Okay thanks for the info. At VMI how is the academic day structured? Is it like high school where you go to each class one after another? Or do you only have certain classes certain days, and the rest of the time is spent studying? I'm just curious how the academic class schedules there are different than from regular colleges.
Sorry, didn't see this question 'til now.
They've changed the daily schedule at least four times since I matriculated in Fall '05, including a major overhaul of the class schedule this semester, so bear with me on this one.
M/W/F classes are scheduled from 0800-0850, 0900-0950, 1000-1050, 1300-1350, 1400-1450 and 1500-1550. In general, only labs that take up multiple CPs (class periods) will be scheduled to spill over into the 1500-1550 time slot.
1100-1215 is designated duty time. On Mondays it's Dean's Training Time (DTT), which is generally used for academic departmental meetings, Corps speakers, meetings with professors or makeup classes on the rare occasion that a professor has to cancel a class for some reason. If a cadet has no academic duty during this time, it's used for CQ (Call to Quarters), meaning cadets can study, eat lunch or take care of any administrative business they may have.
On Wednesdays it's Commandant's Training Time (CTT) which is almost always some type of inspection, either uniform or formal room. However, it can also be Company Commander's Time (meaning each company forms up in a designated company room for a briefing from their CO) or other briefings as designated by the Commandant of Cadets.
Fridays are a little bit different. We have Physical Training Time (PTT) during this time slot, so they bump afternoon classes back to 1315-1405, 1415-1505 and 1515-1605 (again, only for labs). This is to allow ample time for post-PTT hygiene and lunch. Yes, it's very confusing. But it seems to work well enough, I guess.
T/Th classes have a similar CP schedule, only the classes are an hour and 15 mins instead of 50 mins, so we end up with the same number of classroom hours as the M/W/F classes at the end of the semester. The CP schedule is as follows: 0800-0915, 0925-1040, 1050-1205, 1300-1415, 1425-1540. That last CP may or may not be the same deal as the 1500-1550 M/W/F one, I'm honestly not sure.
Basically, it's just like any other college/university in that you create your own schedule within these time periods. The main difference is that you'll never have a class scheduled during evening hours. That, and 8 o'clock classes are nothing to complain about since you have to be up for formation at 0700 anyway.
It usually requires a considerable amount of juggling to make sure you stay on track to graduate, but this is why we have academic advisors.
In fact, your ac advisor will handle the scheduling of your fall semester classes for you. You'll receive your class schedule in one of the meetings you'll have with your ac advisor prior to the first day of classes. When it comes time to pre-register for spring classes, you'll work very closely with your ac advisor to ensure you know how to do it all.
Here's my class schedule for this semester:
Monday
0800-0850: PE-300
0900-0950: BI-218
1100-1215: DTT
1300-1350: SP-425
Tuesday
0925-1040: SP-426
1050-1140: Leadership Lab
1300-1415: PO-342
Wednesday
0800-0850: PE-300
0900-0950: BI-218
1100-1215: CTT
1300-1350: SP-425
1405-1440: PE-101
Thursday
0925-1040: SP-426
1050-1140: Army ROTC lecture
1300-1415: PO-342
Friday
0900-0950: BI-218
1000-1050: PE-411
1100-1215: PTT
1315-1405: SP-425
I'm also doing an Independent Research Project, for a total of 19 credit hours. I'm repeating a couple of PE classes because I didn't like the grade I got before. The nice thing about VMI is that if you repeat a course, the grade you get the second time around replaces the grade you got the first time (unless you somehow manage to get a lower grade the second time 'round). Replacing the D I got in first semester rat statistics with a B did wonders for my cumulative GPA, as did replacing the D in Techniques of Computer Analysis (the bane of every IS major's existence!) with a B.
Anyway, I hope this answers your questions thoroughly enough.
-JMB