D23 heads back to school on Sunday. She found out yesterday one of her two roommates is not coming back to school because of issues at home. We feel bad for the girl but also for my D. She’s in a triple and they’ve become friends while the third roommate is problematic. We’re hoping they don’t fill the bed and at least D will have more space in a pretty small triple.
S is home again for the holiday weekend and a dentist appointment (the advantage of being an hour away). First week of class went well, it’s much better doing all math/physics/astronomy than GEs. He also switched rooms to be with friends who are quieter (and don’t have a GF sleeping over every night!). Next he has to start thinking about who to share with next year and what he’s going to do this summer.
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Just ran a search. Several applicants from Florida in tenured/tenure-line positions, never had seen this before in previous searches.
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S23 is supposed to head back tomorrow on the shuttle after 4 weeks of winter break. There have been wonderful conversations and big adjustments to our parent-kid dynamic!
(We also however are in a very bad storm in Portland—it’s below zero windchill with 50mph gusts—and I don’t know if the shuttle will be able to safely drive through the even windier Columbia Gorge tomorrow. He’s unhappy about potentially missing the first day of classes, but there may not be any safe way to get him out there for a few days.)
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You can sub without a degree?!
Depending on the state and district, you may not need a college degree.
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I’m sure it varies by state and school district, but in our district: “you must have a high school diploma or GED to become a substitute for Grades PreK-8. To substitute in Grades 9-12, you are required to have at least two years of work experience after obtaining a high school diploma or GED”. They go one to say that retired teachers or others who hold a teaching certification will get first priority for sub hiring, followed by those with college degrees, then those with a hs diploma or GED. But our district is so desperate for substitute teachers right now that they are taking anyone who meets the above criteria, has a decent interview, and can pass a background check. They also just raised the rate of pay from $100/day to $125/day.
Our high school is really struggling -they often have multiple teachers out with no available subs. In that case, the affected classes get sent to the auditorium with a staff member who oversees them in a large group study hall. It’s not ideal.
This seemed like a good way for my D to help the district, make some money during school breaks in a flexible job, and explore teaching as a possible career.
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$125/day works out to just over $15.50/hr so the school district is finally getting competitive with fast food restaurants for hourly wage.
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Yeah, it’s not great, but subs only work the actual bell schedule of 7 hours/day because they don’t have any of the before or after school tasks that the teachers have. So it works out to be closer to $18/hour. Still not a lot, but the flexibility is ideal. Because the need is so great, my D could work every day that she wanted to, while still being able to take off any day she made plans with friends instead.
Our state (NH) still has the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour and retail and fast food have only recently started offering $15/hour or greater in our area. Probably the daily rates for subs in other areas are higher. Although now that I think of it, she goes to school in another state ( PA )and only makes $9 something/hour at her work-study job. So I guess I have no idea how our rate compares.
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Wow that is really low! I think ours is $14.20 with $15.45 in the city.
Thoughts on “commuter” schools? D25 is 3.0 low test score kid and some of her more target schools for acceptance and our budget seem to be more commuter type schools with low percentage of students on campus. She wants a smaller school feel anyways (however she gets that as even big schools can feel “smaller”).
Looking at Adelphi for example. Has higher TE chance and the majors she is interested in. Data set shows 4900 UG with 30% typically living on campus. My daughter thought maybe she would get “better dorm options”.
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Our schools are struggling for subs too. Yet the state still has a ton of hoops to go through that takes 3-4 months to become a sub. And if you do all that you get offered $14.70/hour in a very high cost of living state and area. The cost benefit seems poor compared to, say, just applying for a job at one of the many Amazon or Wayfair warehouses for more money and probably starting days later.
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Affordability - and I don’t know the budget - but for example, a W Carolina is $20K all in - tuition is $5K.
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You need to find the right school for her. In most areas, the local school is likely the most popular. Where I live, that might be a Middle Tennessee State or W Kentucky.
There will be options both ways - but because a school may cater locally (but still have residential life), does not make it a bad choice.
Some say, for example, Hofstra or Stony Brook are “Commuter”.
You don’t have to go to a name brand or big name on the CC to get a great education and outcome.
She needs to find the right school admissibility wise, affordability wise, and that she’ll like.
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chiming in from HS Class of 2024 group to say you’re welcome to join us on the “Parents of HS Class of 2024 3.0-3.4 GPA” thread.
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Absolutely! She will be an OOS student dorming at every “commuter school” on her list so if a place felt too empty on weekends, that may be a concern. Using the Adelphi example: She’s still a far ways from home in the midwest but the CDS says 30% of 4900 live on campus so my question for her would be is 1500 students and 7 dorms “enough”?
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Where do the others live? At home or on the edge of campus? I think the type of ‘commuter’ makes a difference. My kids school is larger but only has on campus housing available for maybe 20-25% of students. However, apartments complexes line the boundaries of the school, so many ‘commuters’ effectively live across the street. And the campus has a lot going on all the time.
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1500 students is a whole LAC.
So yeah, that sounds like “enough”, sure.
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I work on Long Island and a couple of staff I have hired have been full-time commuter students from local colleges, including Adelphi and Stony Brook. While most lived with their families instead of dorming, I know they made a concerted effort to get involved, join clubs and study at their libraries.
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I think the key for weekends is not just how many students are still there, but how many activities/things are going on over the weekend. What I think of as true “commuter schools” often have NOTHING happening from student affairs/res life/athletics over the weekends.
Schools that have a lot of local kids, and that lose some dorm dwellers on the weekend who go back home to work or see old friends, but which still have activities sponsored by student affairs and various sporting activities going on do not feel like commuter schools.
Different ways you can snoop around the webpages/instragram to get a sense of what’s happening on weekends.
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It also depends where in the country you are and what else there is to do in the surrounding area. Some would classify the University of Utah as a “commuter school” and campus is quite empty at weekends (except in football season). But that’s because students head to the mountains for skiing etc. That doesn’t have to be organized by student affairs/res life (and in Utah it mostly isn’t). I assume that being at a commuter school way out on Long Island would be very different to being at a commuter school in NYC in terms of finding things to keep you occupied.
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