Parents of the HS Class of 2011 - We're awesome!

[seattle_mom]

mathmomvt - Perhaps something on a train line so he could come home for weekends if he needs to? D's second choice was a school 45 minutes away, which she felt was too close (oops) and is now considering for her final two years. She might have lasted longer at that school - but she may have come home frequently and probably not integrated well, so perhaps this outcome was better for her.

Many of your answers sound encouraging. As Pepper says, you know your kid the best.

I also have an S'14 interested in engineering (game programming to be specific). He is quite different from his sister.

[lacrossemom]

So happy. DS just came home for the holidays. I can't wait to catch up during the week. Safe travels to everyone's sophomores as they return from college.

[mathmomvt]

My S'11 is interested in game programming. He's in CS at Cornell and on the wait list for the game design class for next semester. If your S'14 is interested in east coast schools, I can tell you where we looked and what we thought

[ldinct]

Pepper, "the texts of doom" I love it. I have received so many this semester. S is not coming home for Thanksgiving. He has spent a lot of "quality time" with us this semester however. I was stuck at the hotel on campus for a week during superstorm Sandy.
So no one home for thanksgiving & D is leaving Christmas Eve to fly to the UK with BF to see his mom. I'm feeling very melancholy about the holidays this year. No one really needs anything & they buy what they want. So no shopping this year. I guess we are in that period before the grandchildren put all the excitement back in the holidays.
Safe travels for everyone coming home next week.

[bajamm]

It has been awhile since I have posted here. My D is having fun in Costa Rica for her fall semester and is really honing her Spanish fluency. She says she is not 100% fluent but is a lot closer than she was in August.

D is a pre-med student. I have discussed the competitiveness of med school with her and tried to pound into her head that it would be wise to have a back up plan for just in case. She spent most of last year saying that she was a biochemistry major. I did not mind that, though I did think that went against her grain of not wanting to work in a lab if she didn't make it to med school.

She emailed me recently that she is going to change to a public health major. And, if med school does not work out then she will go to grad school for public health. She wants to do Peace Corps (or something similiar) between undergrad and medical school and knows that a public health degree could be helpful with that.

It seems that our kids plans are starting to come into focus.

D will be in Nicauragua over Thanksgiving, then back to Costa Rica for a couple of weeks before heading to Columbia to see a friend for a week before coming back stateside for winter break on Dec. 15. DH has to work on Thansgiving, so it will be only S'16 and me for the holiday.

[seattle_mom]

Aw it must be hard to adjust to quiet holidays after so many busy years.

Funny you should ask about S'14 and the east coast. I don't think he's particularly driven to go that far, but he is going on the East Coast college tour his school offers in April. I'm a bit torn because I think the chosen schools are a waste of time for him, but we did promise. He just wants to have fun with his friends and girlfriend, and that is fine, but I worry that he'll overdose on visits and not want to see the schools that could work for him. I'm also concerned that some of the kids who are being pushed at home will psych him out...

I will probably take him to see some schools on February break. I was going to bring him to Boston in January for my mom's 70th, buy it's the same day as a big formal dance at his school.

I didn't realize Cornell had any game design offerings. I doubt it is within his reach. And I've seen the advantages of having D closer to home.

Wow I think I am monologuing on the wrong thread! Happy Saturday night everyone.

[mathmomvt]

My S'11 wanted a game design minor or concentration as part of a regular CS degree, versus a game design program (more flexibility if the game design thing doesn't work out). Cornell offers a minor, though I think my son has actually decided not to pursue it and just take some of the relevant classes independently (because the minor requires a bunch of upper division classes with prerequisites, which makes it quite a pain to complete).

USC supposedly has good game design options. Still not exactly "close" to Seattle, but at least on the right side of the continent ;-)

[seattle_mom]

He's definitely going for the BSCS. He may just need to do that and then get the game part in projects or intern experience. He met with the USC rep at school and was very interested. Looks like a good program. I know that Champlain college has a program out your way....

[mathmomvt]

He didn't consider Champlain, and I don't recall why -- maybe cost. The schools he applied to were Cornell, RPI, WPI, RIT, Drexel, Northeastern, CMU, MIT. Rejected by MIT, waitlisted by CMU so he withdrew his application there as he had plenty of other choices. We ruled out WPI on cost and Northeastern when we learned the details of their game design option were not really what he was looking for. (PM me if you want more details.)

[shawbridge]

bajamm, there are also career paths as physician's assistant or nurse practitioner for someone who wanted to go into medicine for the patient contact. Shorter training. Less pay. Not on call. PA's always work under supervision, so possibly less autonomy, and typically in a doctor's office. NP seems broader (can work in hospital, doctor's office, run clinic, etc., and can rise in hospital management) but otherwise seems very similar. PA seems to have a higher % of males and slightly higher compensation as far as I can tell. Those might be alternatives for your D to a job in public health if patient contact is her interest.

[madbean]

seattle_mom, I've been away but was drawn back by your quest for schools for your S'14. You may recall both of my sons attend(ed) USC in game design. S1 & S2 are in the School of Cinematic Arts, so their emphasis is more on creative/designing games but they work very closely with the CS (games) majors and we are really familiar with that program as well--which is a full CS curriculum plus an integrated minor in game design. It's fairly brutal (what comp sci degree is not?) but extremely good at getting graduates into excellent jobs--there were about 2 dozen from the program that had internships at Microsoft last summer, just as an example. If you have specific questions, pm me.

My older son graduated USC this May and he had multiple job offers before graduation, so it's a field with many openings. It was a blessing!! Btw, S1 was also admitted to CMU and UCSC (game emphasis in Comp Sci). At the time 5 years ago MIT only had graduate program in game design but this may have changed.

Best of luck.

[mathmomvt]

MIT doesn't offer an undergrad "program" in game design, but lots of innovative work being done in the Media Lab, and there appear to be plenty of opportunities for interested undergrads to get involved via their undergrad research opportunities program, etc.

[bajamm]

Shawbridge, thanks for the suggestions of NP and PA! I doubt she has considered either, and I will suggest them.

I have a niece who is a BSN nurse and her original intention was to become an NP, now she is applying to med school instead. It is my understanding from my niece that an NP needs a BSN first, which my d won't have. Nonetheless, we can investigate and put it on the radar! thanks!

[shawbridge]

bajamm, I think you are correct, but there are accelerated programs (18 months to 2 years) for people with a BA or BS in science to get a BSN and then the NP is two years (I think, but there may be accelerated versions as well). PA education is 3 years (after undergrad), I think. It seems as if NPs with a non-accelerated course end up having a significantly more hands-on-training, because they get clinical work plus course work for at 3 years of undergrad plus two years of grad school.

I am a bystander to this, but my daughter transferred from a biology undergrad program after her first semester to a five year BSN program with guaranteed admission to the NP masters if she maintains a B+ in her nursing courses. But, when I talked with folks in senior positions in academic medicine and hospital execs, they thought the NP was the sweet spot in the health care system for the next period. I didn't actually ask whether they had the same opinion of the PA position, but I would guess the answer is yes.

[sunnydayfun]

S1 was in our area for a tournament this weekend and spent last night at home with us. His first time home since the beginning of school in August. He was so exhausted after 10 hours of competitions and slept 14 hours . It was nice to have him home and he will be back for Thanksgiving. Today he drove himself back to school because he wants to have a car there. I am glad in a way that H and I don’t need to make that 3-4 hours drive anymore but somehow I feel sad to see him driving away… to independence … to adulthood.