DS is having a good summer. He started as a research volunteer in a lab for the summer doing some research in organic chemistry. It was initially unpaid, but apparently he’s done okay since the PI found some budget and is paying him a small amount (Even retroactively!)
He is doing some research with the hope of being a co-author for a publication. He’s supervised by a post-doc and participates in the group’s weekly research seminar. He’s already presented twice so it’s worked out well.
Best of all, from my standpoint, is that he gets to see what he’s up against if he wants to pursue a career in academia. His post-doc’s contract is almost up, and the post-doc is kind of scrambling for a new position after just having his second child. (There is another thread about the scarcity of academic jobs, so I’ll stop here.)
Finally, he’s taking off the end of this week so he can attend Lollapalooza, so he’s having some fun too.
My son is a good summer, too. Enjoying his internship with a local bank. Likes to see his bank account grow – come to think of it, so do his parents! Maybe he will not be hitting us for extra funds come next spring. His internship sponsor also invited him to return during the Christmas holidays if he wanted to make some additional cash. So they must like him. When he is not working, he sleeps a lot – no surprise. But he also has been good about helping around the house, and I never turn that down.
Driving our DS to the airport in a couple hours for the red-eye back to college for junior year. he is an RA and has to help train the new RAs. Going to miss him - summer was too short.
DS is going back to school in a week. Am sorry to see the summer end. It has been a really nice summer with him home since early May. He opted to fly back to school and said that one of us doesn’t need to drive him back. He will get himself settled in his new apartment. His “stuff” is temporarily in a friend’s apartment. It has struck me that this was most likely the last time that he lives at home with us for this length of time. He already has a job offer for next summer’s internship and we all really think he won’t be back moving back to MA after graduation. I try not to think about it! Time to start to focus on D18’s College Search…here we go again!
DS left early this morning, with DH riding shotgun in a car packed full of clothes, athletic equipment, a 40" TV, and all new bedding. It felt sort of like when he went off to college 2 years ago, just a different car and this time DS is the one doing the driving instead of DH.
He wants to have his car on campus this year so he is driving rather than flying (DH is flying back though). Move in for his sport is tomorrow but he has to get his stuff out of storage in the morning so they left a day early.
Since he has seniority in the housing lottery for his fraternity he managed to snag one of the “double rooms” which means he’ll have two twin beds that he will push together to make one king bed (hence all the new bedding) and can use one room for a study/hangout room (where the big new TV will go) and the other for his sleeping space.
He was happy to be home but also eager to get back to school and his friends. Also his girlfriend. She is also an athlete but won’t move in until next week. She is from Michigan and DD18 and I met her for dinner one evening during the course of our college tours for DD and she is lovely.
Hope everyone else is enjoying the last couple of weeks of summer!
My son left early this morning to drive south for Year 3. He packed all his stuff last night, although he did forget a couple of jackets. I’ll send one in a week or so, but I decided to surprise him and bought another one. It should arrive Monday or so. He did have a great summer, and when he went to his final day of his internship, a card and a gift was waiting. His co-workers must have enjoyed him, because they would love if he would work with them during the holidays. He can always use some additional money.
About 10 hours after getting into his car, he texted me to say he arrived safely. I assume he’ll hang with friends and get a good night’s sleep. I’ll miss having him around. We had a lot of laughs this summer.
Mine left this morning on his 15-hour drive back to Bama. He promised to text me whenever he stops to fill up. I’ll feel better once he arrives safely back in T-Town. He’s grown up so much I’m kind of amazed.
My son finished his Internship yesterday and is flying back to school on Thursday. He has had a great summer and we really have enjoyed having him home. I am sad to see him go, especially as I am pretty confident that this will most likely be the last time that he lives at home for this extended period. He has an offer for an Internship next summer that isn’t local and he doesn’t see himself moving back to this area after graduation…especially if he likes this job and gets an offer. We are trying not to think about it too much! @tpcrd66 I too have a DD2018 and have started spending time on that page. I just signed her up for SAT tutoring…so here we go again!
We are moving DS to college tomorrow. He spent this past summer at home and doing internship just like last summer. I loved having him home in the summer. I, too, am wondering if this is the last summer we are going to have him home. Really hope not.
The summer did go fast. We are moving DD into her campus apartment a week from today. Her OT volunteer internship is over but she is still babysitting two days per week and working in a local bakery shop several afternoons per week. Her last shift is Sunday, right before we load the cars and head out. She is happy to be returning to school but really enjoyed banking some good earnings this summer.
Our DS, HS class of 11, BA in 2015, will be entering his second year of law school in a couple of weeks. He stayed in his apartment all summer as he had a 4 week summer session in California and then worked at a start-up incubator for the rest of the summer near campus as the program was university sponsored. He just finished his OCI week (on campus interviews) and is currently flying around the country on callback interviews that will hopefully lead to a summer associate position with a large law firm for next summer and then a full time junior associate’s position following graduation in May 2018. Yes, we will have two graduations in 2018. Based on current scheduling they will either be a weekend apart of one on a Saturday and the other on a Sunday. The schools are a six hour drive apart. It will be an interesting and crazy couple of weeks.
@AvonHSDad I remember that the first semester of being a 2L was very very hectic. All those interviews and traveling, plus I was writing an article for law review. Oh yeah, classes and all the associated reading. And I was working full time (I went to law school at night). Good times, good times. Best of luck to your DS in his job hunt. The good news is that once he snags that summer associate position he would really have to mess up big time not to get an offer. And it’s quite a stress relief to have your permanent offer in hand before the last year of la school even starts!
I may have asked this already, but if I did, I cannot recall the responses…
For those with students living in off-campus apartment, how did you decide on the amount of money to allocate for groceries? Adjust after a few weeks in?
Son will eat lunch on campus using dining dollars, but I am hoping he will eat breakfast and dinner back at his apartment. He really does not cook, so this shall be interesting.
It wasn’t this one, but my oldest who lived off campus. My contribution was a commuter meal plan (covered lunches and was a lot cheaper than an on campus plan for the same number of meals). She paid for her own groceries.
My D has been cooking all her own meals in an on-campus apartment, but only for a few weeks so far. She casually mentioned she’s spending about $50/week (she’s paying, not us). She is learning to cook, and I don’t think she’s buying a ton of prepackaged stuff from what she’s described. She’s also tiny and doesn’t eat as much as the average kid, so I’d adjust up for a son. If you’re paying, I’d ask for the first month of reciepts and go from there. She’s also in a city–not getting bargain priced food.
I think I posted this before, but I give S’15 $2000 a semester, the equivalent of a meal plan.
It may sound like a lot, but I doubt any of my children would accuse me of being overly generous.
For 16 weeks, that works out to be about $6 a meal. He rarely eats out so I think he comes out ahead. In fact, I wish he would use it more for social meals etc.
@ordinarylives, @Parentof2014grad & @Dave_N — thank you for the responses. Trying to get a handle on this due to the presence of an ex-husband and a 529 plan. I know that the 529 plan can cover up to the cost of room & board, so I guess I will have my son keep food expenses on a separate charge card. The on-campus dining dollars (for lunch) will be cleaner from a record-keeping perspective.
I think you can get the actual amount spent on room and board (with receipts) OR the amount estimated by the college in the COA. If your student has higher costs, he can ask for the school to recalculate his COA. Do you think the amount estimated for meals in the COA is low? If not, I’d just use that and pull it out of the 529 at the beginning of the semester.
My daughter is living off campus but has a meal plan (we’re trying to get out of it but it is part of her athletic scholarship and I’d rather just have that money applied to tuition). It is the same meal plan she had last year when she lived on campus. It is way too much ($1800) and at the end of the year everyone is just buying expensive meals, snacks, etc to use up the amount. She doesn’t like to eat at the cafeteria, and it’s about $11 per meal. They do have a little grocery store and she can buy things there, but they are more expensive than the regular grocery so why not just go there?
@twoinanddone – No, the school’s estimate for meals seems plenty high to me (as long as he learns to buy groceries and prepare meals in his apt!) The dining allowance is $5600/year and I don’t feel he will need that much. Will play it by ear and tweak a bit.
It has been my policy since he started school that I pay for the meal plan, but also add to his dining dollars for lunches, as there is only one ‘swipe’ dining hall on the main academic part of the campus so most students buy lunch at the a la carte places. A waste of money, but reality. I will continue to fund the dining dollars, but want him to continue to be responsible for dining out with friends.
Since this will be the first time dealing with non-university dining, I am just trying to figure out how to track it for the 529. Hopefully using a dedicated CC will help. Not expecting to be audited, but you never know!
My DD stayed in Nashville and worked in the admissions office at Vanderbilt this summer. I flew up and we drove home together last weekend. She is studying abroad and leaving at the end of the month. Nice to have her home for a couple of weeks. Her boyfriend is here visiting for 3 days, first time meeting him. He is very nice. DD secured an internship in Cincinnati for next summer so she is happy not to have to worry about that while she’s abroad. College is going by so fast. It’s crazy that they are starting junior year already!
