<h1>TM, I hope things work out for #theoryson what a difficult professor! Thank you for sending me the storage info - I think DS will be using that company. He is madly trying to get things packed, do two finals, finish programming, and complete the remaining required 30 minutes of community service before coming home on Wednesday. I can’t believe he’ll be home in 48 hours! And his room is just the way he left it ;-)</h1>
<p>NM - With the additional required hours for a CPA, it takes 5 years to complete. Some colleges will combine it with a masters.</p>
<p>RE: summer storage. D told me that she got an email from a university-recommended storage facility in town.<br>
Maybe some kids are getting the same sort of thing and are taking advantage of it??</p>
<h1>tm - Good luck with the end of year result. S had a similar situation 1st year. One mid-term, one final and that was that. Not much room for error.</h1>
<p>I totally agree with the “young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love” - or something like that - when the temperature starts to rise…</p>
<p>That’s so unlike the real world. Real programmers don’t just get one shot at it! Doesn’t seem like such a harsh approach teaches a real life lesson.</p>
<p>Very strange that the student has to hand in a program without debugging it. On the other hand, if he was allowed to debug it but didn’t find all the bugs… well, there was a deadline.</p>
<p>He has had a hard time with this same course and professor for 2 terms. The final was kind of make it or break it. Modadunn, you are right, he had not done well throughout the semester with this course. He was on the edge. That is why he needed to pass the final and why he tried (without luck) to fix it. The only good thing is he has discovered programming is not for him (could be the whole <em>language</em> thing) and he needs to concentrate on what has always been his passion (math) But still, he is a good head when it comes to other programming languages. The language they use in this course is not mainstream (well I guess it is there), and part of his problem is a distaste for that language. Somehow it doesn’t gel for him. Personally, I think if he could get past this, there are other CS subjects he would be excellent at (like the A he got in discrete math - which was CS course)
Anyway, I just hope he figures out what he needs to do to stay there. He LOVES it. And that should be the biggest motivating factor for him to get his act together. I do sense some recent maturation (he was pretty young to head off to college and <em>young</em> for his age as well) Time (as always) will tell. Fingers crossed for his physics final.
Editing back in to answer CF - I am not sure about that - could be he had the chance and the deadline - probably did. But he realized the mistake right away. sigh It is what it is. He has to learn. Hate him to lose what he loves in the process. Hopefully he won’t.</p>
<p>D had her last classes today too; so hard to believe. Where did the semester – the year – go!!</p>
<p>She and some buddies started studying this past Sunday night, and are planning to study every night, for their Linear Algebra & Diff Equations test – next Tuesday! I quit math after my sophomore year in HS … I don’t have the foggiest what she’s talking about. But she absolutely loves it because, as she told me, you can’t just memorize this stuff; you have to figure it out.</p>
<p>This reminds me of a student who once asked, “Do we have to understand this stuff, or can we just know it?” Um…</p>
<p>Talked to S last night. (His weekly Sunday night calls have somehow morphed into Monday night calls – I guess Monday is the new Sunday?) He’s been studying like crazy for his 2 finals today. His 3rd course had a project due by today. Since H & I have to be at his school for a dinner Thursday night, he’s staying until then and then coming home. He’s living in his fraternity house next year, so plans to move stuff there. They apparently can decorate their rooms however they want, loft beds, etc. He wants to get a head start on said “decorating.”</p>
<p>firefly – required community service? This isn’t WPI mandated for all students, right? (If it is, I’m clearly w-a-y out of the loop!)</p>
<p>TM - Will say a little prayer for some kind of mercy for TMSon. There appears to be mercy to go round. McSon somehow snatched his one problem class from the jaws of defeat, and due to some inexplicable partial curve and extra credit (he did pull out the stops and wrote extra essays, etc. to make up for his prior slacking), and, I suspect, mercy, he ended up with a B+ in it (after being at D+ 3.5 weeks ago.) We’re all in collective an happy shock, because it both made his final GPA a lot nicer, enabled him to keep the scholarship, and most importantly, gave a live demo of how EDM could indeed be rewarded by those in power.</p>
<p>BTW, at McSon’s school, his program requires a single course of C++ programming for graduation. Since same is only avail at the College of Engineering and is a real time eater for music school/fine arts majors, his advisor suggested he take the programming course at community college over the summer and transfer it in.</p>
<p>So I am thinking IF there is no mercy (although you might be pleasantly surprised), perhaps you could do the same. It won’t help the GPA but it would give the credit if required for the distribution. And I don’t think a second NR has the weight of the first if it’s in the same course, right? Eg. can’t double weight its value. So you may be just fine, and that is the outcome I will hold for you.</p>
<p>Zete, my DS said something similar. He says psychology is an easy A because all you do is read the book and answer the questions. But Physics and Calc III require him to “learn formulas and use them,” which he finds challenging, buy satisfying. He commented over spring break that it is a whole different level of learning for him. He likes it all except the high-stakes tests.</p>
<p>(I too have no idea what he is talking about in these courses having last taken a math class when a slide-rule was required.)</p>
<h1>tm - I am so sorry to hear about your S’s problems in that CS class. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. I agree with you that it is very good that at least he is talking with you about it. The first step to solving the problem is to acknowledge that there is a problem.</h1>
<p>Regarding Academic Probation - IIRC he has 3 NRs already. In order to stay in Good academic standing he must pass 8 courses in A-D, so he should have “room” for one more NR.</p>
<p>I’m on the edge of my seat about my son, too. He’s been ‘surviving’ academically, but not ‘thriving’. Two factors are in play: lack of maturity and some LDs. The lack of maturity causes him to be lax about doing homework and attending classes, and the LDs make it very hard to catch up. He assures me everything is “fine” (and I think he genuinely believes it), but I have learned from experience to wait until I see the grades.</p>
<p>Regrading kmccrindle’s suggestion about taking the course elsewhere and transferring the credit: I sincerely doubt they would let him transfer the credit in. We’ve talked to them about about transferring credit, and they pretty much only do it for humanities-type courses.</p>
<p>fireflyscout - Community service??? This is the first I’ve heard of this, should I be worried?</p>
<p>S1 is confirmed that he will fly directly to Australia, leaving on the 23rd. That takes away the complication of finding housing and takes all the pressure off of finances since housing, food, and transportation are covered on an expense account on top of salary while on the road. I like the fact that he is starting off in an English speaking country so any potential weaknesses in his language skills won’t matter for this client. </p>
<p>He was home on Sunday night to go to traffic court Monday morning for that illegal left turn. He brought a suit, tie, and starched white shirt to wear. H looked him over and added an expensive pen in the pocket as an accessory and discussed whether or not he should wear a class ring, which he did not have on. They also discussed the merits of buttoning or leaving undone the little extra button just above the cuff. (Example of the lengths to which dress code is discussed around here.) Anyway, he looked great. He pled guilty and was able to get the whole thing dismissed (no fine; no traffic court), so that was good news.</p>
<h1>tm, I hope you can find out the final grade distribution for that CS class. Way back in time, I passed a CS class (2nd majors-only programming class) in which over half the kids dropped, and of the remaining half, half of the grades were Ds and Fs. I think if your son’s class is as harsh as that, it’s OK to shift majors, take as much CS as is desirable, and still wind up in a CS-like job anyway. Most of the people in those jobs didn’t survive that level of hazing, having gone to easier schools.</h1>
I think my S is in the same class. It is “Object Oriented Programming”. The language is Java, but the prof stresses the point that the class is not about learning Java, per se, but is about learning OO principles.</p>
<p>Good morning! I am looking for dinner suggestions! I am bringing dinner to a friend who is battling colon cancer. Any suggestions for a healthy meal that might tempt her lagging appetite and that her H would also enjoy??? I asked this over on the wellness thread in the cafe so I hope to get some ideas.</p>
<p>Good Luck to all those kids facing finals! Special thoughts and prayers to those on the edge!</p>
<p>My neighborhood does dinners regularly for people who are sick or just had a baby. Best meal that was brought to me was steamed brocolli, rice and chicken strips. The chicken is lightly coated in flour and browned in olive oil, add a diced up onion. Once the onion is soft add 1 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of a dry white wine. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (depends on the size of your chicken strips) sprinkle with a bit of parsley and you are good to go. They plated the meal for us but you could just in a serving dish put in the rice and top with the chicken mixture – there will be a bit of sauce and then on the side add the brocolli. It’s light, tasty and easy on the stomach.</p>
<p>When we took dinner to a friend with colon cancer, he couldn’t have any vegetables like spinach, cabbage, broccoli, etc… Otherwise, he was pretty much allowed anything – but I can’t for the life of me remember what I took …</p>
<p>Thanks for good wishes for my travels to everyone – I honestly feel privileged to be part of this community. I’m not sure if you all realise the power of this support thread – the courtesy, warmth and kindness is so consistent, but combined with some frank honest opinions tactfully offered – I actually think it could be published – the regulars could be interviewed on Oprah haha! I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that the people here have helped me through the most difficult part of my life to date – I think back to how shy and nervous I was to post here last year… in my devastated bereft empty nest state, the warm welcome, and the fun and learning experience I have enjoyed since then. I am hamstrung with regular postings because my internet is up and down due to our constant power interruptions, but once in the US I can hopefully remedy that. I will have regular access definitely from 13th May onwards….my thoughts are with all your special S’s and D’s as they head for home and finish up that first year!</p>