So sorry to hear that. That is rough. I know basically everyone gets EBV (the virus that can cause mono) by the time they’re an adult, but some just get hit harder than others.
A cool thing is that S26 is currently enrolled in a clinical trial for an EBV vaccine. The adult trial went great but of course all those folks mostly had antibodies to EBV already. We were surprised that our kid didn’t have the EBV antibodies and thus was eligible for the adolescent trial. I know he didn’t get the placebo (his arm got a little sore), so I’m thrilled that he got to be one of the first people to be vaccinated against EBV. I think they’ll be able to roll out the vaccine not too long from now, and I’ll be glad it’s available.
Hope your daughter manages to get plenty of rest and feels better soon!
Funny D26 also wants nursing. I am a nurse and work with nursing students often. I think the goal should ultimately be a BSN. So she could start CC for associates and then do Rn to BSN, or just do a four year BSN either direct entry or one that she starts and then has to be admitted to nursing in sophomore year. Many options. Definitely a solid career choice.
Nice! Our county college has a 3 year RN program and a direct connection to Rutgers for RN to BSN program. Honestly she could go to CC her senior year and be working as an RN by 20.
If we do decide to go 4 year we are looking for a direct admit program somewhat local. So much to consider.
That Rutgers option sounds awesome. She really enjoyed visiting all the southern schools with her brother (s24). She is touring Elon, UNC-CH, Duke and South Carolina in April. It’s funny b/c her team she coaches is waiting to figure out of they get a bid to the regional Summit which is the weekend at the start of April vacation so she is trying to plan visits around Summit, LOL. This summer she will look at UVA ad Georgetown. She wants to still be able to have a college experience with football games, etc. and wants direct entry BSN if possible. But she also realizes that many of the schools on her list are high reach for anyone so needs to add realistic schools.
A lot of jr/ sr athletes are building in college visits on our travels. I never even fought of it- so smart - I will be doing next year for sure. And that is a great list.
What team does she coach? We are at Star and an all of our teams are going to regional / youth and traditional Summit- dd’s team is trying to get paid!!
She’s at BTA Allstars a tiny D2 gym with a total of 22 athletes across two teams.
It is definitely possible to try and schedule visits if/when you can- my friend is sending her kid to Nash Camp this summer and will look at colleges in that area during that trip. It’s hard to squeeze in time during the school year with school sports and Allstar commitment.
I’m in south Jersey and work with lots of nurses who did the cc ASN to BSN both with the Rutgers route and the online bridge with a for profit school like Capella. It made no difference for the grads on admission to advanced programs like NP or nurse Anesthesia. What they had in common though was no or very little debt. One nurse got her ASN by 20 was working making great money, living at home still and finished her BSN by 21. She didn’t get the same college experience as some but she was one of many at my facility and they did a lot of social activities together, even traveling since they had money.
Hello all!
Officially hopping on Class of 2026 thread. I have S24 so that’s been my main focus, but we are in the waiting stage with him and for all intent and purposes my attention has shifted now to D26. It’s a whirlwind just when you get one through, no time to stop because another one (and another!) is right behind.
D26 goes to a teeny tiny SoCal high school, very different than her brother, when I say small, I mean small! Only 17 kids in her class. She is most likely going to major in Math. Not engineering, not CS, math.
She’s applied to several math summer programs so hoping one of them comes through. Excited to see what the next couple of years bring for these kids!
I also have a 24 and a 26. Math is a good major. Most schools offer math. She can focus on other features she would like in a school. (S24 wanted one of the less common engineering majors. He had very few viable options.)
S26 has not narrowed down a major. Right now his thoughts are on which high school courses he would most like next year. The guidance counselor told him that AP Calculus and AP European would likely be in the same block so he should select an alternative course for one of them.
Oh yeah! Did your S24 commit to a school yet? We are mostly waiting for RD in March and then deciding.
Yes, math is pretty standard across the board so it will be about fit in other ways. I will say she only recently decided a few months back to go for math. She’s always done really well in it and to her that equaled it must not be good enough to major in…but thankfully she’s leaning into her strengths now, instead of fighting against them.
Can I ask when people are thinking about starting tours? We are taking a road trip this summer to attend a graduation at a school that’s definitely not a fit for my S26, but some schools that are a fit are along the way. Is it too early?
Also, did you get good information from visits in the summer?
I think if he’s interested, then that’s great! My D26 has resisted college visits, and I think it’ll be fall before we end up going to see anything. I thought she might want to get a sense of what’s out there, but she noted that she doesn’t want to think about growing up yet. I can’t say I blame her!
We started visiting schools with s24 the summer before junior year. S26 tagged along. What we got out of the early visits was a feel for the type of college that appealed to s24. S26 has very different interests. We plan to have him visit a few schools this summer to determine the direction of his search.
Honestly it is never too early if you are able to do it. With S24 we started April break of his sophomore year and then did the following April of junior year. It was perfect. He ended up applying to many of the schools he toured and some he did not have a chance to tour. His athletic schedule prohibited tours from early August-January so April worked for us. Now with D26 we are doing the same- she is heading to tour some school this April and we will see when else she can tour after December next year.
Even if not interested in the particular school you could look and your kid can get a sense of setting they might like. Might help narrow down a long list.
Absolutely not too early. We started visits with D22 after her freshman year - not college-specific trips, but just a few half-days set aside during family vacation to do info sessions and tours at schools in the area where we happened to be. Visits during the school year are better, since you can sit in on a class and get a better sense of the vibe, but I felt the summer visits were still worthwhile. She didn’t end up applying to those schools, but she did get a sense of what she liked and didn’t like. (The summer after sophomore year was shut down by Covid, but we would’ve done the same thing in a different part of the country that year.)
It’s now D26’s turn, and I think we will be able to at least drive through 7 campuses along the route of our vacation this summer, ranging from rural LACs to OOS flagships. We will try to set up tours with 3 of them (2 LACs/1 flagship), and the rest we will explore on our own. It’s been surprising to me how just driving around can trigger a reaction - in a few cases, we didn’t even stop and get out at various campuses b/c D22 knew immediately that she never wanted to live there.
