tech with virtual campus tours, housing tours, admissions policies, and reading up on the research going on there.  With an out of state price tag coming in under $50k, this seems to be one of the better values out there for a quality engineering school.  Anyone out there with GT experience to share?

You don't mention their job placement success, which is a key element.  I trust you're looking at that, too.  And are the placements regionalized or national?  Ideally the latter. 

 

[bigbottom]

Thanks for your perspective.  The bolded stuff there does give me reason something to think about.  The exposure to diversity in college is one of the big benefits of the college experience.   But, all nerd all the time works for some.  My nephew is an engineering physics major at Case Western Reserve in CLE...a place that you would think is similar to what you describe here.  It ended up that his best friends and roommates are studying music and and performance art type programs.  I have a sister that has lived in Atlanta for a number of years and a niece that also lives there, so I am somewhat familiar with the city and area, just never had any experience with GT until now.  It would be nice bonus, should he end up far from home, that family is nearby.  

I know there are others that have a lot more direct experience with GT than my son’s very limited experience visiting the campus (and I’ll note that his tour guide was a very cute sorority girl), so please take my input above with a grain of salt. But just as an example, check out the dorm tour video below we found when doing our research. These four suite mates decided to move all four beds into one room so they could set up their workstations together in the other room. Not only is that pretty ingenious approach, these kids seem both super bright AND fun. But they also seem REALLY WAY INTO  things like their workstations. Ultimately, I think my son was a little intimidated by the students he met there.

https://youtu.be/zGruUTOPVck

 

[Galileo]

You don't mention their job placement success, which is a key element.  I trust you're looking at that, too.  And are the placements regionalized or national?  Ideally the latter. 

I did not see any specific job placement data.  I did see claims on their site with regard to national laboratory partnerships, but again, not necessarily in the context of job placement.  I did see an average salary of about $85k for grads and a College ROI ranking of 12.   We are in preliminary search mode...I am sure the fine tooth comb will come out at some point after we gather a good list.

 

[bigbottom]

You don't mention their job placement success, which is a key element.  I trust you're looking at that, too.  And are the placements regionalized or national?  Ideally the latter. 

My understanding from the research we did was that their job placement success is absolutely stellar, and not regionalized. The feel we got was that GT engineers are highly highly sought after.  Note that it’s the 4th ranked undergraduate engineering program in the country (to the extent that rankings matter to employers) after Cal Berkeley and the relatively small pool of engineering graduates from MIT and Stanford.

 

[bigbottom]

I did not see any specific job placement data.  I did see claims on their site with regard to national laboratory partnerships, but again, not necessarily in the context of job placement.  I did see an average salary of about $85k for grads and a College ROI ranking of 12.   We are in preliminary search mode...I am sure the fine tooth comb will come out at some point after we gather a good list.

I’m sure you’ve already seen this video, but just in case:

https://youtu.be/_XjpDpXjhik

Their maker spaces are awesome. 

 

[bigbottom]

On another note, I spent about an hour early this evening with my son digging into Georgia Tech with virtual campus tours, housing tours, admissions policies, and reading up on the research going on there.  With an out of state price tag coming in under $50k, this seems to be one of the better values out there for a quality engineering school.  Anyone out there with GT experience to share?

By the way, one of the best values for a quality engineering school coming from out of state may very well be Purdue. I think the price tag all in is around $40k for out of state, and they give quite a bit of money out in merit awards. Also, Purdue has frozen tuition rates for nine straight years. 

 

[stbugs]

I’m sure you’ve already seen this video, but just in case:

https://youtu.be/_XjpDpXjhik

Their maker spaces are awesome. 

Amazing the differences from when I was an engineering major. We had access to some cool things but it’s a whole other world now.

 

[Galileo]

By the way, one of the best values for a quality engineering school coming from out of state may very well be Purdue. I think the price tag all in is around $40k for out of state, and they give quite a bit of money out in merit awards. Also, Purdue has frozen tuition rates for nine straight years. 

We've done the virtual tours there as well and it is on our list.  We had a scheduled visit there over spring break, but COVID ripped away that opportunity.  

 

[bigbottom]

A number of schools are now announcing plans to return to campus early for the Fall semester, with students not returning to campus after they go home for Thanksgiving break.  The thought is to not have kids on campus when flu season starts, and to cancel the fall break to dissuade travel home and then back to campus. 

https://news.nd.edu/news/notre-dame-to-begin-fall-semester-on-campus-the-week-of-aug-10/

https://www.counton2.com/news/south-carolina-news/uofsc-opening-with-accelerated-fall-semester-ending-in-person-classes-after-thanksgiving/

 

[MindCrime]

Ap Psych test just crashed on my son. 2 part exam, he submitted part one, then the site went blank and wouldn't let him submit part 2. Now telling him to request a new test date.   

 

[Galileo]

Ap Psych test just crashed on my son. 2 part exam, he submitted part one, then the site went blank and wouldn't let him submit part 2. Now telling him to request a new test date.   

Supposed to have a back up email submission process in place if you can't submit successfully.

ETA...here is a portion of the update email that was sent out Sunday...

•Beginning Monday, May 18, and continuing through the makeup window, there will be a backup email submission process for browser-based exams.

•This option will only be available for students who were not able to submit in the standard process—and they must then email their responses immediately following their exam.

•These students will see instructions about how to email their response on the page that says, "We Did Not Receive Your Response." The email address that appears on this page will be unique to each student.

•Any student testing between May 18–22 who can't successfully upload their response through the exam platform or send it to us by email, will need to request a makeup exam.

•To protect the security and validity of exams, we're unable to accept submissions from students who tested May 11–15. However, these students can feel confident that the email option will be in place for them during the makeup exams.

•Email submissions will not be available for the World Language exams.