<p>Another senior parent here! D1 did apply for her first REAL job as she puts it. She is a Business Administration Major with concentrations in Marketing and Sports Management and will also be granted a Certificate of Leadership in May. She has had sports marketing internships every summer with Baseball Leagues, junior Hockey teams and an NHL team. She is also the head of the sports promotions program at her college. We have our fingers crossed that she will be able to get in somewhere but know the market is bad. Have been encouraging her to take the GRE also but she doesn’t want to even go there…grrrr.</p>
<p>I’ve got a senior, too! She takes the GRE next weekend, has gotten a spot at her school’s Masters in Ed program but will be applying to others as well. Thankfully, she doesn’t feel limited to staying in her current area where the college BF of 2 years is; I say nothing, but like the idea of her giving some distance there…we’ll see.</p>
<p>In many ways, this is a far more stressful time than the college app/choosing process of 4 years ago, right? Best of luck to all of your kids, too!</p>
<p>D1 is graduating from Baylor this June…will actually finish her major and 2 minors ( history / math and computer science) this Dec a half year early – she packed her last 19 units into this semester so that she can study abroad in the Netherlands next semester without having to worry about fulfilling requirements for a specific class. </p>
<p>Best thing about her studying abroad her this Spring is that her 4 year Baylor scholarship will pick up the tuition and part of her housing (she also studied in Spain last fall, and again Baylor scholarship picked up the tuition).</p>
<p>D1 wants to be a elementary teacher, but the job market in California for teachers right now is nada. She has a Fulbright interview tomorrow, has applied to teach in Korea for a year – and has a “Teach for America” finalist interview in 2 weeks . .If she gets both, “Teach for America” is willing to defer for a year while she completes her Fulbright scholarship teaching in Korea. IF she gets both, her life is set for the next 3 years since Fulbright is a one year program, and “Teach for America” is a 2 year program.</p>
<p>D2 is currently a soph at UCLA majoring in history and sociology and wants to go into law . . D3 is a senior in high school, also wants to go to law school and she is applying to colleges for next fall (yup, so we start the process all over again for the third time).</p>
<p>My son is graduating this May and “hopefully” will be in a partially funded grad program. It’s hard to look for work in case you don’t get into grad school, but I think he could get a summer job back to help until a better one surfaces. I feel his pain, as his senior year in high school is being repeated in a sense, applications, recs, resume (CV) and the angst of waiting.
I have 2 more to get through but I will feel like I won the lottery when they graduate, no break here, but I can dream.: )</p>
<p>mom of four, your D’s path sounds fascinating. How did she pick Korea or wasn’t there a choice of country for the Fulbright?</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like we have any marriages pending. My boys barely date, so presumably aren’t considering marriage until they get some practice in the role of boyfriend first(although we know how that can change in a heartbeat under certain circumstances).</p>
<p>Senior D is apparently making progress in “sorting out her future” – pretty psyched about applying to grad school for MPH. She’s taken a somewhat circuitous route to reach this decision, which frustrates H no end. But, it is her life, and she needs to make the decisions. Was invited to a TFA info session on campus; she’s keeping her options open, but doesn’t see that as her top choice. She has tried to check out the HealthCorps program by phone, but they seem to be fairly unresponsive. We’re actually flying her home for Fall Break since we haven’t seen her since the 4th of July. (She spent the summer doing a paid research fellowship at school.) Her break is only a long weekend, but she’s tacking on an extra day. These “life decision” discussions are much better in person than over the phone – at least in our family!</p>
<p>Another senior parent who’s kid is stressing “what am I going to do for the rest of my life!” Emphasis from our end is not “rest of your life” but rather summer/fall/year following graduation. 
GRE in the works and who knows what else. DS graduated 2008 and has been working for NPS. After watching the Ken Burns program, I’m convinced if he stays with it, he could make a far worse career choice. 
Won’t be wealthy $$ wise but what great places to live.</p>
<p>D. will have a senior status next semester. She has to complete full 4 years in her program, so she has another year to go. However, this year is the most important, applying to Grad. schools in spring. The real cost and the biggest challenges are still ahead. We are not paying much now as her tuition is covered by Merit Scholarships. Praying for our jobs still being there for us.</p>
<p>My son will be graduating this June in 3 years! (from a school that didn’t take AP credit or college courses taken in high school.) He already has a great $$$$$$ job offer from the firm he interned at this summer. He also has 2 second interview trips scheduled for this month!</p>
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<p>Heh, I go to search on “Teach for America” to see if anyone has interview tips, and the first post I come across is my mom’s post about me. So, I’ll barge in on the Parent’s Forum this once to answer your question, because I don’t think my mom knows as much about the Fulbright. ;)</p>
<p>There is definitely a wide range of countries that you can apply to do a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in. I chose Korea for several reasons. I’ve spent a good time in Europe and wanted to go somewhere different. Further, Korea doesn’t have a language requirement, would allow me to stay in a homestay, and I’d be able to teach elementary students, all of which appeals to me. There are also around 20 spots for elementary ETA positions in Korea, which means I have more of a chance of getting the grant there than in the countries where there are only two or three. Plus, what I’ve read/heard about Korea so far sounds really interesting! So I’m really hoping I get the Fulbright or TFA, but both programs are really selective!</p>
<p>My interview is in less than two hours now. I should go back to preparing…</p>
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I’d say there is a high probability that my OLDER kid (son, age 26, graduated last year on the “extended” plan) – will be married soon. Wedding or not, the baby is due in April.</p>
<p>BookAddict, thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Best of luck in your interview. You sound like a wonderful candidate.</p>
<p>calmom, my brother and I both got married under similar circumstances and are both still married 20+ years later. It can work. Either way, congrats on becoming a grandmother soon!</p>
<p>Calmom: Congratulations on the new future addition to your family!</p>
<p>Wow…when I started this thread, I didn’t realize so many of us had seniors. AND agreed, it’s nice to see some of those screennames who don’t post here very often coming up again. </p>
<p>It sounds like most of our seniors are formulating some sort of plan on their own time frame!! </p>
<p>Graduation for my kiddo is June 12. Can’t wait!!</p>
<p>Good news! S1 called to say he just got hired to do a paid internship with an engineering consulting firm in Rio. He hopes that will turn into a job offer before he graduates, but he won’t stop applying other places as well just in case. They expect 20-30 hours/week (which apparently is the norm for internships in Brazil). He will need to go into the office every day right after class, so we will ship him more dress clothes tonight. The firm has also signed him up for inhouse software training classes this week-end, which should be another resume booster. Reportedly, he will be able to continue working for the firm when stateside this spring (he leaves Rio the end of January). </p>
<p>He didn’t have any internships on his resume because he had spent his summers in language immersion programs and worked in a restaurant during the school year for the money, so that had been a glaring weakness on his resume. Even if he doesn’t get an offer with this firm at least his resume now has been substantially strengthened.</p>
<p>He found the job because he got invited to play on a soccer team by some of his Brazilian enginnering classmates. He played in a soccer tournament sponsored by this company over the week-end, scored a winning goal, and has made a lot of contacts. He started out playing pick-up games in the park in Rio, then got invited to practices until he finally earned a place on a team. Hopefully he can apply that kind of dedication now to a job.</p>
<p>I’m just so happy for him. Getting an actual paying job in Rio in engineering is a huge step forward in the job hunt process.</p>
<p>DS graduates this Dec. Nothing solid - heck nothing even soft - lined up. He’s taking the LSAT in December; he’ll have to overcome a poor GPA to get in an dI’m not sure I want him to (for the reason stated elsewhere in this and other threads). He worked at the college this past summer for his internship and they’ve indicated they’d welcome him into their grad program. I keep sending him job announcements I come across. So keeping all options open. </p>
<p>All that said, I’ll begin moving my stuff out of his room in a few weeks.</p>
<p>BTW: The federal gov’t is always hiring. [USAJOBS</a> - Search Jobs](<a href=“http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/advanced.aspx]USAJOBS”>http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/advanced.aspx)</p>
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<p>I’d recommend every engineer add this to their qualifications. I’m an EE, and in 20 years working in aerospace, defense and semiconductors and think I met one PE. Most people didnt even know what it was, unless they were Civil Engineers. But now Im working in the power industry and it is really a help. It also helps for government jobs and other infrastructure work. But it was hard studying after all those years. </p>
<p>It cant hurt to take the FE (EIT) in college or shortly thereafter. In some states you hardly need any experience to even take the PE, especially if you have a Masters.</p>
<p>My husband is a PE and his degree is in Mechanical Engineering. I think it probably helped him get his current job, if nothing else it gave him an extra something on the resume. The only downside is that we have to pay $50 every year to renew it. He also worked in the Aerospace industry for about 15 years.</p>
<p>Ds will graduate in mid-May. Had hoped his summer internship with a large engineering firm would lead to full-time employment but due to the downturn in the economy they made virtually no offers this year. He’s virtually assured of another internship this summer. Maybe that will lead to full-time employment but that is certainly not a given. He has decided that he wants to go to grad school and is busy with applications. Although he has excellent grades and GRE scores, I’m fearful that so many graduating seniors won’t be able to find jobs and will be going to grad school that the grad school spots will be very competitive and he won’t get in anywhere or if he does, he won’t be able to afford it. I never planned to pay for grad school as I always thought an engineer with good grades wouldn’t have any trouble finding a job. I too fear that he won’t find a job and will move back home.</p>