@BeeDAre Yes, there is assigned reading, one book?, for U of Kentucky.
Thanks for those suggestions, @dyiu13 . I did tell her to look up the instructor’s e-mail and phone - and she did - and to try and contact him as well on Monday. Not sure if he will be in during summer… but yes, she can keep trying until school starts.
Thankfully, the open session fits nicely into the schedule she already has. She’s only signed up for three academic courses, and a 3-credit hour phys ed course - that’s required for graduation - and her original intent was to have 4 academic courses for a total of 12 hrs. She went ahead and took the aerobics course to get 12 hours - That’s how many classes were already filled up! She was having a tough time finding enough courses to get full-time status.
She may or may not keep the aerobics course if she can get into Spanish - I really want her to not go over 12 hrs. But since it’s not academic… I’ll leave it up to her. The good thing is she would not have to move around her schedule at all, either if she kept it and added the Spanish.
Some times, a good way to get to 15 credits that first semester is to do four academic courses plus one gym or choir or something that feels good. Check drop and withdrawal deadlines in case the student wants to shed a course.
Btw, I found out D16’s flat-rate tuition covers up to 18 credits for a semester. She knows 15 is the max she should attempt, however. Have to check if spring FT tuition includes credits taken in January Term.
@carolinamom2boys & all- dfw here - thanks for the concern. We were actually at orientation the last 4 days. Coming home to a community in shock. One of the officers went to the same HS that DS just graduated from. His home is nearby- step-son attends a neighborhood elementary school & his parents also live close by. It is so incredibly tragic 
D’s flat rate also covers 18, but there’s no way she’s taking 18. Nope.
I really wanted D to take no more than 12, but - if she took 15, with 3 hrs being a gym class, it would really not be extra homework…
My biggest concern is, honestly, the combo of marching band with aerobics - and that she’ll just be exhausted all the time, lol. She’s not used to doing heavy-duty aerobics - she bikes, walks and does yoga. But I think also, it’ll be good for her.
Also, marching band ends in October. She’ll have an extra six hours a week after that.
Now, if she ends up just taking the 3 academic classes, and the gym class - well, that will be a nice relaxed schedule! If that’s how it plays out, she should enjoy it to the fullest - that may never happen again during her time at college!
@BeeDAre , I hope your D gets the class she wants! My older D ran into that problem her entire freshman year. Frosh got to pick last and she qualified for a higher level Spanish than most freshmen, but though she did get it, finally, by second semester, it was not at a good time, and most of her classes were not at optimal time slots. I remember her being on the phone with me…“OH! A section just got an opening! (click) DRAT! Someone else got it first! OH, what about this history class-does that sound interesting? (click) DAMN! They got that one too!” and so on…
And yes, D is reading a common book-it’s about voting fraud, and they all discuss it in small sections during orientation. Then she also has two books to read for the beginning of English Comp. One is on the history of the Jubilee Singers and the other is “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. I do hope that the first of those gets more attention than the other.
Both D and S are signed up for classes. Finally.
Both are taking five classes. One of D’s classes is a “college skills” class, and another is an arts elective. She’s taking math (her bête noire) but not science, so she’ll be okay, I think.
S has a one credit honors seminar, a physics class with a lab, two classes for his major and a music composition elective. He’ll be busy, but he’ll enjoy the music class. Their older half-sister suggested they take one class just for fun each term, and I think it’s an excellent idea-- and thank God for the AP credits that make it possible.
DH and I will both be taking DS to move in. We will drive up the night before and stay in a hotel. Maybe I’ll make reservations for a nice dinner close to campus as a celebration. My boys both do better with emotional events if they are well fed. We will get a time slot assigned in late July but we are just far enough away that all of the time slots will require going up the night before.
My D is ecstatic about college for many reasons…1) she no longer has to wake up at 5:15am each morning and 2) no more math!! The only part of STEM she loves is biology LOL!
Visiting George Washington University for the Inside GW Day (admitted students day) just solidified what she/we already knew! When the students were split from the parents and place into their respective schools (Elliott School for my D) she was in her element. She spent the entire day with Elliott School members (and found three of her six roommates). As an honors student, she/we met up on the Mount Vernon Campus to attended a private University Honors Program luncheon. As Honors students (including current honors upperclassmen and GW honors alumni) talked about their experiences and current educational/employment status, she just beamed as she looked at us with excitement.
Yesterday we had a little chuckle at her reaction to the cost of books. She’s taking 18 credit hours which includes several honors classes so you would think the most expensive books would be for something like honors evolution of modern thought or comparative politics. Nope…French. A series of books cost $444.28. The GW bookstore offers used books and a rental option but we choose new just to be on the safe side.
@HappyFace2018, have your D check with professor that all the language books are actually required. My D had to buy a textbook and a workbook, but she said homework was online so they never used the workbook.
They were over $350 new and there was no used option by the time she found out.
My D had to take two science classes with labs which took up a big chunk of the schedule (4hr chem lab and two days of bio lab), and then level 1 and 2 of German was 5 credits each. So she did not take more than that the first year.
She was able to as well because she had AP credit. Normally her day didn’t start until 10 am, except for one day of the chem lab at 8 am. The only other lab that would have fit with her other classes would have ended at 10 pm!
This year she is taking Ochem and taking some fun classes like ASL and an exercise class. She is also UTAing for the same bio lab she took last year, which she enjoyed immensly.
Both of us will be taking D16 back to school after her 2 week break. I’m not sure if her sister will be coming as well. Since most of her things will be stored at school we will have more room. After move in there is a parent orientation and then all family must leave campus by 6:00 that evening. Since it’s a Saturday I’m not sure if we will stay overnight in a hotel or drive back. It’s about 4-4 1/2 hours.
@bookmom7 I am so sorry that your community is going through this. My hope is that your community comes together to heal. A little over a year ago, Charleston was in a similar place as Dallas. They could’ve been more divisive as ever , but instead came together to heal and prove to the world that hate will not survive there. I hope Dallas does as well. My thoughts are with you.
@mommdc That’s an awesome idea.
She was so happy when she was able to get all of her classes. She had a little hiccup when she initially registered for classes because one of the honors classes was full (the honors students get first dibs on the honors classes then students not in the honors program can request the class). Her registration time slot was 8:30am…by 8:31am the class was full
They opened up an add/drop session at 7:00am on 7/6! She was on her computer at 6:50am and was able to drop and add!
@BeeDAre Your D may be exhausted initially, but then she will be in great shape! Often exercise can be neglected in college…and it is so important to keep students from being stressed, depressed, etc. when things get overwhelming (which they will at times). My D14 has intentionally taken a dance class every semester for the last two years at her college…partially because she LOVES dance, and partially because it keeps her active.
BTW, she also does marching band, and each fall semester having both dance and marching band has worked out just fine. And, she is one of those students that insists on taking 18-21 credits/semester (yikes!). I have stopped lecturing her on that…she just finished her 4th semester and is doing very well! PE/dance has helped balance it all for her.
Regarding registration @BeeDAre…make sure your D gets up early Monday so she is calling when the office opens! I also think sending an email this weekend to that advisor might help. Many students that get waitlisted do manage to get into courses the first week of school - so that is possible as well.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the cost of books so far. D and I researched her books together and discussed which books to purchase, new, used or rent. Overall she found the best prices at Amazon. Her most expensive book was actually cheaper to buy new. The class requires using the publisher’s on-line material, to access that you need a unique on-line pass code. The code is not transferable and not included in used books so she could buy a used book for $24 and a code from the publisher for $120 or a new book with code for $137. We ran into this issue with one of her DE classes, she rented the text book but the rental did not include the on line code for the book and she could not do her assignments without on line access so she had to purchase to code for the book from the publisher.
@3scoutsmom, yes we have found that too. For Bio it was cheaper to rent from Amazon plus buy $60 access code. For Chem new (looseleaf) it was cheaper to buy new and have access code included. It depends.
I must say I was very impressed when D called me during orientation week and had done all that research herself. She was worried about cost of books, but I told her I can claim it for AOTC.
And it was not bad, less than $700 in all, because all books carried over to second semester.
My D reserved her textbooks online through the school’s bookstore with absolutely no information about what the books will be or what they will cost (there was a note saying that not all professors have provided titles). However, I liked the convenience of having the cost added to her tuition bill - less paperwork to keep for 529 distributions. She can just go pick them up anytime between move-in day and the first day of classes. I guess I’ll keep an eye on the bill!
She has 16 credits scheduled, but it seems manageable. Bio class with lab for her major, Wildlife Ecology class for her major, Sustainability focused freshman comp. with her learning community, 2-credit environmental seminar with her learning community, Intro to Visual Arts for core requirement, and a remedial one-credit Trig. class so she can get ready to take calculus for biologists sophomore year. Spring semester, she’ll have more biology, “Physics for Dummies” and a real chemistry class, so we’ll see how that goes.
We leave in 5 weeks. Nothing has been purchased, her bedroom looks like a tornado hit it (as usual), and she is still usually working, sleeping or out with friends. Trying to remain calm.
S also moves in 5 weeks and nothing purchased until last night. I finally went to Target to buy his toiletries, medicine and a few cleaning type items - (LOL). We also went to BB and B and did his pack and hold list. I am going to go buy those items on a college night they are having soon. We still have a few dorm type items to buy-probably another Taget run-but the big thing now will be deciding what to take from his room versus leave. And figuring out how to pack the cars. We didn’t get much done but it FEELS like something. He has been so busy working and hanging out with friends, I was getting worried he was losing his excitement about college.
@gettinschooled Were you happy with the selection for the pack and hold option at BBandB? I did a little window shopping at bbb.com - everything I thought D would like was not available in stores so I got discouraged. We’re flying so I’m not sure what we’ll be packing except for clothes/shoes, a snowboard and some pre-washed sheets.
Have you all started looking at or buying laptops yet?