Parents of the HS Class of 2012 - New beginnings

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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<p>"I’m a bit in the mindset that unless you have something super specific in mind, the major in undergrad isn’t the be all end all, let’s just get through and get a degree. Then use the masters/phd when you have a specific goal in mind. "</p>

<p>eyemamom - does your son want to pursue an MS/PhD right after undergrad? If that is the goal, then it is kind of important to get the major right since it gets harder to do something like engineering if you did not do it in undergrad as an example. If he is going for an MBA or law, the undergrad major won’t make any difference.</p>

<p>D is coming home for a week at the end of the month. Unfortunately, there will be a whole quarter still left at that point to claim end of first year.</p>

<p>Congrats to mimk’s DS2. It is a super achievement considering there are less than 200 students accepted to MSTP and probably less than 300 overall in MD/PhD each year.</p>

4142

<p>Updating thread to get it moved back to page 1. Daughter has gotten into a townhouse for next year with 11 of her friends. The school has an option for the kids to create a concept house where they are given money to hold one or two (or 3?) workshops based on the concept throughout the year. They need to apply and have financials for their program, present their idea, etc. It all worked out, they were accepted, so even though they are just Sophomores next year, they were put into upper class housing of a townhouse. Yea for her and her friends!</p>

<p>She was also closed out of 2 classes for next term (trimester) so she was freaking out, but when she met with her adviser, who teaches in an area she’s very interested in pursuing, he offered to have her do an independent study with him next term. Again, she’s thrilled. Sometimes you just have to hold your breath and wait it out, there are people other than you rooting for your kid!</p>

<p>Also, those who remember silversas, she’s posted an update but I can’t remember the name of it, sorry.</p>

<p>Okay, we’re back on page one!</p>

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<p>^^^^^ 2012 Ghost of Parent Past (Long Happy Update)</p>

<p>amtc – You got it. My S had a core class fill up before he had a chance to pre-register last quarter. His advisor was teaching it. He forced him in. No biggie. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Congrats to your D and her friends on their entrepreneurial housing move!</p>

4144

<p>Those registration periods can be tough. Last semester, my son had the Physics workshop he wanted selected but something screwed up when he went to check out and then it was full when he tried to reselect it. He ended up getting in it later by going to the department and asking if he could be one over the cap.</p>

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<p>DS ended up this semester with a seminar course that he wouldn’t have chosen in a million years, but it was the only one that fit after getting all his engineering classes and labs selected. Although he’s still not wild about the content (something about the death of God and man in modern and abstract poetry!) he says he has found the professor extremely interesting and quite a good teacher. He called today to let us know he received an A- on his first major paper in the class - and he called to thank us! He said that all the grief we gave him over the years about learning to write well has paid off. The professor told him that he could have gone in to more depth in his paper, but it was so well written and engaging, that she bumped him up to an A-. He also thanked me for the advice I gave him (for which he had asked) regarding his Biochem class. Apparently, his parents might know something! :-)</p>

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<p>texas - S is going to double major in math - probably go the bs route not applied, and music - concentrating in either composition or theory. What one does with a math and music degree is unclear to me. As of now he doesn’t want to go straight to a masters, but we’ll see.</p>

<p>He’s home for spring break and eating us out of house and home already. He’s so excited about his classes. He’s rearranged class times to go to lunch with the profs and apparently talks their ears off during office hours. He’s squeezing every bit out of his tuition dollars - lol.</p>

<p>We just walked through figuring out the scheduling for the fall. Well, essentially I sat here drinking coffee and throwing in my .02 about nonsense while he did it. One math class essentially had to be picked because of scheduling conflicts, but he did say he was always interested in that topic so he was glad to take it. (speaking to a mom who was never interested in any math topic)</p>

<p>We’re going to have him and his g/f work for us this summer - if she wants the gig. I usually hire about 3 or 4 college kids to help out during our busy season. Until now he’s always turned his nose up at working at our company.</p>

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<p>Lakemom and SteveC - my older daughter is a pro at emailing profs of the classes she’s been closed out of and then showing up on the first day. It has always worked out that the prof lets her in. Everyone wants to be liked - so if you find the class of interest to you, let the prof know. He/She will do whatever is possible to get you in there.</p>

<p>Younger daughter, that is just not her style, her loss in the end. Oh well, as I’ve said many times before, she’s gone so far outside her comfort zone this year, I’m not pushing for anything more.</p>

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<p>DD got her class schedule all worked out (still working on soph housing) and we found her a cheap flight home for spring break! She’ll be home this weekend.</p>

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<p>Congrats, glido! Enjoy the opportunity to spend time with your daughter.</p>

4150

<p>Thank you for all your kind words on my separate post. I can’t promise I will stop by often enough to be part of the regular conversation, but I will try and skim a bit to have some sense of what’s up.</p>

<p>I hope to provide your daily LOL (and apologies to any marketing types or parents of marketing majors, and as a poet as well as math major, I can take it).</p>

<p>Here is a verbatim email convo with S2. It helps to try and read in emotionally what Mom is feeling and trying to respond to:</p>

<p>s: I need about $555
Dad: OK. May not be until Sat. How are your classes [just starting for the quarter]?
s: Statistics is literally the worst thing I have ever done in my life.
Dad:Sorry, quite a strong statement. Mom may have ideas of how to help you cope.
s: Yes, significantly worse. Statistics is a perverse distortion of everything that makes math enjoyable, whereas poetry is just boring.
Mom: You should talk to your math advisor about your overall math plans and you and I should talk soon.
s: I did talk to her. That was the point of the xxx meeting I had last quarter. Stat is just required for some reason.
Mom: Well, most people will wind up needing to deal with data of some sort. Don’t think of it as a math class, but as a random required class and it won’t be so insulting. Maybe interesting. Or survivable.
S:Well, apparently it is only stat for the first 2 weeks, probability the rest
Mom: Once you get into the real math of probability it shouldn’t be bad. Once again, I say, every school has some required classes – you made a good choice – here a goofy required class is stat. Somewhere else it could have been that weird music class thing you saw at Xxxxx. Or marketing.
S:Yeah that’s true. Though marketing is actually a theoretically (i.e., from a sociological stand point) a very interesting subject. It would just drain my soul to do it.</p>

<p>Well, the last email made me simultaneously spit up and pee a little. And learn that my son is definitely not a vampire.</p>

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<p>LOL Silversas! We are science types in my house. The thought of one of our children going into marketing is, well, let’s just say it probably would not be received well! </p>

<p>Just wanted to double check myself on loans, so asking this question of all parents in the know. The order of using loans to be the most adventageous for the student is:</p>

<p>1) Fed Direct Sub Stafford Loan (No interest accrues or payments due till after student graduates, about 3.5% interest) $3500</p>

<p>2) Perkins (fixed 5%, no interest accrues or payments due till after student graduates). Varies up to $3000</p>

<p>3) Fed Direct Unsub Stafford Loan (interest acures while in school, but payement doesn’t start till you graduate)</p>

<p>4) Parent loans </p>

<p>Is this accurate?</p>

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<p>geogirl1 – For my money, yes.</p>

<p>Marketing is the study of overcoming the notion of “rational choice” in economics, right? :wink: Well, there’s gold in them thar hills, but I don’t see me doing it, either.</p>

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<p>Serious marketing involves a lot of statistical analysis!</p>

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<p>texaspg, that’s another reason S2 would view it as double cursed!</p>

<p>I saw another parent a few pages up with an RIT freshperson. Yay. RIT is in its last year of quarters, so the students got quarter breaks at Thanksgiving and in February, and a xmas break mid-winter quarter.</p>

<p>For thanksgiving break we drove up to Rochester and had a day to run errands, and then escaped to Toronto – where they don’t celebrate American T-giving – so it was pressure free. We rented an efficiency apartment in a guest house right at a subway stop for the week and S1 flew up from Maryland to join us as soon as his school got out (He is TEACHING now!!!). We had such a great time we may make this our T-giving tradition. This was when we found out S2 has a girlfriend – which truly amazed us, because, as S1 put it, “I’ve never even seen him talk to a girl before, unless you can call hitting little girls in grade school talking.”</p>

<p>We loved having him for xmas break, and his request was to be taken out for dinner as often as possible. He and S1, who teachers math at his old HS a few blocks away and lives in the neighborhood, hung out a bunch. S2 also had a bunch of school work being mid quarter.</p>

<p>Feb break he asked to stay on campus. He won’t talk about his girlfriend, which is OK with us, he is uber private about everything except intellectual matters, so this is to be expected. We got the idea she was staying as well, and every freshman/college student should have the privilege of a school break to do nothing but hang with a special friend and explore… many areas around and on campus. The only things I heard about were a couple of trips to the card store (he took up Magic again for her) and a call to get the family Netflix password, and that they saw Wall-e.</p>

<p>He’s asked to come home for the summer, and we are not “making” him work or do anything in particular his first college summer. We hope he will get somewhat bored compared to all the fun he is having on campus and decide on his own to make a different decision next summer. He’ll visit his Nanny in Florida (he and S1 missed poppy’s funeral during the school year, so we are doing something special in June for them and Nanny). We’ll see about the rest… Please don’t give lots of constructive ideas… he has done so great after such risk that I am sure we will find just the right think for him, which might be… rest and relaxation.</p>

<p>PS - I am the most long winded poster ever!</p>

<p>tl;dr what my kid did on his breaks: Toronto, came home, stayed on campus</p>

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<p>D made it safely to the beach… Had a couple of days with her at home before she left, which was nice. </p>

<p>Silverseas- D is also taking Statistics this semester and had not quite as detailed description for us this weekend as your S.</p>

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<p>Well, I am starting to feel like I am graduating from this thread. Not because I haven’t enjoyed all of you, because I have enjoyed your support immensely, and you helped me transition my last child from home to college. I feel it’s time for me to move on to a new part of my life, not so much focused on my kids, their schedules and their life details, but more focused on what I will do with my life now that I have (mostly) done my part.</p>

<p>On this break with my freshman, I realize that he also needs me to separate from him. He knows he can come to me and my husband for support at different phases of his college and future life, but he doesn’t need me to be sharing bits of his life online as it unfolds.</p>

<p>So, for those of you that have PM’d with me (5boys especially) please PM me again and I will give you my contact info. </p>

<p>I know all of our kids have fantastic support systems … You all have been terrific, but I must bid my adieu. The time has come to say farewell. Xoxoxo to all of you, my online support team.</p>

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<p>Gonna miss you Snowflake.</p>

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<p>Best wishes to you Snowflake!</p>

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<p>Snowflake, I hope you stop by and post around graduation time at least :)</p>

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<p>I’m going to miss Snowflake and others who drop off, but I also totally understand… Best wishes to you!</p>

<p>Otherwise, we’ve been having a fun week with middle son (and friend) home. They played around on our farm over the weekend going fishing and seeing the critters (including owls, herons, and eagles). Friend is a big city guy, so the whole farm thing is totally new (and fun - at least for a week). Then Monday we went to Gettysburg NMP. Today we went to a potato chip factory (oodles of those around us - we went to Utz). Tomorrow they’re playing laser tag. Saturday we’re taking them back. I think I’ve also gained more weight than I want to know about making big “favorite” meals daily. Unfortunately, it will be harder to take off. </p>

<p>They’re off meeting with friends now, so I thought I’d catch up.</p>

<p>Middle son also found out today he’s been invited to interview for a Bio workshop leader position for next year. I don’t really know if he wants to, but “I” consider it an honor and told him so!</p>