<p>Thanks for the clarification MSMDAD. The buses drive me nuts, so I think I will examine the map link (thanks Smoda61), and start from there.</p>
<p>I will add that Hotel Tria is a bit of a walk to the Red Line station at Alewife too. Keep in mind that many hotels offer shuttles to the school and back.</p>
<p>Re post 1700:</p>
<p>I am of no help whatsoever! I don’t take the bus. I either walk or take the T or am driven. And of course, I don’t stay at hotels in the Boston area. In fact, right now, I feel like I’m running a hotel, as six relatives have descended on us. It’s been a great pleasure to see them, I’m not complaining!</p>
<p>I would recommend Le Meridian Cambridge (formerly the MIT Hotel). Its about a mile from Harvard and about a $10 cab ride, if necessary. They have a special where you pay the regular room rate for the first night (expensive about $250, plus taxes), but then you pay your “birth year” for the next one or two nights. So if you were born in 1951, you pay $51 each for the second and third nights. If you do three nights, the price is very reasonable. I just checked an they appear to have rooms available for Parent’s Weekend at that rate.</p>
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<p>That is absolutely bizarre! :)</p>
<p>I also recommend the Hyatt Regency Cambridge if you’re willing to take a short cab ride. You can generally get it for a great rate using Hotwire. PM me if you want to know how to find it on Hotwire.</p>
<p>gadad - It really helps when you are approaching “geezerhood”.</p>
<p>I would have recommended the Hyatt Regency, but they are likely to be subject to strikes.
Not long ago, all the Hyatt hotels in the Boston area instructed their cleaning staff to train new staff who would be taking their place while they were on vacation. Then as soon as the training was done, the cleaning staff–who earned something like $15 an hour plus benefits–were all laid off and the people they had trained were brought in to replace them at $8 and hour and no benefit. Although the Hyatt staff is not unionized, the hotel workers union seems to be planning some kind of action.</p>
<p>My freshman is having an amazing experience both socially and academically, but seems to be totally self absorbed. Has anyone had this experience? And I wonder how often you call or email each other?</p>
<p>^ Communication has not ended up an issue. We have some contact every day with sometimes more or less contact. The solution that has worked out best for me and my daughter is that we set up a private IMing address that only she and I use. (she had previously found that if she logged into aim, she was deluged with chat from friends and found it too distracting so she quit aim completely.) My computer is on close to 24 hours/day. Hers at least 20. We can each leave messages on each others computer screen and can respond on our own time. Yes, e-mail could work but she was complaining that I was filling her “mailbox” with single sentence questions. Yes, I could text but I don’t have a texting plan on my phone. In our house, only her and her brother’s phones have texting plans. If the AIM idea is not right for you, I would suggest a texting plan. That seems to be the preferred method of communication among young adults. Sometimes communication is better when we use a method that is comfortable for them.</p>
<p>Hmmm… If the Hyatt is on strike at graduation time … I may be ringing your bell, Marite.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot Smoda61 for the great advice!</p>
<p>13Mom—no news is good news! Take your news when you can—i call it "fly-by phone calls----you may hear more from him or her as the year progresses. Sometimes I hear from my d on a daily basis–sometimes rarely. Sometimes, late at night…hmmmmm. Don’t despair—it will all even out. Speak of the Devil! she’s calling me right now!</p>
<p>anyone has any suggestions, what to do if s or d needs counselling?</p>
<p>I assume by counseling, you are meaning psychological. I spoke with my daughter about this topic before she headed off to college, since the environment and stresses of college provide many triggers. I informed her that she needed to monitor herself and get help at the earliest stages should she need it. I pointed out that Harvard, should have fantastic staff. Fortunately, things are going well. I looked up the link to the HHS counseling services. Has info, phone and even mentions a “drop in service”. It looks very good.
[Harvard</a> University Health Services | Our Services | Counseling + Mental Health Support](<a href=“http://huhs.harvard.edu/OurServices/CounselingMentalHealthSupport.aspx]Harvard”>http://huhs.harvard.edu/OurServices/CounselingMentalHealthSupport.aspx)
Good luck!
PS How did the roommate situation work out?</p>
<p>smoda61</p>
<p>Thank you for the information, she seems to be suffering from depression.<br>
roommate got her single, her mother helped her set up before the rest of the girls arrived.
but they had a discussion and agreed that they will change over after winter break 3 against 1 so roommate with boyfriend was not too happy but agreed anyway.</p>
<p>Mitzy - sorry for your troubles. So often, you hear about stressful freshman years. The following is a sub link from the link above: [Harvard</a> University Health Services | Our Services | Counseling + Mental Health Support | Mental Health Services](<a href=“http://huhs.harvard.edu/OurServices/CounselingMentalHealthSupport/MentalHealthServices.aspx]Harvard”>http://huhs.harvard.edu/OurServices/CounselingMentalHealthSupport/MentalHealthServices.aspx)
If Health Services provides the support they claim in this link, your daughter is in a great place. When my daughter was 12, she needed some support and needed it quickly. I called from place to place and got the same answer. Unless she was suicidal she could not be helped for months but, if she was suicidal, they could not help and she was to be taken to the emergency room. It was pretty upsetting that there were no other options. Fortunately, we found one office who saw her within days and quickly she was feeling herself again and it never became a bigger issue. From this, she fortunately learned a lot about herself and deals much better with stress. Harvard, in the link above, refers to an initial phone consult it 24 - 48 hours as well as 24 hour urgent care. I would have loved to have had access to support like that. As long as your daughter is receptive to the support, she should do well.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Mitzy: there are also other resources. She could check with the Dorm Proctor, or her advisor. You can even sneak a call to the Dorm Proctor, if you are worried. There are lots of resources—sometimes one or two conversations with the counselor is enough. I don’t know if your d or s is an athlete, but there are also sports counselors available. Key is—don’t let it go on too long. Learning how to cope with all the change is part of the experience, and best to be proactive before the real press of academics, later in the semester, heat up!</p>
<p>mitzy, so sorry to hear about your childs situation. I agree with the other posts, talk to someone now. If it was my son, I would contact their proctor and let them know what your child is going through. They are advised on how to deal with these situations. I will pray for you and your child. Hang in there!</p>
<p>Mitzy</p>
<p>thank you all for your help and concern, i will call the proctor 1st.</p>