<p>My son’s adviser is doing a fine job but I don’t think there really is much to do now since the curriculum is pretty defined freshman year.</p>
<p>OWM - I missed the boat on congratulating you on your son’s big news - Congratulations!! :p</p>
<p>MM - hugs and more hugs…you certainly have been through a lot lately…</p>
<p>EOA - When you finish painting your house, can you come over to mine? I have several rooms that need a refresh :)</p>
<p>OWM - Congrats on your son getting the call! Way to go!</p>
<p>Aris - I am happy that your S’s procedure went well and that it wasn’t crazy painful.</p>
<p>I love the advent calendar idea as well as some comfy PJs…and BI, my visual of the toothbrush on the dorm bathroom floor is haunting me! Yuck!</p>
<p>My D didn’t run naked but did run through the city with 1500 other kids in her underwear for the annual underwear run. I am happy to say that D has signed up for next semester’s courses at her current school, she has officially changed her major, loves her roommate and seems to be more settled and back to her happy self. I do hear some stress setting in as she is gearing up for her final (and I mean FINAL) architecture projects. She was sick this past week with sore throat, cold, and with what she calls chronic exhaustion but all in all she is doing well (big sigh of relief)…as far as grades go, she seems to be doing fine…she has given up the quest for all As and is happy with As and Bs this year. Did I mention that she actually said she liked the city now?!</p>
<p>We never used to go to them. But these days my DS wants to prowl the Nike store, my DD goes for the fashion with her mom. My duty this time round will be getting a replacement printer for DS (broke it in summer, just got around to telling me), and a small tv for DD’s Dorm. At least its family time. Wonder if the McDonalds there will still be selling the McRib ;)</p>
<p>By random chance (he thinks), my DS got assigned an advisor in his area of interest, even though he won’t declare a major until the end of sophomore year. So that has worked out really well for him. </p>
<p>For those who don’t think their advisor knows their area of interest well enough to advise well, maybe ask a current prof in that area if they are taking a relevant course. Or find upperclassman students in that area. Or even ask the advising office if there is someone else they can talk to in X area before declaring a major, just to make sure they’ll be on the right track should they eventually choose to declare that major.</p>
<p>**5 days (or less) to Thanksgiving break **</p>
<p>
Some kids may be home as early as this weekend! </p>
<p>(Based on kids touching down at home on the Wednesday before TG. Some kids may get the full week and will land at home sooner.)</p>
<p>Sorry for the delayed posting. Had a couple of appointments with AvonMom this morning.</p>
<p>Our only grade concern was when DS called about possibly dropping Spanish. We went through the options and he agreed to get a tutor which he has done. His big concern was that if he got a C or lower (god forbid) it would mess up his GPA for a couple of years. He knows he will never see a 4.0 in college but wants to stay at a 3.2/3.3 at minimum and preferably a 3.5 or better for his 4 years. Even though the tutor seems to be helping, we are not hearing much about it. The focus of his phone calls seems to be centered on the Ultimate Team (frisbee) and the upcoming tournaments and travel. :eek: He says his other courses are going well with the typical ups and downs and he continues to forward papers for review and comment/proofreading. Well, he has 2 weeks of class and a week of exams after Thanksgiving so we will have to wait and see how the semester ends up. He has been able to pre-register for 2nd semester but he won’t get class confirmation until sometime in December. He did have a 4 year plan review with his advising dean and he
said that the session went very well as the dean was very knowledgable and helpful in course selections and potential course tracking towards a possible major he is leaning towards.</p>
<p>No news from S about any planned campus streaking events! :D</p>
<p>Hey thanks for all of you. This board is such a great help for me. It is so nice to have a place where you know people for longer than I live in one place. I have another board I frequent too but that board has become really large so it is hard to keep up with people and the same for them to keep up with me too. </p>
<p>Amandakayak= I am right there with you on the Christmas music and too quick for Christmas. I am shopping for Thanksgiving, thank you very much.</p>
<p>AvonHSDad, picked up son last night. Had to drive through snow around Erie! </p>
<p>I asked him again if he was sure about adding an extra class next quarter, because he found the introductory stuff the first quarter to be easy. He seems sure of himself, quite different from the casual student he seemed to be in HS.</p>
<p>No black Friday shopping here. Hate crowds. Hate shopping (do most online).</p>
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<p>Last night’s traffic reports indicated there were heavy intermittent bands of lake effect snow along I-90 from Lake County up through Erie, PA and beyond into western New York state. That stretch of road from Cleveland to Buffalo is always a challenge during the winter season. Glad you got through without any problems.</p>
<p>Just checking in here. DD seems to be weathering first semester pretty well. A few bumps & bruises, but nothing serious. (She’s still adjusting to the concept that a B is a perfectly acceptable grade). Looking forward to getting out of the dorm for Thanksgiving; we are 3000 miles apart so she will be going to an uncle’s for the weekend. Then one more week of classes, reading week, then finals! OMG!! She’s almost done with the first semester!! In four weeks she’ll be on a plane coming home!</p>
<p>re: advising. DD has a freshman advisor, but we suggested to her early on that she “drop by” the offices for her intended major and possible minor. In trying to set up her schedule for next semester, she met with her freshman advisor (required), and emailed people in the potential major & minor (and was a little surprised to hear back from them). She just told me she met with the advisor in her potential major, who was very helpful. So she’s feeling pretty good about how next semester will shape up, and feels like she will be able to do pretty much what she was hoping to do.<br>
DD is working toward getting an internship in her field for next summer when she comes home, and the advisor pointed out that, with the right paperwork in advance, she could get credit for her research requirement for the major. And offered to help her with the paperwork if/when something came through.</p>
<p>So–definitely look for someone knowledgeable in the intended major(s). And, please note, DD hasn’t declared a major yet, but she still found that people in the major office were happy to hear from her.</p>
<p>Re advising- D went to her temporary advisor (pre-law until she decides on a major) and was given some advise that we told her to ignore. For one thing, she scheduled d for too many hours because she forgot the d is doing research which counts for 2 credits. Then she also advised d to take calc for business but we advised her that that would be limiting. She hasn’t decided on a major yet and has about four that she is considering. With at least two of them, the better option would be to take trig next semester and then take calc= the regular calc. That is because she couldn;t get a BS in psychology nor a BS in economics without the regular calc. Yes, if she does decide to be a lawyer she probably doesn’t need it but she is 18 and career ideas change.</p>
<p>It so nice to see so many ‘faces’ checking in. I do like that we can share the ups and downs and there is usually someone here. To me that is comforting.</p>
<p>Advising is a tricky thing. We had heard that it wasn’t a strong point at Bluejr’s U early on and found that to be true. Luckily no serious damage done, just an annoyance of a class taken thinking it would cover a certain requirement and it did not. He did text today and send a picture of his schedule with a huge smilie face. He ended up being able to pick up the Econ class when it was opened to e’school kids so he is very happy with his schedule. If he’s happy, I’m happy. :)</p>
<p>D1 says that her (nonmajor freshman) advisor’s input is “those classes look fine. Here, have some chocolate.” :)</p>
<p>Military Mom - I am really so sorry that you had such horrible news. It’s certainly understandable that you would be feeling overwhelmed emotionally. I also think that sending the link was a good idea. It’s a delicate balance we are all trying to achieve - watching our kids become adults but feeling the need to help them find their way at times. </p>
<p>My older DD has never felt that she received adequate advising but she doesn’t really need it… she’s really on top of the whole course selection process, the upside to her type A personality. She actually figured out that her BF wasn’t going to graduate on time because he was missing an important required course that he and his advisor had completely missed… he took it last summer and is back on track. Younger DD is a little less compulsive but (luckily) seems to have a good adviser.</p>
<p>AmandaKayak - totally agree about the Christmas music! I enjoy it for the last week or two before the holiday but it’s TOO early!</p>
<p>SlitheyTove - my younger DD would have been happy to get the chocolate!</p>
<p>Sigh - the roller coaster continues with D. She did go see the doctor and while they don’t exactly know what the problem is, they think she might have MRSA!! They’ve given her strong antibiotics and have told her to call/go to the ER if symptoms worsen over the weekend. She says she’s feeling ok, no fever et al - but honestly, this is just too much for me. Worried sick - can’t wait till I see her next week. If she wasn’t coming, I think I would have probably just flown down there tomorrow. And here I was hoping this coming week was going to be less stressful…</p>
<p>MilitaryMom - sorry to hear your news. It’s understandable that you would be out of sorts after that. I was flipping through our local newspaper last night and came across the obituary of one of S’s basketball coaches from several years ago. A relatively young dad (47) with three kids in high school/middle school. I had seen him around last year in a wheelchair at a game - didn’t realize he was sick. Hard to digest…I didn’t mention it to the kids.</p>
<p>Arisamp, how worrisome! I hope the new antibiotic works well for her!</p>
<p>+++++++ for your D, arisamp. </p>
<p>My nest is once again full. Boychild looking forward to sleeping and vegging out in front of the TV all week, which is fine by me. We had a nice chat on the way home and apparently my son does not suffer from the OMG I got less than an A syndrome. He was thrilled when he found out his 54 (out of 120) on his anthro midterm was a B-.</p>
<p>My d has never suffered from the “OMG I got less than an A syndrome”. I had enough of that ailment during college for our entire family Glad she takes after her dad in this regard!</p>
<p>Arisamp - praying for a quick recovery for your daughter. I hope the antibiotics do the trick. And so sorry to hear of the loss of your S’s coach. It is so hard to hear that kind of news, especially when there are young children involved.</p>
<p>Arisamp, ShawSon has been fortunate to have great advising. We met with the Dean of Freshman [I think that’s the title] when ShawSon was deciding where to attend and he volunteered to be ShawSon’s advisor and steered him well first semester of freshman year – he told him to take an easier schedule and learn how to succeed at the school. ShawSon took a freshman seminar from an inspiring professor and decided to major in his field and ShawSon asked him to serve as an advisor after the first semester [the Dean of Freshman was promoted to Dean of Students and couldn’t have advisees]. The prof has also been very good, although he is on sabbatical this year. I think it is a combination of the school being very small, ShawSon being very directed and obviously talented [so professors want to help him/work with him’ and luck. His advisor is now helping to apply for research money for ShawSon’s help on his research and also for ShawSon’s own research.</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, ShawD has no meaningful advisor, though she now has an upperclassmen as a peer mentor.</p>
<p>As a former professor with a lot of knowledge in the fields ShawSon is studying [my degrees are in a different field but I studied all of three of his subjects], I can also guide him to the extent he wants my advice. I guide ShawD as well, but have less subject specific knowledge [but I can read course catalogs with the best of them].</p>
<p>Hugs to Arisamp. I would be very worried also. I hope the antibiotic works and your daughter recovers quickly.</p>
<p>Welcome home to dizzycat and EB’s sons.</p>
<p>Academic advising is okay at D1’s school; career advising has been better. D1’s school has a very confusing set of foundation requirements, but she figured out how to fill them. She was unsure of her major when college started so she focused on meeting the core requirements. Once she picked a major sophomore year, she had plenty of room on her schedule for requirements for her major. Now as a senior, she’s able to take some interesting electives.</p>
<p>D2 seems to have a good handle on her requirements. Her program held a meeting with Freshman to prepare them for spring scheduling.</p>