We were there! Of course my ‘Cuse sophomore was not interested in going. Sigh…. lol It was a great show!
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Great to hear how everyone’s 2023 kids are doing as the year wraps up. I feel for everyone who can’t find an internship. It’s so bad out there this year, with grants being cancelled and people laid off.
My son is very fortunate that he was asked back to the research institute he interned at last year, so he has that lined up. They even helped him apply for a private grant, so his position is technically grant-funded this year and he has his own project to work on. I feel incredibly grateful he has this opportunity when so many are being cancelled, although, I admit a small part of me wishes that he had the chance to study abroad and see things besides the inside of a lab. With this constant lab work (he’s worked there all breaks) and being a natural science major, studying abroad doesn’t look like it will be possible for him, and it was one of the things he was hoping for when he graduated two years ago.
Their college careers are now half way done. This year flew by!
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DD just got accepted into the J-Term Budapest math program. J-Term is the perfect amount of time for her. She doesn’t want to miss out on too much on campus.
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Congratulations! I’m a Budapest native so feel free to dm if your daughter needs pointers. I think I know which math program you are talking about.
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S23 just called to let me know he got the research position he wanted, starting in the fall! It is the professor he most wanted to work with, he can work in that professor’s lab for the next 2 years if he wants (or longer if he stays for a masters), and they were only hiring one undergraduate this year (apparently lots applied!) so he feels great about it. 
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S23 just got a 12 month internship that starts in the fall! It will be 15 hours of remote analysis a week during the academic year (which I am admittedly very nervous about him adding to his load, 
) and then the summer of 2026 he travels to the project director’s university for 3 months of full-time research in person.
(He couldn’t be more thrilled—I am so happy for him and I’m crossing fingers that the funding that is attached to the program holds.)
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Things are looking up for S23. Finally. He got the official okay to transfer majors (from music to IT) which relieves much of his academic stress. He was spiraling most of last year thinking he may have to transfer schools and just not sure of his path forward. I have really enjoyed listening to him singing and playing instruments again in the house as he figures out how to continue to incorporate music into his life. He just seems so much happier! He quit vaping and is taking a mj break. He is focusing on his health and working out more as well like he used to. Him and his gf have come to the mutual decision to break up as they are at different points in their lives right now. He recognized that doing long distance with a very anxious gf who has no friend group right now was too much for him to emotionally handle right now. He stopped doing all the things that made him happy and sane he says to try to keep her calm. She’s a nice girl but he hopes she can put her focus into applying for law school and rebuilding relationships with other young women her age. She hated that he is going to live in the frat house in fall and it isn’t fair to either of them to making living situation demands when neither are at a place where they are financially funding themselves (the frat house is cheaper for us the parents who are paying). She’s a very talented, smart, beautiful young lady and I wish her the best of luck!
Anyways, I feel like I got my kid back. We have been having mature conversations which give me hope. He starts his summer internship on Monday. His dad bought him a car so he isn’t so grumpy and stuck at home (he can get to the gym and to the grocery store). He is cooking, playing music, and overall just more normal. Fingers crossed!
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What is everyone doing for a student credit card? Right now S23 just has his debit card, but we’re thinking of having him get a credit card to establish his credit. HOWEVER, he has no real income… are there any good, no annual fee, credit cards that work with sporadic summer income?
I have an AMEX, and got each kid an AMEX via my account as an authorized user. These cards do build the kid’s credit, without the need for any income, provided they are 18.
7. They can begin building their credit score.
Once your Additional Card Member turns 18 years old, credit history begins to build. Starting off early with great habits—like paying bills on time and in full each month—will set your child up with a solid financial foundation.
I think there are some other cards that allow auth users to build credit too. Maybe check out Nerd Wallet and/or Bogleheads.
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I will PM you, if that’s ok (since we can’t publicly recommend specific products)
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S23 simply went to the bank where he has his student checking account, talked to someone, and was able to get a perfectly normal no-fee basic credit card (with a low credit limit, but an actual credit card). He actually did this freshman year, and they raised his credit limit this year. I was surprised that it was so easy.
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Interesting. S23 has a Wells Fargo bank account, but they said they don’t do student credit cards.
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We bank with WF and have a credit card through them that we have set to autopay in full every month. We added our kids as authorized users at age 16.
They each have debit cards associated with their own checking accounts. They buy stuff we’d pay for with the credit card and anything with their own money they buy with their debit cards.
S23’s credit score is quite good already, and he’s gradually transitioning to buying less stuff on the family card. Once he graduates, we’ll help him pick out a good credit card to have by himself.
If you can’t find a suitable card just for him, you could get a WF credit card and add your kid even if you don’t intend to use it yourself.
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This has worked great for S23, and after one year of using it it regularly (and continuing to pay it in full each weekend as a way to keep track of his spending and stay on top of it), he requested a credit line increase and they moved it up to $3,000.
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We added each of our kids as authorized users to one of our CCs at the age of 16 to start building their credit scores. We didn’t give them the cards (or even tell the youngest one at the time) until a bit later. (I know this advice is too late for this class of kids, but am posting for those with younger sibs as well.)
By the time they went off to college they each qualified for one of the crappy ‘student’ cards-- high rates, low limit, etc, but we had them set up autopay to pay off the whole balance right away so they never paid the high interest rates. (We also set up overdraft protection from the bank account that it pulled from: S23 has needed that more than once 
)
Now their credit scores are high enough that they should qualify for a regular cards soon.
I really do not know why S23 was able to get a credit card immediately. And as soon as he started looking at his credit score, it was decently high, too. (Now he gets a lot of spam email about mortgages.)
I was prepared for a long process of adding him as a user on our cards, getting him a debit card, and otherwise building up his credit, but he just went for the credit card right away and surprised me… 
Yeah, my C17 was turned down for credit cards when she graduated from college despite a high enough credit score that she was getting bunches and tons of “pre-approved” card offers in the mail—so she had to get a co-signed (with me as co-signer) credit card from our credit union.
I don’t really understand the risk management practices at credit card issuers with regard to college students and recent graduates.
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Our S23 finished his sophomore year at Alabama, and things are going great. He has a great group of friends, and he already drove to Connecticut from our home in western PA to visit his roommate and his family for several days. Yesterday he got on a plane in NYC and today – after a long journey – he arrived in Bengaluru, India, to study abroad for six weeks. It’s a little nerve-wracking for us parents, but I admire his sense of wonder and adventure. He is so intelligent, upbeat and personable – he’ll be a great ambassador for the U.S. over there. (We could use more of those right now.) The only downside is that once he gets back we will only get to see him for about a month before he heads back to Bama again.
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My MIL added both kids as authorized users to her card at 18. She just had DD apply for her own and will pay the bill until she graduates. Thankful for that!
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Back here after a long time and great to hear all the updates. I will echo that getting internships and summer research positions have been really tough this year.
DS23 finished up his sophomore year at Bama. He is loving his life in his own 1BR apartment and has his car too.
He got a paid IT position on campus that he enjoyed but then he got a paid research position in his field of study, which he accepted and has been enjoying. Did enough research to get an abstract accepted to a national meeting but could not go due to lack of funding. We offered to help but he was not going to pay out of pocket to go. Got accepted into study abroad but decided to not go. Reason was that he has traveled to Europe and Asia already.
Applied to over 100 internships. Got 2 interviews and got 1 offer close to home. Pay is not great ($20 per hour) but he (and we) are very grateful. It is brutal out there. I think being able to do paid research and having a prior job helped.
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