Parents of the HS Class of 2017 - 3.0 to 3.4 GPA

Parents Forum
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@techmom99 I’m so sorry about the bullying, but good for techson for speaking up about it!

@93pilots It looks like I’ll be reading Hillbilly Elegy, too. My book club met Friday night, and without knowing that some of us early arrivals at the meeting had talked about my S17 reading that book for his major this summer, the member who picked our next book chose Hillbilly Elegy. >:D< And the other book that ALL freshmen at MSU have to read is A Long Way Home–the book that was made into the movie Lion. Maybe I’ll choose that the next time I pick the book club book! :wink:

I started looking at stuff for dorms this week. S17 doesn’t really care right now, so I’m picking up small things that we can easily fit in the car, and bedding/towels that we can use to pad fragile things if necessary. In theory, he’ll know his roommate next week, and then we can negotiate who’s bringing what of the big things, and I’ll ship to store for them. And I’ve got to say that Bed Bath & Beyond freaks me out–too much weird stuff, and hard to find things… We’ve got over a month to figure all of this out…

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@techmom99 Glad your son is looking out for this boy.

That really is the nature of bully’s. They often really snow the adults because they are often the popular kids. They are the ones who know just how far they can take it. I hope the directory can do something about it without making anyones lives miserable.

@MSU88CHEng Sounds like you had a good trip. It will be about a 6-7 hour drive to my son’s school as well. But we do most of that drive 2-3 times a year so it’s well know trip. He will be only an hour away from my parents. So for move in we will probably drive to my parents (a bit out of the way) stay the night… drop him off and I’ll go back to my parents house and drive home alone.

I’m feeling a big sad that my son will miss orientation. But it’s honestly not possible for him to attend and it isn’t mandatory. Found out he can register Aug 7th for classes. Just as soon as as the orientation sessions are over. Crossing my fingers we won’t have a problem registering him for his classes.

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Just a lurker, with a dd about to apply. THANK YOU so much for the detaile re: acceptances, stats, amount of merit. It has really helped guide us in the right direction.

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I spoke with the parents in charge about the bullying. One of the moms had noticed something going on at the sale but assumed it was consensual, although she did put an end to it because the kids weren’t working. I explained to her what had happened and they were upset as well. The victim is a very sweet young man. They said that they would tell the director and the other adults in charge of the kids to keep an eye out and to separate the boys if they are together when they are not required to be for the show. The ringleader will be gone next year and his sidekick may not return without him. They are also going to keep an eye out at the shows and the cast parties. I hope we can stop the bullying.

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@techmom99 I truly hope they’ve nipped the bullying, but I’m so happy you’ve raised the flag on it so others are aware.

S17 is careening wildly between his college persona and his HS persona these days. If he hears anything from MSU or his roommate (he now has a roommate and room assignment–huzzah! =D> ) he’s all about college for a couple of days. But when his high school friends are around, he’s squeezing out the last few weeks of fun with them before they all go off and only see each other at school/military breaks. I think he’s handling it well-making new friends for MSU where he can and still trying to hold on to his pals from high school.

And I had him get on his MSU portal today to report his outside scholarships (yeah, oops, I should’ve pushed for that earlier…), check his billing statement, and get his enrollment verification to submit to scholarships to get his checks. While he was on there, we checked his transcript, and found that through AP and his IB diploma, he’s transferring in 36 credits–WOW! =D> And it’s possible he could have 3-6 more credits through DE high school/community college classes he took, but I couldn’t tell if the CC transcript had been received yet. So I think he’s officially a sophomore already–eeks! It will definitely help if he has any grade issues where he’d need to retake a course, and should help him to do the “double minor” he’s thinking about while still graduating in 4 years.

One month until his move in day… While I’m excited for him, I’m hoping time will slow down for a few weeks…

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@MSU88CHEng -

36 credits, that’s awesome! S12 was only allowed to use 30/39 at his SUNY. S17 has only 9, but it’s okay because he’s in a 4 year BFA so he couldn’t graduate early. This just takes some gen ed pressure off and allows him to take some electives he might enjoy in his major.

He doesn’t have a roommate assignment yet and says the FB page is lame. He was assigned a “Big Brother” of sorts but hasn’t said much about it.

Move in day here is August 19! Taking him tomorrow to get the first Bexsero shot and next week to the eye doctor. He is really blind so I need spare glasses and a scrip for him to take up. I also ordered him a health insurance card of his own and his passport actually arrived - took only two weeks door to door! He needs new sneakers, new bath flip flops and new boots. As for clothing, he’s a techie, so he wears black, all black, all the time, pretty much just like me! We are slowly assembling his other stuff.

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August 19 move in here too. Son received his designated time slot yesterday - 9:15 am. We didn’t want the last slot but honestly didn’t need one of the first ones either - guess it’ll be an early morning. He’s talked about what he’s bringing but no assembly has been done. Just purchased him a back up pair of sneakers and tried to talk him into some sort of boot (and failed). He can’t believe it’s getting so close - and neither can I.

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Here as well! @smakl70 we have same boot thing going on, I think we will just give S a budget and then he can buy them when he’s at school. He wears mostly Vans here, that won’t cut it in Oregon, but no idea what they do up there.

Washing twin XL linens this weekend. Room assignment should come next week.

@MSU88CHEng congrats on all the credits, that’s a nice cushion!!!

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I am going to get techson17 some hiking boots, as there are trails around the school apparently, and winter boots for the snow. Also, black sneakers for crew and regular sneakers for regular use. He has dress shoes. He will be going “shopping” in the basement for winter coats. With 5 men total in the house, plus all the hand me downs we’ve gotten over the years, I have a veritable store’s worth of winter coats, etc. He will take a couple of those. He has plenty of “mugger hats,” a cool leather jacket, a trench coat and some sweaters. He needs at least one fleece, hoodies, gloves and a scarf.

@smakl70 - we don’t get a designated move in time but there are helpers available on the 19th and not the 20th and I am trying to get there as early as possible before the helpers are worn out. When we moved D in, I brought along a shopping cart but there are no elevators at techson17’s school.

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Quick update on DS: He will be taking an unexpected GAP year to have surgery.

Had to postpone then cancel his Orientation and acceptance since surgery is scheduled for September. Sadly, MSU does not allow automatic deferrals. In fact, they will not even discuss his deferral until after Oct 1st. They will then review his application and financial aid all over again with no guarantee of acceptance. As a result, DS will be applying for college all over again.

Good news is that he is much more engaged in the process this time. He created a list of schools and met with his high school guidance counselor to go over his list. He is waiting for the applications to open so that he can get started since he will need to have them all completed before his surgery date. He has also decided to retake the SATs at the end of August. He is searching for some online AP classes (Calculus and Economics) that will accommodate his surgery and recovery. Any suggestions on these would be appreciated.

I enjoy hearing about your children so please continue to post about any late orientations and their arrivals on campus.

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@DMVmom Good that he seems upbeat about it all and more engaged in the process this time! It still has to be very frustrating so sending you hugs. My oldest son took his foreign language classes online through K12 and enjoyed them and I believe they had AP courses. He did not do the classroom style learning but more a program where he learned on his own so he could finish at his own pace (he did have an instructor he could contact if he needed help).

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II counted my BBB stash, I have close to 30 on hand. LOL! One did arrive in the mail last week that is good online but I’ve yet to recieve the mythical 20% off all version despite signing up for the college notifications. I did return the sheets I bought online though as we needed a color change. They were now in stock and I was able to apply coupons to all so that was nice.

@rbc1999 did you have your Disney trip yet? It was the first part of our long trip and for a kid who was rather blase about it ahead of time (been there, done that) he was all over it and really had a blast, it was wonderful to see him enjoy the parks so much, even went back out one night solo when the rest of us were wiped out. I thought about getting him an Echo on prime day but bought myself a fitbit instead. Which I’ve yet to use due to things beyond my control. Aka broken charging ports, wrong replacement sent, that kind of thing. So much for using it on vacation and counting those disney steps!

@tacocat333 oh please write the epic poem, I am laughing just thinking about it! E1 registered for College Algebra??? When I am 99.9% sure he doesn’t need to take math at all. He “forgot” he had DE credit from pre-calc. Hoping he fixes it once there, he is NOT motivated to deal with it until then.

@Hankster1361 we are in a similar dorm situation, did not get the requested suite either. Apparently in his learning community those all go to sophomores so he expected this. We did get confirmation on the dorm, but not the actual room type or roommates. He’s requested a double with another kid but they could get assigned to a triple or quad. Which makes shopping a bit complicated. Not that there are room dimensions to be found anyway.

@techmom99 you should be really proud of your son for speaking up.

@MSU88CHEng I ended up doing our BBB pack and holds in 2 trips. One where S picked out the stuff he needed to have input in (or wanted) and then the rest I did solo. The store is ridiculous and you have to dig to find what you want. As it is I think I forgot a couple of things and they didn’t have one item but I’ll deal with it in Vermont. Not going back in there if I can possibly help it. Still, knowing all that stuff will be ready once we get there is nice, that would stress me out and NOT be fun doing with S17 along!

@lisabees I am glad it has been helpful!

@93pilots boots in Oregon are mostly fashion lol. You won’t need snow boots but S17 does have a few pairs he wears all the time and are honestly beat to death…he will likely ask for new ones but hoping to wait on those till xmas. A low casual boot with a decent tread that is ideally a bit water repellent for nasty days will do fine for school. Hiking is another story but those are hiking boots, they don’t need to be snow worthy out here but should be water resistant. I bought S17 some Sorels that are a bit of a hybrid (I hope) can be used for hiking but also for snow. We will see. He has not used them yet.

@DMVmom I am so sorry and hope he is ok! What a frustrating experience on the deferral, but it sounds like he is definitely making lemonade out of the situation. Does he need to take the full year for recovery versus a 2nd semester start?

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@DMVmom Hugs to you and your son. That sounds like a lot to contend with and a big readjustment.

@93pilots I have been trying to talk D17 into taking her rain boots to OR. She was convinced they were a fashion faux pas until she checked with her roommate who is an Oregonian and confirmed that yes, they really do wear rain boots!

D17 and S22 left today for a backpacking trip. S22’s first, but D17 is experienced and is a written test away from EMT certification, so S22 is in good hands. I think it will be a good sibling bonding opportunity.

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@eandesmom if you need that 20% off everything I have one on my BBB account. Not sure it’d work but may be worth a try. Not sure which code to enter or if either works but give it a try [OMNBBB105475] 70500229900356017275

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@DMVmom -

Best of luck to your son on his upcoming surgery. Since he has already graduated from HS, maybe he should consider studying for a CLEP test or two instead of AP’s? That way, he might be able to get enough credit to graduate with his cohort, even if he starts a year later. That’s really crud about MSU not being open to a deferral, especially for such a non-frivolous reason, but maybe he will find a school that he prefers over this year’s cycle.

@eandesmom -

Thank you. I am even more proud of him today. On Sunday, he came home and told that one of his friends has fallen in with a different crowd and is drinking and smoking pot and maybe doing other stuff. Last night, he came home and said that this friend’s mom had come over to the crew kids at rehearsal and asked if anyone knew why her son had dropped out. Techson17 took her aside and privately told her what he had told me on Sunday. She professed unawareness and thanked him. My son said he asked the mom not to out him as the one who told her but if it becomes necessary, he understands.

On another note, he got his roommate - an acting major from a town whose population is smaller than Techson17’s graduating class! I will not be taking him up for move in day. My 21 and 22 year olds have asked to take him up to spend some time with him. I would go with them, but they are then planning to drive to NC to meet up with friends for an eclipse viewing party. D and I will go up one weekend to visit him, but it won’t be family weekend because that’s her birthday and her boyfriend has booked a trip for them.

It is so exciting to read how everyone is getting ready for the new changes!

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@smakl70 and @93pilots Yeah, boots… right now it’s a tough sell for S17. He’s kind of a minimalist when it comes to shoes–right now has 2 pairs of sneakers and a pair of Adidas slides, plus soccer and lax cleats and hockey skates. It’s a LONG story, but for now he and S15 are sharing a pair of dress shoes (yeah, I know–ewww! :-S ) but I need to convince him to get a pair for mock trial or potential interviews, etc… But he doesn’t see any need for boots… in MI… in the winter… yeah… Of course, last year was the 1st year in like 3 winters I got him to wear a winter coat instead of only hoodies, so he’s stubborn.

@DMVmom I’m hoping for a successful surgery and quick recovery for your S. And sorry that MSU isn’t being more accommodating. But here’s hoping he finds the perfect fit for him after his gap year.

@eandesmom I’m going into denial over dorm shopping until after S17’s grad/birthday/send off party on the 13th and S15’s 20th birthday on the 15th. Then I’ll scramble and stress S17 out about it until we leave on the 26th–that’s unfortunately the way I work. B-)

@NolaCAR How cool about D17 and S22 camping together! This summer S17 has discovered the Adirondacks and camped/hiked/climbed with a few of his BFFs twice. It’s been great bonding for them, and hopefully will be the same for your kids.

@Techman24 I’d just like to say that techson is such an awesome kid! And the siblings moving techson into college sounds PERFECT!

I’m just trying to keep my head above water this week. Work is insane, and we’re trying to get our yard ready for the big grad/bday/send off party on the 13th. And I’m supposed to travel for work sometime (ironically to MI), but the dates keep getting pushed–now it’s to the point I may not be able to go because of the party and college moves. S15 thinks he may be able to get his apartment keys a bit early, so I may be able to help him get at least partially moved, but DH is still going to handle most of that move, while I do the MSU move for S17. I definitely need time to slow down for a few weeks!

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ETA-The comment I posted to @Techman24 should have gone to @techmom99. I really am impressed with techson, and hope that we can meet up someday…

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@MSU88CHEng You got him to wear a winter COAT?!?! I must know your strategy! We’re near Chicago and son lives in 3/4 zip athletic pullovers as a “jacket”. The only real jacket he wears is his motorcycle jacket while riding and that’s simply for safety (cause I’ll have his hide if he does’t).

@techmom99 Good for your son for trying to help his friend. I’m sure the friend won’t see it as help but it shows how much your son cares.

2.5 weeks to go until drop off date! Picking up S14 from summer classes next week and he’s volunteered to help drop off his brother - crazy days ahead!

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@smakl70 No idea how I finally convinced him to wear a winter coat, maybe because he was driving himself to school, and had to scrape frost & brush the snow off the car in the morning? :wink: And I’m not sure how much he’ll wear it (or boots) at MSU for classes–2 of his classes are in his dorm with the lecture portion in the building next door. 1 class is a very short walk away, with only 1 class that’s clear across campus… But every time we’ve visited, we each average 20,000 steps per day, so I’d assime he’ll be out and about A LOT.

We’re gearing up for the grad/birthday/send off party this weekend. It started as a mellow thing and has swelled to ~60 people, but we’re still trying to keep it simple–a big tent in our back yard, volleyball/badminton net, bocci, and maybe croquet in the front yard, pizza, wings, fruit salad & veggie trays for food, chips, pretzels, and candy on the tables, and drinks, plus I ordered a cake… It’s supposed to ne decent weather, and it should be a fun last gathering before all the kids scatter to their schools.

We’ve also knocked a few things off S17’s prep for college list. He now has a debit account, and we’ve got a reasonable start on “dorm mountain.” Shopping with him is amusing–the only thing he’s expressed a preference for is pillows (wanted not too firm). When I asked if he was taking posters/decor for the room, I got the sideways glance, so aesthetics aren’t at all important, he’s definitely going for function over form.

I’m trying to figure out how to handle move in day… It’s his 18th birthday, so I’ll get cake or cupcakes for him to have in his dorm room that 1st day. After the room is set up, there’s a meet & greet for his residential college where families are welcome–but it might be good for S17 to mingle without Mom hanging around… I’d like to take him out for dinner for his birthday, but told him I’d follow his lead of he preferred to hang out with kids on his dorm floor. I might see if he’ll go for letting me take him, his roommate, and roommate’s family out… After that, I’ll leave him to do his thing. I’m spending that night in a hotel, and will drive home the next day.

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Hi, all…

Final show is done. It was amazing. At the last show, they traditionally announce and recognize all of the seniors. I don’t recall there ever being as many as there were this year. Techson17 was at the back of the house and when he was called, he got to saunter up the aisle to the stage for his recognition. I almost cried. He got tons of cheers.

It turns out that I am not taking him to college. His 3 older brothers are banding together to road trip him up there. They plan to visit a naval museum in Buffalo and to have a bro day. This is the first time EVER the 4 boys have done this and I hope that they repeat it.

Packing is almost done but we have to take time out this weekend for H’s family reunion aka “The New Deliverance…” cue strumming banjos… I am literally dreading this “adventure.”