Parents of the HS Class of 2023 (Part 2)

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
1682

Sure- my son’s GF has done research all three years. She finally has an internship (after graduating this week) and then will do her Masters next year.

I mean industry vs. on campus job.

Even after first year, and it was covid so the world was different but my son detailed cars. Maybe it didn’t help but to me it showed the car manufacturer that he worked for the next two summers that he wasn’t sitting home, doing nothing…which was my other kid - but she did ok this summer (last minute rush from employers).

Good luck to your son…no doubt some will get - I was just setting expectations.

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1683

Thank you. He has two offers, but those are remote. He wants in person. For freshman summer, these days, it is a pipe dream :-).

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1684

In our experience, most industry internship applications are due in the fall. Some students (especially freshmen) don’t realize that. However, as @DadOfJerseyGirl mentioned, the “small shops” may be hiring in the winter. By spring, there is little left. This applies to all majors, not just CS.

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1685

Also, don’t be reticent about reaching out to professors, your advisor, etc this summer before even getting to school. D20 had contacts before school even started which jump started her freshman summer plans (and this was during the height of Covid restrictions).

I always tell my kids, professors want to help - they spent the better part of a decade learning something super specific and they make their living teaching it to students. If you go to them with enthusiasm and a fairly well thought out plan/goal - they are going to want to help you get there. And they can help you build your network, so don’t wait ‘for the right time’ - do it asap.

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1686

Though I’ll also add, if you reach out to professors the summer before you arrive, don’t be surprised if we don’t respond.

The summer is our chance to get the sorts of things done that we can’t get done during the academic year, whether that’s traveling to do location-specific research, doing grant-funded work, and just, you know, life—and so some of us very happily go off-grid for chunks if not all of the summer. Also, most faculty aren’t actually paid for the work we do in the summer (unless we have an external grant to pay for it or we’ve taken on a summer teaching overload, and both of those are generally at a lower rate than our usual salary), so there’s that, too.

And there’s the fact that you aren’t even actually a student here yet, and we might have our hands full with the ones we’ve already got.

So like I said, we might well not respond. And that’s not the result of anything malign or whatever, it’s just that summers are an entirely different time for faculty, and we might not respond for a variety of reasons.

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1687

Of course makes sense.

1688

S23 finally made his college decision over the weekend. Even though he ended up at the second school on his initial list, he went through a very deliberate consideration process and talked with students at his finalist schools (Duke, Rice, Northwestern). A big component of the application strategy was applying to schools that he really liked and saw a fit (he ended up scratching several top schools cause of this); that made the decision process a little tougher because he really liked all the options.

4.0 GPA (46 UW), 12 AP classes, 1530 SAT (one attempt), Captain of the basketball team, Secretary General MUN, Two-time medal winner Math Olympiad, contributor on a published medical research paper

Accepted: Duke (attending), Rice, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, UNC, UVA (Echols), UCLA, UC-Berkley, UCSD
Waitlist: Vanderbilt
Rejected: Princeton, Stanford, Harvard

This marks the end of college application process in our household. We strove to strike the right balance between not putting too much pressure on our kids but also encouraging them to work hard towards their objectives. At the end of the day what we wanted for our kids to find fulfillment in their endeavors.

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1689

Sorry for being dense - is “freshman summer” the summer BEFORE or AFTER freshman year - e.g., as a rising sophomore!?

1690

I meant the summer after freshman year, although you could also try the summer before freshman year if you have background. Especially if you are part of an under-represented minority group, or a woman, the very big tech companies offer some programs for kids just entering college. You can obviously also ask small employers if they need summer help.

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1691

The second school?? :slight_smile: That’s like a who’s who of unbelievable.

Very impressive - good luck to him.

Now he’ll be a Cameron Crazy - can’t happen at Harvard or Stanford.

Best of luck.

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1692

Last night S23 was able to commit to Baylor, put in the Housing Application, and set up his email without becoming overwhelmed!

We already had the enrollment deposit in, but he was still considering one of the Catholic LACs. We spoke yesterday about the concerns about NOT going to the LAC, and he was able to discus s it calmly which is a big step. He said he was choosing Baylor. He filled out the Housing Application-- though winning a Faculty Scholarship from the I2E Weekend means he automatically gets in the Honors housing which has only a 70% acceptance of people seeking it, so that is a relief.

In the end, he felt the size of Baylor’s student body was right- smaller than Bama but larger than the two LACs. He wanted major sports. He needed a climate with many days of sunshine per year. He will enter as a selective Business Fellow which waives most of the core requirements and allows for flexible multiple majors and intensive advising in the Business School. The Classics department is also much stronger at Baylor than Bama with more classes that appeal to him including for this fall. (One of the LACs also has an excellent Classics Department where S23 was also awarded a Classics Scholarship on top of his Trustees’ Scholarship, but he ruled out that one.)

He liked the Honors Program at Baylor as well, which involves several shared Great Books classes focusing on Ancient and Medieval texts. Overall, Baylor felt like a good midway point between a large university and a Great Books LAC. I am very hopeful that he will thrive there, but we will be happy if we come to this point next year and he has maintained the GPA for his scholarships and has friends and is in a good mental and spiritual place. That would be a great success!

In the end he is in the Honors Program, Baylor Business Fellows, got a total merit package of Distinction Award $27,000/year, Honors College Award $5000/year and Faculty Scholarship $5000/year, which in sum brings the COA well under $40,000 a year. In the divorce when he was a toddler, I had a 529 set up in the agreement which will cover it.

I ordered some (returnable) shirts last week, so I will give him one tomorrow as a surprise. Sic 'Em, Bears!

(Okay, the motto doesn’t have a comma, but I can’t bring myself to write it without!)

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1693

Kiddo went to the counseling office today to do the traditional banner thingie, which involves drawing the school logo w/ his name or some such. Thank god he committed to Bama – the letter A!! – and not something that required artistic ability.
:slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

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1694

And when they don’t respond immediately, tell your kids not to be a**h****. Also, tell your kids the importance of filling out those surveys about the class at the end of the semester. Especially if they really liked it, or even if they were just neutral about it. Otherwise, the reviews are like Yelp restaurant reviews, where the only ones who respond are the ones who complain (and usually about something that was not the restaurant’s fault). My husband had kids ding him for not responding to emails within 24 hours. Well I’m sorry kiddos, weekends don’t count, neither do holidays. Also, don’t send your final draft of your Master’s thesis to be reviewed the night before your defense, and don’t get caught plagiarizing, never show up to class, consistently turn in late assignments with no contact and then bash a professor in your review.

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1695

My professor husband has had students complaining that when they emailed at 9pm with a question about the assignment, he didn’t respond before the 9 am class the next day! These were college students! Office hours exist for a reason, and professors (and high school teachers) are not paid to be on-call 24/7!

I’m glad to hear that it wasn’t just his students, at least.

Edit: I apologize for the excess of exclamation points but clearly, this riles me! (another one!)

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1696

Really! That’s too much!

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1697

Oh, wow! What did she decide?

1698

Also, making appointments with him and not showing up, agreeing to work for him for a semester and being paid ahead of time by the University then not putting in the agreed upon hours. Checking off work tasks in the lab as complete that clearly are not done! I have heard it all and he is way more generous than I would be!

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1699

She chose UMD.

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1700

Well the application process is officially over. It’s weird to feel a bit melancholy about it. He had the good fortune of multiple options and somehow it feels hard to let go of the other good ones he didn’t choose in the end. Each one was a lot of work to earn and a privilege to get an offer. Each would have been uniquely great in their own ways.

To the paths not taken.

And here’s looking forward to the one that was…

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1701

Love your post @citivas. These are my feelings exactly, too. :heart:

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