We enjoyed a trip to Mexico to visit family for a week and now it’s back to reality and knowing the summer is going to fly by!
My son is psyched to start at Case Western in the Fall. We drop him off August 18th but stay for a few days for parent sessions so I’m glad we will have some time on campus before the dreaded goodbye.
He connected with a great roommate from Long Island who has some common interests so he was happy about that.
He is thinking about joining Marching Band (counts as an ensemble for his music major or as a PE credit) as well as maybe a jazz ensemble-so already looking forward to the clubs and social connections.
He earned 5’s on all AP exams except AP Gov so Case won’t take it (only takes 5’s) so he is upset that Case will only take about 9-12 out of 33 college credits but he knew this going in and thinks he can still graduate in 3.5 years even with 3 majors (psych, cognitive science & music.) He is so ambitious! Not sure what the rush is. He is teaching himself Calculus and a Computer Science class over the summer so he can take their proficiency exams and get credit that way. Great way to spend your summer, right? That’s my kid
He has a serious girlfriend (1 year) who will be attending Binghamton and we ADORE her. Really hoping they can make it work while at college, but also know the reality of distance and busy college life so we will see. They are both very supportive of the paths they are taking and not suffocating to the other so that’s a good start!
Tomorrow he gets his wisdom teeth out-fun!
Best of luck to all your kids as they prep for this new chapter this summer. And hang in there parents-we’ve got this
D23’s in the middle of her two-day orientation at North Texas right now, and we had to send twinXL sheets with her. (Weirdly, for parents staying in the dorms, which includes me, bedding is provided.) We found that Kohl’s had a selection of twinXLs, though we were shopping in the San Antonio area and they are definitely not carried at Kohl’s in Anchorage—but it could be worth checking to see if they’re as easy to get from your local store(s).
Good luck. S24 had his out this time last year and did great. He only had two (bottom two) and both were impacted. We were really diligent about icing for the first 24 hours. Ask them for an extra set of ice packs. They will likely discharge him with ones that wrap around his face with a chin strap and you slide the gel packs into the holders on each side. An extra set is key b/c you can throw those in the freezer and change them out every time the other set warms up. We also made sure to stay ahead of the pain and did continuous Tylenol every 4 hours for the first 48 hours. Her never needed the Rx with codeine. His came out at 11 am on a Tuesday. Home by 12:30. Was out with friends by Thursday evening. Minimal swelling and very mild bruising. Hope it is the same for your S23.
Anyone here have a kid heading to Pitt? Would love to hear about the campus, the typical weather in Pittsburgh and what sold your student on Pitt in the end. S24 had a list of about 13 schools and just took three off the list last night b/c they are “too far” (ASU, SDSU and U of Arizona). We are in the Northeast and he has no interest in being in the NE. Most of the remaining schools are big D1 schools (lots of SEC schools). He has CU Boulder on his list which is the farthest in terms of miles, but the easiest in terms of flights. He really wants >15,000 students, football and other sports, city campus or college town.; Initially he wanted NO SNOW but obviously with CU Boulder added he realizes there is a difference b/c NE winters and snow in some other areas. Anyway, would love to hear about Pitt. Thanks.
Does she have a specific advisor for the program? She should speak with them if she hasn’t before deciding. My D17’s special program as a Frosh had their own advisors and they had very specific recommendations tailored for the program.
Did she complete the math diagnostic? I believe SEAS required it for everyone prior to advance registration. Advising is a little weird right now in that her cohort leader is her advisor until the semester gets underway and a faculty advisor is assigned. She should definitely reach out if she has any questions.
She has the director of the program as well as phD full faculty who teach these courses and/or more advanced courses and have advised STEM students for years. They have a weekly peer advisory zoom as well, many of whom do the placement-test path. Over 30% of Engineering kids have taken courses beyond AP calc in HS (mine took 3). Penn has a system of placement using the real final exams , as well as pre-placement-test mandatory diagnostic evals in math and chem for every Freshman across Penn, not just the kids with AP or post-AP experience. The program itself is extremely well advised, and they meet with them individually as many times as they need. She already has been individually encouraged to take all the placements she qualifies for, if she desires to.
Yes! Took the diagnostic weeks ago and now is encouraged to try to place out of multi based on her background, OR she will just do the Honors multivariable course instead. The program advisor has already met with her and cleared the automatic holds for the honors classes she might take depending on placement testing results. As you know they are very thorough. For their dual-degree program they always have the same director as the main faculty advisor plus access to the relevant tenured faculty as advisors, the entire 4 years.
Our D23 just had her four wisdom teeth taken out on July 1. Luckily, she had a seamless recovery and didn’t need to miss any work as a camp counselor. This was not planned for her; she had her teeth cleaned a few weeks ago, and lo and behold, found out they were impacted. I learned it’s a thing now for kids to get their wisdom teeth out before starting college. Back in the old days, I had my taken out a few years after graduating college.
Building on @coastal2024 comments on the wisdom teeth:
Follow the icing schedule (and a set of dedicated baggies of frozen peas that you rotate in and out of the freezer work great here).
Stay ahead of the pain and inflammation by alternating the acetaminophen and ibuprofen every 6 hours in staggered doses* (e.g. Tylenol at 10am, Advil at 1pm, Tylenol at 4pm, Advil at 7pm…etc.) on a 24 hour cycle for the first few days; have your kiddo set an alarm for themselves to take those doses throughout the night and have the water and meds right there so they can go right back to sleep. Make sure that they take their first dose on this regimen before their nerve block wears off from the surgery - staying ahead of the pain is key, and sticking to the schedule throughout the night is a game changer.
Really make sure that kiddo pays attention to the instructions on irrigation and cleaning - they do NOT want dry socket! Make sure they understand how to use the little irrigation syringe and are following up on this exactly how the oral surgeon has described, and for the full amount of time post-surgery that is required.
And then smoothies and audiobooks, movies, and sleep
*Editing to add for clarity: this is taking a “pain medication” every three hours, but you’re alternating between the type of medication you’re taking as they serve different purposes post surgery: both the ibuprofen and the acetaminophen are taken at six hour intervals, but they are staggered three hours apart; do not take them at the same time. It’s wholly possible to avoid taking codeine when getting ahead of the pain and staggering acetaminophen and ibuprofen, something many people aim to do (for differing reasons, and yes - codeine is fine under certain circumstances, this is an option for how to avoid if that’s something that’s either necessary or desired for the individual).
My advice from an educational standpoint is to take the Honors course but maybe not from a GPA standpoint. It should be great for helping her problem solving skills but if she’s spending 20 hours a week on a pset just for that class it’s going to effect how much time she can put into other classes.
If she hasn’t already maybe she can try to find out how much time the Honors course takes on average. I mention the GPA thing because if her post UG plans involve needing a high GPA then it might not be worth it.
Sorry - was being somewhat of a smart-alecky:
I feel that north-south travel is quite different from east-west because at least your physiology doesn’t have to deal with jet-lag.
Flight from Maine to college in Florida is easier to deal with than flying West?
That’s fair - I fly too but I was just noting that the NE to Colorado is no different than the NE to Arizona - in reality for a student coming from the NE - if a plane was the reason for not going to AZ.
If you want to ski - different - but this was just based on the flight
The honors course actually has better curves/much higher % As, incidentally, and the teaching is better per peers (might be because it is a small group) , so in this case it’s a win win. Of course if hours are brutal she could drop. Or, as I said, maybe she’ll place out and not take either of the Mvc options.
We had an interesting thing with the AP scores. D23 had them set to send to her school already. So on 7/1 she gets an email from her college regarding her AP scores and what classes she would be getting credit for. So I guess the college board sent the scores to the colleges before letting the kids know. So she knew 4 days early.
She went 11 for 11 in AP classes in HS. Mostly 4s & 5s and a couple 3s, but passed them all. It was nice to see online in her college account already having 39 credits under her belt. She is happy she will never have to take a Math or Science class again in her lifetime.
