Oops–I posted a word that’s not allowed on this forum–but I meant it in the mythological, original sense!
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that’s awesome! 
Looks like D24’s little sister is starting to get over the flu and will be returning back to high school tomorrow. I asked D24 to double up on her Vitamin C before departing for the airport on Friday.
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S24’s Spring Break is beginning, and he was very bummed last night because apparently all his friends had started partying, but he had one more exam today. But the exam wasn’t until 1 pm, so apparently he decided to go out for a bit (but not imbibe), since he could sleep in and still do some final studying before the exam.
On the one hand, I was a little bit sympathetic. Can’t be fun to be the only one in your peer group not totally off the clock. On the other, I was reminded that for the most part, life’s challenges typically get a bit more intense AFTER college . . . .
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D24 is back home now. Woo! It’s nice to have her here for a week.
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Anyone else totally stressed out about the summer. S24 applied for a bunch of research programs but of course most of these go to upperclassman and some have been cancelled. He is now moving on to teaching at summer programs or being a camp counselor but those aren’t guaranteed.
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C24 is returning to the same seasonal summer job they had last summer. That was the plan all along.
For D22, a rising college senior it was tougher - especially because this was going to be the year they applied for internships to get experience in their field. I heavily encouraged looking at international programs with unpaid internships. Yes, it costs money and they aren’t earning money. However, it offered the best chance for a structured internship. We are fortunate D22’s college has a program for unpaid internships that they can apply for that would offset some of the costs.
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D24 is coming home this summer to her lifeguard/teaching swim lessons job. She’s applied to be a supervisor. D21 had research positions in labs at her university the past 2 summers and I’m not sure those even exist anymore to the same degree as they have in the past. She is planning to also live at home this summer and is waiting to hear about a paid internship in our area before resuming her co-term (finishing BS and MS next school year). But yes, I worry that there will be fewer opportunities for D24 and that D21 may have a hard time finding a job after she finishes her degrees in 2026. I worry most days tbh. ETA the upside is that both girls will be home this summer for the first time in 3 years! I’m looking forward to it. Holding both things, the worry and the anticipation of a full nest for a couple months.
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D24 will be living at home this summer and probably working a retail or fast food job.
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Retail and service jobs are not so easy to find in our suburban area. S21 put in tons of applications his first summer in college and didn’t have any luck. He would up working at a camp. Maybe things will be better this summer but most of those jobs go to people who can work year round
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D24 had a very early Spring Break and is returning to school tomorrow. She plans to apply online for some of the waiter/hosting jobs she would like. She could always work at her old job at the ice cream store. We had a rather darkly comic episode this past week as I tried to get her out and about for Break (a trip to the northeast had fallen through due to some bad friend behavior). I found a historic house built in the early 20th century and thought we could go check out the gardens and take the house tour. One of the things we long-time residents of the South don’t usually do is go to plantations. It’s one thing to go once to see the (reinstated) history, which focuses on the enslaved people and their legacies. However, most of us in the South toured them in our childhoods as part of a school trip, and we’ve seen it. Both my daughter and I thought we had things fully researched on this particular house. However, as she said afterward, the house foundation appears to purposely hide the plantation-era history in the internet materials! As soon as we got there, they had us watch a video about how the gardens started with a plantation house that existed before the current house, and the wife of the plantation owner is the one given credit for “planting” the original gardens. Aargh! At least it was a good reminder about how that history is everywhere, literally everywhere, around here. 
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There was a pretty big conversation in the Class of 2025 thread about the research funding cuts at universities all across the country.
Curious the take of those in this thread with STEM and/or pre-med kids….about how it will affect the rest of their college path, especially ability to do research.
My son is planning on med school and has a research fellowship this summer that seems safe (funded through a private foundation). We know/he knows how fortunate he is to have received this opportunity.
But still, I’m wondering if opportunities during the rest of his college experience will be impacted. Anyone have thoughts/insight?
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D24 is doing a summer internship at a large financial institution from June-August.
She applied to over 50? internships and finally landed one. Even as a freshman, networking seems to be a very critical part of the career process.
What we learned is that there are so many good candidates for sought after summer internships, it’s very difficult to stand out (even if you’re going to a prestigious university) unless you are aggressive on LinkedIn, making contacts, etc that can help you get an interview.
Probably much easier after your sophmore and junior years but very difficult after year 1. All the other kids in her internship cohort are rising juniors and seniors.
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Wow. Amazing!
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The biggest roadblocks(IMO) for freshmen are twofold:
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The college career center has more opportunities for upper classmen and not freshmen (obvious) so they have to do it mostly on their own.
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Many summer internship opportunities open up in the prior fall and require a minimum GPA. Of course, freshmen kids dont have a GPA so they cant even get past the initial screening.
Of all the applications she sent, she only got 1 interview (and that was through networking).
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The other issue is time. S24 just had a hard time figuring out what to apply to and filling out applications while getting used to an intense academic schedule. Also creating a resume and cover letters with no experience or course information was very difficult
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D24 is pre-health but we’re not too worried about research opportunities drying up. Some departments participate in an on-campus summer research program where stipends are available for undergrads. Research projects are available is in the Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics & Computer Science, Psychology, Physics, and Public Health Departments. Private funding sources.
Really wish D24 would hop on that bandwagon because even freshman can participate, but she’s not ready yet. I think summer after sophomore year is a strong possibility though.
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Any first year who lands an internship is well ahead. Yes, they are brutally hard to get. Congrats to your student.
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Did he ask his professors on campus? I know this year is different than any other year, but I know plenty of students that did research on campus the summer after their first year.
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he goes to an LAC with a formal REU in math and there was a sign up for physics research that he applied for. He will get it next year, seems this is typical at his school.
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