So glad everyones kiddos are doing so well and learning how to work everything out. S17 is way too independent. He has worked it all on his own since the day he started. Now, he will be home tomorrow night after a week hanging out with friends and his gf. Then he is leaving the day after Christmas to spend his birthday and new years back in KS with his gf and her family, then goes to Executive Academy for his fraternity with their advisor, then picks up his gf and drives to meet us in Taos for vacation for 3 days, then drives back to school. So total we see him for 7 days out of his entire vacation. He already said he is going to spend spring break with friends and stay in KS for the summer to take a class and work after his 2 week study abroad. Kind of sad I wonāt see much of him from here on out but proud he is doing well academically and socially.
Any pre-meds out there who have survived all the weeder classes? So much pressure!!!
@tenniswimvball mball S17 has finished Chem 1 and 2, Biology, Physics 1 and 2 and Microbiology. He takes the same classes pre-meds do being pre-vet. Next semester he has Organic Chem and genetics. So far so good! His gf is pre-med and has taken more of the pre-med and still has a 4.0 also. She was super stressed this past semester.
Mine is not premed. She took Calc 1 and 2, Inorganic, Organic, and P Chem 1 last year. She has a B+ average. This semester she is awaiting results in InOrganic Chem 2, Linear Algebra and a Scientific Methods class. On the British system there is no gen ed and they jump right in to what would be more second year courses here. Her IB program prepared her well (80 diplomas a year) especially HL Chem. This semester was tough, she is expecting one A, one B and one C but we will see. Grades donāt post until Jan 24.
D survived premed better than CS weeders. She got a 86 or B on data structure. Her sGPA is 3.9 plus, only A minus is from bio and bio lab.
The only premed classes left are orgo chem II, biochemistry, bio II, and physics II. It has been challenging to get CS and premed classes all in. She had 17 credits last semester, with two premed and labs and data structure. Next semester will be three or four CS classes with orgo chem, either 14 to 17 hours. She might drop one CS class. One CS class also has lab. She hopes to take some classes over the summer before or after her internship.
She knew it is difficult path. Feels relieved that she survived the semester and can still round up her 3.89 GPA to 3.9!
@MSU88CHEng @carachel2 Glad your DCs were able to concur the challenges and develop valuable skills along the way!!!
D came home a couple of days ago. She continues to do great academically and was finally able to obtain an interview for a summer internship :x. Even though it is a long shot, she is just happy to finally past the resume phase!
I am not sure about the weeder classes, but those classes for ChemE major sound daunting to me ( I was not a STEM major in college). Starting next semester she will mostly only have courses of her major. Thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and quantum chemistry ( this one might be an intro based) are all like mission impossible to me. 
@whataboutcollege Thermo & fluid mechanics are biggies for ChemE. I never took a specific quantum chem classāprobably covered somewhere in regular and p-chem for my program. And honestly, the way I knew ChemE was right for meāby sophomore year, I was sick of my straight chem, bio, physics, and math classes, but really looked forward to my engineering classesāunit ops, thermo, controls, reaction engineering, heat transfer, design, now THOSE classes were the fun ones!
@MSU88CHEng I feel this next semester is the true proof that she really wants to be a chemE. 
D17 heads back to school tomorrow morning for interterm. She applied to study abroad in London next fall, and should find out in February if itās a go. She had another great semester, though she did get her first A- thanks to a Marketing professor who made it 95+ for an A (D had a 94). She is on track to graduate Spring 2020, Business Administration with a Psych minor thanks to AP credits and testing out of two semesters of foreign language. Also, officially has her first boyfriend, so it was an eventful fall. Amazed at how grown up she has become. Hope everyone has a great New Yearās.
D17 is enjoying her vacation and taking it easy! She let me know she made first Honors again and is now ranked in the top 10% of her class while being a double major (Chemistry/Philosophy), enrolled in two honors programs, tutoring, and competing as a D1 athlete. She was offered her first choice in research for the spring and is looking for a research position this summer. She has decided to stay put and not transfer, I think she really loves BC now. SheŹ»s happy, smiling and engaged in the school. I will forever be grateful to BC for providing her amazing opportunities.
Just popping in to say that this was/is the best āParentsā thread ever. Supportive, informative, and fun. >:D<
I just wanted to let you know son17 came home for holiday break and he is doing well. He had a classic typical set of grades for him last semester, 4 Aās and a C+., LOL. He said he couldnāt understand his professor in the C+ class because he had a very interesting dialect so he basically had to teach himself the class. Thatās too bad, because all of his professors have been fine or even excellent up to that class. We told him to switch out of a class like that next time and move on.
Anyways he is really enjoying school and is on track to start his co-op next semester, and has figured out a plan with his academic advisor so he can end up with a nifty double major.
@snoozn Hi, I know your post is old but I feel like Iām in the exact position as your daughter was. Iām an atheist, stats above their 75%, not very interested in sports and want to go into engineering. I thought I didnāt want to go to a religious school but I visited last summer and fell in love with the school. I was recently admitted into their engineering program and Gonzaga is one of my top choices. Iām wondering if your daughter ended up attending? And if so Iām wondering how the student life and engineering program is like? Thanks if you see this!
A bit of excitement for DD 17. She was awakened by a fire alarm in her dorm the other morning. She was slightly annoyed until she went in the hallway and smelled smoke. She thought it might be serious since the smell was strong. She gathered with her apartment/suite mates (including one who could not find her glasses) and evacuated together.
There wasnāt really any risk; her dorm was not on fire.
[spoiler]It was a fire nearby.
[spoiler]A fire truck was on fireā¦
[spoiler]in the fire station near the dorms.
They had to call another fire stationās equipment to put out the blaze.
[/spoiler]
The burning diesel caused enough smoke to activate the fire alarm.
[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]
Evacuation went quickly but since they use biometrics for security, it took nearly an hour to get back IN to the dorms. She was outside from about 5:00 AM to 5:30. Many others had to wait nearly an hour. She was, hmm, non-plussed.
Interesting start to the semester.
@Dave_N better than with S17 last semester. The day after he left for the summer his gf heard all kinds of sirens. Turned out the main campus library was on fire. Between water and flood damage the library is closed this entire year! In the fall they will have the first floor open but it will be the beginning of his Sr. year before the entire library is open again (and he will have moved on to vet school by then and it has its own library!) It has been a pain to find places to study but the school has set up things all over campus.
We only got to see S for a few days. We just finished a shortened ski trip because of problems with D. S luckily got to stay the entire time with his gf and they had fun. He had a great trip to executive school (partially held at Northwestern) and is already learning how much work there is to be the President of a fraternity. Tomorrow he meets with their advisor to make plans for the year then goes back to campus to start next Tuesday. Hopefully it all goes well!
He has his books and should be ready!
Havenāt been on CC in a while. Enjoyed reading everyoneās posts. Heartening to see kids finding their way and recovering after stumbles.
D17 flies back to OR today. This winter break was very different than last yearās. Last year she was very unhappy and was considering transferring. This year she is going back a few days early because she is excited to start 2nd semester. She seems to have no regrets whatsoever about not transferring.
She declared a molecular biology major, but loved organic chem 1 last semester and will take organic chem 2 this semester, so now she is thinking of switching to biochem. Regardless of whether she sticks with molecular bio or switches to biochem, she plans to go to grad school and ultimately would like to end up working in a research lab. She is a little behind if she switches to biochem as she hasnāt had calculus (ever-took pre-calc her jr yr of HS and did not take math her sr yr) or physics (did take physics in HS). And she has applied to study abroad in Birmingham, England next fall, so if she gets accepted and switches to biochem, sheāll have to take calculus, physics, and physical chem there and is wondering whether British uniās are more rigorous or have drastically different teaching styles? Not being a science person, I am not able to offer much input on any of this. Iād be most appreciative of any insight any of you might have about molecular bio v biochem. And @VickiSoCal since your D17 is in Scotland, maybe you would know about rigor and teaching styles at British uniās?
@NolaCAR is she just going for the one semester? Look very carefully at the module descriptions.
Looks like they only offer P Chem in the Spring, and the fall Calculus module presumes A level math, which is a lot more than pre-calc.
UK students do not, in general take modules outside their major. So the first year physics module will be all physics majors who are a hundred percent devoted to physics and also assume A-Level physics in high school.
I just want to add that S2 just got his acceptance into the study abroad London program for next fall. Heās been piling on the required courses this year in order to take mostly electives.
It is nice to hear the many little victories in the lives of all your kids.
Hi everyone, havenāt checked in for a while. During the break our son was recommended for a position in a robotics research lab, so he has started doing that and is very excited about it. The opportunity just kind of fell in his lap, so he was pretty fortunate. We were excited when he got in to UCLA, but his experience so far has exceeded even our high expectations. Itās kind of cool, because in club activities and now the research, heās been working with all grade levels including grad students. The whole experience has been very good for him. I knew he was capable enough, but we were unsure how heād handle all the changes that occur with going away to school since he was a bit young socially.
S17 is getting ready to go back to school for spring semester. Since modifying his major, he has become galvanized and is now planning on graduating in 3 years, which is a pretty amazing thing considering he only went into school with 9 AP credits. He kicked butt on his online Cognitive Psych class and it seems like this is a perfect minor for him. He was also able to secure a paying job with the school theater tech crew that I think may actually be part of SUNY and, therefore, pension eligible. He has been in the NYS pension system since he was 16 and worked at the HS. I am a huge proponent of starting your retirement savings asap, lol.