<p>Well I don’t know what school you are talking about, but DS was a little intimidated when the suggested reading before his frosh year at his selective LAC was an excerpt from John Locke’s “On Liberty,” which is well nigh unreadable. They were supposed to read it so they could discuss it at orientation. DS pretty much gave up and Sparknoted it. He got to orientation, got into his group, and found out that Spark Notes was more than most kids had bothered to do, and even the Professor leading the group said, “I have no idea why they asked you to read this,” and they had a very interesting discussion about something else completely.</p>
<p>My point is that the other kids are going to be a lot more like your son than he realizes. I echo the “OMG college is really here” and “buyer’s remorse” theories. If he really hates it he can transfer, but if you as his parent (who presumably knows him quite well) are convinced this school is a good fit for him, it probably is.</p>