My D21 is taking AP CS now and is loving it… she never thought of herself as a “coder” but it seems she has a knack for it. She is thinking of studying computational biology at college.
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@sushiritto My older one did the same thing. It was CA all the way. It worked out incredibly well, she got in everywhere and chose the closest UC to home when it came down to decision time. She’s already talking about where she’ll go for grad school and, once again, it’s all CA schools.
I remember your older one is at MI, my younger one is at least considering out of state and it is definitely less stressful to have some acceptances early out of CA. I am rooting for your D this year, having been through the all CA application cycle once.
@MommaLue We are right there with you waiting on these CA schools too. It is nice to have some other parents who care this much to share the process (and waiting) with!
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Computational bio is a great field!
My D a junior in college is taking bioinfomatics this semester, her first official CS class in college. But the funny thing is last summer and fall she worked for her college’s CS department helping develop and code bio simulations for their in house intro bio curriculum!
She has a self-taught good working knowledge of R and Python she picked up from her REU in 2019 and a high school computational science course, but feels like the class will help fill in gaps!
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It does seem like Python is what kids need to know. Even if they don’t end up using it in their eventual jobs, it’s the language that is called out on a lot of internship job descriptions.
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For CS, and probably engineering, the value/prestige of the your college disappears so fast. It’s probably on your first day at work. That’s why those CS rankings are worthless (laughable?). Instead focus on outcomes. Who has the real pull to get them a great internship?
Schools like GT and Purdue are amazing for CS because of their career services and job fairs. They’ve been putting a lot into them for decades and it shows.
Schools like Cal and U Dub are great too, but it’s mostly because of their location. Nobody mentions San Jose State on CC, but their CS grads do so well in the job market because their part time job while in college was working in tech.
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@AlwaysMoving – yes, I’ve heard from CS and engineering your college only matters for your first job and after that nobody cares – it’s only what you can do that matters.
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Start checking for orientation dates. We also searched classes to see when certain ones were typically offered and their location- helped with determining which dorm she might want to live in. Move in dates- probably not listed yet because of Covid, but you can see when they typically are and start thinking about hotels, flights if needed.
We also looked at logistical things like, pharmacy and bank. We wanted to make sure that she had an atm she could use- silly us, that is what Venmo is for! Once she turned 18 we converted her savings account to a checking (re taught her how to write a check) and she applied for a credit card. I don’t always recommend that. Her limit started out low, but since she paid it off each month it went high pretty quick. With that said, she now has excellent credit and has been responsible with it. Both kids are also authorized users on our CCs as well.
Make sure immunizations are up to date. I think sometimes they need another MMR???
Make a wish list on Amazon, Target, BBB for dorm stuff. BBB usually sends tons of coupons and we bought a lot of stuff that she didn’t necessarily need freshman year, but would need once she had a kitchen. Plus her dorm kitchen had no cookware, so if she wanted to cook, she had to have it. (She didn’t have a meal plan freshman year) If they are going to school far away, you can pick it up at a closer store once you get there.
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All of this talk about book costs reminded me that parents need to be on the look out for their kids charging things on the credit card to create cash in their pocket. I know everyone on here’s kid is perfect, but you probably want to keep an eye out. Here are a couple I’ve seen.
Buying books- At most schools and for most classes books are a thing of from the past. Most of the time there is a digital copy floating around they can use to look up HW problems, and when they have a problem they watch youtube videos instead of reading the book. So there is some way that you buy books, return them unused by a certain day, and get 80% back in cash.
Lululemon- Ok, it’s really lululemon and other brands like them, but there is a market for selling expensive barely worn clothing for beer money. My girls buy a lot of stuff at the consignment stores during the last month of the semester when kids are broke. There is even some sort of FB group for it.
Costco- Like all good dads Costco is my jam. I don’t care what my kids say, I look good in those sweatpants! Sometimes when I’m there I see a couple boys loading up on hamburger, paper plates, buns, and chips, and I know someone is throwing a big tailgate party. Sometimes I see them with really weird stuff in the cart like $100 worth of chicken, a 50 pound bag of rice, etc. One time I followed a group out and saw them selling the stuff for cash to someone. I don’t see this one very often, maybe 3-4 times a year, but it should give you an idea of how resourceful our kids can be when they need beer money.
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LOL. I’ve caught my boys taking the gang out for Five Guys on my dime (around $50), then they get the Venmo reimbursement from their friends. It’s not exactly cash, but Venmo is pretty close.
I reminded them that Dad sees everything, Dad knows everything. It hasn’t happened since.
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Yep! I forgot about picking up the tab with mom and dad’s CC and then getting venmo’d the cash. My spouse and I have sat near groups bickering over who gets to make a profit on the check.
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I know moms who purchase gift cards at grocery stores and then use those to go shopping for clothes and such. The only ones who do this are those whose hubbys check credit card bills, so they just see a ‘grocery store’ charge and think nothing of it.
In our house, I handle all the money, investing, and bill payment, and could literally bankrupt us before hubby was aware of anything, lol.
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I think in general Californians consider Cal Poly on par with the mid/high level UCs (Cal Poly is chosen at about the same rate as UCI, UCSB, UCD and UCSD when accepted to both), and San Jose State is pretty highly regarded for CS, the internship opportunities are fantastic.
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My wife has a small bank account that I’m not on with a debit card that I can see if I put forth a tiny bit of effort but she knows I won’t.
Usually she’s pretty protective of that money, and it’s mostly “extras” that get bought with it. Things that are either for her or if for the family things she knows I will complain about so she buys them with “her” money. Whatever, I don’t care either way. She also has access to the joint account (I’m the one without his “own” money) but since ultimately it all ends up in the same place I don’t pay much attention.
Normally things for the kids get put on the credit card and then paid out of the joint account. D21 got a prom dress a couple weeks ago (most likely still having prom here), and instead of paying for it out of “joint” money, my wife used her debit card. I’m mildly concerned how much that stupid dress costs that they are hiding it from me. Not concerned enough to log into her account though, so I guess they were right.
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I do all the bill paying ect. as well. DH would have a heart attack at what it costs for highlights and hair cuts for 3 women! This reminds me that I think D18 is still using my CC for that- time to cut her off!
I have D18’s emails going to my phone- I get to see all the venmos and all of the silly notes and emojis that go with it. They are quite entertaining. She at least uses her own CC for that.
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All but one CSU and UC here also!
As for prep, I already have a (fully refundable) hotel for move-in weekend at two of the top choices… I like to plan ahead 
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Lol. D19 and I have told DH a number of times just not to ask how much dresses and such have cost. Our code to him is ‘looks like you are going to have to sell another project’ (he’s a partner in a consulting firm)
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My D18 is on my husband’s credit card for ‘approved’ expenses. I think I’m going to put S21 on mine b/c I pay much closer attention (and am more frugal) and while I don’t think he’d do any of the tricks you described, I do think I’ll be questioning his expenses more than my D! He loves to spend our money anytime he can, lol!
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S19 doesn’t have access to our credit card. I don’t know why he would need it. He has his own account with his own earned money and a debit card to spend it. Every once in a while, he will ask if we can pick up the tab for something like a new pair of running shoes which I’m happy to do and then he’ll buy them and I’ll move that amount into his checking account to reimburse him. Technically he is on our credit card but he doesn’t have the plate with him so doesn’t use it right now.
Boys are back from Seattle. Husband not a fan at all of the urban area where Seattle U is located. Lots of harmless but drugged out kids on the street and empty otherwise. My son as open minded as always. Also saw U Dub again for the third time. I’m not sure the trip helped sort things out much?
Q for @MommaLue or others who might know. I’ve heard U Dub graduates can be pretty snobby up there and prefer to hire and hang out with U Dub people. Is this much of an issue? I don’t think their program output can meet the demands. OOS so not expecting direct U Dub CS enrollment though we did encourage S to try and he did the separate Coalition app. He went a little off on the essay prompts so he could recycle. U Dub said they just wanted to get to know you and seemed pretty loosey-goosey.
S seems pretty focused at the moment on the schools that offered him the earliest and largest merit discounts and not concerned much with fit. It’s a little strange. After we have the acceptances we will have him dig in on more factors. I’m gonna cook up a spreadsheet.
I’ve been thinking about UCSC a lot. I refused to let myself count at all on acceptances at UCs but after the encouraging email it’s become more of a reality unless we discover enrollment is just impossible after digging in.
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All three of my sons have their own bank accounts, with their own earned money, and debit cards. They all also have a version of my Amex. It’s specifically for food and/or emergencies. Gives me a bit of peace of mind.
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