kitchen table math, the sequel: parent-oriented colleges

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

parent-oriented colleges

C. tells me that at his friend's Jesuit college, the R.A. had the students all make Christmas cards for their parents.

That would NEVER happen at NYU.

NYU students don't have parents.

At least, that's the vibe you get attending 'Parents' Day, which didn't feel like a Parents Day at all. When the various speakers referred to our children, they used the term "your student."

"Your student" is the same formulation administrators here in my peer-oriented school district always used, even for kids as young as 10.

"Please share with your student."

"Please discuss with your student." (My personal favorite: the letter home asking us to discuss bomb threats with our student.)

I don't have a student, bub! (Well, actually I do.)

I have a child.

C. told me the Christmas card story and said, "I wish I'd gone to a Catholic college."

I wish he had, too.

update from the Comments:
I teach at a Catholic college, and my husband used to teach at one of the elite Jesuit colleges. Trust me, they aren't worth drooling over. The elite Jesuit college was pretty much like small elite liberal arts colleges of all stripes, except the student body was 95% Irish. My large Catholic university has all the woes of large private universities everywhere, and the Catholicism mainly shows up in the form of trying to force professors to tack service learning into every course. Your kid is better off at NYU.
C.'s friend is attending a Jesuit college, come to think of it. Not sure whether it's an elite Jesuit college. C. will know.

7 comments:

Catherine Johnson said...

I told C: you can go to a Catholic college for law school.

They'll probably still be making Christmas cards for their folks!

Anonymous said...

I teach at a Catholic college, and my husband used to teach at one of the elite Jesuit colleges. Trust me, they aren't worth drooling over. The elite Jesuit college was pretty much like small elite liberal arts colleges of all stripes, except the student body was 95% Irish. My large Catholic university has all the woes of large private universities everywhere, and the Catholicism mainly shows up in the form of trying to force professors to tack service learning into every course. Your kid is better off at NYU.

Catherine Johnson said...

thank you!

gotta get that one up front!

Service learning ---- noooooooooo

otoh, we've got boatloads of service learning at NYU, too

they don't force professors to put it in the courses, though

Catherine Johnson said...

Just added your comment to the original post --

I'm going to find out whether the college C's friend attend is considered elite. (It's Jesuit.)

VickyS said...

At the elementary school my boys attended, there are no longer any children or students...there are not even any "learners." There are only scholars! This is from their pre-K page, where they are preparing scholars for kindergarten...really???

In Pre-Kindergarten at Obama we believe that the best learning comes from actively engaging in topics that the scholars are learning about. The bulk of the scholar's day comes from Active Learning, which is the opportunity to construct deeper knowlwedge through independent or small group, hands-on experiences. Scholars learn about "Big Ideas" such as change, adaptation and community. Throughout the day scholars will also be engaged in learning letters, letter sounds, alliteration, rhyming, vocabulary and math skills. We work on these skills to prepare scholars for Kindergarten.

VickyS said...

Yeah, you read that right: knowlwedge.

Anonymous said...

Re Catholic college for law school, a friend of mine did just that. Actually, she got her undergraduate degree from Notre Dame and her law degree from Duquesne, so she doubled up on the Catholicism.

Just in case you haven't been paying attention to college sports, Notre Dame is in the BCS championship football game this weekend, yet it graduates almost all of its football players (GSR=97). This year, ND was the first school to achieve #1 ranking in football and #1 ranking in GSR (graduation success rate of athletes) simultaneously. Academically, it is one of the top 20 schools in the US.

http://ndtoday.alumni.nd.edu/s/1210/nl-subpage.aspx?sid=1210&gid=1&sitebuilder=1&pgid=7098

Ugggh, I don't remember what my point was supposed to be, except to point out that good Catholic colleges do exist.