<p>My second kid is off to college - Clark university Worcester, Ma. If we had known in May what we know now - she may have chosen differently. </p>
<p>1st issue arose regarding prescription meds. The school informed me that while they have a health center - they prefer that kids have their meds sent from home vs consistently prescribing and obtaining on campus. I'm in healthcare - surprised to hear that they would wants meds mailed - that they don't want to have a handle on the medications potentially drifting around this small campus. They don't make it easy it for kids to maintain therapeutic levels. Take away here is: be prepared to try to figure this out alone from a distance. I contacted the dean and head of the health center. Polite but not helpful.</p>
<p>2nd issue is housing. My daughters roommate was accepted to Clark had never been to Clark before move in day - her parents dropped her at the curb and left. 1 week later she announces she's withdrawing and moves out. Next thing is an email received from housing with a 48 hour notice. Instructing my daughter to meet with a student who is selecting new housing. This young woman had been in a single and now wanted a double. She could select any available space it is her decision. I confirmed this with housing (once I reached them - they provided me with the wrong telephone number). The decision to move in is not bilateral - but unilateral. Not mutual. The email arrived with meet within 48 hours but zero suggestions on how 2 - 18 year olds should have this discussion. Take away here - seriously unimpressed with their residential housing. Not only did she get into the dorm that was last on her list - she literally has no input in this newest housing wrinkle. Yes Clark we totally "get" that she does not have rights to the other side of the room and yes our daughter will likely take the single and we will give you 1200.00 more dollars. Noteworthy to mention that the same dean that oversees the health center oversees housing too. I hope that's the common denominator here and not an indication of systemic apathy.</p>
<p>As a parent with 1 at Clark and 1 at Elmira - we give high marks to Elmira college for managing housing issues in a fair and equitable way - low marks to Clark. Elmira high marks to their health center - they work with a local pharmacy to have meds delivered to campus monthly where kids need to come to the health center to pick up their meds. This helps kids stay on their meds while also somewhat monitoring medication flow onto the campus.<br>
Clark touts themselves as one of the top 40 schools to change lives. The only thing in week 4 that should change is Clark itself. </p>
<p>Yikes…sounds bad all the way around and I hope it is just that one administrator that is like that. Has the “meeting” with the prospective new roommate happened yet? I know it sounds juvenile but can or would your daughter do something to not be picked by the new roomie? If it had been a straight forward “we have a new roommate for you” type situation, I would never suggest anything less than , ummm, acceptable behaviour at the interview. I agree this is completely one sided and unacceptable. OTOH, being in a single for freshman year is not always the best thing, socially speaking. Good luck.</p>
<p>Housing, anywhere, is subject to the school, not the student. Requests are considered, especially freshman, but not always granted. Have/had 3 kids plus I am an alumni recruiter. It must be frustrating as hell to your daughter, but better to allow her to adjust and encourage, then rail at forces beyond her control. Call it Life Lesson #1. My niece had the roommate from hell at Pitt. Seriously, the girl was bad news. Niece thought of transferring, but stuck it out as it was ONLY 1 YEAR of her life. She basically moved in w another girl. Called coping.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard only great things about Clark–a friend’s daughter is very happy there. The housing stuff doesn’t sound like a big deal in any case.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of a college handling meds for kids the way you’ve described at Elmira, so no one should expect that as the norm. And it’s totally unnecessary to baby college students that way. With pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS being all over the country, it’s pretty easy to transfer a prescription anywhere. No reason a college student shouldn’t be able to handle something as simple as keeping an eye on the pill bottle and renewing and picking up a prescription when necessary–heck, my national pharmacy emails me when it’s time to renew, easy peasy. Rightly or wrongly, huge numbers of kids are on meds these days. It’s hardly the college’s job to worry about refills any more than worrying about whether Junior actually remembers to take his pill every day. Not their job.</p>
<p>As a Clark student, I agree completely with MommaJ. </p>
<p>For the housing concerns, I have found RLH to be nothing but helpful. If your daughter does not want to live with this new roommate, she by no means has to. While there is a two week freeze period, after that, if she wants to move to another room, with another roommate, it is very easy to do so. All she has to do is talk to an RA. That situation sounds like it is mostly the fault of the old roommate who left, which is not common, and was just an unfortunate situation your daughter was caught in the middle of.</p>
<p>For the healthcare situation, I would not expect any school to handle it’s students’ prescription meds. As a student who takes meds, I wouldn’t want to spend my time growing and prepping for the real world, and then graduating and having no clue how to get my own medicine. There are several pharmacies within walking distance from Clark, and it is very easy to send prescriptions to any one of them (CVS being where I get mine).</p>