normal or not for a college freshmen - sleeping late

That sleep pattern sounds pretty normal to me for a college student.

Unless there’s some kind of red flag in the application materials, the student is in-season for a fall sport, or the student has some really difficult courses, I do not encourage my freshmen to ease into college. But, if that’s what they want to do, I really can’t stop them. Yes, it sounds to me like your son’s load is too light. Oh well, live and learn. But the sleep schedule? Sounds pretty typical to me. It will adjust, per semester, based on his classes and workload. He’ll be fine.

Well I am sure my daughter would if she could but 8 am classes and lacrosse pretty much puts a kebosh on that!! LMAO

My daughter was ALWAYS an early riser in high school - I never had to wake her up. In college, though, she stays up late and sleeps as late as possible. Very normal!

I agree with others above - this seems pretty typical to me. My kids both were/are night owls and will sleep late if they can. I was like this too in college.

A 9 am class would be an early one for most college students. Getting up at 10 am sounds good to me… I was an Honors student and remember skipping a P/F lit elective lecture because it was too early at 8:50 (large campus with 15 minutes passing time- those times get imbedded in your brain and can be quoted decades later).

Too late now for him to have had a busier class schedule. Hopefully he will have more to do next quarter. It can be harder to study with too much time. Challenging himself is good.

Eons ago I had a transfer roommate from a dairy farm- she started the semester getting up early but gradually became less of an early bird despite hanging out with an Ag school crowd.

I’m a night owl, as is son. With his software engineering job he has flexibility in his hours- used to get to work by the 10 am meeting and stay later, getting in at least 8 hours of work. At one time he was doing this to be able to get work done after people on his team who would interrupt him with questions left. He may be getting to work earlier now but who knows, he gets the work done and does well (being the one asked questions is one indicator).

It’s totally normal for a college student, especially during the first year. A lot of study groups don’t end till 11 pm and then he starts his homework or hangs out with friends. Next semester it’ll slide back a little (bed at 1 or 2) and by senior year he’ll be going to class at 10 am enjoying his last year with a “roll out of bed at 9:30” alarm. When at home, most college students sleep till 11 or 12 or even 1 pm, especially because they’re sleep deprived around THanksgiving and first week of Christmas break.

However you could encourage him to take on a light job (5-6hours a week), at the cafeteria or the library.
Regarding food, most campuses have sandwich stations, salad bars, soups, and some have “made to order” stations. Ask whether his college has anything. Perhaps check the menu and see whether anything in any of the cafeterias on campus serves something he’d like.
Note that Bonappetit tends to be a good provider and Sodexo less so (still remember the most awful meat stew they served in a cafeteria, full of fat chunks instead ot meat.)