Arch student at Cornell-sleeps thru classes!

[alette]

<p>Can anyone recommend ways to help a 1st year Arch student be able to make it to classes - with all consuming studio projects my son often only gets 2 hrs a night and is able to turn off 3 alarm clocks and go back to sleep without any recollection. Maybe there is something some one has done - other than me calling him to get him up. I have suggested day time naps during any free time and to creatively rig up an alarm with a pully on the cieling to make him work to shut it off. </p>

<p>Is this a passing thing that he will adapt to?<br>
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP</p>

[CLdad]

<p>OK, I'll step up and be the first. Some comments: If his program only allows 2 hours of sleep per night, perhaps he's in the wrong program. Most freshmen have a period of adjustment to the difficult college life, mine is also going through that. The adjustment usually involves taking responsibility for things like getting to class. You don't say whether this was a problem in HS or is new. Has he sought any kind of help on campus for this: academic advisor, counseling services, etc? Most schools have resources available. I agree that what he does not "need" is his mother calling to wake him up. I hope this doesn't sound too harsh, but it may be a situation of "natural consequences".</p>

[idler]

<p>For what it's worth, my son recently reported that he has fallen into the habit of a nap after lunch, to compensate for "studying" til all hours, says it helps.</p>

[achat]

<p>My son does not get 2 hrs sleep a night, more like maybe 6-7 but he does go to sleep late around 2-3 AM. He takes naps during the day, say a class at 10 and then the next one at 2, then he sleeps in the afternoon between 12 and 2. Ability to fall asleep at any time of the day helps a lot...even thru the din of the dorm.</p>

[mackinaw]

<p>The only way to really do it is to work on a fail-safe buddy system. Somebody has to physically get him up and out, and he has to be responsible as well for someone else.</p>

<p>Having this kind of problem has nothing to do with being in the wrong program, but rather with the demandingness of this kind of program. My daughter went through something similar as an industrial design student at RISD. They had a three strikes and you're out policy, though, which put the fear of the Lord in their heads: if you missed three studio classes, you could (and would) be dropped from the course.</p>

[lisa_fillmore]

<p>Totally agree with the buddy system. One of my son's has a next door neighbor in the dorm who is an early riser. He now takes a minute to kick son out of bed before heading to breakfast.</p>

[Roger_Dooley]

<p>Pulling consecutive all-nighters seems to be a mandatory rite of passage at many architecture schools. When they assign a 72 hour project, they mean work for 72 hours and deliver the finished assignment - sleep is optional, and, if you have time to sleep, you are probably not putting enough effort into the project...</p>

<p>Supposedly, this is to prepare the students for the real world of rush projects, client deadlines, etc. I'm not convinced this makes a lot of sense, but it has been institutionalized in many cases. Kind of like the ritual of forcing ER interns to work 24 hour & longer shifts, whether that makes sense from a quality of patient care standpoint or not.</p>

<p>The buddy system seems as good an approach as any, assuming a reliable buddy is available. It's probably better than not sleeping at all, or going to the classroom to sleep assuming that as students drift in they'll wake you up. ;)</p>

[alette]

<p>Thanks to all & Roger_Dooley...thanks - you seem to be in tune with what goes on at Arch school. I had only heard from friends in Arch during my years as a fine art major. He never ever missed school or a class in HS and has been totally dedicated to Arch for the last 4 years - and worked really hard to get to Cornell. He is definetly in the right program, and I assume he will figure it out- hopefully with a buddy as you say. I will forward this all to him.</p>

[Roger_Dooley]

<p>You're welcome, alette, and welcome to College Confidential!</p>

[cheers]

<p>A,
I'm an architect.</p>

<p>Those 'all-nighters' are a badge of honor--and lots of fun really. Phillip Johnson used to close the office doors at 5:30 pm. "If you can't do it in eight hours, you can't do it." That's true. A HUGE proportion of those 'all-nighter' hours are spent getting coffee and talking to mates but you still get to talk about it like it was 'Nam.</p>

<p>My non-Arch S also sleeps through his alarm, a consequence, I'm afraid of my tender parenting through the age of 17--going in multiple times to wake him up. Believe me, younger S is getting blasted with the alarm now to train himself. Older S is slowy sorting through it. He has buddies (delighted girls, from what I can tell) waking him. He's getting more sleep at proper hours. </p>

<p>I worry about the attendance record, but only a few minutes of every week. :) That's the beauty of sending him away to school. Woohoo!</p>

[1moremom]

<p>Alette, I remember your posts from last spring and wondered where your son ended up. I can't offer any advise on getting him out of bed, but if he is getting by on so little sleep, I would encourage him to take care of himself in other ways-- eat regular meals, drink some orange juice, maybe send him vitamins? Getting sick would only make his situation more difficult.</p>

[achat]

<p>Cheers, your son seems to have a blast, wherever he is, especially with the girls. :)</p>

[cheers]

<p>Achat,</p>

<p>Yeah. He's a success in the girl department alright. My parents went to PW, reporting that S was hailed all over campus--and off campus--mostly by pretty girls wanting to introduce him to their parents. After eight weeks in a city of how many million??</p>

<p>He's getting too serious about one particular girl, imho--(an H.O. which counts for SQUAT :) btw). I've thrown water on the idea for a few weeks now but nevermind.</p>

<p>Most importantly, he loves university life, loves three of the subjects, loves his potential major, (doing outside reading); loves his intramural football and basketball teams, loves his floor (kinda like a fraternity) and likes his Japanese roommate. </p>

<p>If he gets decent grades, it's all good.</p>

[alette]

<p>1moremom-can't believe you remember me! this site is the best- yes after visits to CU and CMU he ended up at Cornell and absolutely loves it there, so after we mourned the turning down of the money from CMU we are happy he is happy- and I believe he knew where he would do best. </p>

<p>Cheers- I love what you said- I hope I can get him to read these posts. Funny my son seems to have an over abundance of female friends too...? </p>

<p>And yes more vitamins will be sent - that is what I worry about - if he gets sick hmmm...but he'll get by...that is the beauty of it.</p>

<p>I'm back on CC for my D now...We're lost she wants to work in the fashion industry and is thinking Undergrad Business School with a later associate degree in Fashion Marketing or through cross enrollment...well that's another post!</p>

[1moremom]

<p>Alette, That's wonderful; I remember how hard he worked to get there. My older son (not the aspiring architect) is applying to Cornell this fall. Is your daughter a senior this year?</p>

[alette]

<p>Oh - no- my daughter is a sophmore....I know we are obsessing again. But HS suggested the sophmores go to the local college fair and we took her. She is just getting her feet wet. But as she doesn't have a clear direction she feels more at a loss and getting into the process now will ease the stress of the unknown.</p>

<p>Good luck with your S. mine told me the first weeks that he was in absolute awe of his professors. It is a great thing that he is happy....I sleep well at night!!!</p>

[over30]

<p>You might look at this discussion we had earlier about alarm clocks for heavy sleepers.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/messages/70/83874.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/messages/70/83874.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>I would also wonder if he is sleeping soundly. IF he is only sleeping a few hours a night, he obviously isn't getting a good quality sleep. While you may not be able to keep him away from coffee, i would suggest valerian and extra Bs and calcium and magnesium to help his nervous system continue to function on little sleep.</p>

[cheers]

<p>A,</p>

<p>For your D. A great way to test herself in the field before she decides.....</p>

<p><a href="http://www.parsons.edu/pre_enrollment/summer_ny_fashion.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.parsons.edu/pre_enrollment/summer_ny_fashion.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>ps Wouldn't bother trying to dissuade S from 'all nighters'. It's part of the culture. He'll survive! :)</p>

[originaloog]

<p>Alette, time management may be the problem here. An apartment mate of mine was a landscape arch major and the thing I remembered was the ton of studio time as a part of the design sequence coursework. Typically it was 12-15 hours per week!! But this was the time when much of his project development and preparation was done. And of course he was always up the night before the semester project was due to be judged! I don't recall him spending all nite in the studio more that 2 or 3 times a month. Certainly not 2-4 times per week.</p>

<p>Judging of final projects as related by Dan was very cool. The panel of judges would typically consist of several faculty and several practicing architects. All the projects would be randomly placed randomly around the perimeter of the studio and the panel would begin moving the project to place them in order from best to worst. They would struggle and argue to reach a consensus and at the conclusion they would have a ****tail party of sorts. The class instructor would be responsible for assigning the grades which could be all A's, all F's or some distribution in between. Students were always invited to attend and get critiqued by a judge if desired or just schmooze over a wine glass of cranberry juice or chablis</p>