thanks for sharing that Purdue camp!
Just PMâd you. Please let me know if it came throughâŠitâs not showing up in my PMs but Iâve been having trouble with CC this morning.
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This seems to be a relatively common sentiment nowadays. So much so that despite the impending retirement of many old timers from the shuttle era, I fear a major oversupply of new graduates looking for positions in the space industry when the current NewSpace bubble bursts in the next couple of years.
And itâs also worth looking a bit more closely at what working at SpaceX entails, including the 100 hour weeks, before you set your heart on it (for example, one reason they have leapt ahead of competitors is that they required everyone to come into the office throughout the pandemic).
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D17 did a summer camp between HS sophomore and junior years focusing on journalism, and one between junior and senior years focusing on neuroscience. The former was one of your basic shelling out money for a week of experiences type camps, but it was good for her, I think, and she got to take the congressional subway once, so that was fun. The latter was competitive-entry and grant-funded, and she got to do actual laboratory bench research (and realize that maybe she didnât want to be a bench scientist after all).
D19 did no summer camps. No interest in them whatsoever.
D23 did a short summer camp this past year on studio recording techniques, and as previously mentioned will be doing a two-week one this summer focusing on music tech and business.
Overall, I see summer camps as a nice luxury that provides kids a chance to explore ideas. I donât know that theyâre a real necessity, though.
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SpaceX is notorious for overworking employees. They have healthcare, daycare, dining, etc. all on the campus so there is no reason for an employee to take any time off. The cons on Glassdoor are all about stress and lack of work/life balance.
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when my sibling worked for amazon, her team could bring in their dogs. Same reasoning - no need to go home to walk them!
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Thatâs typical for tech companies. The difference Iâve seen is that at Google, Facebook etc most employees would be thrilled and honored to get invited to a meeting with the CEO. At Tesla and SpaceX theyâd be terrified of being fired for speaking up.
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Mistaken post
Meant to reply to you, apologies. My d is also possibly interested in aeronautical engineering but is out off by intensity of engineering schools and the fact that most career paths in that field run through the military or military contractors. She will likely instead do astronomy/astrophysics with a view ro grad school and reaserch. What schools is your d looking at?
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itâs really just a new idea as sheâs liking physics this year. Iâve told her we could go to the two closest schools that offer it just to see what itâs all about (ISU and KU). I can understand why someone would just want an astronomy/astrophysics degree. where is she looking at?
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We are at early stages. Her list is too top heavy but here it is as of now: High Reach - Amherst, Brown, Harvard, Swarthmore, Princeton, UPenn, Yale; Reach/Target - Haverford, Tufts, U of Michigan, Wesleyan; Target/Safety - Boston University, UC Boulder, UMd College Park, U of Toronto. She doesnât want to go as far as West Coast or super-intense schools like UChicago, Johns Hopkins or MIT etc.
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If she isnât interested in super intense schools then she should drop Princeton and Swarthmore from her list.
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Is she open to womenâs colleges? Smith was D14âs top choice for physics. She liked the housing system and collaborative spirit. Their astronomy department is likely solid too and could be worth a look, especially if youâre already out there visiting Amherst. D was admitted but chose CU-Boulder, which isnât too shabby in the sciences either.
There is a lot of overlap between your C23âs list and mineâvery reach heavy here too.
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Thanks! She did a summer program for women in STEM and really liked it but recently she decided she didnât want to do womenâs colleges. How does your daughter like CU Boulder??? Is she doing Astro there?
She enjoyed her time at CU. She is an extrovert who thrived in the big public school environment. She was very involved in residential life, performing arts, and social justice initiatives. She eventually switched majors, but always had plenty of research and co-curricular opportunities. Professors were accessible and always willing to talk with students about their career aspirations. Physics and chemistry are top-notch; there are five Nobels between the two departments. Engineering is well-regarded too. I hope you have an opportunity to visit!
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summer camps/sessions for your kids. What have they liked? whatâs worked for you and your family? Some are really long; and quite pricey. But they sound great. Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
My D23 has gone to a 2-week sleepaway camp in West VA every summer since she was 10 and last year did two weeks as staff. Itâs a camp 100% focused on ecology education. Small and a great fit for her. She plans to work there again this summer but we donât know yet how they are going to structure staffing and how long sheâll work. My S21 also tried a sleepaway camp the summer before 5th grade but did not like it so did not continue.
Both kids did a 1 week college program the summer before junior year. S21 did a week at Georgetown on data science and D23 did a week a Susquehanna on stream ecology. Both came away knowing more about the field and it solidified their interest as a major. Since they didnât do any other paid programs those summers I didnât find the cost too much and I think 1-2 weeks is a good length to get a taste of what a college campus feels like and some exposure to a topic. We definitely did not go into it thinking of it as something to provide a boost to college admissions, except to the extent that it showed their interest in the field. S21 did end up talking about his experience in a couple application essays, re career goals and why he was applying to his major. D23 also applied some of what she learned to this yearâs science project.
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I havenât stopped by in a while but enjoyed reading back through peopleâs updates. D23 has finished Q1 of junior year but is still working on clearing some incompletes. She got quite sick and missed the last two weeks of the quarter but is doing better now.
We got up to Juniata College last weekend for their open house and, while it was a really long day, it definitely seems like a good fit for D23 and she says itâs going on the apply list. She loved their field station and the opportunity to spend a semester living there, good study abroad opportunities, has a pep band (sheâs in marching band now and would like to keep playing but more casually, doesnât want to do full on marching band), and she was pleased with the gluten-free/allergy-friendly options in the dining hall. The previous school we toured was Washington College and she liked their ES program but wasnât thrilled with their dining options and they didnât have a pep band.
Her list for now includes W&M (reach), U Mary Washington, Juniata, Susquehanna, Washington College. Others will wait for tours in the Spring.
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In regards to summer programs, we do try to fill it with productive activities with some downtime. Our DC20 did a high school math class in the summer after freshman year, then did a couple of college classes at Carnegie Mellonâs pre-college program the next summer. The next year was an internship at a research facility. Our DC23 did a 4 week summer STEM program and a DE college class last summer and is already applying for summer programs now (one was due 11/1 and another is opening this month). Sport participation, test prep, college tours, and family vacay will round out the balance of the time.
Exciting news. DC23 came home yesterday and says, âGuess what?â Then said, âwell Iâve got 2 guess whats?â 
They were just chosen as a volunteer at a science center to help with the younger kids on the weekends. Super thrilling as they found the opportunity, got a LOR, and applied all on their own. Also was able to up their Physics grade. Happy to see the impact of effort on both counts.
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I really like your daughterâs list. I graduated W&M last century. The son of a friend from college just started his sophomore year a U Mary Washington. His dream school was W&M but it wasnât in the cards. Mother and son couldnât be more happy with his experience to date at Mary Washington, a lot of the same feel as W&M with less pressure.
One of the twins will probably apply to W&M, but it will be a big financial reach being out of state. Itâs a very good fit for him, so itâs will likely get an application on the very small chance he gets merit.
Williamsburg is high on my list of places to retire.
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Summer programs. This will be the first summer since between 7th and 8th grade that s23 doesnât have summer school.
Football training is still 4 days a week starting in June. He hopes to keep working as well.
Maybe some summer college visits to get an idea on area.
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