<p>I have been offline for the past couple of weeks as we enjoyed our first “empty nester” vacation. Of course while we were gone DS received two job offers. Both are with consulting firms with one in Chicago and the other to be determined following a six month training program (which is outside of the US). He also got his LSAT score back and while it was an excellent score, it was not where he wanted it and following a review with his pre-law advisor and LSAT prep instructor, he is now signed up for the early December test date. While his score is good enough for many of the law schools he is interested in, he wants to improve his score for the purpose of scholarships and FA opportunities. As mentioned in previous posts, his real dilemma will be to decide if he should work for a year or two and then go to law school or proceed with his law school applications with the fall of 2015 as his entrance date.</p>
<p>My son officially decided this week that he will put off grad school to work for the next couple of years. Can I admit here that I’m really pretty disappointed? He has an amazing job offer, but it’s way off the path he’s been on.</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to be neutral in our conversations, but obviously not successfully, because when he called to tell me he was taking the job, he asked if I would be okay with it. I said what I’ve been saying - essentially, that it was his life and his decision and there were no bad options. And he said that wasn’t an answer. So I did tell him that I did hope he would continue in school, but he if decided he wanted a job, he should not pass up the opportunity he had. Which was true, and it felt like a conversation two adults would have.</p>
<p>I guess I need a lot more practice in being truthful while not trying to influence his decisions…</p>
<p>DS will be coming home next week as well as thanksgiving. He has two medical school interviews that are closer to home than school next week. I sure hope he’s been preparing. They are his first two interviews and one of them is currently his top choice of those where he’s gotten interviews. </p>
<p>@vamom2015 Good Luck to your son on his med school interviews!</p>
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Scoutsmom, we have just the opposite problem. S has two job offers in the management consulting field but is seriously close to declining both of them and continuing his original track of applying to law school. His LSAT test scores are very good and he has received positive feedback from two admissions interviews (Northwestern and Penn) but we feel he should take a year or two and get some solid work experience and then apply, Another option is to work a gap year and then start law school. We are afraid the job offers won’t be there later this year if he declines and then finds he is not getting the acceptances or FA offers that he is seeking. This is a big decision that could impact his entire career.</p>
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<p>I know, and I try to keep “his” as the key word when I worry about the decision. I go back and forth between “he’s 21 and has lots of time to change his path” and “he may never have this kind of opportunity again.”</p>
<p>Similar story here. D was all set to take the MCAT and apply to med school this year. But about six months ago, before she took the test, she decided she wasn’t ready - so she put the test off until the fall. But that basically meant that she couldn’t apply to med school for the coming year - she now has a gap year. We had to discuss the pros/cons of doing this when she decided to put the test off. I don’t think there’s a “right” or “wrong” decision - just the path taken will differ considerably depending on the choice. It’s their choice and they should “own” it, but it is so hard to keep quiet, especially if you feel like they are making the wrong choice :)</p>
<p>Now, she’s grappling with what to do for the gap year. Research, a couple of different job offers…all are on the table. We’ll see how this goes…</p>
<p>Brunch foods are out, come on over and join in the conversation!</p>
<p>Yesterday was H’s birthday. D had emailed me from Cuba earlier in the week, saying she had enough money to pay for a 5 minute phone call to her dad for his birthday. So, we arranged for her to call him Thursday night. I had to make sure I was stuck close to him and keep him available for a phone call, she wanted it to be a surprise. She called my phone, I answered and handed it over to him without a word. He was so surprised! That is the best surprise I have ever taken part in. She will be back in the states in a month, though she won’t be home until closer to Christmas, she will be in Chicago for a week or so before coming on home.</p>
<p>Sweet story, bajamm. So nice to know she’s thinking of Dad and made a plan.<br>
Hope brunch has some Mimosas included!!
So my son officially accepted his job. He sent me an email during the day (which is very rare for him to do) to let me know, seemed very excited – then, of course, a day later, I get an “am I doing the right thing?” phone call!</p>
<p>I went back to “no bad options” and told him every big decision comes with what ifs. It’s funny, but once it was done, I was much more behind the job idea; I can see him doing good work in this field and it is unique opportunity. But then I’m decide-and-move-on type while it is natural for him to have a kind of buyer’s remorse since he’s very analytical and puts a lot of work into making decisions (highlights what different people we are, something I’ve kind of forgotten since he hasn’t been home for more than a few weeks at a time since he started college). </p>
<p>This “advise and consent” phase of parenting has its own ups and downs, doesn’t it?
I guess when he’s home next week it will be too soon to talk about setting up setting up an apartment and getting his stuff out of the house 
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<p>My boy has also officially accepted a job (unfortunately, across the country from us). He had multiple offers and seems quite excited about the one he chose. And super-excited to be DONE with recruiting and job interviews and the like, including several trips for job interviews in different corners of the country. He “missed” pre-registration for next semester, but assures us that since he has all of his specific graduation requirements completed, he’ll be fine registering late. (I’m not sure when he gets to register now.)</p>
<p>Congrats </p>
<p>A good week for job offers! D has accepted a 2 year research analyst position with the Federal Reserve in NYC. She will also take grad school classes at Columbia. She is also excited to be done and I am sure will enjoy not having to complete all the grad school applications.</p>
<p>Jumping on the bandwagon… S accepted a job offer. He will get to stay in Southern California. Great starting salary, benefits, and full tuition costs covered if he wants to get his masters degree. He graduates mid May and plans to begin work after July 4th.</p>
<p>I’m loving all this great news! My D is on track to graduate in 2016 so I hope things go as well for her.</p>
<p>Congratulations, Minnymom, Sally22, mathmomvt, and scoutsmom. I love reading about all these new beginnings.</p>
<p>@scoutsmom, I think there is advice but not consent per se. ShawSon is a couple of years ahead ing this group. He was ready to go to grad school for a PhD in econ, for which he would have been a very strong applicant. But with some advice from me and his Advisors, he decided to work for a year or two. Although he interviewed for jobs, he decided late in the first term to stick with a software firm that he and a few others had started that fall. He was aasked to be the CEO and ran it for 1.5 years. That fall, he talked to several older friends in top econ grad schools who were not happy. So he decided to skip that and when he decided to leave his company, he still had the Stasio bug but decided to apply for an MBA and MS in data science. He was asked, during his first quarter to be CTO. As another startup. My advice was that lots of offers will come his way because of the program he is in, how smart and driven he is, and his startup experience and he needs to build his skills in hard courses. He first was going to say yes but now it’s thinking no. So I can advise but he doesn’t need my consent. Nonetheless, I’m sure good decisions will typically be made. And, waiting a year or two may torn out to be a great choice. In ShawSon’s case, he learned that just because he is great at something doesn’t mean he will love getting a PhD in it. </p>
<p>Not clear why it autocorrect startup into Stasio. Meant to mention that I counseled him against going to a very good school near us for perhaps the strongest on the other coat. He listened and dad anxious but bow I B.v suspect he understands what an opportunity he had at the school he is attending. </p>
<p>S has now officially declined both job offers. The better of the two was with one of the leading managment consulting companies. When he contacted them to decline, he explained that his LSAT was better than expected and was generating some scholarship opportunities to law school. He said he owed it to himself to see how that plays out and that he couldn’t commit to the job offer at this time. They told him that he was a strong candidate and they would hold the door open for him through the end of January in the event he changed his mind or the law school option didn’t pan out. He is taking the LSAT again in December on the advice of both his pre-law advisor and LSAT prep tutor. He has been scoring in the mid 170’s on both his self-administered and proctored practice tests over the past few weeks. If he can execute and get a real score in this range he should have many law school scholarship options to consider. Now we wait until late December when the test scores are released. He should be receiving reponses to his initial round of applications in December as well. How little did we know that we would have another round of “indecision” and waiting during senior year. Yikes!!</p>
<p>Wow - been away for a while and it’s great to see all these almost-grads getting launched! Congratulations to all those who have job acceptances! @AvonHSDad - good luck to your S on his LSAT.</p>
<p>D has a job offer that she’s excited about, but hasn’t finalized it yet. I think she has time until December. In the meantime, she has had phone interviews with a couple of other companies and is being flown down for yet another interview in Dec. Hopefully, she will have a decision in time for the new year.</p>
<p>So nice to read about all the plans after graduation. Congrats to all the job acceptances!</p>
<p>S2 has been very discouraged with his job search. He has had interviews but no offers. Then one of the companies called back to invite him to fly out to their main design and research facility for a second interview. We are so thrilled! </p>
<p>This will be his first fly-out interview. He is not sure what to do with his suit. A garment bag? Do airlines still allow a garment bag as a carry-on? I think he will have connecting flights. What did your kids do with their suits during the trips that worked out well?</p>