<p>I think that happens alot summer, kids think that they need to go far away to fly their own wings fearing the folks might pop up on the doorstep. Only to quickly learn how deep their roots are planted.</p>
<p>Quick note to all of you…Mom and Dad aren’t going to pop up on you doorstep uninvited, we too have a life! Shocker I know, but it is the truth, crap if I spent my weekends popping in on the kids, when they finally all are in college, I will be gone almost every weekend, and when I am not, they will be popping in at home! I would see them more than I did when they lived at home :D</p>
<p>I hear ya there, Pima…I have three in college with the two freshmen within visiting range. I’m already worn out from visiting them and glad to have a few weekends at home before Thanksgiving break. </p>
<p>BTW…glad we didn’t end up tailgating for the Homecoming Game…blah on the weather and the game. How’s your mother-in-law doing?</p>
<p>Ha, I logged on to ask pima the same question. I thought of you this past weekend. (and was terribly happy to be watching the game (intermittently) on TV in my warm family room. My older terp D bailed before halftime, but the younger one stayed to the end. Last text I got that afternoon was “fingers 2 numb 2 txt”.</p>
<p>Hope things are going as well as they can for you and bullet.</p>
<p>Sounds like a good decision…if you are looking for a small school Maryland is definitely not that…and being an outdoorsy person, well, The Terrapin Trail Club is great but I don’t really think the outdoors is College Park’s strong point haha. It is more for someone interested in city life/DC especially. I mean I’m sure an outdoorsy person would find their niche here but Vermont seems way better suited.</p>
<p>But I would tend to say you just got unlucky with a lot of your poor experiences…</p>
<p>I am in-state and haven’t hung out with a HS friend once…really. In fact, I barely ever see them (though over 50% of my HS attends UMCP). HOWEVER the Guidos/the 12th grade kids/etc. DEFINITELY tend to concentrate on the partying lifestyle obsessed with bars/frats/etc. At MD the party scene is not too diverse and it is within that crowd that you get the most jerks/etc.</p>
<p>I am a junior and this is the first year I have been to ANY of the bars…I’m always pretty much grossed out by the people standing in line </p>
<p>Unfortunately that is the most visible scene on campus, and freshmen in general are more obsessed with partying than most. If you get stuck with a floor of party whores crazy about getting into the trashy bars downtown, well then, I can see why you’d think MD was an absolute Hell hole. </p>
<p>Sadly, I would agree that it’s difficult to make friends this far in, as people tend to focus on their floors/roommates when forming bonds. If you didn’t verge onto different floors in the beginning, you may feel left out now unless you are not just super outgoing but also super persistent. </p>
<p>So while a lot of your comments are relevant for the situation you found yourself in, I wouldn’t say “12th grade” is the typical MD experience at all. In-state people who refuse to go here because it is “12th grade” are simply deluding themselves and their parents…it’s 100% the college experience for the majority of people, I would say. The focus on the floor/dorm life really hammers that home. It has it’s good and bads - you can get unlucky - but then that is clearly not people “sticking with HS friends” it’s sticking with the new people they meet on their floor, their new roommates, etc. Very typical of any residential college in that sense.</p>
How’s your mother-in-law doing?</p>
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