So how was fall semester for the college kids?

[teachermom2834]

I realize most of the college students are probably still in finals but I got my freshman home last Thursday night. He had decided late in senior year to go out of state (500 miles away) where we know no one to a school that we had no experience with and wasn't really on our radar until the last minute. He has always been my least motivated but bright student. He did well in dual enrollment and well enough on his ACT to get a decent scholarship and admission to the honors program at his school so he is a good student but by no means one who is going to sail through without challenges or overachieve. I was pretty nervous about him going and kept saying I'd be holding my breath until he got home for Christmas and I could spend some time with him and have grades in hand. I am happy to say it was a very successful first semester and he is home and happier and healthier than I think I have ever seen him. He struggled with two of his classes and had low Cs at the midterm grade report and we discussed dropping one of them before the drop with a "W" deadline. He also has had quite a bit of conflict with his roommate. We discussed the implications of dropping as well as the minimum GPA requirement and progress required to keep his sizable scholarship. He was convinced he would pull through and didn't want to drop. He also was sick enough to visit the health clinic twice. So,it wasn't always smooth and I had been fairly worried about him.   He now has four grades in :Two A+, two A-, and he is still waiting for one he has a high C in before a promised curve and extra credit. So even if that is a C he did well and has given himself a GPA cushion for next semester. He says he loves his school and made a great decision.

He also found a job for the summer in college city so he will be staying there and taking a car down next semester. It is much better for resume building and definitely far more enjoyable than what he could do if he came home. So I have to get used to the idea he is really moving down there full time. I am proud of him for taking the initiative to get out there and find a job already. He has a girlfriend we haven't met from another state pretty far away from here. So it is a bit strange that he is only 18 and really has a whole life so far away- but we always encouraged our kids to get out and make a life for themselves and not be afraid to leave home. 

My college junior is still in finals but had a good first semester too. He just was elected president of his fraternity and got to visit Chicago for the fist time because the fraternity paid for him to attend a national conference. He is doing better than ever at his sport. He worked for the first time during a semester and that helped him save up enough to pay his spring semester bill. But now he is in great shape because his bill came and they awarded him another $1000 scholarship he wasn't anticipating. So he went from just having enough to some breathing room. He has secured a good accounting internship for the summer already and has a weekend gig lined up for extra money...so he is already looking forward to earning and saving money this summer. He is only coming home from about a week from Christmas to New Years because he can work and make money there and he would be pretty bored here for three weeks.

So...phew! Another semester down and closer to getting these guys graduated. I'll admit I am really relieved that my second ds is happy and healthy and finding success. PHEW!

[dirty ethel rackham]

Dd isn't done yet as she has 3 projects and two finals left.  She is loving college.  Although she did get sick and needed to go to urgent care 3 times, she has recovered and seems to be doing well.  It looks like she has 3 As, 1 B and a possible C.  She might be able to bring that B up to an A (Chemistry) and that C into a B (Calculus.)  She has a terrible teacher for Calc.  (All the upper classmen who have taken a class with this teacher agree.)  She is doing a ton of outside work to self-teach in addition to getting tutoring.  

We are looking forward to getting her home.  

[freesia]

My freshmen is having a wonderful first semester. He made a great choice.  He is still in finals week, but feels on top of all his finals and excite (!!!) about writing his papers. (This was my typical super bright, but unmotivated mid-teen boy who has morphed into an academic)

[G5052]

Both are doing really well. My older one (a junior) may break his 4.0, but he's good with that. He's worked his tail off. My younger one has all high A's going into finals week.

I continue to be amazed at how resilient they are. They both did beautifully last year despite major family changes and a move, and this fall they handled my long work hours well (they live at home). My older one juggles a part-time job, school, and is in the National Guard.

A lot to be thankful for.

[easypeasy]

My junior is finished with this 5th semester, but won't be home for a little while. She had four classes this semester: three with good profs and one dud (she gets to take a class with him again next semester, yay! 🙄).

She had a rough middle-patch with roommates drama that resulted in her moving to her own room with two weeks left in the semester (right AT finals week... great timing, right?). I was worried because she was averaging mid/low Cs in two of her classes and now had to MOVE on top of everything else.

She slowly moved over (driving her old roommates crazy, which was a nice bonus!! Bye, Felicias!) and I think was empowered by the physical act of moving OUT and moving on.

The semester had started to really eat at her mentally because of the constant bullying by her roommates and she was retreating mentally in on herself. It was painful to watch as she avoided her room, studying in other friends' rooms and study halls across campus. 😞

But, as she moved into her own space (NO ROOMMATES AT ALL!), she found her brain was relaxed for the first time in forever, she was able to study IN HER ROOM whenever she wanted. She could use the kitchen WHENEVER SHE WANTED. She could leave the lights on IF SHE WANTED. She could take a shower WHENEVER SHE WANTED! SHE CAN INVITE HER FRIENDS OVER whenever she wanted.

Anyway - she had some of the best studying in those two weeks than she'd had all semester long. She finished projects she'd left undone, turned in a couple late assignments to professors who'd left the windows open... and she ACED her finals!! She's finished with three As and one B+ for this tough academic and emotional semester!

She's super enthused about next semester. Her new dorm room is closer to her actual friends and she is absolutely loving the space. After finals, she is spending time sorting everything and decorating it all just how she wants it. I'm so relieved. We are blessed that her scholarship covers the upgrade to the single dorm. 🙂 Very thankful to get her out of that situation that went from "annoying" to "oh, no you didn't" very quickly.

Edited December 11, 2018 by easypeasy

[elegantlion]

My ds has had a difficult semester, some of it was attitude, some issues beyond his control. He's actually burnt out on college, but going to stick it out as he has 3 more semesters. One thing I had no considered is how the structure of homeschooling made college classes unlikable. He prefers longer classes, not 50 minute ones - and a few other reasons. He's also in a department that seems to have some politics at play that affected his schedule this semester. He actually ended up dropping classes for the first time ever. 

Part of it is a growing up issue, I think he's struggled with looking too far down the road, trying to decide if he wants to stay living in our town or move elsewhere. I think he'll be one of those young men that graduates then takes a few months or a year to figure out where he wants to go. 

His next big step is find a job for the summer. The last two he's worked on independent study projects, but he wants some outside job experience this summer, preferably something related to his major. 

 

 

 

[Pegasus]

I would call it mixed for both of my DDs.  The youngest is a freshman and felt a bit overwhelmed with the unrelenting workload of her engineering courses.  Part of that was the demanding courses and part of it was her inner driven need to do things perfectly.  Homework assignments easily took twice as long as they needed to because she would do them once "roughly" and then copy everything over as a final.  I guess the double work was successful in reinforcing the material because she looks on track to get excellent final grades (still in finals week).

Older DD is burnt out on school. After maintaining a perfect 4.0 for the first 2.5 years, she started slumping last spring. She actually failed a course and in her efforts to salvage that class, her other grades slipped a bit.  Her confidence took a real hit.  This semester was better but there was plenty of angst and tears. She's very worried about what the future may bring, finding a career path, etc.

[MerryAtHope]

My dd had a really good semester overall. She ended up changing her major from pre-nursing to early childhood education & is loving it! She got to do some special projects with her instructor (like they helped raise money for teachers to get scholastic books for kids--a lot of families here don't have books in the home), and enjoyed her observations and getting to work with kids. She did run into an issue with remembering assignments and now has an interest in using a planner (I couldn't talk her into one last fall, LOL!). She'll end up with either 2 A's and 2 B's or 3 A's and a B, depending on how one of the classes ends up, but she's glad to be done with finals and all her big projects, and is really looking forward to the break!

DS is on a gap year after finishing his associate's but recently started thinking about coding and is taking an online class on java script to test out his interest & see if he wants to pursue that more. We'll see how that goes! 

[elegantlion]

19 hours ago, elegantlion said:

My ds has had a difficult semester, some of it was attitude, some issues beyond his control. He's actually burnt out on college, but going to stick it out as he has 3 more semesters. One thing I had no considered is how the structure of homeschooling made college classes unlikable. He prefers longer classes, not 50 minute ones - and a few other reasons. He's also in a department that seems to have some politics at play that affected his schedule this semester. He actually ended up dropping classes for the first time ever. 

 

I wanted to come back to this statement and add a bit more for those wondering if homeschooling "ruined" college. The real answer is I'm not sure. The better answer is ds would have burned out on education in high school if he'd attended public school. He enjoys learning, but homeschooling afforded him the opportunity to have more control over the STRUCTURE of that learning. 

Would dual enrollment have helped? I don't know, we couldn't afford it and ds was less ambivalent about the intro level stuff, so probably not. 

Is this particular university a good fit for him? Yes, in most instances yes. he can live at home and commute, saving on housing costs, which we couldn't have afforded when he started. It's a smaller school, so he can stand out a bit in his area of strengths. The one downside is that when he changed areas of interest, we didn't have the specific major he wanted. He wanted to study a particular area of a science and most universities that do that were out of state. He applied and was admitted to a few schools as a transfer student, but finances didn't work out. He opted to add a minor and keep his major.

Was university a good idea at all? Yes, ds has had opportunities he never would have gotten if he'd entered the workforce right after high school. He's also pushed himself academically. He'll be able to graduate with little debt, so even factoring out job prospects, the whole experience has been good for him. 

He won't be going into academia and part of his burnout is just personality. He doesn't like to follow the crowd and for him being in college is sort of doing that. He comes from a long line of stubborn people who do things off kilter and work in varied fields, so he's not looking for a traditional 9 to 5 white collar job, I don't think it'd be a good fit. Homeschooling allowed him to see education outside the structure of class times and grades with a bunch of bureaucracy attached. I remember graduating from high school a semester early because I hated school. It took me years to realize I hated the structure of high school, not the learning. Ds and I have talked a lot recently about how homeschooling him was a benefit. So in the end if he's learned that education is not just what happens in the four walls of a classroom, I'm okay with that. 

Why did I write all this out? IDK, some of us have quirky kids, some of were those quirky kids. Most of you know I started my BA when ds was in high school and that I'm now a graduate student. I'm challenged but I like academia. For me, I'm enjoying the structure in a way I couldn't have at 21. So to see ds struggle with burnout worries me. I know life is not just about schooling and if ds knows about educating himself, he can shape his world in a great number of ways. I just know that he'll feel a real sense of accomplishment when he finishes that degree and it will give him opportunities he won't have to work so hard to obtain afterward. 

Now off to work on my own finals. 😏

 

 

[MysteryJen]

I think it was a mostly good semester for my college kids. Freshman ds2 likes the school, thinks he made the right choice and will end up with a few As and a couple of Bs. He has a diagnosed LD in writing, so the B in the College Writing class is a total win. He is a little quirky but has joined groups and made a few friends.

Senior Dd1 (graduating a year early) has adjusted to a new coach and staff, dealt with a recurring injury, a packed schedule and the annoyance of group projects. She is pleased with her grades and her applications to law school are completed. In fact, she got into the UVA law school!! She is thrilled, we are thrilled, she can't wait to graduate.

[Mom22ns]

Both of mine took their last finals today. Ds has one more paper to finish up. 

I think they've both had a good semester. For dd, it was a tough semester. In the BSN program, semester one is supposed to be the most work - to weed out anyone not willing to put in the effort, and semester two is supposed to be the toughest to weed out anyone who isn't smart enough. She has now cleared both those hurdles and has three semesters left.

Ds has just one semester left. His final semester should be relatively easy - he hasn't saved all the hard classes for the end. He'll have 12 hours and only 2 upper level courses. He is pretty stressed about what comes next at this point, but not so much about finishing.

If finished my semester as a student after I turned in my last paper yesterday. I give finals to two classes tomorrow and then have to grade the 40 writing portfolios that will come into me during the final. 

We all need the break for some downtime and mental health recuperation. Ds will be home Friday, and dd will be home Saturday night after her boyfriend's graduation party.

 

Edited December 14, 2018 by Mom22ns

[Hilltopmom]

Mine was home for less than an hour before he took off to go meet up with his old robotics teammates. I didn’t even get to see him yet.

But I think the semester went well. Over thanksgiving he was talking about the student council stuff he’s been doing and the robotics team he’s been helping, and some leadership institute thing he’s doing. No idea on his grades. He’s not a sharer ahead of time.

Sounds like he adjusted well though- I’ve seen pics of him on the school Facebook page out and about at activities!

[Momto6inIN]

DS's 1st semester went well! He has one more final to take on Saturday, his hardest one, but he feels fairly confident. Classes went well this semester, he feels like he has a good chance of all A's. He had some time management issues trying to juggle 16 hours of classes with 16 hours of working every week (on top of homework and commuting), but he seemed to work through that and even seemed to thrive on the challenge of it. He loves his job and is learning a lot about programming that complements his CS studies and gives him some real work experience in his field.

On the social side of things, he got involved with our church's youth group there and has made some friends. He signed a lease for an apt for next school year in the same apt complex that a lot of them live in, so in August he'll be moving in there with 3 of them. He also got involved with a campus group of mostly ag students to work on an experimental automated weed removal vehicle for farmers to use in their fields. (He's not an ag student, he's CS, so he's doing the programming for the project.)

Next semester he's taking physics (the one the engineering students take) and linear algebra and 2 CS courses. So another challenging semester coursework-wise but he's excited about it!

[Heathermomster]

Son’s first semester is over, and he loved it.  He earned all A’s except for the B in Bio. We expect him home on Sunday.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Heathermomster

[8filltheheart]

This semester was emotionally exhausting for dd.  She went through major self-reflection and doubt about what she wants "to do when she grows up."  It was painful listening to her phone calls as she struggled with major decisions.  She ended up throwing all caution (and direct college to career options) to the wind.  She is now pursuing what she loves but has not real job at the end of it.

I just got off the phone with her.  She has one more exam tomorrow, but she thinks she will maintain her 4.0.  But she called bc she just had gotten back a final major writing project for her French literature course. The prof commented on the bottom of her essay that it was such a joy to have had dd in her class this semester bc she brought in such deep literary analysis to the class discussions.  I think that comment made dd's semester!

[Lori D.]

Well done, everyone! 👍 Love hearing all the stories!

 

(Our back story: DS#1 is a sophomore in his "2nd round" of college -- he earned a BA in 2016, then went back to school in summer of 2017 to work towards a BS in Mech. Eng.)

In spite of having to work 25 hours/week this time around -- and having to go at a slower rate (12 credits/semester) -- DS had another good semester! It was definitely his most time-consuming semester yet, and Calc. 3 has been the trickiest of the math courses so far. He went into this semester carrying a 4.0 GPA, and is currently on the bubble between an A and B for that Calc. class -- needs a high B or A on the final to pull off the A in the course. Either way though, he says he is satisfied that he did his best (he consistently was at the top end of the class for test scores), and he is totally loving digging in to all of the math. (As well as the physics for the engineering courses.)

He had a surprise "boost" in confidence at the community college (CC) where he has been taking classes when he was approached a few weeks ago by his Engineering instructor who wanted to nominate him for a 10-week paid internship this summer! The only problem is that he would have to be a full-time student this spring at the CC to be eligible, since it is an internship through the CC. And DS just applied for and was accepted for transfer to the university and is set to start there this spring.

After weighing all the pros and cons, he's going to have to regretfully decline the offer, and will head to the university. He was able to apply independently to 2 paid summer internships, and interviewing for those happens in January. It will be interesting to see how the companies view him: he will be "down" by 3 engineering courses because he's having to take fewer classes than the typical Engineering student, BUT, he is older/more mature, has managerial work experience, and a very high GPA and work ethic. So we'll see how it all plays out...

I know it sounded really crazy almost 2 years ago when I announced that DS#1 was going for this, and that it would take at least 4 years, but he's chugging along, still enjoying it, doing well, and looking forward to networking and expanding options when he hits the university in the spring. 

4 semesters down, 6 to go! (:D

[Denise in IN]

My oldest just finished his first semester at a local university.  He's in engineering, and has had a great first semester!  I'm really pleased and proud of how he stepped up and took ownership of his learning.  He's enjoyed it and it looks like he's going to get excellent grades - bonus!  

I will say that it's validating to have my first graduate off to a good start at college.  I know why I'm doing this and believe it's best for our family, but man the doubts like to creep in through the high school years, especially when my kids struggle!  

[BlsdMama]

Socially and emotionally? He had a great semester.  He has been heavily involved in Mock Trial and they begin the (more) competitive season next semester.  We aren't sure where he sits via GPA.  He is that student that was (very much) in danger of losing his scholarships.  This semester is a grace period to get that GPA to a 3.0+.  The engineering math course is looking solid, he is pretty certain he has an A in coding, art is a wild card - he's a STEM kid and this was his mandatory "Be Creative" elective.  He's hoping for an A for effort because talent isn't going to get the 4.0. 😉  He ended a leadership class with an A-.  His concern is physics.  This was his last final this afternoon and now we wait.  Grades should be trickling in this next week and he comes home tomorrow morning!  

As far as this student? I took three lightweight S/U courses because I desperately need electives. Amusing, eh?  Three S.  Then I took three "real" courses.  I got a weak B in a Greek/Latin roots class.  It was four quizzes and four exams and I did an extraordinarily poor job of preparing for the exams.  I'm disappointed in time management on this one because it could have been an A with proper prep.  The writing class is a solid A and my leadership psych class looks to be an A, but there is the final paper not graded yet.  Overall, I'm content with the semester - glad it's over.  6 classes is really too much to attempt just at night when kiddies go to bed and I'll never repeat it again.

[easypeasy]

2 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

😉 6 classes is really too much to attempt just at night when kiddies go to bed and I'll never repeat it again.

 

Phew! That's intense! I took 5 classes this semester and plan to do 6 next... but my "baby" is 16 years old!! LOL Free time is my friend at this particular chapter in life. My hat's off to you!! 🏆

[lewelma]

DS leaves to fly home in 5 hours! He has never gotten to an international flight on his own, so we are hoping that he has his alarm set correctly and can make the train then the bus then the plane to start the 30 hours home! 

His first semester has been a huge success.  His classes have gone well. He thinks he got an A, A+, A-, and B+, although it is a pass/no record semester so it doesn't matter what the internal grades are.  However, how you start is how you expect to continue, so I'm proud of him for giving it his all even though only we will know his true grades.  He has made some wonderful friends and finally feels like he doesn't have to hide who he really is so that others don't feel awkward around him.  He just found out that he got the top grade in his honors physics final exam, so he is really over the moon. He was lucky to get a single this year, and has loved the freedom and independence of living on his own.  He told me that he really feels like he has matured into an adult this last 3 months as he has had to completely rely on himself. There have been a few hiccups, but he has managed some difficult situations with grace. I am more than a little pleased that sending my ds half way around the world to a competitive school has not ended in disaster.  You really never know until you just do it.  

Can't wait to have him in my arms for a big hug and 2.5 weeks of rest and relaxation. Christmas BBQs in the sun here we come! 16 hours/day of sunshine will do my son well!

Ruth in NZ

[elegantlion]

My semester is done now too. I took two graduate history courses while serving as a TA for two sections of US History. The TA part was the most time consuming as I had 70 students to facilitate and grade their work, but my historiography class was the most stressful. We were reading between 200-300 pages of books or articles a week on top of some intense writing and research assignments. The other class was a medieval class, which is my area of study so it wasn't as stress inducing, but also a lot of reading and writing. 

Next semester I'm taking 3 classes and continuing my TAship. The TA part will be less time because I know how to organize myself for the class now. 

I'm trying to catch up on sleep and eat like regular meals because in another month it all starts again. 

 

[Corraleno]

Academically, DS did really well: all of his grades were very high As, with final averages ranging from 98-102%. English Comp was his only freshman-level course — the others were 200 & 300 level courses in his major, and one of those was honors — so I think he did amazingly well for a dyslexic ADHD freshman with serious executive function issues, especially with everything else he had on his plate.

He did need a lot of help, though, with paperwork (clerical stuff, not academic work), reminders about deadlines, reminders to check multiple accounts and multiple portals multiple times per day, etc. One of the hazards of being at such a huge school is that there are so many moving parts and so many places to check and things to keep track of. He is used to outside courses like Lukeion or the ASU online courses where the weekly schedule is always the same (homework due every Tuesday, quiz every Friday, etc.), so having 5 different classes, each of which had multiple assignments due at random times every week, was something he struggled with. The English class alone had more than 50 assignments over the course of the semester, each with a separate due date! And not all of the assignments were even listed in the same place (e.g. required discussion posts listed in one place, written assignments in another, peer review assignments someplace else, with no combined listing in the syllabus or anywhere else). So in any given week he would usually have anywhere from 6 to 10 different assignments, each due at a different time on a different day, and he'd have to check at least half a dozen different places to find them all. 

Trying to juggle all of that along with 20 hrs/wk of athletic training (plus a ton of other mandatory athletic events and commitments) meant he was pretty sleep-deprived and often didn't get enough to eat — plus he had a respiratory infection that seemed to go on forever, and two bouts of stomach flu. All of that plus being on his own 2400 miles from home meant he was really tired and homesick a lot. 😢 But I think that's not uncommon in freshmen who are far from home. He really likes his profs and likes the department, and fully intends to stay there, but it's definitely been an adjustment.

[quark]

Was peeking in to look at the acceptances thread and saw this. So nice to read about all your college kids. Congratulations everyone! Have missed reading about them! I'm sorry to hear of illness and emotional exhaustion. Parenting only gets harder I think...when they are younger, you can still step in to help but when they are older, it's so hard to have to keep back, hold your tongue, let them figure things out. Big hugs!

My A just wrapped up fall semester of sophomore year. Started grad math classes and loves them -- one was a regular class that A attended twice a week and the other, A challenged by just taking the final exam (pass/fail only) and we just heard that A has passed it. My usually competition-averse kid also took the Putnam this fall and got more questions done than expected. It's been great because A is finally being challenged and has actually received Bs for the first time in academic career. My kid isn't coasting anymore! A also works for the university as a grader, earning enough to cover food and train fare and still has a little left over to save (still lives at home with me for now). Interestingly, my kid has started French classes now (I always thought A would go into more depth in Japanese vs starting a new language) and is top student in the class every semester so far. Even received a cute crown from the prof a few weeks ago. 😄

I've seen so much maturity in the last 3 semesters with this already mature kid that sometimes I just have to take a deep breath and try not to grieve about how quickly they grow up. A is now pestering *me* to read/advice on REU application essays (instead of me pestering A about deadlines which I no longer have energy or time to do anyway), thirstily looking for challenging opportunities for next spring's classes (is adding 2 more grad math classes), and is ecstatic about grading math papers for a beloved abstract algebra prof in spring. I love that A is reaching out independently to create these experiences and learning a lot from them. Just keeping fingers crossed that things stay sane.

Happy holidays everyone!

 

Edited December 23, 2018 by quark

[Lori D.]

On 12/13/2018 at 1:48 PM, Lori D. said:

.. Calc. 3 has been the trickiest of the math courses so far. He went into this semester carrying a 4.0 GPA, and is currently on the bubble between an A and B for that Calc. class ...

Woo-hoo! He nailed the A, so he still maintains his 4.0 GPA going into the transfer process! (:D

[HollyDay]

My Junior who is away for the first time finished her first semester away with 3 A's and 2 B's and 2 rounds  of strep and 1 confirmed flu and a new boyfriend. Just received the letter inviting her to honors college and another letter acknowledging Dean's list.  She really gets along well with 1 of 3 roommates (1 is never there and the other is crazy busy) and they plan to room together next year

My first time freshman still living at home completed her semester with 2 A's and 1 B and a new diagnosis of asthma.

Edited January 1, 2019 by HollyDay

[Chris in VA]

Dd had a great Freshman 1st semester. She likes her roommate, although tgey aren't besties; they get along great and already have an apartment for next year. She is glad now that she didn't get into the specialized "arts" dorm; it is loud, and she would have to stick with the theory prof she had this semester because all kids in that dorm take theory in the dorm's classroom and he's the prof. 

She made Dean's List with a 3.6 and change, which, as a music education major with 10 classes and 19 hours, is pretty darn good. 

She's here visiting for Christmas, and after that, we won't see her til May, so it is good to know she has adjusted well, in spite of our moving. 

[rbk mama]

So happy and proud of DS.  He LOVED his first semester and jumped into several extracurricular activities that he's enjoying.  He is a wizard at time management, keeping basketball time and good sleep each night as priorities.  Grades haven't been a priority for him, and he fully expected a B going into his freshman writing seminar, as writing is difficult for him.  He recently got his grades back:  2 A's and 2 A+'s in addition to passes in two P/F classes.  He's found homeschooling to be excellent prep for college, BTW.  He was told that prelims would be killer, but he realized that he naturally self-teaches to a fairly thorough level of understanding, and so prelims were manageable.

We've been talking about sending our younger two to a local school for high school, but my parents, who were very hesitant about homeschooling, are now wanting us to keep them at home.  It's nice having a "success story" to pull out to validate homeschooling. 😊

[Hilltopmom]

Grades in finally.

An A & 3 Bs!

Whew!!! I’ve been holding my breath since we dropped him off in August.

He’s going to be going back a few days early because he was accepted into a Leadership Institute thing before classes start & he’s volunteering at a Robotics tournament early too.

Im so relieved things are going well

poor kid was well all semester and is now sick at home on break

 

Edited December 26, 2018 by Hilltopmom

[whitestavern]

Overall, dd had a wonderful first semester at school. She has had some roommate issues (forced triple, loves one of her roomies, the other not so much) After numerous rounds with the RA the problem roomie agreed to a room swap, but then reneged at the last minute. So they'll all do their best to get through the rest of the year. Other than that, she has made a great group of friends and is involved in the outing club and a club level sport. She applied and was accepted to be a leader in the First Year Pre-Orientation Outing Trek for next fall.

She enjoyed her classes, though they were challenging, and ended up with a 3.3 (had an 89.4 in one class, which she was hoping the prof would round up, in which case she would've made Dean's List, but no such luck) so ended with an A, two Bs and a pass in a pass/fail class. She feels like she will do much better next semester, even though she has more and harder classes, just due to lessons learned in her first semester.

It's been great having her home 🙂

 

[Arch at Home]

This semester was mixed for DD. She started out gung ho taking Arabic only to discover that the workload for that one class was intense. On the recommendation on her Dean of Class, she dropped it. This left her a half a credit short which she quickly corrected by applying for and getting accepted to a Winter Session class in Barcelona. 

Having one less class made her hopeful that it would be an easy semester but it wasn’t. The reading and writing load for her two English classes was intense. Despite that, she declared as an English major and had a major advisor. Looking to next semester she is wary of the workload with her first semester taking only humanities.

She discovered that the office hours of her career advisor matched well with her own and stopped in frequently to get direction and clarification.

Friendships started promising at the start of the semester but fizzled as the stress of classes mounted. 

She came home much more settled than previous breaks with a clearer idea of where she is heading but uneasy about the semester to come.

 

[BlsdMama]

And, just like that, with a 2.81, someone just lost $6k a year - annually.

Frustrated. He loves mock and I get it.  It's that thing that keeps him invested.  OTOH, practice 1-2 times a week, working on his own, traveling for competition - these things are not conducive to keeping scholarships when you're in engineering.  Maybe some kids can do it and I'm impressed.  He holds onto another good sized one, but we told him his single dorm is out the window.  That's one unaffordable luxury.  Now we roll into competitive mock season - who here thinks he pull off a 3.0+ semester? 

I adore this kid and the mock group is his tribe.  He's an adult and I guess he is making his decisions, but at some point Mock has a pretty high cost.  I think that just hit to the tune of $15k. (Five semesters.)

Edited December 31, 2018 by BlsdMama

[Frances]

3 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

And, just like that, with a 2.81, someone just lost $6k a year - annually.

Frustrated. He loves mock and I get it.  It's that thing that keeps him invested.  OTOH, practice 1-2 times a week, working on his own, traveling for competition - these things are not conducive to keeping scholarships when you're in engineering.  Maybe some kids can do it and I'm impressed.  He holds onto another good sized one, but we told him his single dorm is out the window.  That's one unaffordable luxury.  Now we roll into competitive mock season - who here thinks he pull off a 3.0+ semester? 

I adore this kid and the mock group is his tribe.  He's an adult and I guess he is making his decisions, but at some point Mock has a pretty high cost.  I think that just hit to the tune of $15k. (Five semesters.)

It’s so hard to sit back and watch situations like this unfold, especially when he is doing something productive with his time, not just blowing off his classwork. Does he currently have student loans? If not, he may see $15k in loans at graduation as a worthwhile trade off to be able to do what he loves for two and half more years. And with an engineering degree, he should be in a better position than many to quickly pay off the loans.

[Bootsie]

4 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

And, just like that, with a 2.81, someone just lost $6k a year - annually.

Frustrated. He loves mock and I get it.  It's that thing that keeps him invested.  OTOH, practice 1-2 times a week, working on his own, traveling for competition - these things are not conducive to keeping scholarships when you're in engineering.  Maybe some kids can do it and I'm impressed.  He holds onto another good sized one, but we told him his single dorm is out the window.  That's one unaffordable luxury.  Now we roll into competitive mock season - who here thinks he pull off a 3.0+ semester? 

I adore this kid and the mock group is his tribe.  He's an adult and I guess he is making his decisions, but at some point Mock has a pretty high cost.  I think that just hit to the tune of $15k. (Five semesters.)

That is a difficult situation; I am sorry to hear that he lost this scholarship.  I know that $15K is a lot; looking on the bright side, however, his participation and dedication to mock and what he is learning from it, may help him land a much better job.  In addition, the skills he is developing may help him advance in that job.  Hopefully, this $15,000 loss will eventually turn into a positive.  It really doesn't take too much of a difference in wages, compounded over an entire career, to make up for this loss.  I know the dorm room difference won't make up the entire $3 per semester, but it sounds as if mock is more important (and more beneficial) to him than a single room.

 

[BlsdMama]

I agree and it is true that we find it awfully hard to complain. Some kids are drinking away their weekend. Mine is playing attorney and arguing cases against some very impressive colleges and doing well. Sigh. It is hard. 

He already takes out $6k in loans as he does not want to commute.  He’ll need to make a plan for next year. We’ll cover the $5k this semester, not terribly comfortably, but it creates a cognitive dissonance for this particular yoing man.  

 

Next year he will either need to work a crazy crazy amount of hours over the summer or work and live off campus. We calculated his food and dorm to be over $900/month  He needs an apartment and roommate and he could cut it in almost half.

 

[DawnM]

Two college kids home on break.  It has been nice.  Oldest pulled off decent grades and kept his scholarship.  He keeps me white knuckling it all the time up until the end!

Middle son has applied to be an RA next year.  I really hope he gets it.  It will mean free room and board and a $6K per year stipend (and his own room.). It will save us a bit over $9K per year.   He said his goal is not just to get through college with no debt, but to leave with money in the bank.  I asked what he planned to do if he gets the RA job but doesn't get into the major he wants, and he says he doesn't know.  I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

[SanDiegoMom]

On 12/31/2018 at 9:49 AM, BlsdMama said:

Frustrated. He loves mock and I get it.  It's that thing that keeps him invested.  OTOH, practice 1-2 times a week, working on his own, traveling for competition - these things are not conducive to keeping scholarships when you're in engineering.  Maybe some kids can do it and I'm impressed.  He holds onto another good sized one, but we told him his single dorm is out the window.  That's one unaffordable luxury.  Now we roll into competitive mock season - who here thinks he pull off a 3.0+ semester? 

I adore this kid and the mock group is his tribe.  He's an adult and I guess he is making his decisions, but at some point Mock has a pretty high cost.  I think that just hit to the tune of $15k. (Five semesters.)

My dd, who wants to go into law school, decided against Mock bc of the huge time commitment! But a tribe is something she lacked in freshman year and I would have loved for her to have a group like that. She's doing better this year but it was definitely rough and she was looking at transfer options over the summer.  She's instead working at the newspaper and I keep pushing her at least to consider debate.  Which has a low time commitment (for the lower level debate team-  the higher one is pretty intensive as well). 

[BlsdMama]

So, DS opted to move home rather than share a dorm room.  I'm not remotely sad - he got home tonight and I got to hear about his day and first impressions.  I loved this about DD living at home.  It's going to be SO much juggling for him this morning  - PT, Mock, and school, but it does solve his problem.  He thinks maybe next year he and a couple friends will get an apartment and that's less than a dorm.  (shrug.)

He kept his meal plan because he's there all day long.  It's a long-ish commute, but DD did it for three years.  

ETA: And in a weird twist, his scholarship is still on there.  Maybe they are going off of cumulative GPA?

Edited January 15, 2019 by BlsdMama

[RootAnn]

2 minutes ago, BlsdMama said:

ETA: And in a weird twist, his scholarship is still on there.  Maybe they are going off of cumulative GPA?

Every place DD has looked at use cumulative GPA for checking if they keep scholarships. Also, some schools don't check until the end of spring semester & others check every semester.

[teachermom2834]

At my ds school, scholarships are evaluated after the spring semester at which point the student needs a 3.0 through 30 hours taken that year. If those requirements aren’t met the student can use the summer to try to up the GPA/complete 30 hours to get the scholarship renewed for the next year. 

I know it is different everywhere but I looked into it when my ds was really struggling midsemester. 

[Kareni]

I've enjoyed hearing how your children (and/or you) did last semester. Sending good wishes for the current term/semester.

Regards,

Kareni

[readinmom]

Ds had an interesting semester at his cc.  He finished his last season of water polo, did decent in most classes, As, Bs, one C, and a D in one class.  I had posted about the one class previously, where the professor quit in late October, cleared out the grade book and lab hours.  New instructor took over, ds did not do well with him.  He was required to learn 500 new terms (ASL) that the previous instructor did not teach; all were on the final (2 weeks to learn).  The new syllabus did not match up with what his final grade was.  He is in the process of appealing the grade.  Hate the process, because the instructor took offense to Ds's email questioning the grade.  "Too bad, should have tried harder, etc."  

At this point, we'll settle for a C, as long as he does not have to repeat the course.  If it's not fixed, fully plan on pursuing this.  Will charge for time spent in class, travel costs to and from every time the previous instructor was a no show, etc , which was pretty much all of October.  Before she left, ds had a high A in the class.  

Hopefully, things will work out.  

[easypeasy]

22 hours ago, readinmom said:

If it's not fixed, fully plan on pursuing this.  Will charge for time spent in class, travel costs to and from every time the previous instructor was a no show, etc , which was pretty much all of October.  Before she left, ds had a high A in the class.  

Hopefully, things will work out.  

 

Wowwwwwwwwwww. I hope they remedy this situation quickly. That's beyond ridiculous!!