<p>@Classof2015 - Wishing you good luck! How awful you have to be worried about your D’s behavior at your S’s graduation! Glad you have support from your side of the family and a plan!</p>
<p>DD’s orientation is not until they move in Labor Day weekend. I think she is getting anxious about it all as many of her friends have had or are going to orientations now. They do pick their classes before they get there and she has applied for the lottery classes she’s interested in. And DD applied for and was accepted into a special advising program through their center for public service and will receive an adviser connected with that and will also take a first year seminar somehow connected. I think she’d love to get started and meet more people but right now she’s distracted by the Divergent books so she’s not focusing on it too much!</p>
<p>Hi everyone! welcome @Bisouu and @WindowMomto2 !</p>
<p>We returned yesterday from orientation at UVM - glorious weather ! I just love Burlington and UVM. I am glad the orientation takes place in June. My son met several kids from his major and others from the honors college. I think if orientation was done for everyone at the same time, it would be overwhelming! My son is an introvert and does better with a smaller group. I also feel that it relieves some of the anxiety of going off to college not knowing anyone plus his schedule is set. Because of his major, his classes were pre chosen for him. He is pretty happy with his schedule. He has one early class at 8:30 but it takes place on the first floor of his dorm. I would have tried to switch to a later time but he thought it was great and a new friend is in the same class. </p>
<p>UVM had a great evening program for parents to help with the transition to college. It was wonderfully done by the Head of Student Affairs that has been at UVM for over 30 years. He had some great stories. He also showed some short film clips to help us think about the transition. By the end, several people were crying ( including men).
The student helpers were running around with boxes of Kleenex. Reality is settling in! I just want to hold on tight but I know it is time to let go…
I was so happy that my son actually ignored me ! Lol ! He was settling in and making friends! What a relief…I feared that he would hold up in his room and keep to himself…
He actually, got his first reading and writing assignment due the first day of class for the Honors College seminar!
He wasn’t thrilled but accepted it…he read the first 100 pages on the way home. Well at least he is used to having school work to do over the summer! </p>
<p>Now to start to think about dorm stuff …oh I got offered a job in CT at my present company’s corporate office …I don’t really want to move to CT or at least to the Stamford area because of the cost of living…I am hoping for another job offer but I am still early in the process with two other positions. </p>
<p>My DS attended the first orientation session at UVM, but they said that they divide the available seats in each class between the different sessions, so that no one is advantaged or disadvantaged by which session they attend. (He will change out a couple of classes once AP scores come in as well. But all the orientation sessions are in June, so no one will have scores available when they register. Seems to me like it would make more sense to register them in July once scores are in, but what do I know…)</p>
<p>@onlyonemom did your son find a roommate? When we went for orientation, it was a woman who did that evening program, and she also did a great job with it. I managed not to cry, surprisingly My son also ignored me, and I was also really happy about it He just started the summer reading last night and said it is a pretty good book. Compared to how much summer homework he has had the past 2 years for AP classes, this is nothing. </p>
<p>D has summer reading and essay questions due by the end of July. While it is nothing close to summer AP assignments (as mathmomvt mentioned), I was, nonetheless, surprised. Do they ever get a break? I don’t remember having summer assignments when I was in school.</p>
<p>@MathMomVT - my son decided to have his roommate assigned randomly ( by Patty). His roommate at orientation was also a Neuroscience major but I did not see him hanging out with him. There was another student that he seemed to click with that was a Neuroscience / psych major. I saw S playing pool at one point with a group of kids - not that I was stalking him LOL…happy that he seemed content and in his element…</p>
<p>They likely will not have any summer assignments for summers after this one.</p>
<p>@onlyonemom my son also decided to go for a random roommate. His roommate at orientation was a no-show but he found other engineers to hang out with (but I think none of them in the honors college). lol on the non-stalking ;-)</p>
<p>@mathmomvt - there were a lot of engineers in our groups. We were the largest orientation group- 45 honor students ! I don’t think S would like a roommate with the same major because ( I think) he is interesting in learning about other majors/ interest. What type of engineering is your S interested in? </p>
<p>@onlyonemom my son is planning to major in mechanical engineering, though he also has interests in electrical, I think. I don’t think he cares what major his roommate is in, but most (but not all) of the kids he hung out with at orientation were other engineers. </p>
<p>At Chapman, where my son is headed, they are assigned roommates in their major for freshman year. No choosing. That makes things easier I guess. My son had a nice conversation in the facebook group with a kid from this area who also plays soccer. The other kid played for several clubs that are rivals to my son’s. He was enjoying the conversation (“that’s cool man”) and finally clicked on the other kid’s profile. It was a girl with a unisex name. Ha ha. I guess they never played each other after all.</p>
<p>@akmom124 – thanks! It turned out ok, thank God – H did his to be expected stalking/lurking thing on the fringes of graduation. My nephew, his wife, her brother (all from Texas) showed up and loved the ceremony – boys in white jackets, girls in white dresses with a bouquet of red roses (I ventured to say that in its graciousness and beauty, it was almost Southern, and they agreed).</p>
<p>Best line from a graduation speech ever – a parent speaker said “our relationship with our kids is based on two things – trust, and understanding. We don’t trust you, and you don’t understand us.”</p>
<p>I found the above article from the today show on outfitting your college student’s dorm room, I feel it is useful even though it is a few years old. </p>
<p>^^ does look like a good article. One caveat – most schools do not allow students to bring block, bed-risers or lofting kits for their beds. They usually have an official way to do it and only that way is allowed. </p>
<p>Also contrary to what is stated in that article many dorms provide a desk lamp in addition to overhead lighting. Its worth asking kids who have lived in the same dorm in the past how the lighting was. Some dorms everyone will say to bring an extra floor lamp for overall lighting, and others everyone will say that it is not necessary.</p>
<p>^^ I was also wondering about putting shelves on the wall at UVM ? Do you know what type of lighting is provided? I am also trying to decide on what type of mattress topper to get - to many to choose from. </p>
<p>Okay there is some definite nest fouling happening here. And a real sense of entitlement and after watching big bang theory - haughty derision. And yet I know I’ll be sobbing my eyes out after drop off.</p>
<p>@onlyonemom I couldn’t remember what was provided at UVM so I looked up their reslife page, and they recommend bringing a desk lamp and a waste basket, which surprised me. I don’t think you can put shelves on the walls anywhere. But I know a lot of kids put up free-standing shelving units in the bathrooms in the honors dorms. </p>
<p>@eyemamom – I’m with you. It’s good there’s no handgun in our house, or I might have shot my son by now. No court would convict me – given his sloth-like non-productive behavior (including ignoring important emails of ‘things to do’ from his soon-to-be alma mater) it would be considered justifiable homicide. However, every time I think about the fact that he’ll soon be gone my heart breaks.</p>
<p>We had to bring a desk lamp too when S went to college. There were no restrictions on bed risers, but students were required to use one of two approved loft systems if they wanted to loft their bed. Lofts seemed to be far more popular with the boys than the girls. Most schools these days use card systems for laundry machines instead of quarters. </p>
<p>@Classof2015 - I’m glad to hear that S’s graduation went well! Congratulations!</p>
<p>@eyemamom - maybe D’s way of handling the separation? My D has been rather irritable and defensive this past week. Everything I say seems to be misinterpreted as an attempt to manage her life.</p>
<p>Me (perusing course catalog): Did you see they have a course in “XYZ” subject?
D (with an attitude): Mom, I don’t want to take that course!!
Me: Ok, I just thought it looked interesting and wondered if you saw it.
D: Why are trying to pick my courses??!</p>
<p>@Eyemamom my oldest set a very high bar for nest fouling. So far d’14 hasn’t come risen to that level, but oh my goodness, she’s doing her best to make sure she won’t be missed.</p>
<p>In other news, bought the first textbook today. Wow, has this process become more complicated in the last couple of years. Buy. Rent. The book has an access code. Does the class really NEED that access? Access code come with an ebook? Any way to get just the code? Will that be enough. I’m sure textbook companies love books. No secondary market. No way to recoup cost. Oh, and they’re really not as cheap as one would think for what’s essentially a rental (because access expires).</p>
<p>Glad to see everyone’s posts this morning because they are comforting me - just dropped D off at orientation … feeling proud of her because she wants to do it on her own but also feeling very sad …</p>
My son also ignored me, and I was also really happy about it 
He just started the summer reading last night and said it is a pretty good book. Compared to how much summer homework he has had the past 2 years for AP classes, this is nothing. </p>
was hoping she would stay close to home. It’s a wonderful school…</p>