Reflections and insight from first year at Furman

Georgiatwins · 05-08-2009, 06:06 PM

Our tired and weary family returned home Wednesday evening after a full day of packing, loading and then driving our S and D back home for summer break. Yeah- I cannot believe that DH and I made it through their first year away at school. Like many of the other parents have written in previous posts-the first time you drive away can be tough and the first several days and weeks were hard in our home----but we made it. Our kids are happy and much more confident and independent than I could have imagined.

Now for the Furman kuddos: both of our kids have thoroughly enjoyed the professors and the academic environment at Furman. While I will say some of the professors have been extremely tough and they have studied very long hours-their intellectual abilities and knowledge base is amazing. Their writing ( which we thought was excellent when they entered Furman) has improved tremendously-thanks to First Year seminars and course rigor + tons of rewrites and professors who make themselves available. Both S and D have formed excellent relationships with at least one professor each semester this year. D's advisor was delighted to write letter of recommendation for D who was applying for 1 of 9 internships at major art museum this summer. When D received internship, professor made special announcement to Art History Class. Son's religion professor invited him to lunch with a visiting professor since S had a special interest in topic of guest lecturer. Religion professor is talking with S about serving as his TA next year. I do not believe either of these opportunities would have taken place for our children as freshmen at a large state school.

As we were packing one year of accumulated "stuff" I was thinking of so many of the moms that have posted on this board. I chuckled to myself watching several mothers in Pulitzer skirts, sweater sets, pearls, and kitten-heel shoes walking back and forth to the car in rain and high humidity. Most of the parents were dressed like their own kids-in shorts, t-shirts and sandals or tennis shoes. So remember, your child will be fine in just about anything unless they are involved in Rush where there is a prescribed dress code of sorts. One final thing" unless you child is very organized with plentry of time at the end of the year in 2010, plan to get to Greenville a day or so in advance and prepare to help sort/ throw things away, pack and possibly store things which do not need to go home. DO NOT underestimate the amount of STUFF your S/D will accumulate in 9 short months and the containers best suited to transport them in. Don't forget someone will need to clean the entire room before the keys are turned in. Failure to do a good job will result in a 75.00 fine per person.

Good luck to everyone!!

momdoc · 05-08-2009, 10:41 PM

Thanks so much for sharing your reflections, Georgiatwins! My daughter can hardly contain her excitement, she is so excited to be going to Furman in the fall. It's great to hear that your kids had a wonderful first year and were able to establish personal relationships with some of the professors. It sounds like many of the faculty really make an effort to help students get the most of their years there. I'm sure it will be tough to leave D there when orientation ends, but I'm excited for her and all the opportunities she'll have.

Speaking of orientation, are there scheduled activities for parents? How many days do we need to be there? They haven't sent out any info yet, and we need to start looking at plane tickets.

Thanks again, and enjoy your summer with your kids! Congrats to your daughter on her internship.

George2007 · 05-09-2009, 09:58 PM

momdoc, I think you want to plan on 2 days. First day is move-in, Second day there are a couple of activities. If you stay longer than that you will overstay your welcome. Trust me, EVERYBODY wants you gone. Time to let the lttle chickadees out on ther own.

julieweb · 05-12-2009, 04:22 PM

Georgiatwins, did your kids meet any freshmen from the Northeast? My D (a jr) and I looked at Furman in April and she loved it, but the school is virtually unknown here in the Northeast. D is easygoing when it comes to making new friends, though I think she'd take comfort in knowing there are some other Yankees at Furman.

Georgiatwins · 05-13-2009, 12:03 AM

Julieweb-Both kids did meet students from the Northeast this year. There were two cars from New York packing in front of Poteat Dorm ( Freshman Dorm for Engaged Living this Past year) when we were leaving last week. Our two also got to know students from the midwest and California. While the majority of students are from the South, Furman's reach is expanding each year. Many of the graduates go on to graduate school, law school, medical school, etc at prominent schools in the Northeast including the ivies.

momdoc · 05-13-2009, 12:21 PM

Thanks, George2007. That's pretty much what I figured. I just wondered whether there were events for parents to attend, or whether we were just supposed to be there to haul stuff and cry.

momdoc · 05-13-2009, 12:31 PM

julieweb--My D will be a freshman in the fall, and from the looks of the students on the accepted students website, a good number come from the northeast--PA, DC, MD, NJ, NY. We're from CA and were worried about the name recognition issue, too, but I think that the school's national image is growing each year. As Georgiatwins said, Furman students get accepted to great graduate schools all over the country.

julieweb · 05-13-2009, 03:49 PM

Thanks all, that's good to know about Furman's geographic diversity. Fingers crossed D gets in if that's where she wants to go ultimately.

lovemydogs · 05-30-2009, 09:08 AM

My D is an entering freshman. How does registration work? Will she have an opportunity to meet with her advisor prior to selecting classes? How difficult is it to get the classes she chooses? Any information about the process is appreciated!

George2007 · 05-30-2009, 05:20 PM

lovemydogs, well, 7 years ago I was in your shoes (2 D's). It's natural but you are getting way ahead of yourself. Advising and one on one attention is one of the great things about this school. My first year, (I dont remember if it was the first or second day),you will get to meet the advisor with your D and all the other students for that advisor. There will only be 6-8 students assigned to one advisor. During this one hour meeting, the advisor will explain everything and you will be able to ask questions.

After you leave they will hand out assignments to each student and they will complete. the assignment has to do with selecting courses. A few days later they will meet again and the advisor will help them.

momdoc · 05-30-2009, 11:08 PM

Lovemydogs, my D is an entering freshman also. The course registration is done online and is now accessible at the "newatfu" website. Course selections must be submitted by June 15; schedules come out in August; students meet with advisors at orientation to make any changes/tweaks. The instructions are pretty thorough on the website. It was supposed to be up June 1, but they made it public last night, several days early.

Have fun!

Georgiatwins · 06-01-2009, 12:18 AM

Momdoc and Lovemydogs, George2007 is right on the money-the advisors at Furman are terrific-your child will hopefully build a good relationship with his/her advisor that should serve them well during all four years. When schedules come out, they often show only 3 classes-don't panic, since their is time once students arrive on campus to add an appropriate class.

Also, be sure your S/D takes the appropriate placement exams by the deadline for math and foreign language NOW-one of our kids did not follow these important instructions-oh the consequences!! One more piece of advice to families whose students have merit scholarships they may must have in order to attend Furman: think strategically about first year course load. The seminar courses ( especially writing ) are very rigorous and most foreign language courses are known by students as "GPA killers" - at least that's what our S and D tell us. As I have said in other posts, Furman is a wonderful school but I believe many students often underestimate it's academic rigor-only to find themselves midway through the second semester worried about keeping their scholarships.

The first year away from home challenges your son/daughter's abilities in areas neither of you may have even contemplated. I think anything parents can do to give a child some perspective (and a little less stress) makes the transition to a new level of independence that much easier.

momdoc · 06-01-2009, 12:26 AM

Thanks for the advice, Georgiatwins. Any insight on intro bio and chem classes? D is going pre-med/psychology, so first semester will be Freshman Seminar, Bio, Chem and Calculus. I'm a bit worried at how science-heavy it is for a first semester away from home, but there doesn't appear to be any alternative if you're pre-med with no science AP credits.

Did your kids get FYS's they were interested in?

SouCar Mom · 06-01-2009, 09:03 AM

They will have a chance to rule out specific FYS, and also tag some they like, through the registration process online, but these are limited. I know that second semester, my D changed hers through her advisor. Just have D talk to her advisor at her individual meeting if she doesn't like her FYS. Keep in mind that the schedule you are given is just a starting point. You will be able to see if other sections have openings from the course listings online, but not for FYSs. The advisor you are given is just a starting point also. As soon as your D declares a major, she'll be assigned a different advisor that will remain until she graduates. My D did this first semester since her advisor was new to Furman and didn't know the system (plus my D knew what she wanted to major in). No matter what major, though, there are a LOT of general requirements that need to be taken, so don't overload on highly academic courses first semester. It takes almost the entire two years just to get through the GERs. My D did take one additional class in her major freshman year, and an additional foreign language class, but the rest were just GERs. Just keep in mind that you can't change your schedule until you meet with your advisor. Although you want everything to be worked out over the summer, it really works out OK waiting until orientation. There is plenty of time to work on the schedule and get books before classes begin.

lovemydogs · 06-01-2009, 06:37 PM

Thank you so much for all of the terrific advice. I've read and re-read the wonderful information (George 2007 and GeorgiaTwins) you have provided and your advice is reasonable and well thought out. My D will be a student/athlete and her sports season is Fall. While she is accustomed to balancing rigorous academics and athletics, college life will nonetheless be a tremendous adjustment. I'm happy to know we have a couple of weeks to study the schedule and classes - and an opportunity to make changes during orientation. I think it will be important that she has a solid but not overly rigorous schedule in the fall. I welcome any of your thoughts!