Yes, that one! ^^^^^
I think it makes sense not to overload kids their first semester of college. A lot of change happening very quickly. Better to get off to a strong start than to be overworked and maybe stumble out of the gate. Going forward your kid can usually get a good handle on what kind of workload to take. Talk to other kids in that major a year or two ahead and see what they say. Certain classes are known to be more time consuming, harder to digest than others. Do not group two or more of those classes in the same semester. Also look at your strengths. Some kids will have an easier time in certain classes than others (will vary by kid). Do not take two or more classes in which you know you will struggle in the same semester. Sometimes that cannot be avoided. If so, lighten up on other activities a little that semester. Though still leave at least some time for something other than classes.
Yes; I completely agree ^^^. Let them ease in. Lots of changes will be happening quickly. Most kids away from home, lots more personal responsibility (laundry, shopping, etc). Dealing with sharing a room (maybe for the first time) with a stranger and all the pros and cons that come with that. There will be plenty of time to “buckle down”.
I’m advocating for S to retake calc his first semester, and to limit overall credits for the first one or two semesters as he gets used to college. He’ll get a lot of AP credit and there’s no need for him to graduate in less than four years, so I want to make sure he’s not overwhelmed first semester. Of course it’s a balancing act though; too much free time probably isn’t good either. So enough classes to keep him busy and engaged but leave free time for socializing, exercise, and resume-building activities like hackathons or research. It wouldn’t bother me if he were to take the minimum number of hours required to be a full-time student, although I suspect he will prefer to take more.
@birdie3 My son is in his 4th year at UVA. He has always taken 15 or 16 credit hours/semester…which typically is 5 classes. That has worked well for him and he is doing a double major.
@DavidPuddy TAMU is a hot mess. D18 applied to UT and TAMU at the same time as an auto-admit. Took UT three days to admit, TAMU took three weeks!!! My D is also NMSF and almost every email she gets from TAMU contains a glaring mail-merge error - showing OOS when she’s in-state, addressed as “Howdy [First Name]” in the email apology for the OOS email, etc.
My Aggie DH swears he got in OOS faster by snail mail.
@mommdc I have posted in the UA forum but have not gotten a response. I have talked myself back off the ledge a little bit as I have attempted to manually calculate his weighted GPA on a 4.0 scale and I come up with a 4.046. But the counselor at the school forwarded it up the chain as he didn’t know how to convert it. cough
Interesting that you mention UAH. We have sent his transcript and I included them as one of the 4 free scores on one of his ACTs but he has never applied. They called and left a message yesterday offering a fee waiver if he would apply. But he wants the big college experience so I can’t really get him interested.
Lamar University in Beaumont also waived the application fee so he did submit it thru the Texas App. They have contacted him to get him to interview for the full ride. But again… he isn’t really interested. He really only has eyes for Bama. And as a backup, Texas Tech.
It’s funny how two people can see things quite differently…
I told my D this morning that I naively believed that (for us) the college admissions process would be a memorable time of discovery and something that we could someday look back on fondly. I mean, I entered the game this time armed and ready with knowledge of the process that I didn’t possess my first time around with S15! I must have been delusional.
Instead, I’ve just prodded D along from one part of the process to the next, leaning on parental instinct to know when to back-off and give her some space. For the most part, she dutifully took care of her tasks of writing essays, getting rec letters, etc., but never had any desire to take charge of the reins when I encouraged it. From her perspective, this whole thing was more like a string of visits to the dentist rather than a nostalgic experience to look back on fondly!!
I guess I didn’t take into account that I’d been through all of this before and she hasn’t. I forgot that she’s had to deal with the stress of meeting her own essay & testing deadlines, bugging counselors to make sure they’re doing their part, and wondering/worrying where she might be spending the next 4 years of her life - all while keeping-up with 6 senior year AP classes & her extracurricular activities.
Looking back on all that’s happened so far, it actually has been quite the adventure filled with happy moments like seeing her face light-up when she hit the button for her first college submission & when she got her first acceptance; and not-so-thrilling moments when those awful deadlines were looming.
Anyway, we laughed about the whole thing & then hugged it out just before the school bus came - that’s already a good moment to remember right there!!!
@Kayak24 - congrats on getting the ED issue resolved!
@LMHS73 I liked your story! I too thought it would be more “fun” the second time around. But my first is a nervous Nellie who had all her applications in very early and had multiple acceptances by now. This kid is a drag-your-feet guy all the way. Driving me nuts!
@sushiritto Totally agree, I feel like “why not” on the REA!? Once he is rejected, I’ll probably really start freaking out.
I also have a D20 so will look forward to seeing some familiar names. I figure by the time I get S18 settled it will be time to do this all over again with my daughter.
The lesson I have learned this time around is that in chasing merit we have cast too wide a net for my DS – who needs prodding to write essays and has difficulty making decisions. His 9 is already narrowed down to his Top 5 (unless a surprise big merit package comes) which would have been a good number to start with.
I think he would be perfectly happy attending his in-state safety. His friend did a one and done to that same school and has not spent the last 4 months buried in the apps and essays. I still want DS to keep his options open to see if his top 2 come back with good enough merit aid. If that happens then it will all have been worth it! This is a crazy ride!!
I liked your story too, @LMHS73! I also thought this time would be more fun, or at least easier. Yeah, not so much.
Today I was on a long conference call so I started looking at the results threads for my kid’s REA school from prior years.
Don’t do that.
I’m late to the game here, but I am relieved to find out I am not the only parent who has found this process much more stressful than I was expecting. @LMHS73 I was naive too, and I can relate to your comparison about going to the dentist. My D is usually a motivated kid, but for a while there if I even said the word “college” she would just shut me out. Fortunately November is going much more smoothly than October.
I just want us to be able to enjoy this last year with her at home.
@suzy100 I’ve gone through the results thread my D’s REA school and felt manic-depressive. I’d go from hopeful and excited to a dejected and dumbfounded. That’s a roller coaster ride.
What is REA?
Restricted Early Action, @Astro77. For her school, it means she can apply early or regular anywhere else, just not Early Decision anywhere else.
Ok thanks. I knew about EA, but not REA. My daughter isn’t doing any of those.
Yes, this is our experience as well, and this is my first going through it! I’m a little scared to do it again in 4 years with D22!
Welcome @deweydecimal55 !! I’m also hoping to enjoy the last year with her at home. I have mental countdown until Monday, when her last honor’s app is due. After that, everything should be turned in and we should be home free! I hope we play the waiting game better than we played the applying game! :-S
I do think it will be better once this weight of deadlines is off. Hopefully a nice holiday season!! 
Finding threads: I don’t know how you all locate threads like the Class of 2018: List of Acceptances thread that was mentioned today. The only way I seem to find a new thread is if I happen to read about it in someone’s post or if one of you just outright tells me about one.
@3scoutsmom - My D would kill me if I showed someone else her McDermott video!! I didn’t know any new videos were available online so after I read your post, I looked some of them up. I can say that my D’s video is just like most of them - nothing fancy or special about it & not really better or worse than any of the others.
@traveler98; re: retaking calculus - I agree with your thoughts on the matter. All kids are different, but I knew deep-down that my S15 wasn’t ready to start his freshman year in Calc III. His honors college advisor already had him brainwashed by the time I got involved & in a meeting (with all 3 of us present) I strongly advised that he start out in Calc I. Well, trying to convince this condescending advisor & my son (whose ego had grown to 3 times its normal size by then) was like trying to move a mountain. Long story short - my son crashed & burned, lost all of his confidence, and never recovered.