High School Class of 2011/College Class of 2015 - Page 2

madbean · 04-30-2008, 02:01 AM

Hi everyone. S2 is a 9th grader and I am barely getting over watching S1 make his way through the college gauntlet. I notice mamabear and cgarett's S's are gamers and just want to say--my oldest has always been determined to become a game designer and, sure enough, he found the perfect college program for that. He is sort of the intellectual, artsy type who loves learning, but he has spent many hours gaming. Who could have imagined his interests would take him so far?

Owlice, thanks for starting this thread. I just hope I have enough brain cells left to contribute...

mamabear1234 · 04-30-2008, 07:51 AM

madbean, I looked up where your S will be going, and may be looking for updates as to how things are going for him there. I am not sure my S would want to go so far from home, but a lot can change in 3 years!

cgarrett, I know what you mean. S reads compulsively (science fiction/fantasy of course) and grades are pretty good, so it is hard to complain too much. He's not very social (would rather do his homework than eat lunch in the cafeteria) and has one good friend, and he is fine with his life as it is. I am making him apply for a part-time job this summer, the local car wash hires 15 year olds to dry cars, so he can't try to play video games all summer!

owlice · 04-30-2008, 11:36 AM

MNmom2, I actually wrote out a plan for tests and pre-college stuff. It has, and will, change as S goes through HS, but if you want to see it, it's here: If you had it to do all over again....

And I have a huge worksheet, with multiple spreadsheets, for tracking things. There's another thread around here somewhere about it.

mamabear, my S is underachieving, too, if by that you mean grades could easily be higher with a little more work! Drives me crazy. If he'd just pass in the homework he does, and do the homework he doesn't do, he'd be SO much better off.

And madbean, my kid doesn't play a lot of video games at this point, not since discovering animutations and Flash, but used to.

catmom · 05-01-2008, 03:08 PM

Hi, I thought I'd join in this conversation. Our first daughter would be in the (gulp!) college class of '15. Kind of the bright well-rounded kid type. Loves math, and is interested in medicine, so we've begun having the "lets be economical about your undergrad degree so we have funds to help you with med school" conversations. Since my dh and I work at a college, she could go locally at a discount, but I'm getting the sense that she wants to try her wings somewhere new and different. (see conversation about funding post-grad desires, above).

Kelowna · 05-01-2008, 04:08 PM

wow owlice^^that master plan ! You ARE a planner!

I will stay away as mine is still in MS:-)

Pizzagirl · 05-01-2008, 06:17 PM

Hi, two freshmen here -- boy and a girl.

MNmom2 · 05-02-2008, 12:01 AM

Wow owlice, that is quite a list. Thank you so much!!

My D is not even close to thinking about what her major will be in college. (She still tells people she wants to play in the WNBA). She is a bright student that doesn't have to put in a lot of effort. That may change when she takes APUSH and APBio next year. We are still celebrating making varsity lacrosse this year!! I'm a little leary about worrying and planning for college so much that she will miss out on her high school experiences. Anyone else have an athlete that may have sports influence their college choices??

cgarrett101@aol. · 05-02-2008, 11:00 PM

mamabear- yes, science fiction reigns supreme in our house, as well!

madbean- I already have your S's school on my radar due to their game major!!! In fact, I was looking to see whether they had a summer camp....D2 considered it as well (her very best friend is there...), but decided on another. I think it is a wonderful school. Plus tons of kids from S's school go there....(we are in So Cal.)

owlice- you are scaring me!! I am not yet ready....

Calreader · 05-03-2008, 09:30 AM

I have a freshman son and senior daughter. I'm so glad my daughter's process is done and not feeling ready yet for the next round.

The freshman year has been a huge adjustment for my son, since he and his sister went to a private school through 8th grade that had no grades or tests, very little homework, and only half of the school day was spent on academic work. So it has taken up a lot of energy this year to learn to do homework, stay organized, and care enough but not too much about grades. I think kids need plenty of time to charge their batteries over the summer. But I think it would also be good for him to either get some work experience or help someone else through volunteer work. So I'm helping him ponder ideas for that. The car wash is a good tip!

Calreader · 05-03-2008, 09:37 AM

MNmom - my senior daughter had a sport that influenced her college choices. I thought it was mostly helpful for her process, since she came up with her list of schools based on where she could continue playing. She also wanted a small liberal arts college, good in sciences, preferably not in our home state. At that point the list almost felt too short sometimes. She ended up applying ED to her first choice school and got in, so it worked out fine.

owlice · 05-03-2008, 10:37 AM

lol! cgarrett, I get only one crack at guiding a kid through the college admissions process. My ex is not one to plan, at all, so .... it's up to me.

MNmom2, I've made changes to that master plan since posting it. It is, and will always be, a work in progress. Wish I could update that post o' mine to reflect changes!

Kelowna, you think THAT'S bad, you should have seen what I laid out in kindergarten!!

(Yeah, I'm kidding about that! Never occurred to me to start organizing school stuff until I started reading CC. Got me shakin' in my boots, CC did!)

Calreader, my S's big adjustment year came last year, for 8th grade. S had been in a special ed school, and his dad and I yanked him. He just wasn't getting an education there; we'd tried working with the school, but finally had had enough. S hated it there, too; I think going to CTY (nerd camp) over the summer opened him up to possibilities, and that helped us make the decision to mainstream him to the local middle school's honor track.

Not that this year hasn't been an adjustment! It has been. He's still learning how to do homework and manage time and struggles, mightily, with organization. (Yeah, I wonder where he gets that from?!) He's also in a much bigger school, and that has good aspects and not-so-good aspects about it.

For my continuing education, I've recently read, "Paying for College Without Going Broke" and am currently reading, "Forty Colleges that Change Lives." I got these from my local library. Both of these were recommended by others here; both are good. "Paying for College" gets updated every year, so I expect to be perusing each new edition as it comes out.

I found the thread about The Spreadsheet; it's here, for anyone who is interested. A measure of my impending insanity -- the pre-college spreadsheet

I wonder which institutions have the best rubber rooms? Hmm.... should research....

septembermom · 05-03-2008, 10:53 AM

Just when I thought I could sit back and veg for a few years with daughter, you organized folks start this thread! I think second child will be quite a different experience from 1st (son is freshman in college this year). I don't think we will even be able to get her to look at any school after we "dragged" her 2 years ago on our whirlwind tour of 20 schools in a week! Will be glad to have the company of you guys over the next 3 years!

owlice · 05-03-2008, 11:06 AM

septembermom, congrats to your college freshman son, and 20 schools in a week?!?!?!

WOW!!!! How on earth did you do it?!

septembermom · 05-03-2008, 11:15 AM

Owlice, We are still recovering from it!! No actually we had a lot of fun and as long as hotel we stayed at had pool and that make your own waffle station for the morning, daughter was really fine. We toured schools from DC down to SC and back up through the other side. Did 2 schools each day, 3 on some days. We did this during April vacation week. Daughter remembers many of the schools and even came away liking several. She noticed things the rest of us didn't, so even though ipod was plugged in ears, she kept her eyes opened during tours!

cgarrett101@aol. · 05-03-2008, 03:36 PM

20 schools in a week!!! Oh my!!! We did not even visit 20 schools at all!! But D2 had a plan already, and D1 wanted to stay close, so I guess that narrowed it a lot. Plus, with the odds this year, D2 refused to visit some until she had offers in hand...she's very practical, but there isn't much time if you do it that way....

owlice- I probably don't feel too much pressure to plan now because S's private school does it as well...it makes it much easier on the parents...of course, we ARE paying for it in the tuition!