<p>On this first official day of classes I was wondering how everyone is doing? I'm getting limited information but thankfully my D (jr) is there and gives me more feedback about her brother. First day he said everyone were total "losers" on his floor. By yesterday he reported to having about 10 friends on his floor that were very "cool". amazing what a few hours can do... lol... He said the food is "good". He went to his first class and thought it went well. He had sat in on this professors class in the spring so it was nice to be at least a little familiar with him and my D and niece both had him as well. I'm starting to breathe a bit easier and the knot in my stomach is slowly unraveling. How's everyone else doing?</p>
<p>so far so good. He had only one class today. he had almost the same comment as your son the first day. people were a little “tight”, but after a few hours he started making friends…</p>
<p>quick question to all about the dining plan: is it use it or lose it? for example, if he’s on that 10 meal per week plan and he only uses 6, does the 4 carry over the following week and so forth and so on? I checked the site and it’s not clear on that </p>
<p>it’s use it or lose it… resets itself weekly… there is a block meal plan that is a total number of meals per semester that whatever isn’t used at the end goes away then. The default 10 meal is use or lose. </p>
<p>thanks @lefty1 </p>
<p>Apparently, things are going well for my D so far. When I started to cry after getting her all set up on Saturday, she kept saying “I’m coming home Friday for the holiday weekend - stop crying!” Then last night, I got a text that said “my friends don’t want me to leave for the weekend - is it ok if I stay?” Lol, so I guess she’s fitting in. She just texted me to tell me about her classes. She has 4 today, she’s been to 3 so far. She liked 2 of them but doesn’t like the other one (“we already have to read 50 pages” - I told her to get used to it, she’s in college now!)</p>
<p>Jberav:
I hate to be the bearer of sad tidings but, based upon our D’s experiences at UD, I can tell you that many, if not most students at UD, once they begin to make friends and adjust to being there, it is like pulling teeth trying to get them to come home for a visit. There are just so many things to do that they always feel they are too busy with social and academic issues to come home, unless they have to (like for Thanksgiving). The way we addressed this was to visit our D on a few Sundays (Saturdays were not usually preferred by her) throughout the semester (we live about an hour away so the drive wasn’t bad). With football games and possible interests in joining a sorority on the horizon there are even more reasons not to return home. It was a little tough for us in the beginning but we adapted to it. The only time she returned home prior to Thanksgiving was to pick up her car to take it back to campus in mid October. Be prepared for rationalizations justifying this. Continued good luck to your D. It sounds like she is adapting well. </p>
<p>@jberav… how do you like this one? My son’s b day is this sunday and he doesn’t want us to visit let alone come home! I figured we would drive down…(2 hours turnpike labor day weekend traffic…) take him out to eat around 1 or so and take him to the mall to get a few things and drop him back by around 3 or 4. Nope… I’m not even conflicting with night stuff! I’m happy he doesn’t want to come home but feel a bit guilty for not seeing him on his b day… oh well… </p>
<p>@lefty1 - I was sitting here thinking my D’s bday is in January so there shouldn’t be any conflicts. Then she texts me and says she’s dropping one of her classes and thinks she’ll just take it over winter session (which I’m fine with - I was nervous about her taking 17 credits this semester anyway). So I guess she’ll be away for her birthday too! Oh, and she said one of her new friends is going to dye her hair for her tomorrow night. Pink. Oh boy…</p>
<p>Son is definitely coming home this weekend. not because of us, but because of sports. He has a Labor Day Weekend Tournament. just got a text he signed up for Club Sports at UD as well.</p>
<p>jberav:
Just so you are aware if your D plans on attending the Winter Session at UD she won’t have to pay any additional money for her dorm room but she will be required to purchase a separate Winter Session meal plan and will have to pay separate tuition for the course(s) she takes. If you are OOS I can give you some information about taking UD Winter Session courses on-line at home (anywhere in the US) at significantly reduced UD rates (about a third of the on-site tuition costs) if you are interested (and you obviously would then not have to buy a meal plan). Our D did this twice and it really helped cut down on her course load (she was a Nursing major). Good luck with the pink hair.</p>
<p>@Mwallenmd - we are in state, about 30 minutes from campus. I was trying to look into if on line classes were available to Delaware residents because, even though it would be possible for her to commute, it would be much easier for her to live on campus if attending classes every day. If she could do online classes, staying home would be much easier (and cheaper with no meal plan to buy). </p>
<p>You can get info on UD’s on-line courses by going to UD’s main website and in the search engine at the top right type in “site participant courses” and click. Then click on the “University of Delaware-Professional & Continuing Studies” site. This will provide you with info about taking on-line courses. For Winter/Summer courses the tuition is $454 per credit hours for in-state students. There appear to be several options for in-state students available. However, not all courses are available on-line during Winter/Summer sessions. I don’t believe the listing of courses for this coming Winter Session is available yet. </p>
<p>OOS students can take on-line Winter/Summer courses at home as well. The regular tuition for OOS students is $1219 per credit hour. However, some on-line courses are offered to OOS students during the Winter/Summer sessions at what is called the “site participant” rate which for OOS students is $536 per credit hour (much cheaper than paying the $1219 per credit hour). Info on this is also available on the website noted above. This is obviously the cheapest way to go for OOS students. However, again, not all Winter/Summer courses are available for OOS students at this reduced rate.</p>
<p>All these on-line courses are regular UD courses and are so noted on a students transcript (they are not identified as being on-line courses).</p>
<p>Hope this info is helpful.</p>
<p>thanks Doc</p>
<p>Fauster:
So who are you going to root for when UD plays Pitt on Saturday in the first football game of the season? Are you going to be there or are you going to maintain a low profile? </p>
<p>Heh heh… the kids are busting on each other pretty good. At Pitt’s pep rally, they described a Blue Hen as Panther food.</p>
<p>It’s quite a coincidence that these two schools are playing each other in the opener of the first year my son is at Pitt. The wife and I are maintaining a very low profile - we’re hiding in New Hampshire without cable. :)) </p>