FWIW my D lived on campus at a Purdue through first semester junior year. No issues with getting dorms. Also no issues with off campus housing. Lots of off campus options at all price points and good public transportation if your Boiler chooses to live farther from campus. There are always students looking to sublet as well which makes the market more flexible.
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oh definitely, i agree. He didnt even take the physics placement class since it seems that their first year class covers material that they didnt cover in AP physics C. He will bypass both their calc 1/2 and intro to stats class though. I also dont see a benefit of skipping 100 level english classes
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I am glad I am not the only one who thinks about that. S24 has a single room accommodation approved and wondering if that will follow him or if it will be more difficult in the second year (strangely at Williams it seems that there are more first year singles than second year!)
On English I think it depends. If they are just giving gen eds versus credit for that actual class, etc.
At some schools intro comp is really labor intensive. I wouldnāt say āhard,ā but some require lots of papers. If your course load is already really heavy you might prefer a class thatās less intensive, or one that you simply like more. Say your kid is really interested in a language or wants to explore drawing or art.
I knew kids at college who were either really smart or didnāt care about GPA who just decided to take Organic Chemistry or DiffEq on a lark. If youāre that kid it makes sense to chisel out some room.
Williams does not give credit for AP, just placement. They have a general writing requirement that is 2 courses with heavy writing over the 4 years. There is no clear intro class that they take. (At least that is my interpretation of the info on the website. S24 will meet with an advisor I. August to figure out the details)
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No, it is not any harder the second year or beyond.
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My S24 just got approved for a deferral at Cal (Engineering) (based upon medical issues). Anyone elseās kids doing a gap year?
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We just spent this past weekend taking our S24 to a rush weekend at his school, too! Boys rush definitely starts before they are on campus, even though the official boys Rush is the first week of school. I think there are two more rush weekends my S24 may attend, and we may let him go to the next ones without us. I was unsure what to expect for this first one, and so my husband and I decided to enjoy a quick getaway to Columbia so we could be there for him, just in case. Fortunately, he was just fine and had a great time, and husband and I both are really enjoying Columbia! We have had great meals at lots of local restaurants, enjoying exploring a fantastic Saturday farmerās/art market, and checking out local shops. Really excited for him to be in a walkable small city with so much to explore.
I have done almost nothing to start preparing for dorms. Fortunately, both my kids are pretty minimalist. D24 chose a comforter. S24 just wants something plain but also wants good towels.
Currently debating whether to drive S24 to school. She REALLY wants to drive, but itās about 18 hours. But maybe I should just do it and relish the car time? Iām probably most nervous about the stretch of I95 through DC and then up past NYC. But I can do hard things 
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This is fine. Usually busy but moves.
Consider doing a one way rental and flying back.
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Not sure where you are coming from or to but you might consider I 81 and you can cut across on I 84 north of NYC
18 hrs seems a flight. Not drive.
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Glad you guys had such a nice time. He will be flying back on his own mid July for the next rush weekend. He booked himself plane tickets, transportation to and from the airport and the hotel room. This will be a nice trial run for during the school year. We very briefly considered driving him down in August but it is a 19-20 hour drive and just so far and to then have to drive back after move-in feels like too much.
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Yes! Definitely planning to rent a car and then fly back! Iād be happy to fly both ways but my D24 absolutely loves road trips. We did a road trip together from Rhode Island to Florida two years ago and it was a (mostly) fun, memorable adventure!
@tsbna44 I will definitely check out the alternate route you suggested. Thank you!
@coastal2024 thats great that your son is navigating all these plans and meeting so many people and getting excited about Auburn! Such a wonderful school and everyone I know who went/has kids that went raves about it!
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D24 finally finished all of the remaining safety training stuff which was due tomorrow. Nothing like leaving it until the last minute. 
She heard back this weekend from her roommate, who wants to connect via phone or social media so they can talk about dorm room stuff and start getting to know each other a little.
Weāre headed to Hawaii in 10 days and D26 is really excited about the Jurassic Park filming locations ATV tour that weāre signed up for. 
Meanwhile, I have a growing list of local eateries that I want to try while weāre there and we wonāt have enough time to try it all.
Doing the rest of the adulting things will probably wait until after we return home from vacationā¦so the legal paperwork (power of attorney stuff), D24 getting a credit card, blah blah blah.
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So, D24 took her math placement exam last Thursday (the deadline to complete was 6/30). When I asked her how she scored, she said she didnāt get one. I know she must have done something wrong in submitting, but she was adamant that she didnāt.
It goes against every fiber of my being, but I am not going to continue to nag her on this. Iām going to let the chips fall as they may. I would rather she fall flat on her face and deal with the consequences on something fairly low-stakes and maybe learn to reform her ways than swoop in and save her from herself (yet again) when sheās not going to have me to do this next year. if I am talking big, know that of course inside I am freaking out about it.
In the words of air traffic controller Steve McCroskey:
āLooks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinkingā
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((((Feel you))))
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When D23 took her placement tests last year - she didnāt get an immediate score from any of them (and neither did D20). Both were told their scores when they met with their advisor to do their schedules.
S24 doesnāt take his placement tests until he gets to orientation.
At UMd it was the same. they donāt really get a final test score and they donāt know their placement until orientation. The know their raw section scores but those cannot be easily converted to a final score and placement without a formula that is not published.
Oh Iām right there with you on this. Hereās a not-related, but parallel, example from our casa:
At HS graduation, SIL (my sister-in-law, DHās sister) said that she, Niece, & Nephew were planning on coming here for a weekend visit probably some time in late July because Niece & Nephew want to spend time w/D24 before she goes to college in August.
D26ās school year starts 8/5. SILās kids go back to school mid-August. D24ās move-in date is 8/23.
SIL is extremely flaky & unreliable about making plans. Flaky to the point where it was the day before her wedding rehearsal and she hadnāt told anybody where the rehearsal dinner was happening and kept forgetting to tell people even when they asked about it.
DH & I have repeatedly asked SIL about what dates will she be here. SIL responds with nothing. Doesnāt return phone calls, doesnāt respond to text messages. nothing. radio silence.
Couple of days ago, D24 asked me what days will her aunt & cousins be here. I told her the truthā¦that we donāt officially know yet, all we know is the approximate weekend that SIL previously said a month and a half ago. D24 asked because she has to submit for time off of work 3 weeks in advance.
I suggested to her that she ONLY request the Saturday off because based on yearsā past, SIL will show up late at night on a Friday night, stay over Fri & Sat, and then hit the road to drive back home on Sunday shortly after lunch. Therefore, D24 could still work on Fri evening or on Sun if sheās scheduled for those days. And D24 hasnāt been getting very many hours at work due to all of the trips & vacations sheās been taking since graduation.
So what did my kid do? Requested for the whole 3 days off. When we donāt actually know if SIL will actually be here or not.
She will just have to learn the hard way. I am regularly frustrated by this sort of thing.
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Has anyoneās kid been able to find out their AP scores through their college portal yet? Supposedly they were sent yesterday, though I suspect most colleges donāt have a frequent schedule over the summer for downloading from College Board.
We just checked and it says July 8th. Where did you see they were released?