QOTD - 4 or 5 years: We were planning on four years for DD, unless she decides to do one or two co-op blocks, but then it’s still 8 semesters of in-class time over five years.
For those with older students – is required class availability a common-enough problem at some schools that DD needs to add this to the list of follow-up questions for accepted schools? Several people have mentioned it now.
It’s one thing to need a fifth year due to a major change or not taking 15 or 16 credit hour loads. It’s completely another if the school doesn’t provide adequate sections / seats / scheduling options to allow for the possibility of graduating in four years.
I know Temple pushes their “Fly in 4” pledge – which seems to be a counter to this concern.
Great advice on two people go, if possible. My husband and I both went because our son is a tall and strong kid and I knew if I needed to try to get him into the car on my own it would be a problem. My son was really unsteady on his feet during that first hour after so it was good to have a second person.
We (maybe just me) are waiting for one more EA app decision but it’s the RD apps that S17 is waiting for.
My older 2 graduated in 4 years (well, the second will graduate in May). Oldest was a cs major (College of Engineering) at a large state flagship. He never had any problems getting classes. He only had 1 class over 100 people and only 1 other class of 50. The majority of his classes were ~20-30 students.
Older d had some problems getting higher-level major classes scheduled because the sections were so small (10-12 students) that seniors and juniors got them first. Once she was a junior she had little difficulty. She’s an English-French double major, theatre minor.
We are also waiting for 4 RD apps too, UVA is my son’s top choice, so it would ease our minds if he got in. I thought the results would be out last Friday. I didn’t appreciate how much waiting was involved. April 1st seems like an eternity from here.
I have heard that getting classes and getting lower div classes in the necessary order to get to the upper div classes can be an issue at larger schools. The UCs and Cal State schools have this problem, which is one reason S didn’t apply to them, except for Cal Poly. Honors programs can be helpful with getting priority registration. OUs honors program give the honors kids first crack for classes over everyone.
Good news (or at least newsish) here: D17 got a letter inviting her to apply to Muhlenberg’s Dana Scholars program, which is one of their selective honors programs. She’s not admitted to the college yet, but as a postscript on the letter put it, getting the invitation is a “good sign”. Of course, whether she gets enough aid that we could swing sending her there, even with the extra money Dana Scholars get…
(Also, she recently found that there’s a picture of her and some other students being all science-y at the summer camp she was at there last year on a poster hanging at the college promoting the neuroscience program, so that’s fun.)
Arggh, hate no edit. I meant to say UC or Cal State system are so much cheaper than some of the the other places she’s applying I don’t care if she goes 4.5 years
All UCs are not alike, but UCSB Engineering will guarantee you get the classes you need to graduate in 4 years. It’s a tough schedule though, usually at least 16-17 units every quarter for at least the first 2 years.
@twoforone99 We just went through the wisdom teeth extraction with S17. We did have 2 driving home-I drive & H in the back with S17, but for very selfish reasons. H was under strict orders to film S while I asked all the questions he normally won’t answer. I didn’t know the hilarious effects of post-anasthesia on patients, having missed that boat w/D14. The big question we wanted to know was if S liked a girl we all know, and this was our big chance-or so we thought. So H hits him with the question right off, and S’s response? “What-are you trying to trick me? My cognitive abilities are not as impaired as you think”, while rolling his head all around in a serpentine pattern. He said he felt dizzy in a good way. His response was that “girls are too expensive because he likes to go to nice restaurants and of course she would go too, and not eat salad because he likes girls who eat food, so there”. Huh.
When D17 had her tonsils out in August the post op nurse was giving instructions and telling her “no drugs or alcohol”, my daughter, who was wasted, turned and said “I don’t even drink! Do you know how lucky you are? I mean, I’m like a really good kid. You’re welcome.” The nurse was dying laughing :))
Good luck to your DD with her recuperation @twoforone99. DD had her wisdom teeth out ten days ago and is still on soft foods. She is beyond frustrated. She didn’t have any noticeable swelling as she was extremely consistant with icing. Looks like a lot of us were waiting for the first semester to end before scheduling the extraction.
I don’t visit this thread nearly as often as I should, but I’d just like to say how continually impressed with all of the accomplishments of all your DC. What a great group of kids (and parents!) we have!
Congrats to all those who have gotten acceptances and good luck to all of those still waiting. The wait will be over soon! DS got accepted EA to his top choice school/program and we’ve already committed. It’s our state flagship with no financial aid, but ends up also being cheaper than any other school he applied (would have applied) to, so I guess we’re lucky in that regard too.
I love reading all the updates. It’s been a very long journey but hopefully a rewarding one for all. Here’s to fighting off the senioritis!
From what I can tell, I think its better to manage senioritis more than fight it. Pick your places for things that matter and push for focus there (hopefully only needed for a short time). Let go where things do not matter. That is actually true before senior year but everything seems to be magnified then.
I am hoping a new set of classes starting 2nd semester ( next week). will take an edge off of any Senioritis. Son17 likes most of classes, except he doesn’t love his calc class nor AP Stats ( teachers are not great) . So he’s going to have to just put some focus on those and make it through the year.
I truly feel like he would’ve had a more relaxed year had we attempted to get in to a school ED and just be done with the uncertainty of waiting. Having the kids wait until March or later for RD decisions, and then make them decide in a couple of weeks seems kind of ridiculous. Unfortunately for son17, only his safety schools accepted him EA. So now he’s just waiting on the rest of them, and still hoped he might get into a school he got deferred from.
I’m pretty certain we are going to have Son19 select an ED school when he applies in a couple of years. We went back and forth on it with son17, and in hindsight I think it might have helped his acceptance chances, and he probably
would’ve felt relieved to be done.
What do you do with a kid who told me 2 years ago that he wanted to major in Computer Engineering (in a School of Engineering)… Gets into a good School of Engineering… but now says it may not be “exciting enough” and might want to major is something else because his dream is to “start a record label”?
Not really looking for an answer to this question. Just venting a bit. I’m not concerned that he won’t major in something productive. He will - he too academically competitive. But, the engineering track is fairly well set from the get go. It’s not like many other majors where you’ll settle on a major in your sophomore year.
Waiting on the final college decision in late March… then we’ll deal with an admitted student visit where he can maybe hear about some options and what engineering is all about. If he truly doesn’t want engineering anymore, I’m hoping he can switch out. I guess that’s better than trying to switch INTO engineering.
But, the engineering track is fairly well set from the get go. It’s not like many other majors where you’ll settle on a major in your sophomore year.