@mstomper I am so happy for your son. I remember how much he wanted to go to Ithaca because that was one on my daughter’s short list that year. He must have known in his heart this was his place and I am so happy it worked out that he could go there and shine. And a girlfriend too!
Thanks @MinnieFan. He had to convince my inlaws that it was the right place for him, since they’re helping pay. He told me they’ve stopped asking about his grades at this point.
Was Elon where your daughter ended up? I have family in that part of NC.
@mstomper how nice that your in-laws are helping to pay! What a wonderful gift to both you and their grandchild.
It’s been great to hear what DS has been interested in school and how his career plans are evolving. His dream job had been working in sports stats, and he’s still a stats major and going take the data science track next year, but his sociology minor has really captured his heart. He’s no longer thinking of working in sports, and he may end up focusing on how data can help groups working for social change. Probably will end up going to grad school.
It’s still early in the semester but I think the favorite class so far is Fiber Science. Basketball has been big this year and us parents are going up for a game in a week. Hope everyone has a great semester!
Put D18 on a plane back to Amherst Saturday and I will tell you, I cannot get used to that first morning I see her bedroom empty again. The hardest part is on D21 as they are the best of friends. I tell her we cannot be sad about her sister when her life is so good! I will have to do something special for her and me too!
Hello Everybody!! I accessed CC this evening to search the threads for some tax info & then clicked on my old link to this site to see if anyone was still posting. To my surprise, I saw many familiar names & went back several pages to read about many of the triumphs, struggles, and future plans of the Class of 2018 kids. It brought back so many good memories of a couple of years ago when we were all pulling for the kids as they embarked on their college journeys!!
My D experienced her first serious relationship during freshman year and then experienced her first break-up during the fall semester of sohpomore year. Luckily, she was able to come home for the holidays & had a nice long break to reflect and put things back into perspective. She returned to school for spring semester and has hit the ground running! We facetime with her often & she seems very happy once again! She is keeping extremely busy, but she has always seemed to thrive under these circumstances.
She has a great friend group & says that she has embraced many Cornell traditions, including attending and cheering at the hockey games! She was elected as treasurer of her service fraternity, works @10 hours per week at the business school, and is a TA for 2 classes where she assists the professors and holds office hours. She also already has an off-campus room lined-up for next semester!
She’s majoring in Applied Economics & has developed a real interest in data analytics, spreadsheet modeling, and accounting, so she’s looking at concentrations in a couple of those areas.
Best wishes & a belated Happy New Year to all of you & I’ll be back more often to check-in!!
Our S is in the same town, different college. He’s doing better than we ever thought possible, and is 10 months into his first relationship. We drove up to Ithaca earlier this week and took him and his gf to dinner a couple of times.
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I read today that some colleges with study abroad programs in Italy are calling their kids back. Have any of your colleges said anything about their summer programs? A friend of mine just told her D that she won’t send her to a program in Europe this summer because she’s concerned whether coronavirus will still be around and she wants her D to make decisions now. My friend’s thought is that if her D waits much longer to apply for summer internships/jobs in the US, they will be gone.
On that note, for those of you whose kids are applying for internships, how is that going? What major?
My D is hoping to go to Russia so isn’t applying for internships/jobs this summer. Hopefully this outbreak of coronavirus will be long over by then.
Funny – I was JUST thinking about this. My D18 has submitted her application to study abroad this Fall in Spain. I’m very concerned it will get called off. She’s applying through CIEE – we will need to pay close attention to the fine print b4 sending $$. She’s so excited and will be dashed if she can’t go. Not to mention she has no housing (or classes!) lined up for the Fall!
But true – current and summer programs are the more immediate concern.
Honestly, I think until we have a vaccine in about a year this is going to be an issue. I don’t think it’ll be over by summer.
My D has applied to a number of research internships in biology this summer – expects to hear next month.
@AlmostThere2018 , there might suddenly be a lot more biology internships available than previously planned as money gets pumped into the system to find a vaccine/cure. Why does she expect to hear next month? Was it for advertised positions that specified when the response date is? Good luck to her!
From what I’ve been reading, the mortality rate for young kids like ours is very low, so I’m not worried about that issue. And we could arrange for her to quarantine at home alone for 2 weeks (dropping off food in the garage while we stay at my folks’ house), so I’m not worried about that. I’m thinking the most likely scenario for her is that the sponsor cancels or that Russia won’t let the kids in.
S18 is thriving at FSU as a vocal performance major in the music school. He’s performed in an opera, and a number of local musical theatre productions. He’s also done well in some voice competitions, recently attracting the attention of a classical music talent agency. His grades are great and he has a girlfriend. He is very happy. Coronavirus is affecting his plans as well, as he applies to summer voice programs in Italy, Austria and France. He’s been accepted to several already. None have cancelled yet due to the virus, but they have announced contingency plans of possibly moving to another venue and promising full refunds should a cancellation prove necessary. He recently applied to some domestic programs, just in case. Glad all your 2018ers are doing well!
Just got the call that Amherst will go to remote classes after Spring break. My girl is sad about it. I hope your kids are all doing well and staying healthy. I hope this too shall pass (and quickly)
@Meddy remote as in your house or remote as in the campus dorm/apartment?
I think in the next few weeks most colleges will switch to online for the rest of the year. My D will be sad too – here’s hoping they make it at least another couple of weeks. She’s got a bio lab that’s certainly not conducive to online learning. But mostly, she’ll miss her friends and college life.
That said, we all have to think about the public good. Young people are vectors, and the more we can do to slow infections, the better.
@burghdad Yes, 2k miles away from Amherst and her closest friends. Let’s just say that I am praying something really good comes from all of this. Since the town of Amherst is so small, I can’t imagine in such short time finding a solid living situation off campus. I wouldn’t be opposed though. I love my kid, but I love her living her best life, with her people and wherever that may be.
UCLA ceased in-person classes starting today until at least April 11. This includes the first two weeks of Spring quarter, so students won’t be able to assess their new professors face to face before the drop period.
DD’18 just arrived home to finish the semester on-line. She is not pleased. she prefers to be learning with her classmates by her side. This is going to be a challenge. Her brother has to stay home to take high school classes on-line too. I hope the Wi-Fi doesn’t buckle!
Some good news for S18 today, he got confirmation of his summer internship with a well known Washington DC think tank. Now he just has to worry about whether the university accommodation in DC will actually be available (though he could always stay with friends) and more importantly, whether they will still be locked down in mid June. Still, even if he ends up working remotely, this is a great opportunity to look forward to while he is stuck here at home for the spring quarter (and he only realized afterwards quite how insanely competitive, something like 100+ applicants for 2 spots on the project he applied for).
Meanwhile D18 is staying put in her college apartment, although many friends are gradually leaving to go home, as the university tries to clear out the on campus dorms. After the earthquake woke them up yesterday, she commented that they really are having to do “a lot of adulting” at the moment (she spent the first half of the week doing tax returns, IRA contributions, car services, finding storage units, etc.). Unfortunately her summer now looks a lot more uncertain, her planned program in Europe in July seems unlikely to be a viable option.