I love it! I’ll come up with some options.
2 Likes
The recommendation of hours for a new college student very much depends on the student. With my less motivated sister, my parents suggested a lighter 12 hour load for her, but for me 5 years later I told them I was taking 18 and they were like whatever. D24 has 16 her first semester but if things had worked out slightly differently I would have been ok with her taking 17 or 18. I think I would be more likely to steer DS 27 to 14 or 15 if possible, but the rigor of the major and future academic plans is also a consideration.
One thing that students should be aware of is that college gives you the illusion of free time. For some, the structure of an extra class may be beneficial. My D went from being scheduled 8am to 9pm in HS to 7 classes a week. Of course there was PLENTY of work to be done in her own time. When she joined a team a few weeks into the school year it was such a relief because it structured her days.
Her second semester she prioritized morning classes, having realized what I had already mentioned before she left home: no matter how good your intentions, no one gets out of bed for homework.
If your students school is like hers, where there is not a lot of classroom time, I highly recommend getting an on campus job. 6-10 hours a week is not a whole lot and goes a long way in helping students organize their time. Even better if its a desk/reception job where they get paid to do their homework 
4 Likes
Yep, the idea is that there are 2 hours of out of classroom time for every credit hour in class. And also agree on the work study job, for all the same reasons! (I work in higher ed, which also colors my thoughts on this stuff.)
2 Likes
My S22 takes a lighter load in the fall with 12-14 credits and a heavier spring due to marching band. His AP and IB credits make that possible. It’s usually 4 classes in the fall and 5 in spring.
I finally found the information. It looks like they do need to sign up for a continuation course during winter study but it is an additional course, not an only.
1 Like
Glad you were able to find the answer.
1 Like
OK, well, I hope you all appreciate the care and effort that goes into this, because Round One was a failure.
Because I remembered hearing about a cocktail called a Hug Tight I thought I could modify, but frankly I found the basic concept (it is Amaro Sfumato and Mezcal topped with sparkling wine) gross. That is just WAY too much smoke for me, and the wine topper helped remind me of what my mouth tasted like the morning after some ill-considered evening activities (see prior posts about stale graduation cigars). Three shots at making it work all failed.
And you might be thinking, NUM, given what you described, perhaps one effort was enough to know you should move on? And you are right, a normal person would have concluded that. But not your dedicated servant.
But never fear, I am not deterred. If it takes me three or more cocktails a night until mid-August to get this right, I am prepared to make that sacrifice.
20 Likes
Progress! She uploaded her immunization records this week, and they were accepted as complete. She emailed about moving in early and was told that info will come out soon and it will not be a problem. Yay! And she’s been texting her roommates a bit. I need to get her to ask about shared things still, but we are getting there.
We ordered a bunch of dorm stuff this week and my house is filled with her piles. It’s making it more and more real every day.
10 Likes
@gotham_mom @helpingthekid73 , yes, be very careful taking language classes. My son took Italian 1 his very first semester and everyone in his class ended up having to take a makeup course because you didn’t get credit for Italian 1 unless you also took Italian 2 AND 3. He appealed to the registrar, chair of languages, and president of the college to no avail. Earlier this year he found out he could fill out a form to get credit for the class, so I thought they had rethought their policy. Just to be safe check with the registrar!
4 Likes
And this is why I am on these sites! Thank you! Will make sure he knows this and speaks to the advisor. He is on the fence about taking a language and this may sway him away from it. Thank you!!!
1 Like
I would never want to discourage a student from taking a language. I think this rule did not apply to all languages, and like I said, the rule may have changed. It would have been best to know this information up front. Good luck to you both, regardless of all the mistakes he made things have worked out very well for him.
2 Likes
Wisdom.
1 Like
Well, we finally had a critical “family meeting” about how financial things were going to be structured for S24 going forward. It was basically me on one side, S24 and NiceUnparticularMom on the other, and so I didn’t win every battle. Honestly, it was more like a fighting retreat the whole time.
But I do think the groundwork has been laid for S24 getting some practical understanding of what a limited budget actually looks like (he kept saying things like, “I know what a budget is, I took an Econ course,” which I really think was making my point for me). The funny thing is, we all agree S24 is not actually naturally inclined to be wasteful, and in fact he pointed out if he saw it as “his money” he probably would not spend much and would save most of it instead (again, I feel like these should have been my points!). So hopefully we can transition him to real world financial responsibility quickly despite what I would describe as a VERY generous parental role.
And in fact, even S24 laughed when NiceUnparticularMom called this helping him become “financially independent”. I know what she meant, but yeah, no, not for a long while yet. But hopefully when that time comes, he will actually be ready.
7 Likes
LOL–“I took an Econ course”! Quick, make some more cocktails! 
3 Likes
I call this one “Guns and Butter”.
4 Likes
As a public HS grad myself, I have a mental collection of Most Private School Things S24 Has Said.
This is a very strong contender.
11 Likes
I had to look this up to get it. Strange times!
1 Like
I’m a product of public K-12 schools and both my kids went to public K-8 then private for 9-12. Their high school friends were mostly clueless about money and most had no sense of how much they were spending, and no concept of budgeting. Having summer jobs has been instrumental in getting my kids to begin to understand how to budget. I also clearly communicate things I’m willing to pay for and what expenses they are responsible for. It’s amazing how frugal they can be when it’s their own money they’re spending! D24’s college offers a personal finance class over January block, and I’ll be strongly suggesting she take that class.
3 Likes
We (D25, spouse, and self) created a budget for D25 with 1) things that she was responsible for paying (non-discretionary real - e.g., gas), 2) things she “would” be responsible for in real life (non-discretionary placeholder - e.g., car insurance), and 3) things that she wants (discretionary - restaurant). We summed the 3 categories of annualized expenses and divided by 12 and provide her that much a month in an allowance. Then, at the beginning of the following month, she returns category 2 to us and we fund the next month’s allowance.
This, to some degree, mimics a active budgeting process where she is responsible for receiving a larger amount of money on a monthly basis, but not spending it allocating it for the category 2 expense. It gets tedious at times (and I have been known to provide a “top up” from time to time), but overall it has been a wonderful experience and she has really developed a handle on maintaining a reserve.
D25 had a public school personal finance course and, while I like the concept of it, it works better in theory than practice. The model above has been more practical than most anything she learned in the class.
For money that she receives from work / gifts, goes into her category 3.
4 Likes