Last year Clemson’s top merit amount was 11k.
Thankfully my kid and her roomie get along great and are planning sharing an apartment with another two friends who are currently room mates too. All four want their own bedroom, so they are looking for a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment.
They are applying to the university run off campus apartment complex. They used to be guaranteed for sophomores until last year, now they say they have priority, but they still need a plan B.
They have a few places in mind and will be visiting this coming weekend.
I hope things work out for your kiddo.
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My kid was really ready to go back by week 3, but had another week at home in front of her! Then she got comfortable being home again, and didn’t want to leave! 
She is ok though, she went back on the 8th, and adjusted just fine.
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Are there any campus safety rankings available for colleges. e.g. if I want to compare UC Berkeley vs Cornell campus safety, any idea how I can get the info?
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I think this site lets you do that Campus Safety and Security
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Can you believe it’s February of their freshman year already? Among the many pleasant surprises we’ve had is how, without our help or input, kid has embraced city public transportation (not the free campus stuff) after growing up in a place that gave her absolutely no exposure to urban public transportation. I try not to be a worry mom. After all, our roots (kid’s grandparents) were mostly big city folks…
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Fast year! It’s hard to believe a year ago we were fully in the decision making process! Just today, I made hotel reservations for move out days and he’s figuring out his living situation for next year.
He’s applied to a couple research spots for summer and a slew of internships. He’s hoping to get something. If not, he’ll pick up a job in town and maybe take a class at a CC. What’s everyone else’s plan for summer?
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Looks like your son is having a great experience.
S22 is doing well too. He got booted out of his honors dorm after fall semester because of remodeling, but fortunately he had found his crowd by then. They are living together in a university apartment complex (with a substantial rental discount because of the displacement).
Summer plans are similar to those of your son. Research or internships would be good, but perhaps less probable. A job in hometown is more likely.
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You never know what a summer job may turn into. My S was a caddie, which was not at all a glamour job for tips, and ended up winning a caddie scholarship worth $5k.
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That’s great! What a nice surprise to get that.
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This reminds me of a certain movie, lol. Is his name Danny? 
But seriously, congrats on the scholarship.
Our caboose 22er is eligible for a sibling scholarship since his older sis went to the same university. Hopefully he is working on it and will submit timely.
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https://ope.ed.gov/campussafety/#/compare/details
Cornell is A and Berkeley is B. No matter how you slice it, Cornell is much safer. Cal is number 1 Public School in the World and also fights for number 1 status for most crime of any school in the country.
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Going for a college visit to a school I hadn’t considered for DD before. Her #1 has been SDSU for a while, but now we’re very seriously considering CSU Northridge. She wants to major in English and get a Single Subject teaching credential. Everywhere but CSUN would require her to do the English Major, graduate, then do anywhere from one to two years for the credential. CSUN has a program called Four Year Integrated (FYI). SDSU does have a 4-year bachelors with credential program, but only for math, chem, and special education since they’re in such high demand. But for English it’s the same 4 + 1 year program. But CSUN has it for English and it has a really large education department. So I’m really hoping she likes what she sees on Wednesday.
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How are your kiddos doing in securing a summer internship/job?
My sloth DS bemoans everything having to do with getting a job:
- update resume
- apply for jobs
- get a haircut
- do interviews
- write thank you letters
etc.
Seriously, what is he going to do this summer:
- wake up at 2pm, lay on my couch all summer, game all night to 4am?
A few of his classmates/friends already locked in some great internships with Siemens, Lockheed, Boeing, etc.
–
Edit to add:
He just learned that he was not accepted to the HBS summer research program. 
I bet that he was banking on that program, so he’s been dragging his feet on all the job applications, etc.
So time to crank up the job applications.
DITTO:
most jobs are for rising juniors+
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He spent part of Christmas break applying and emailing everyone we could think of who could help. I think he applied to about 60 internships and emailed about 15 people who are engineers in our area. He ended up with 4 interviews and 2 offers. We did a lot of it together to get him going. It’s a bit tedious, really to apply. I also did help by making a list of places he could apply that he qualified for. We are in SE Michigan, which has a lot of engineering, so that also helps a lot. I will add that all 4 of his interviews were with smaller companies - they are all automotive suppliers. He got nothing from any of the big name places. Maybe in a year or two.
I think having something after freshman year is hard. It’s a bit about luck. I hope your son finds something!
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DD researched internships during Christmas break and found that the ones she’s really interested in will not take rising Sophomores, so she is waiting for grant/scholarship decision for a short summer study abroad. Since she will concentrate on internship summer after Sophomore year, this might be the best summer to spend abroad. If that doesn’t work out she will have to hustle to find some local job shadowing or informal internship.
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EXACTLY.
If I had known that it was a possibility for Freshman to study abroad during summer after Freshman year, like son’s friend is doing this summer, I would have nudged DS in that direction.
BUT that would have meant being on top of things, and fulfilling a language requirement during January 2023 term (instead of “wasting” it on a gym class).
Feeling like it’s too late in the game…
may just default to his “Spanish immersion internship” (he paints houses with a Spanish speaking crew in 95degree weather, like he did for a week pre-covid).
S22 was very lucky to get into a couple of math REUs and a couple of summer schools, all sponsored by NSF. He will be able to combine one of the REUs with a short summer school. I am happy for him but wish we would get to see a bit more of him this summer.
Things get better, especially after junior year. S20 got accepted to at least half of the CS REUs he has applied for.
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That’s great. No luck here on REUs but a friend of his got one. I think they sound so interesting!
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Depending on the university and program, there may be no language requirement. My daughter spent first summer in Italy for a program conducted in English.