Parents of the HS Class of 2025 (Part 2)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
621

S25 will get a few gen ed credits and a couple of electives as the number of APs that can be taken are limited. Trying to get through this last week of school before diving into the college schedule specifics.

He also has to complete in person orientation (June 17) before they can register for classes (June 20) via Zoom with an advisor. The in-person is an all day event serving breakfast, lunch & dinner. The student can bring a guest/parent for $65. Considering skipping this as the parent activities are all available online and other sessions overlap some of the student admit day info. How are other colleges in-person orientations set-up?

622

My 27 takes classes at a private university (DE), and that school selects in April, too. The incoming freshman don’t do it then, over course -they do it in June.

1 Like
623

I’m with @AnonMom on trying to keep up with everyone!

On APs: former school did not require us to pay for any AP exams, most likely because the school has a high FRL rate/is Title I. I don’t think the school required that he take the exam, but most kids did take them. Current school requires the exam and required that we pay for them unless we can demonstrate need.
S25 took the Econ exam last week and will take his make-up Stats exam this week, which he missed due to a three-day all-state band event.

On registration for fall: I believe registration is on 6/24. S25 was advised to jump on registration as soon as it opens, so we’ve started reviewing schedules and class options. I think he gets assigned an advisor prior to that to help him figure it out, but I’m not clear on that right now. He’s keen to manage the process on his own as much as possible, which is great, but nerve-wracking for me. He will need to inquire about how to plan around his AP credits, which won’t really put a huge dent in his requirements other than maybe testing out of the required rhetoric class because of his 5 on AP Lang. We’ll have to see how things go with stats and econ I guess.

On senioritis, prom, and the end of the year: oh my goodness talk about soiling the nest. We’ve had quite the week of poor communication and snark as he endeavors to really spread his wings. I get that he wants more independence and I’m cool with it, but I get really annoyed when he translates that to mean that he doesn’t need to communicate or engage with the family. This is not an apartment building where he can come and go without interacting with his neighbors… so annoying. But we have discussed it and I think his dad will talk about it a bit more when they go deal with his prom suit/tux today.

Academically, it was tough to keep him on task before his capstone presentation, but I think now that it’s behind him and he’s looking at one more AP exam, he’s feeling a little more relaxed. I am not clear what happens during final exam week, since he apparently doesn’t have any? Do they still make him come to school and he just sits in the library? That would not go over well at all… Plus he got busted for cell phone use of all things during the school day (no cell phones allowed so they confiscated it), and that just annoyed him because he hated being treated like a kid. He needed the reminder that he may be 18, but he’s still a student at the school and has to follow school policies. Plus the reminder that now is not the time to drop the ball. Thankfully, so far that is a pretty minor ball to drop in the greater scheme of things, but it sure made him cranky. He is so over all of it and ready to graduate. So is my 8th grader, which makes this a house that is pretty unexcited about all things related to school right now. Ugh.

Prom is in about two weeks - still no solid plans for that either. Shocker! He’s still got a few big track meets. It’s been a huge learning curve to go from a tiny team where he could ask to run just about any event and was expected to run 3-4 of them so the team would score points to a much larger team with a number of fast kids and needing to compete for a spot on a relay squad. He did not race particularly well this past weekend after being away from home to attend this all state band event for most of last week, so now the pressure is really on. He’s headed into the homestretch with the big meets that could qualify him for a chance to run at New England’s or maybe nationals in June. Fingers crossed he can keep on top of the little things (fuel, sleep, hydration…) to make those meets both memorable/fun as the final ones of his high school career and as solid performances that he can feel really good about.

8 Likes
624

S25 will register for classes at orientation. He signed up for the earliest one he could (The first 2 or 3 conflicted with graduation and other events.) He meets with his advisor first and then will register on June 3rd. S23 also registered for classes at orientation. Different schools.

2 Likes
625

Hillsdale sets up the first semester classes for all incoming freshmen. So D25 doesn’t have to worry about it.

She does have a summer reading assignment though. I had never heard of that until now. Anyone else have to do summer reading/assignment for college?

1 Like
626

My D had a summer reading that would serve as a basis for small discussion groups during orientation (so not graded).

1 Like
627

S25 has summer reading for St. John’s Annapolis.

4 Likes
628

My D24’s college also assigned first year students their classes for fall semester and had a summer reading assignment. D21’s college had summer reading assignments and 2 podcast episodes to listen to! I admit I actually enjoyed reading the assigned books (living vicariously methinks) and we listened to the podcasts while driving the 900 miles to move her to college.

2 Likes
629

Happy Mother’s Day! :two_hearts:

8 Likes
630

I confirmed, HS pays for AP tests, but if you don’t take one, you are then required to take a final exam…so you are taking a test either way; might as well just do the AP. In fact, it appears that most of them use an old AP test as the final if you don’t take the official one. I was surprise that people were opting out of tests, and I asked C25 about it and she said she had never heard of anyone not taking the AP test if you are in the AP class because of this policy.

1 Like
631

I have a high school graduate! I absolutely cannot believe it. But it was a wonderful graduation weekend. Friday night was the baccalaureate and awards night. S25 was recognized for being a national merit finalist and also won the excellence in computing award. He was really excited about it. After the award night, we went to a nice dinner with the grandparents. The two sets of grandparents got along great and we had a wonderful evening.

We were up bright and early to leave at 8 AM for the graduation that started at 9:30. I was worried that we were a little over-the-top in our arrival time but by the time graduation started, it was standing room only in the Fieldhouse. I had a bit of a cry before the graduates walked in, but I managed to keep it together during the actual commencement ceremony. One of S25’s good friends was valedictorian and gave a wonderful speech. The ceremony was super quick and really well done. We got awesome pictures afterwards, including the boys enjoying the tradition of smoking cigars in the parking lot after graduation. They are hilarious pictures. Basically, the Rat Pack meets The Outsiders.

After graduation, we headed to the local art museum that we rented out for a party. We had 13 families participate and around 175 guess. It was an absolute blast. We had a jazz trio, wonderful food, photographers, and lots of poignant reminders of the boys time in high school. I wasn’t sure how my family and S 25 would react, but everyone loved the day. I could tell it meant a lot to my son. I keep going back and looking at the pictures and I am so grateful that it was a memorable weekend to celebrate our boy’s accomplishments and next steps. Still can’t believe this season is over. But what a season it’s been!

Hope everyone has a great week!

37 Likes
632

College Board denied our request for extra time on the AP Psych test for my daughter with a broken right wrist. :sob: Sooooo irritated. We filled out all the paperwork properly, her guidance counselor and principal were incredibly helpful (and my husband teaches at her high school so he was on top of it too) and we had a letter from the orthopedic surgeon who saw her, but apparently it wasn’t enough. :enraged_face: I thought about trying to battle it, but talking to her teacher and my 2023 who took that test two years ago, it’s likely not worth it. Uggggg All she needs is a 3 for Cortland (my 2023 needed a 4 for ‘Cuse) so I guess it is what it is at this point…..

16 Likes
633

That is ridiculous. Ugh I am sorry.

4 Likes
634

Hey all - we’re in a similar boat as many of you. Nearing the homestretch but So Much To Do to get there.

School stuff - S25’s last day in school is this Thursday. Then they do their senior capstone experience for a few weeks before graduation. He’s desperately trying to get late assignments turned in so he can pull his grades out of the crapper. He spent all weekend on stats and english assignments. Since he bombed so badly third quarter, he was supposed to aim for A’s this quarter to try to counterbalance. That’s not going to be possible, so I’m hoping for low B’s at least. We’ll see.

The downside of him being so busy is that it just stinks to not be able to do anything fun on the weekend. Not only was yesterday Mother’s Day, but also my 50th birthday. Husband remembered a gift (we won’t speak of my 30th birthday and first coherent Mother’s day (the year prior I had a colicky 4 week old, it didn’t count as I was a zombie) … which he forgot…), cut me some lovely flowers from my yard, made the coffee in the morning and gave me the time and space and quiet to just sit in my cozy chair and read. We went to my mom’s for dinner and hanging out with the cousins, but S25 had to come late and leave early to try to get work done. This is exactly what happened over winter break - I felt like we were held hostage in the house because he needed to be doing homework to catch up, and we never quite got to do the fun casual family things I had planned. This is one thing I won’t miss once he’s in college next year.

So if I understand correctly, he had to turn in all his English and Math overdue stuff today. I don’t think he has any overdue stuff in Gov or in ASL and I don’t think he has any more tests/quizzes for ASL. He’s got this week to complete three lab reports for Chem, as well as to finish his science fair project and complete his photography portfolio. I’m hoping he gets at least some of this done. He had a chance this quarter to get good grades that could’ve made up for the third quarter debacle, and he’s basically lost that chance, so now I’m just hoping for decent grades.

He has basically an all day senior BBQ / field day / party on Friday, two weeks of internship, prom is on the 31st and graduation is on the 4th. We just need to get there.

On the college front, because he’s still stuck in trying to catch up on HS stuff, he’s behind on the college things he’s supposed to do. You have to complete several hours of virtual orientation modules before you can meet with your academic advisor, and must meet with the advisor before you can register for classes. He’s done a little of the orientation, but has a good bit to go. At this rate, he’s not going to get a good time slot for course registration. I’m hoping it won’t be a problem because (a) his APs are basically going to count for almost all the required gen ed courses and (b) his major is capped to a small group of students, so I’m hoping that means that they ensure enough seats for the students in the required courses.

He’s also done nothing about finding a roommate. I hate the whole roommate process at Clemson. You have to find your own, which I think is challenging regardless. Students must find a roommate by May 15th. If you don’t have a roommate by May 15th, you go to the back of the line for housing selection - all roommate pairs get to go first, and they go in order based on the earliest date that a roommate submitted their application to Clemson (not housing deposit, actual application for admission). So you can’t say “just pair me up with a random person and merge us in to the by date selection”. Instead it’s all roommate pairs, then all people who haven’t identified a roommate. I’ve been asking him to reach out to people via the portal or instagram or whatever, but he hasn’t or hasn’t had time. I’ve decided that if he doesn’t care, then neither do I. He’s probably going to get a crummy dorm, but that’s life. At least the dorms that seem the least desirable (because older, junky hall bathrooms) are in a good location, so if he gets that, it’s not totally awful.

15 Likes
635

Ah, the old “if he doesn’t care, then neither do I” - if you are able to follow through on the not caring, please tell me how you do it! My DS has a very different understanding of time than I do. I try to tell myself, “this is not your problem; you will not be facing the consequences…” but it’s harder than it sounds.

9 Likes
636

Oh, I generally suck at this (if he doesn’t care neither do I). But for some reason, the finding a roommate and getting housing thing feels easier to let go. Maybe because I know he will live with someone and somewhere, and it can’t suck that badly? I’m having a harder time with the fact that he’s not doing what he needs to do to register for classes… because that feels like a larger potential consequence for failure.

I am moderately worried that he’ll end up with a roommate that is the complete opposite of him, or with totally different sleep habits or interests, but he’s generally an easy going guy, so I think he’ll manage. He’ll just have to make friends elsewhere on his hall if that happens. It also helps that, generally, I think guys live together easier than girls.

5 Likes
637

Yes, I agree about registration for classes, and I hope you’re right about rooms. Right now my stress for him is the math placement test.

1 Like
638

My son will have between 22-26 credits walking into GT. At UMD he would have had 42! Oh well, he really won’t need to take many gen eds in history, so that’s good.

Prom was this weekend, he didn’t want to go. He did go hand out with some friends so at least he got out. I’m really disappointed in him, but I couldn’t force him.

Older son just told me he has a new GF and seems blissfully happy. Let’s hope this one doesn’t almost make the 2 yr mark and then he decides to dump her.

8 Likes
639

Congratulations to your S25! The whole graduation weekend sounds ideal, and so glad everything went smoothly. :blush:

Ours is this Thursday evening, and MIL arrives in town Wednesday. (My parents sadly are not well enough to travel, but they will watch the livestream.) We have a dinner reservation at a nice restaurant on Friday night, and then we have a casual drop-in grad party at our house on Saturday evening, where the kids will likely get in the pool. (I need to plan food!)

I’m holding my breath for all of it, lol.

2 Likes
640

This is so stupid. Seems like a straightforward common sense request to me. Sigh, I’m sorry.

5 Likes