D21 attended WOW at SLO this past fall. SLO broke them up into groups of 25 or so and they seemed to go to all sorts of places, like a hike up to the P, a bonfire in Pismo Beach, spending a few hours at Avila Beach, and all sorts of activities all around the campus.
Also, kids from her group are also on her dorm floor or in the same dorm, which I have no idea if its by design or coincidence.
SLO provided an excellent transition for my D into the SLO culture and the start of classes. I counted WOW week as a huge plus for our kid.
Thatās awesome. I hope it was by design. And what you describe in the rest of your post is exactly why I really want DS to get into SLO. CPP will be great, but DS really wants a rich social life in addition to the academics, clubs, hands-on learning, etc. He isnāt an extrovert and needs the additional scaffolding to really settle in. Weāll do all of the events and Q+ if he gets in in order to facilitate that.
I got a letter from the Cal Poly Pomona Veteransā office that included the date we need to accept by in order to stay on track with course registration. Itās March 15. So I put it on my calendar to accept if we havenāt heard from SLO yet. I hope we know before that. Iām not in the mood to lose a deposit, but obviously will if necessary. Hereās hoping for an answer by Mar 14.
My D24 wants to do either Pol. Science/Economics. Her eventual goal at this point is Law but if she changes her mind or ends up not getting into Law she would like to do some major that has some job prospects. So thinking of going for Economics.
My question is if the college admission depends on the major or a general admission to the college. I mean is it little easier to get into a less competitive major in competitive colleges? If so, if for a students interested in Economics /Pol. Science, what less competitive major you guys suggest that gives her a shot to get into a good college?
I totally understand that one doesnāt have to decide about the major right now but I am just trying to find some good colleges (NOT LACs) that are otherwise fall under low acceptance rate. Few colleges to name like BC, BU, GT, GWU, NYU etc. I am not looking at the price tag currently.
Choice of major on the application does matter. And of course you can change majors once you get to school. But usually with applications to selective colleges, your ECs and essays demonstrate an interest toward a certain path, because thatās what the kid likes, which then gives structure to the application package.
That said, with selective colleges, itās all about what they need that particular year. Even if you apply for an obscure major, they may not have availability that year, or may already have their planned class.
Again my opinion, but best you can do is have your kid do what they enjoy, and build the resume through things they like, even if it points to a popular major. You can still apply undecided and/or name several potential majors on the common app. Run the NPCs and see if you can take a shot or two in ED, and base all apps on fit and where the student can see themselves happy and successful. Iām the king of parental college stress, and Iām slowly learning that motivated kids will make the system work for them.
These are very school-dependent. Many schools admit without regard to major. And others tell you not to expect to be able to transfer to some majors.
If youāre not admitted directly as a freshman, itās unlikely youāll be admitted to either computer science or computer engineering as a UW student.
if you are absolutely certain that you want to major in Computer Science or Computer Engineering and do not receive a DTM offer, you should strongly consider attending another university.
Completely agreeā¦ itās all about institutional priorities. #Jeff Selingo
At the end of the day, some kids will have better luck than others in terms of institutional fit. Some kids will have chosen certain majors, picked more rigorous courses, asked more articulate teachers to write LORs, or sought different weekend jobs. In our case, I do know that the path to Eagle or 8 years in music will never, ever be written in the book of regrets.
Pursuing oneās gifts may or may not work out for highly selective admissions. But when the kid is 50 years old, Iām pretty sure they will care if their passions were supported. Cheers to you parents who are continually recognizing your childās strengths despite the value judgements that stem from institutional priorities
Clemson has two alternative admissions to regular fall start. One is the summer program referred to above. It clearly is a way to generate some extra revenue. But for some students it eases them into the course work, and college life and having some friends before the fall. One thing to also consider is the weather in Clemson in the summer is HOT. However on the flip side it sits on Lake Hartwell so there are lots of fun water related things to do. The second program they have is called the bridge. The students are admitted to a local community college for their first year and if they attain a certain GPA they are automatically admitted Clemson for Sophomore years. They get to live on campus and go to sporting events like the regular students.
My son applied to scholarships for Cal Poly Pomona today. Theyāve got a general form and you can then apply to different scholarships from there. He applied to one of the Alumni scholarships by answering the 3 associated questions for that (just asking if he had a CSU alumni in the family, who it was, and what their name was). When he went back to the scholarship list, there were suddenly a whole bunch of scholarships that indicated theyād been automatically applied for based on his application. Since the ones I saw at first were more of the alumni ones, I figured that was fine. But as he paged through the rest of the scholarships, there were a bunch that heād been automatically applied to. But they were things like scholarships for music majors, econ majors, etc. Heās gong to be a Comp Sci major. I thought maybe something had gotten screwed up in his application, so I went back and looked at his answers. Everything was correct. The only thing I can think of is that a bunch of scholarships mistakenly only have āenrolled at CPPā without the correct major included as their selection criteria. I feel bad that the people selecting scholarships for students are going to have to weed through a bunch of applications of students who arenāt qualified for the scholarship. There is no option for the students to de-select scholarships theyāre not qualified for. I hope this isnāt common at other schools.
Please pardon the interruption but if your child will be in a dorm next year this is a must and itās on sale.
The Twin XL are in stock (which isnāt always the case) AND on sale $179 (which is 30% off).
S21 has mentioned quite a few times that his dorm bed is super comfortable and he loves it. This is a kid who is not high maintenance at all and yet will tell you itās the best thing we bought for him last year by far.
I will second the recommendation from @123Mom123. D20 pooh-poohed the idea of getting a mattress topper her freshman year since she likes a firm mattress, and the first thing she said when we picked her up at the end of the year was that we had to buy her a mattress topper for sophomore year, her back couldnāt take another year of torture (to put in perspective - she is 5ā 2" and just over 100 lbs).
We bought the Temper-Topper Supreme, and she raves about it. Super comfy, not too squishy, her dorm bed is so comfortable this year. Well worth the money, even if you are swallowing a bit at the price.
My current freshman says her bed is so comfortable compared others that donāt have a topper. I believe she has the topper @123Mom123 linked (purchased on sale last year). A search of the 2021 parent thread will bring up lots of recommendations. Good luck to your 2022s!
Thanks for the recommendation for the topper. It canāt hurt to order one while on sale but how do you decide on the correct size? Should it be the twin or the twinXL? I donāt know whether dorm beds are longer than regular twin beds.
Has your son found it to be hot? Some memory foam retains heat (even if stated otherwise). Since D22 is going to Va, most likely in an un-airconditioned dorm, I am a bit concerned!
Excellent question. And honestly, he never mentioned it and I didnāt ask (and I agree that that temper Pedics can get warm- we have three temper pedic beds in our house) but again, heās not complained.
But he is in DC and itās been chilly this year. (We are from FL.)
(But maybe if it does get warm itās offset by the extreme comfort?? and heās so tired when he does get to bed he may not even notice if it is warm?)
