College Class 08 -Ready to Launch??

[crabbylady]

Just wondering how everyones else's college seniors are doing??
My daughter is overwhelmed right now. Her thesis work is peaking - she is looking at FINAL - final exams - And it seems every department has paperwork required for graduation. Oh yes - must order cap and gown and lunch tickets for her sister

She has yet to make any decision about what she wants to do after graduation - and my asking makes her NUTS. She is just trying to get through NOW.

She is fortunate to be graduating from undergrad without debt - but knows graduate school is on her dime. She continues to angst over benefits of internships/work experience vs more school now. She's really tired.
She is looking at separating from 4 years of academic and social support -
She knows after 30 days of not being a full time student - she no longer is covered under our health insurance policy - something else we have to shop for.
Packing and shipping 4 years of books should be fun - more hidden costs of college.
I know we are going to get slammed with a last minute high airfare when she finally DECIDES where in the world she wants to be. We do think she'll come home for a while after graduation - she can't tell us when.

How is everyone else holding up?

[sac]

S is not ready for college to end and is already deep in mourning, though it's not over and he's gotten into some PhD programs with funding. I just wish he'd show a little more joy over the great opportunities he's earned for himself. After ignoring advice that he might want to take a year or two off from school and work, he's acting as if he's been sentenced to five years hard labor staying in school. Well, maybe he has. But we won't be paying for it. Whooopeeee.

[anxiousmom]

DD was angsting, until a job offer (turned it down) and a post-grad travel scholarship offer (accepted) happened. She has explored her way through college in terms of majors and interests, and finds herself at graduation, embarking on still another new interest - which I think is GREAT!!! She has good writing skills, speaks/writes Spanish fluently, has basic Farsi, (which she will be continuing this summer overseas), and will be traveling to still another country in the fall to study at a university there. It looks like grad school in the states will follow after that

But we won't be paying for it. Whooopeeee.

WORD!
Still, I know these are stressful times for our kids, as they bid farewell to the closeness of their friends and these last 4-years of growth - and head out to the real world (where everyone is not young, energetic, bright, and ready to change the world!).

[mythreedd]

It is so funny this is question tonight. Daughter goes to school about an hour from home and just popped in. She is "not ready for tomorrow," (first day of her last quarter in college). She has absolutely loved her college experience. She says she would choose it 100 times over again. Although academics have been great, the school essentially perfect in every way, the thing that is hardest for her will be saying good-bye to friends. She attends a school where kids from all over the country attend, and is not looking forward to saying good bye.

Add to that all that she does not know what she wants to do post graduation, and there is a bit of angst. We're just trying to be patient and let her figure it out. She will, she always does. But she is so sad. What a bitter-sweet time and boy do those four years fly by fast!!

[originaloog]

Our son is wrapping up to but seems to be holding up well. His sr thesis is coming along slooooowly because of a change required after he had gone thru the university approval process for his observation/questioneer methodology on volunteer human subjects(he is a compsci/cogsci major and the thesis is associated with the cogsci major). Fortunately his final exam load is relatively light since all but one course is project based and they are coming along quite well.

However all his graduation paperwork is in and graduation regalia on order.

He is still waiting on grad school decisions which puts him in limbo as to where he will be going following graduation. Fortunately he will be able to sublease his apartment during the summer if necessary.

[dbwes]

This thread really offers a new angle to those of us just about to launch our high school seniors. Sounds like four years from now will be stressful, too -- oh, yay!

[bookworm]

Hard to believe our kids are graduating soon! Mine definitely did not want more school for at least 2 years, so he has job lined up. He learned enough thru internships to know he didn't want a job in his major, especially at the entry level work description. I don't know what his future holds--business school or grad school or whatever.

There will be a 2 month gap between college health insurance and job-provided insurance. Thanks, Crabbylady, for pointing out something to think about.

Anyway, S seems far more relaxed now than last fall, when he was flying all over the country for interviews. I had no part in any of that, so just worried from the outside. I did get call to help with airline schedules; flights cancelled from Palo Alto and 6 hour delays in Boston and San Diego schedules. It was so minimal.

[dadofsam]

Our DS's situation is generally similar to Bookworm's except that he has a job in his major. At the moment he's occupied with looking for an appropriate place to live (far from home, natch, but otherwise a great location) and finishing up his college life. Traveled twice for interviews, most did not produce job offers ( a surprise) but one high-level one did materialize, in a place he's been trying to into for about 2 years. We all hope the job and the place will meet up with his expectations and its reputation and after a couple of years he likely will be heading for grad school in some subject.

[NotReady4Purple]

Son is deciding on which grad school to go to for a PhD. He is accepted at all the big ones for his field with his final selection between Harvard, Stanford, Cornell and MIT.

He just received two prestigious national fellowships (NSF, NDSEG)- so he is not dependent on the schools for support. He had some generous offers there too - but this allows him to choose a research team - rather than vice versa.

With decisions due by the 15th, this will all be completed soon. It's been fun to sit back and watch this process. Either way, I'll have somewhere new to visit.

Ditto on the Whooopeeee, sac!

[bookworm]

Purple--
Congrats to your S! I'm enjoying reading this thread and a similar one abut where our soon-to-be-grads are headed.

Any gift ideas? Do any of you want your young adult to travel before grad school/job begins? Obviously, Anxiousmom's D has the travel instinct.

[NotReady4Purple]

Yes on travel, bookworm.

Our graduation present is a travel subsidy for a summer trip to Europe. My husband took a long European trip (hostels and EurRail) before grad school and I've always thought it a wonderful idea.