@NolaCAR -
Thank you. My son signed up through Be The Match, you can go to Bethematch.com if there are no drives near you. On another note, good luck to your daughter with her transfer.
Nice to see people checking in! Kudos to @techmom99ās S for giving the gift of health to another person!! (And what greater gift can one give?!?)
@NolaCAR - good luck to D on her transfer!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek ā I also did a double take when I saw that your D was acting, until I saw the second c. While itās frustrating to not be able to major in everything that interests her, how wonderful that she has so many interests!!
We were just up at Stanford for Family Weekend and got to enjoy a production of Romeo and Juliet that D was stage managing. It seems that D has found her tribe among the Stanford Shakespeare Company (StanShakes). The nice thing about StanShakes is that itās an ensemble/repertory company that once you are a member, youāre in for all four years, assuming varying levels of responsibility within the company each quarter.
I was very impressed with level of talent I saw in the show; it was better than some of the professional productions Iāve seen, and the fact that itās entirely student run makes it all the more impressive.
In other news, D got a funded fellowship at a museum this summer, so itās back to D.C. for her!
Looking forward to having her back for spring breakā¦
My daughter experienced her first snow day ever yesterday in Scotland. Still 2 weeks until Spring Break, sheās going to Nice and Brissels.
Son17 decided to come for Spring Break and is relaxing. He needs to buy a suit for some upcoming presentations he will be doing for 2 classes, and he needs to go try to get a job lined up for the summer. Weāve been able to see him more frequently which has been nice. He likes Northeastern but is surprised at how hard some of the classes are. He has some tough teachers he says that pound them with homework. Some of his friends take the same classes and they have easy teachers.I guess. Of well, such is life I told him. Heās excited to pick his classes out for next Fall and is nervous about the housing lottery coming up- heās hoping for a nicer room.
I do enjoy seeing everyoneās updates. Met up with D this weekend and it is nice to see how happy she is. She finally met with an advisor (after much parental prodding), and they have mapped out a plan for her moving forward as she is way ahead. She is going to take one aCCtāing (just for clarity) class here at home this summer, such that when she starts next fall all of her undergrad core classes will be completed. They even worked out a way for her to study abroad for a semester and still be done in 3 years. Trying to convince her to look at Chapmanās 4+1 MBA program, and make it into a 3+1 MBA program. Weāll see, as that will require her to actually go and talk to a different person in the Business School. Based on how long it took us to get her to meet with an advisor, Iām guessing sheāll get this accomplished some time this calendar year.
Dd also met with her advisor again. She was able to get her to approve 4 classes to be taken over summers. So now this summer will be spent taking aCCting classes. By not taking those classes at USC, she can complete a double major in IB French/finance and aCCting. (Love it @TimEnchanter 
) She will have one semester where she has to take 18 cr hrs. She sounded so relieved bc she has really been stressing out over this decision b/c she desperately wants both.
It is a really good thing she entered with so many cr hrs or it would never have been possible.
@TimEnchanter I would ask more questions before doing an MBA straight out of college. My understanding is it isnāt valued by employers due to lack of work experience.
In some cases, getting the MBA out of the way now, is more about cost/convenience than that first job. Several years from now, youāll not have to figure out how to fit an MBA into a busy career/family life. Thatās the appeal of those 4+1 (3+1 in this case) BS/MS programs.
An elite MBA program can be about making connections and building your network. But for most folks looking to earn an MBS, Itās about getting the credential.
EDIT: In our case, my DS14 (Industrial Engineering) wants to start working as soon as she has the BS degree this year, and plans on earning her MS and/or MBA down the road. My DS17 may or may not complete the 4+1 BS/MS program in engineering, itās an option heās thinking about. Everyoneās situation is a bit different.
An MS and an MBA are different. An early MBA only benefits the university (tuition dollars). This is something we looked at because my D will complete her undergraduate work in 3 years. All sources except the universities offering these MBA programs discouraged it and said it wouldnāt make her qualified for jobs requiring an MBA. My D will be getting an MS during undergrad but will wait a few years for an MBA.
Executive MBAs solve the time constraint problem.
Bottom line, do your homework.
DD got a local summer internship! She applied from NY and had a phone interview and got offered the internship right away. Itās for a local county public defenderās office. It is unpaid so she is going to apply for a stipend through Columbia that helps pay transportation, clothing, etc. She also got a call back regarding a part-time job opportunity for youth in our city (she was involved during high school so they probably recognized her name). Not related, but equally as exciting, my younger DD (11) got into a charter middle school. Today has been a great day for us!
Glad to see all of our young adults seem well prepared for the challenges of picking fall classes deciding on Housing and making summer plans . D has decided to spend her summer at BU. She loves Boston! She hasnāt worked out all the details but told me she may try to come home for a few weeks before the fall semester starts.
@botcom Boston is a fun city. S17 spent a few summers at BU in HS.
S17 was accepted for a math REU this summer. Heāll be home for a few weeks after finals and for a month after the program.
My daughter is back at school after spring break. Hard to believe that in 6 weeks, her first year of college will be complete.
S17 is back at school too. He has 7 weeks until the end of classes before final.
He has no plan for summerā¦ 
My D is home for Spring Break. She says she has a total of 39 items left for the term including psets, lab reports, tests, finals, papers and books to read. So a lot left. She also has to come up with a research project for this Summer as she got funding for her own project in the lab where she is currently working.
My D just got back from spring break. Her fellowship took them to NY and DC, where they met with lots of influential people, had nice meals, saw a musical, went to many museums, and had a chance to hang out and relax. My D even managed to only spend half of her stipend on the trip, so pocketed a couple hundred. She had a great time and was not ready to get back to the grind.
6 more weeks of classes and then they are off to Oxford for a month, where sheāll take an environmental economics course. Then sheāll travel around Europe with friends for almost two weeks, then off to Morocco where sheāll do an intensive Arabic program for 8 weeks, travel around Spain for 2 weeks afterward, and then spend fall semester studying Arabic through Middleburyās language school in Morocco. Study abroad applications were a bear but she got that part of it done, was accepted to both programs, and is working on the last piece to get her scholarship applied and the credit transferred (lots more paperwork). Sheās excited, but will miss football season and is sad about that.
I canāt believe how fast this year has gone by. It seems like just yesterday we were all waiting for decisions and the craziness that surrounded that. Iām so glad to hear that your DC are doing well and thriving or @NolaCAR making the important choice to find a better fit 
My DS is has been so happy and is really loving school. We just got back from a nice spring break beach vacation where he did a lot of relaxing and catching up on sleep and then went back to a snow day. Seven weeks of classes then finals. He is doing summer school (5weeks) to take accounting the weeder class for the business school) then he will come home and work a little for some extra money. Wishing everyones kids finals go well and they all get a chance to chill out and celebrate a great first year!!
After many months of not reading this thread, I was intrigued that you all are still here and in touch! Yes, indeed there is plenty to talk about, in these exciting times of our DSās first college years ā¦
Iām writing due to ā¦ wondering how many other of our Freshman have experienced food poisoning this academic year (being that its their first year eating institutional food / dining halls, well unless yourās was at boarding school, which mine never was.) Ours is at a large public university, and food poisoning event was only once so far, and so Iām not alarmed (yet), given the large number of meals eaten so far. --Wondering if you, such a wise group of parents, feel this happens more often at large universities than at small LACs? (odds are it would, in my opinion). -And more so in salad bar users than not, due to the greater exposure in the self-serve food areas? Those were my thoughts; curious of yours (experiences and thoughts).
Thank goodness my DS17ās food poisoning night wasnāt during midterms or finals!!
@Momofsenior2017 I am sorry to hear that your son has had to deal with illness, especially hard away from home. DD is at a large public (Alabama) and has not encountered any food poisoning (knocking on wood). There have been plenty of times she has lamented ānot loving the foodā, alternating with āit is so easy to go to the dining hall and have so many choicesā. Is this something that is common on his campus or are you just curious?
@Momofsenior2017 My D is also at a large school and hasnāt had food poisoning (knock on wood).