Pardon My Rant

[handmaidenofprincesses]

I met with my academic advisor today to lay out my course schedule for next semester. I also asked her about taking a winter intersession course called "Jane Austen on Film."

Being an avid Austen lover, I was super-excited 4 days of Austen films and analysis, spread out over two weeks, reding all 6 novels and writing 2 papers, a 3 credit course. Sounded great to me. So I asked, "When do I sign up?" My advisor told me I could register the 20th, so long as I had payment on hand.

Huh? Now, my financial aid/loans/etc are all paid by the year, not by the semester, so it have never even occured to me that this class would cost more. "Okay... how much?"

Ready for this one?

$1600! For four days!!! That's the same price as a full semester class! Why so much? "We charge by the credit, not in-class time" Talk about stupidity...

So much for that bright idea...:mad:

[KronkHere]

I think you should forget the class and take the $1600 and take advantage of the following...Enjoy 7 nights in a Disney Resort, plus 7 Day Magic Your Way Base Tickets all for the price of a 4-night package with 4 day base tickets!

:thumbsup:

[PirateLover]

Ah that really stinks! Sorry that it didn't work out for you... I'm an Austen fan myself so that sounds great to me. :(

[SBETigg]

What a fun course! But to charge that much extra? Wow. As if school isn't costly enough. I love Austen, too. I probably wouldn't pay the extra. But maybe you could arrange an Austen Book Club with friends and then read the books and watch the film versions together? That sounds great to me.

[DizneyRox]

Kindof makes sense... Off semester classes usually go that way, by the credit. Actually, I've never seen anything different.

[BigRedDad]

Not to rain on your rant, but if this is a 4 day class, 8-hours a day, they cost about $1500 to $10,000. In my company, depending on the class, they are week long and are not cheap. If you figure out the time in class (4 days x 8 hours = 32 hours) and then figure out how much time you are in a traditional class ( 2 hours/wk X 15 weeks = 30 hours). It is the same amount of time. College and professional courses charge based on time.

I know it stinks for you not to get a class you wanted. Hopefully, when you are out of college, your company will pay for your professional course. Mine has paid for Project Management Certification and now my MBA (3 more years of college :ill:).

[garymacd]

Here's what I think you should do. Go out and rent all the movies. Not just the recent ones but ALL of them.

Get your girlfriends over for a weekend and watch the movies, eat, drink and be merry and destroy Sir Laurence Olivier's performance as Mr. Darcy. (What a fop! And Greer Garson's dresses!!! :rotfl: )

You'll probably have more fun, and save a heck of a lot of money for a great trip to WDW. Just no credit, but great memories.

[d_m_n_n]

I think you should forget the class and take the $1600 and take advantage of the following...Enjoy 7 nights in a Disney Resort, plus 7 Day Magic Your Way Base Tickets all for the price of a 4-night package with 4 day base tickets!

:thumbsup:

That sounds like a plan to me, too!!! :mickey:

[Ian]

It's pretty standard in advanced academics to be charged by the credit. I mean course credit is what you're paying for, so it really wouldn't make much sense for them to give you a shorter, full credit class for less money. That would just encourage everyone to take those classes and not the full semester ones.

[Disney Doll]

$1600! For four days!!! That's the same price as a full semester class! Why so much? "We charge by the credit, not in-class time" Talk about stupidity...

So much for that bright idea...:mad:

I am an academic advisor and I can tell you that tuition prices are almost always set per credit hour. Your class time should be pretty equivalent (universities have pretty strict rules about that) so while the seminar may be condensed into 4 days it should be roughly the same amount of time as a regular 16 week course. It does sound like a cool class so I'm sorry it didn't work out.

[handmaidenofprincesses]

Yea, at least I don't need the credit.

The thing that really shocked me? My friend, who goes to a comunity college, said that $1600 is her whole semester tuition! Maybe I should have looked at community schools as well as private ones :blush:

[Georgesgirl1]

I too went to a private college and one summer I stayed there to work. I considered taking a course to free up my schedule a little during the school year, but when I realized it was going to be about $2000 (and that was 7 years ago), I changed my mind! Too bad though...that sounds like it would have been a fun class.

I agree with one of the previous posters, get a bunch of friends together and watch the movies and then discuss them. That way you will get to curl up on the couch with some popcorn instead of sitting in a classroom!