This is one of the reasons my highly structured S21 preferred an LAC. I felt like they didnt have to do much at all during the summer before they started college. He always got the classes he wanted as well.
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My small school registers kids for their first semester based on their major, we have pretty well defined progressions for our programs. Students register themselves for second semester, and our first year seminar classes (required of all in 1st semester) go over how to register, etc.
Iād also add a caveat to RateMyProfessor - in some schools, there isnāt a lot of choice in instructor, or there are adjuncts that come and go (so a highly rated on RMP might have just taught for one term, etc.) and I will ALSO say that some of our toughest instructors end up being beloved, and/or not appreciated until students graduate and are in the fieldā¦
And to combine the two thoughts, when I work with students int he FYS on choosing classes, we discuss would you trade a 10am class with a less-desired instructor, or an 8am with a more-desired instructor, and students almost always choose the 8am. And often that more-desired one is one they āhateā at the start of the term until they realize the instructor is a GREAT teacher, despite a grumpy first impression.
My own kid will get her classes at orientation in a couple weeks, they did send descriptions of their first year seminar courses to be thinking about that but nothing on other courses. I trust the advisors on this one, but itās a SLAC and I am sure itās different at large schools. (I went to our flagship and QUICKLY learned the key to getting my classes - more like the index card method that @NiceUnparticularMan referenced - was to befriend the department admin. That woman was the absolute key to getting what you needed, way more than my advisor was. )
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I finished the photo book for D24! And it will arrive in time for graduation next week without even paying for expedited shipping! Looking through 18 years of photos, choosing my favorites, creating the book, felt like a āgetting ready to launch my youngest kidā prayer/meditation/reflection. Iām excited to give it to her next week. Meanwhile, sheās already started her summer lifeguarding job and still has finals this coming week, as well as senior and familiesā dinner, senior lunch and graduation a week from today, along with extended family arriving from out of town. I find my anxiety is heightened right now, itās a busy and exciting time.
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My S24 had his overnight UMd orientation this week. His graduation isnāt for 2 weeks - late in NJ.
UMd has about 10 options for orientation and he went to an early one to try to get better options for classes which worked out in all but one case (the upperclass-persons go for this one intro course because it hits 3 gen Edās at once). Ultimately, he added an (acceptable 
) dual major Gov&Politics to the plannned History major and Spanish minor and that might let him do a second language. The Gov major requires a language to the elem/intermed level which is the only way to do a language with fewer courses than a minor.
He also had a great time. Met people and Exchanged phone numbers. Met someone from one dept. and got the scoop. Then he ended up doing karaoke with people he doesnāt know. Believe me- this is unusual - and a good sign. They are all growing up. Heās ready to get the heck outta HS.
He also managed a summer internship with his congresswoman then we leave on a combo destination wedding and grad trip to Italy/Ireland in August before move-in. So a whirlwind summer.
Congrats to @OregonMom2024 who apparently will be at D24s Graduation right about nowā¦ if I did the math right.
Btw - If anyone is looking for a HS or College internship look up the Democracy Summer Fellows. Itās a national program with 10 students in each of 100 local battleground districts learning the democratic process, canvassing, phone banking etc. the program was started by congressman Jamie Raskin (D, MD-08)
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S24ās Graduation was yesterday and they had all night grad part from which he came back around early morning. He seems to have had a good time though now he is exhausted.
He flies tomorrow to attend 2 day orientation. I am hoping he meets some at the orientation and then may be find a room mate their. After the orientation we leave for out of country trip for 3 weeks and back mid July. It going to be busy few weeks.
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D26 and I went ahead and bit the bullet and un-bunked the beds in my kidsā bedroom yesterday and rearranged the furniture. The room now feels a lot bigger. Had D24ās buy-in to do it once sheād moved into the dorms, but D26 and I decided to go ahead and do it now anyway. We both think that sheāll discover that she kind of likes not having to use a ladder to get into the top bunk anymore. 
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So S24ās graduation yesterday was quite nice. We donāt have a valedictorian, and while the faculty do pick a senior to give a speech, they donāt do it academically. So the girl who gave the speech was actually quite funny, and even better she is part of S24ās extended friend group. So he got a solid set of jokes told at his expense, which was lovely.
My favorite part, though, was that we got panicked texts from S24 at a friendās house the night before, asking if I had any cigars. Apparently there is a tradition of smoking cigars after graduation, and the boys assumed they would be given cigars by the school, which was a rather daft assumption in this era. Anyway, somehow they learned otherwise, and the consensus among S24ās friends was that if anyoneās Dad might have cigars on hand, it would be me. Which I am still trying to process.
But it wasnāt an inaccurate guess, because in the back of a drawer I did have a few. Now I have probably not smoked, nor bought, nor been given, a cigar for like 15 years. But beggars canāt be choosers, so off to graduation they went.
And the good news is I am pretty sure those cigars have NOT sparked many lifetimes of bad habits. S24 had maybe half a puff before putting his out, and was still complaining about the lingering taste hours later, after I believe not just one but in fact two attempted tooth-brushings. As far as I could tell, only one of the kids relying on my supply got so far as to develop any ashāand probably someone should check on that kid today. But they all got pictures!
So a great result as far as I was concerned. Now we just have to make sure we get ahead of it next time if D30 chooses the same high school (as usual, kid #2 benefits from kid #1 running through the minefield first).
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This is perhaps the most āNiceUnparticularManā-ish post Iāve ever read. I just read the cigar portion of it to my husband, because I enjoy these slices of the good life from CC so much!
D24 had one of her best friends sleep over last night (just finished his first year at a well-known Northeastern univ., where he can hang with the social scene only because he has a great scholarship and a lucrative part-time job). They gave us some strange reason for the āpop sleepoverāāwhich was even less necessary because heās gay. 
I said that we used to sleep over because we were hating our parentsāno explanation really necessary.
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Please be careful with senior assassin games, I heard a teen got shot in Kansas.
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We are headed out today for the mandatory two day registration at Alabama.
Scheduling is going to be rough, as D24 has a couple of things that are single section for her honors program, and she wants to do a choir that rehearses in the middle of the day.
Sheās a super early riser, so I am not worried if she gets a class or two at 8:00. Mostly worried about whether she can get into sections she wants of her program courses, which have like 12 students.
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Whew! We, erā¦I mean D24 survived prom (āfun!ā), the post-prom party that went until 4:30am (āvery fun!ā) and prom house weekend (āLots of fun, but itās better if I donāt share the details.ā). She arrived home yesterday afternoon and fell asleep pretty much until this morning. Today is Sr. picnic and I also just got a text asking if she can go to a āPost prom house partyā tonight. Side note: what might pop up next? A Post āPost prom house partyā party, perhaps?
Between starting high school locked down for Covid and a pretty rough year socially last year, D24 hasnāt had much of a social life in high school. So, Iām actually really happy she is ending HS on a high note.
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Weāre getting daily texts & couple of photos from my sister of her & D24 on their trip. Theyāre having a great time & are traveling via train today from Norway to Sweden. The weather has been good, a bit of rain but not bad. High temps have been what our highās are here in AZ in the winter. 
Itās been strangely quiet in the house since D24 left for the trip last Thursday. A preview of whatās to come later in August!
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Initial advising and registration appointment this morning was unhelpful. S24ās advisor ācouldnāt seeā his transfer credits (from AP & DE) and ādidnāt believeā he had them. Advisor ārefused toā discuss what classes to take other than the base 1st semester plan, since S24 has credit (but advisor couldnāt see) for 5 of the first 12 classes recommended for his major.
After the advising appointment he had another meeting with a registration assistant, who also couldnāt see most of his credits and āmade himā register for classes he already has credit for. 
He now has a call & an email in to the registrar to see if there is a problem with his credit transfer, but it doesnāt seem like it because he can see it all fine on his college info system account. Heās very unhappy about systems not running like they should and forcing him to make phone calls or send emails (which to him should be reserved forā¦never).
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that is so frustrating. I canāt rememberā¦where is he attending? Is it UMASS? The runaround sounds like what we in NJ refer to as the RU Screw wrt to administrative headaches at Rutgers.
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My sonās dean is registering him for all his classes. He belongs to a special honors program with only 16 students so the dean registers them for the first semester since they all take the same classes.
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Yes, UMass Amherst.
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Yes! We had a great day, no drama and everything went off as planned. After 12+ parties Iām enjoying a very quiet day off! Good luck and thanks for scoop on internship, my have her check that out!
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I feel for him. D24 is also going to a big state school and I told her that this kind of stuff is part of the downside. At VT they have the kids make their own schedule before even talking to their advisor, which I think is good in some ways but it is definitely going to be tricky if her transfer credit doesnāt get evaluated soon.
She used to stress about emails SOOOOO much, but it has definitely gotten easier for her with time and practice. Seems like many job interviews are on the phone these days as well, which I find odd, but I guess makes sense with so much more remote work (i.e. human resources/hiring managers are who even knows where!).
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Iām surprised, S23 had no trouble transferring his classes for credit. But we did it a little bit later. I had to process it at the Community College where he took his DE Classes first, then it showed up in UMASS System right away.
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Not too much new here. D24 is still trying to find a job with regular hours, and is doing some theater.
Her final transcript came in the mail. She finished strong and it pushed her final class rank into the top 10% (from top 30% after a difficult remote learning year in 9th grade). Her close friend was gunning for salutatorian and they were so good for each other. 
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