<p>D1 will go back to school today, since she needs to help with freshman move in and orientation. I was thinking back to how nervous she was 4 years ago, and how much she has grown.
She finished her internship on Friday. She really liked the job, the challenge, and the people. She received an email from HR this week that due to her job performance this summer, she will be receiving an offer for full time employment when she graduates. They need to wait for the compensation guides for 2015 graduates before they send her the official letter. She has decided that unless the offer is “really terrible”, which it will not be, she will accept and not look for another job. She will have 1 less thing to worry about during a very busy and stressful senior year.<br>
D2 will start applying to colleges this fall. She is so much different than her sister, and has different strengths and challenges. We have visited a few schools that she really liked, and she is excited (but anxious) about starting the college process </p>
<p>D called from the Tampa airport early this morning. She was getting into line to go through customs, etc to get to Cuba today. She flew to Tampa yesterday, met the other Tulane and Rice students she is going with and now is ready for her adventure.</p>
<p>I guess internet is expensive and spotty from Cuba, so I doubt I hear much from her before she gets back in mid December.</p>
<p>My son stayed in Vermont all summer so no move-in action for us. Tuesday was the last day of his internship. This was his second summer with the same company and like last year, he’ll continue working part time throughout the school year. He’s expecting a job offer, but we’ll see. Wednesday he moved from his sub-let apartment into an upper class housing dorm. He nabbed a single and I think he’s looking forward to not having roommates for the first time in awhile. Thursday he set up a computer lab and on Friday, for the third year in a row, he helped move the freshman in. His friends are trickling back to campus and I’m sure there will lots of hugs the next few days.</p>
<p>A college friend of his that lives nearby stopped over on his way back to campus and picked up a care package so we wouldn’t have to mail it. I tucked in some homemade cookies (gave a baggie of same to friend) and a couple of jars of homemade jam at his request. Seems funny to not have anything at all to do with the move in and yet the last college chapter starts anyway. </p>
<p>These three years have flown by haven’t they?</p>
<p>Moved S into his apartment in Manhattan this weekend. He starts his permanent job today. (After 6 months work experience, he will have fulfilled the requirements to graduate.) He cleaned out his closet that held many toys and childhood mementos and left some for me to decide whether to keep or toss. I just keep thinking another baby bird has left the nest for good. The last month was very stressful, with his first apartment deal not working out, so we had a last minute trip last week to find a new one, get a lease signed, and move in. I am feeling very emotionally drained today. Youngest D heads back to college this weekend.</p>
<p>Congrats gsmomma on your D’s job offer. </p>
<p>@gsmomma - congratulations! That job offer sounds great!</p>
<p>First day of senior year for D today! Gosh, it feels like it was just yesterday that we all drove down to drop her off for her first year!</p>
<p>Wow! Congrats on the job offers and new jobs!</p>
<p>D1 enjoyed her summer internship on Wall Street, but has decided that banking is not the life for her. She will be applying for grad school for an Econ doctorate. She seemed relieved when she made the decision. Her intern friends were surprised she walked away from an offer. My advice to her was if you don’t love it when your 21 you have choices. At 41 with husband, 2.1 kids, mortgage and a dog it is a little hard to walk away from.</p>
<p>That’s great sally22! My older D considered an econ doctorate, but after a few years in consulting thinks she’ll go for the MBA. She has known several econ PhD’s and they all seem happy in their careers.</p>
<p>My S is expecting a job offer from the company he interned at last summer (huge company) but is planning to turn it down “as slowly as possible” (to keep it as a backup, and to have as a bargaining chip with other companies). He doesn’t like being a tiny cog in a huge machine, so I think he’ll be looking for opportunities at much smaller companies.</p>
<p>@Sally22, my son was thinking he would get a PhD in Econ. He wrote a really interesting thesis in behavioral economics and really liked the field and won prizes every year for being the best student in economics in his year. However, he talked to friends who were a year older who were a little disillusioned by high-end PhD programs that were both heavily math-dominated and very rigid (not so much room for behavioral assumptions, etc.). Math was not a problem as he was also a math major, but he went off and did something entrepreneurial. He then surprised us a bit by shifting away from the Econ PhD and deciding to pursue instead an MS in Data Science and an MBA. His thought is that if he is really interested in teaching, he would go back for a degree in economics or a related field, it would be at a business school, but it seems unlikely if he enjoys his entrepreneurial ventures as much as he did the first one.</p>
<p>I work with PhD economists all the time and worked for a while on Wall Street after getting a PhD and being a professor. It’s hard to opine on Wall Street per se as there are lots of different activities and firms, so I am going to unleash some broad generalizations that are only partly correct. On the i-banking side, I would say Wall Street rewards drive/being crazed more than deep thinking, though intelligence definitely helps and creativity is sometimes extremely valuable. But, in the general business model, one succeeds by making things routine and thus making activities scalable. On the other hand, there are jobs on the trading side that really reward IQ and look precisely for new ways to do things or new trading opportunities. Much more creativity likely there. But, it is not the place for everyone.</p>
<p>Thanks shawbridge. She was on the trading side and liked the dept she worked in and her colleagues. She met with the Chief Economist at the bank she was interning at and he gave her some stellar advice. She now knows she wants to be an economist not a banker. I no nothing of this industry, so we have given her support but no advice.</p>
<p>H and I think she handled the situation beautifully, she walked away with some great experience, good contacts and a strong reputation. No bridges burnt. If she wakes up in the middle of the night regretting her decision I am sure the bank would find a position for her.</p>
<p>Now, I have 2 applying for college! One to grad school and my 2015 to undergrad.</p>
<p>Sally, the good news – in addition to her learning from the experience what she wants to do, which is extremely important – is that grad school in economics should be free. The only thing she’ll be losing is the opportunity cost (the income she would have earned at the bank that she won’t earn while she is in school).</p>
<p>gsmomma–Sounds like you and I are in the same boat. DS2 will be applying to college this fall. He has a number of challenges but a lot of really great things going for him. It will be a search much different than 4 years ago. Even if he gets accepted into some of the schools he applies to, we will all have to have a long discussion about what’s best for him–with his LD issues he spends an incredible amount of time on homework and he may be better suited to living at home for at least his first year. The university close by may not accept him so the other choice would be CC which we think would be good, but I really think he has his mind set on going to a 4-year college. We’ll see what the next few months bring!</p>
<p>DS1 is doing his senior thesis research in the Turks and Caicos. He’s studying the effects of the overfishing of sharks on the rest of the reef population–he’s looking to see whether there is a release of mesopredators when the sharks are gone. I was with him last week, and it seems like he’s getting good data and we saw general support for his hypothesis, although that was just our general observations. He’s recording a lot of video footage that he will evaluate with fancy software to get solid data for his thesis. I’m looking forward to seeing what his results show!</p>
<p>In other DS1 news, his letters of recommendation were finally uploaded by his university for medical school applications (the school does a committee letter and they upload when they have everything done). So now he finally has a completed application package for med schools to evaluate and hopefully he will start getting some interview invitations soon. He’s had a really busy summer and the fall will be busy with interviews (hopefully) along with school. Hope he doesn’t stress out too much!</p>
<p>Sounds like everyone has been busy with internships this summer! Congrats for the job offers and good luck to our seniors. How did the last three years fly by so quickly? </p>
<p>Good morning! S11 was also offered a job with large company on opposite coast after his summer internship. He hopes to find a job in our state and like others will use his job offer as leverage. The offer stands til mid October.
He is an RA this year. Living rent free with a meal plan is huge for us as S14 starts school in a couple of weeks.
Our sons are attending crosstown rival D1 schools, so it will be a fun year.</p>
<p>@VAMom2015, love the idea of research in the Turks and Caicos. Brilliant. Good luck with the med school apps.</p>
<p>D left for Cuba two weeks ago tomorrow. I have not heard from her, which I knew was going to happen. It is still hard to not send an email or a text, even though I know she won’t get it. She may get an email eventually, though her phone is turned off while she is gone and the internet service is expensive and spotty at best. She told me to expect to hear from her just about once a month, no more. I hope she is enjoying her time there and learning a lot.</p>
<p>bajamm–I missed what your DD is doing in Cuba–please give me some details. How long will she be there? It will be interesting to hear her descriptions of the country and its people. Has she heard how she did on her MCAT’s? I’m not sure when she took them. Here’s hoping she’s very happy with her results. </p>
<p>My DS is in the dreaded “waiting zone”. He’s gotten in his med school applications and secondary applications. His school finally uploaded his committee letter of recommendation. Now it’s wait and worry until he gets some interviews. Hopefully he hears from at least one of the schools soon. </p>
<p>DS2 just started his senior year of HS. He’s happy with his classes and his teachers. He’s looking forward to his final year.</p>
<p>@vamom2015 My D is spending the semester in Cuba, studying at the University of Havana. She is a Spanish major, so this is right up her ally. She is a Tulane student, the group she is with is 10 Tulane students, 3 Rice students and a Tulane Spanish professor.</p>
<p>She was scheduled to take the MCAT’s in August. It turned out to be the day before she left for Cuba and she didn’t get home from her summer job in Virginia until less than a week before she was to leave. So, she rescheduled it for January. She has always planned on taking next year off and doing her med school applications next June, so she is alright as far as that goes. I do worry about the MCAT changes and how that may affect her if she doesn’t like the January score. But, it is her deal, not mine.</p>
<p>My next parental project is my S’16. He is having a good fall so far, though it is still early. He is very unlike his sister, so I am not sure where (or if) he will land in two years.</p>
<p>It’s amazing how in just 3 years we are discussing MCAT’s, LSAT’s and other graduate level programs our kids are going for. It’s quite a change in just three years and three months since HS graduation. S is prepping for the upcoming LSAT later this month. So far he is happy with his progress. He is now taking timed and proctored practice tests. The “easy” stuff is over as its the home stretch to the real exam. He is hoping to do well enough to get a decent scholorship or grant package with his score. We will know if a few weeks.</p>
<p>My DD is continuing with her second semester of grad school at Columbia University Teachers College. She started in January and took classes over the summer as well. Next semester she should be doing student teaching. </p>
<p>Congratulations to bopper D. Good luck with med school, MCAT and LSAT. LSAT is IIRC all about learning the test, so your son’s approach of doing every practice test he can find make sense.</p>
<p>ShawD was inducted earlier this week into her school’s Phi Beta Kappa equivalent. Only 20 kids. I was out of the country and she discouraged ShawWife from attending, but she persevered and ShawD was glad that she came.</p>