So far, so good. He also had 4 taken out. Thanks!
I took my son to Ikea a couple months ago when we had a few hours that we needed to take our mind off of things; he is a ânesterâ and likes to sleep with two duvets to dial in how cool or warm he is - so he picked out two different yet coordinating duvet covers and then we wandered past the decorative pillow department and he picked out three(!) of them.
(Meanwhile you can rarely see the floor of his bedroom, and there is a small path between the door and the bed, and every surface of his desk is covered in piles.)
He wants to bring as little as possible to college so he has less to keep track of - whichâŠfor him is a good strategy! The bed will be a cozy pile of textiles, but he has no other plans for decor. I think Iâm going to sneak in a plant or two - but thatâs it.
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If your son keeps plants aliveâŠwow!! Beyond all three of mine as of yet. 
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I was thinking the exact same thing. That plant wonât survive past the first break. 
Oh dear. Seeing how Iâm the one who always is watering the plant in his room now, youâre probably right. 
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You are a very good parent. 
And we need more of that optimism. 
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My daughter and her roommate kept some succulents alive last year. I mean barely - those poor plants were hanging on by a thread when we got them home - but they were alive. Hoping Iâve more or less nursed them back to enough health they can survive sophomore year as well.
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IKEA makes nice fake plants! My daughter let her succulents die in her dorm room and I replaced them with ikea plastic
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Did she notice?
She thought they were cute and was relieved she wouldnât kill them!
So she didnât overwater those?
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We live about a 90-minute drive from Pitt and Iâve been to the campus a handful of times. It is definitely urban, but itâs about three miles from the core âdowntownâ area. When we visited in the fall of 2021 (near the beginning of my S23âs junior year), the area seemed nicer than I remembered. There are lots of college students in the area, with CMU, Duquesne and Carlow all nearby. The winters in Pittsburgh are not generally all that harsh, especially if youâre from the Northeast. They are generally much milder than they were a few decades ago. Pitt finished in the top three for our S23 but he ultimately turned it down in favor of a too-good-to-pass-up offer from Alabama. There is a lot of school spirit at Pitt, and most of the people I know who went there are fiercely loyal alumni who really value the time they spent there.
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S23 is starting to really get sad and reflective about missing his buddies. Its sweet to see him actually talk about emotions.
No word from his roommate yet. He did email him. We think roommate is from India and a bit hard to pin down social media based on name.
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Bama is currently one of his top choices so we will see what happens.
UMD alum groups are hosting a series of small welcome parties. Weâll be attending one in the next month or so. Iâm impressed they host these smaller parties (45 people or so and some at peopleâs homes) to welcome freshmen to campus.
Will you all be renting trucks or a van to move your kids into their dorms? We have a sedan, and I assume weâll need more space for boxes. Way back when, I think I moved in with one car but kids bring more these days.
I like the idea of faux plants. 23 has an aloe vera that theyâve been meaning to replant for six monthsâŠI believe Iâm the only one to water it!
Orientation / registration is coming up soon. 23 has a small mountain of materials to read through before meeting with their advisor. Some of the instructions donât make senseââMeet with the advisor first and register for classes and then visit the health center to prove you have vaccinations so you can register for classes.â Huh? I will trust this will all work out, and they will get registered somehow.
Good luck to everyone with the final weeks! Iâm going to see if 23 wants to get some smoothie bowls today (if they ever wake up â lol).
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Not sure how important budget is, but keep an eye on the current state budget impasse going on in PA. The Legislature hasnât approved funding for the state-related universities (Pitt, PSU, Temple) and I read a rumor that tuition might increase as much as $10k in-state. I do know that Pitt asked for a 6.5% increase back in the fall.
Son was accepted to Pitt and was all Hail2Pitt for almost the entire school year â LOVES the city â but ended up choosing Bama in April after visiting.
We had told him we could afford Pitt, but now, reading about the impasse, Iâm so relieved he chose Bama. Pitt offered no merit (we are in-state) and Bama was hugely cheap in comparison.
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Son went to UMD orientation last week. Students donât meet individually with advisors, for CS it was about 20 kids with 2 advisers in the room to answer questions. Have a list of courses and several alternatives ready before attending. As soon as son entered the room he was allowed to open his laptop so he started registering immediately, he was excited to get last spot in one course. New spaces are added before each orientation and there is lots of movement throughout the summer on waitlists.
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He is already in love with Bama so we will see what happensâŠ
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My sonâs roommate just emailed back. He is from Istanbul, Turkey. Hoping they hit it off so gives an excuse to travel. 
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2024 parent here- did your students create an email address exclusively for their applications? If so, was it just a simple gmail address they only used for schools they applied to? S24 has an iCloud address but it is bogged down with way too much spam at this point and I do not want him using his school address because as soon as school finishes he wonât have access. What should he do?
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